10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Sept 14)

6. Jerry Lawler Was Warned About Commentating Female Matches

Michael Cole Jerry Lawler
WWE.com

‘Do not ever say that women are sexy, or that they’re good looking or they’re beautiful. You must treat them exactly like you would a male athlete. You could say that they are powerful, they’re strong, they’re athletic, all this stuff, but nothing that would be considered sexist at all'.

That was Jerry Lawler's recollection of one fraught meeting with WWE officials at the start of the promotion's drive towards a women's revolution several years ago.

Speaking on his Dinner With The King podcast, Lawler told how he was cornered by several higher-ups and warned that his old sexual innuendos, phrases like 'Puppies' and general dirty old man demeanour wouldn't fly any longer. To Jerry, that's the real reason he was taken off the road as a regular colour man in 2016, not his age.

WWE didn't want any commentary alluding to a female performer's physical appearance at all, which, in fairness to the King, was 99% of his act during women's matches and had been for years. The phrase 'can't teach an old dog new tricks' comes to mind.

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