Jerry Lawler billed himself as "The King" of wrestling during his prime mostly in the Memphis, Tennessee area. He was a booker, promoter and top star from the 1970s and 1980s until he became a regular in WWE in the early 1990s. He was actually working in Memphis still while he was in WWE too. The reason Lawler sued WWE was because stared their own "King of Wrestling" type of gimmick with Harley Race in 1986. Race was a huge star working outside of WWE, so Vince McMahon figured it would be a good way to bring him into the company. Apparently Lawler didn't like it especially when WWE was in Tennessee and he ended up suing them. Here's how Lawler explained it: "I filed a lawsuit when they ran a show in Jackson, Tennessee. I sued Vince McMahon and the WWE for trademark infringement, claiming I was the king of wrestling in the state of Tennessee. And I actually won the case. I think Vince really respected that. It didn't make him mad. I think he got a kick out of it." There are no details about how much he sued WWE for and how much they paid him, but they still kept on using the king gimmick in WWE for a few years after that. Randy Savage was the heel Macho King too. Of course once Lawler showed up in WWE he had a natural feud with Bret Hart when he was the inaugural King of the Ring in 1993.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
