Per an article in Variety, WWE will be inducting Andy Kaufman into this year’s Hall Of Fame class.
Kaufman was a beloved comedian in the 70s and 80s and many fans would remember him from his run on the “Taxi” series from 1978 until 1983.
Wrestling fans may best remember him for his feud with Jerry “The King” Lawler on Memphis wrestling in 1983. Kaufman would come out to the ring and wrestle matches against women that he picked out from the crowd. The heel heat led to him being booked on more shows and ultimately taking a piledriver from Lawler. The biggest moment from the feud happened on David Letterman’s NBC Late Night show where Lawler slapped Kaufman. The feud was chronicled in the 1999 “Man on the Moon” movie with Jim Carrey portraying the role of Kaufman.
Kaufman never worked for WWE but as the story goes, he first approached Vince McMahon, Sr. about his idea to wrestle women to generate heat. McMahon passed on the offer and, thanks to Bill Apter, Kaufman was introduced to Lawler and the rest is history. The names announced so far are Rey Mysterio, The Great Muta, and Kaufman. Stacy Keiber is not yet announced but she is 100 percent locked in. Dave Bautista will not be inducted this year because of a schedule conflict.
