Jerry Lawler 'It's Good To Be The King' DVD Review: 17 Interesting Observations

9. WWE Turned Down Andy Kaufman

A sign of the times or what? If such a star came to Vince McMahon and asked to be involved in the product today, he would be welcomed in with open arms. We all know how King is one of THE biggest names in the history of the business. Considering some of the names he stepped in the ring with, it's more than a little weird that his career is remembered for a feud with a comedian. Kaufman was a huge fan of Nature Boy Buddy Rodgers and wanted to become a pro. He was enamoured with the reaction those men in tights could get from a crowd and wanted to sample it for himself. So one night at Madison Square Garden, Kaufman approached journalist Bill Apter and said he'd loved to wrestle in the arena. Of course, the McMahons were running the New York area at the time so Apter put Kaufman in touch. Vince McMahon, speaking on the DVD, said the following (believe it or not): "We didn't see the wisdom involving someone like Andy Kaufman in our business. "Actually, not only didn't we see the wisdom in it, we frowned upon it." Truly shocking considering the sports entertainment hybrid that dominates the agenda today. Kaufman, despite the McMahon's protestations, was still very keen to get involved in the business so Apter put him in contact with his good friend Jerry 'The King' Lawler. Jerry jumped at the chance to get him involved with Memphis Wrestling. The rest, as they say, is history and the McMahon's were left with egg on their face as Andy, Jerry and a whole load of women took this wrestling angle out of Memphis and onto a national platform. It is still to this day arguably the biggest wrestling angle involving a non-wrestler. McMahon openly admitted his and his father's mistake when he comes back on screen and says: "That could have been us. "Jerry Lawler didn't have the right to do that. And so in any event, we became very jealous."