Jerry Lawler has been with the WWF since 1992, mainly known for his work as the color commentator of Raw. But in 2001, he had a falling out with the WWF, and quit in protest when his girlfriend Stacy The Cat Carter was released from her contract. As Raw began, it was bizarre to see Jim Ross without The King by his side as they had been the voices of a great product for years. Moments later, the situation became downright unbelievable when Paul Heyman was announced as the new color commentator. Just two months earlier, ECW ran its final show, but not many people (including the wrestlers themselves) knew where the company stood. Heyman was the leader of the brand, and had built the company's popularity in part by mocking the WWF and WCW. He finally sold out. The rebellion was now dead. Heyman pulled no punches, as he immediately let fans know that Lawler quit, and he was taking over. It was a one-two punch of shock as a beloved announcer was suddenly gone, and was replaced by one of the most unlikely candidates possible.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
