10 Wrestlers Who 'Borrowed' What Got Them Over
8. Jerry 'The King' Lawler
Jerry Lawler's famous feud with Bret Hart began back in 1993, when he attacked the Excellence of Execution after winning the King of the Ring tournament. Lawler's justification: he was 'The King' first. But the truth is, no he wasn't, there was a wrestler with a King-gimmick before Lawler adopted it. Heck the guy even lent Jerry his crown.
Lawler was currently embroiling himself in a feud with Jackie Fargo, during which he would often proclaim that Fargo's reign as 'King Of Wrestling' was about to come to an end. During this time, Lawler encountered a fellow wrestler in Atlanta called Bobby Shane, who had been wrestling for a time wearing a large red crown and red royal cape.
As it turns out, Shane was about to head to Australia to wrestle for a short tour and wasn't planning to take the gimmick with him. He lent Lawler the crown and the robe to use in his Fargo feud on the provision that he return them when he got back from Oz a month later. Lawler incorporated the King costume into his feud with Fargo, which he won, and from thereafter was known as the King of Memphis wrestling.
He never did return the crown to Shane because, tragically, before Jerry could get the chance, the man died in a plane crash. Lawyer has remained the King to this day, amassing 168 championships in his career before being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2007.