Jerry Lawler's WWE Contract Expiring This Week?

Could the King be hanging up his WWE crown?

by Andrew Pollard
Jerry Lawler
WWE

As we now enter into 2021, it looks as if one WWE icon’s time with Vince McMahon’s sports entertainment behemoth may be coming to a close.

Picked up on by The Sportster, a 2019 episode of Jerry Lawler’s Dinner with the King podcast saw the WWE Hall of Famer reveal that his WWE contract is due to expire on 8 January 2021 – as in, in just a matter of days.

On that particular pod offering, the King explained how he actually had to remind the company that his contract was due to expire in January ’19, which in turn prompted them to offer Lawler a two-year extension and a raise.

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Of course, 2019 was a time when WWE was offering huge money to any and all personnel as a way to tie them down to lengthy contracts that would keep them away from the admiring glances of AEW.

Last year was a vastly different one for WWE, as the company fired over 100 members of staff, ranging from wrestlers, to producers, to referees, to office employees. With reports over the weekend of how WWE has recently made “disappointing” lowball contract offers to several talents, it’s clear that the company is being shrewder with the deals being offered out now.

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Given how Jerry Lawler had to remind WWE that his previous deal was expiring, combined with WWE’s cutbacks and the sparse use of Lawler on WWE programming these days, it remains to be seen whether the King will be offered a contract renewal – and if so, whether said offer would be anywhere close to what Lawler is accustomed to.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.