10 Times Wrestlers Refused To Break Character For The Media

1. Jerry Lawler - David Letterman

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=11T_-k7ckrg
Was there really any doubt that this would wind up at number one? It's one of the most famous (infamous?) moments in the history of professional wrestling. Sure, Hogan/Andre was big and all, but it was never a plot point in a major Hollywood motion picture.

While almost every other entry on this list has involved a knowing wink that the wrestler is playing a role, the Kaufman/Lawler feud was different. Kaufman insisted that he had been playing a heel, but Lawler had taken him too seriously and gone off-script to purposely injure him during a match. Lawler, meanwhile, refused to apologize for driving the comic's pile on the grounds that he was only defending the legitimacy of his sport. 

The most fascinating part of the whole thing is Letterman figuring out the concept of the worked shoot 20 years before Vince Russo.

Immortal Dialogue: "I never said anything about being a sportsman."

Immortal Dialogue:

 
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Long-time fan (scholar?) of professional wrestling, kaiju films and comparative mythology. Aspiring two-fisted adventurer.