Lawler/Kaufman on Letterman 1982

[wildojinx]

The famous incident (this is the uncensored version, so language warning)



Strange how here, Lawler gets all the boos and Kaufman gets cheered (though he is from NYC, so it's a hometown pop).

[Aceorton]

"I don't come out here and try to do stand-up comedy or anything like that." - Jerry Lawler, after trotting out half a dozen one-liners

[johnnyk9]

Stinks that this National exposure really didn’t do much for CWA

[Squirrel Master]

What a toolbox that Lawler is. Why’d he have to bitch slap the guy on live television?

[flowercity]

Kaufman was an out of this world talent. This angle is just tremendous. He gets the wrestling business like few have since his time in it.

[wildojinx]

Dec 27, 2021 21:50:36 GMT -5 johnnyk9 said:

Stinks that this National exposure really didn’t do much for CWA

To be fair, they never ventured outside Memphis for the most part. Still, they could have tried for National syndication like World Class did.

[chazraps]

Dec 28, 2021 0:26:46 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

Dec 27, 2021 21:50:36 GMT -5 johnnyk9 said:

Stinks that this National exposure really didn’t do much for CWA

To be fair, they never ventured outside Memphis for the most part. Still, they could have tried for National syndication like World Class did.

Exactly. They were doing massive number regionally and nobody was really expanding nationally in '82 like that.

Additionally, what a lot of critics of this time miss is that Lawler vs Kaufman wasn't the main event. That feud didn't have both at the top of the card while it was going on, it was a side attraction. So, while nationally it is remembered as this super entertaining great moment, and immortalized Lawler on a national level, CWA - while deserving credit for capitalizing where other wrestling promotions hesitated - didn't capitalize as much as it really could have.

A video download of the complete Kaufman-Lawler DVD is available (for $3.99) at Highspots and is amazing. Just segment after segment after segment in chronological order through Andy's final appearance that was supposed to lead to more but he looks very visibly ill - www.highspots.com/p/22444.html

[fg]

I remember watching this feud on Comedy Central in the 90s. One of the fake headlines was “Kaufman wants to buy NBC and transform it to a24/7 wrestling channel.”

I can only imagine what day NBC’s own Tom Brokaw’s reaction would be if it was true.

[Sephiroth]

An underrated influence on wrestling today. Almost certainly planted the seed in a young Vince McMahon’s brain of the potential for celebrity crossovers.

[Hulkshi Tanahashi]

This was also a big moment for Letterman as this was one of the first infamous moments of Late Night as his show had debuted earlier that year.

[Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite]

Dec 28, 2021 9:58:31 GMT -5 fg said:

I remember watching this feud on Comedy Central in the 90s. One of the fake headlines was “Kaufman wants to buy NBC and transform it to a24/7 wrestling channel.”

I can only imagine what day NBC’s own Tom Brokaw’s reaction would be if it was true.

Damn if I didn't watch "I'm From Hollywood" every time it came on.

This angle was so hot/believable that I remember my teacher in 7th grade telling me Kaufman died from getting his neck broken during a match with Lawler

[fg]

Dec 31, 2021 9:48:50 GMT -5 Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite said:

Dec 28, 2021 9:58:31 GMT -5 fg said:

I remember watching this feud on Comedy Central in the 90s. One of the fake headlines was “Kaufman wants to buy NBC and transform it to a24/7 wrestling channel.”

I can only imagine what day NBC’s own Tom Brokaw’s reaction would be if it was true.

Damn if I didn't watch "I'm From Hollywood" every time it came on.

This angle was so hot/believable that I remember my teacher in 7th grade telling me Kaufman died from getting his neck broken during a match with Lawler

If that headline was true, I can only imagine the jokes that NBCs own Johnny Carson would say.