Jerry “The King” Lawler said he is still under WWE contract, revisited his role in shaping Vince McMahon’s first heel character in Memphis, and gave an update on his health following a right knee replacement during an interview featured on a recent episode of Going Ringside, the wrestling podcast hosted by News4Jax’s Scott Johnson.
Lawler, 76, opened the interview talking about his recovery from knee surgery and the toll his recent health issues have taken on day-to-day life.
“Doing fine. Doing great. Looking around, there’s this big crowd, and it’s awesome to see all these people here,” Lawler said. “I’m just sort of hobbling around right now. I just had a knee replacement, my right knee, and it’s doing good, but it’s a little bit hobbling here and there.”
Lawler has suffered multiple strokes in recent years, including in 2018, February 2023, and most recently in September 2025. He told Johnson that life at home has been the hardest part of his recovery.
“I seem to be doing pretty well. People just see me like this, but at home, I live by myself, and it’s a little tough there right now, but it seemed to get, seemed to get better.”
Asked about his WWE commentary contract, Lawler confirmed he is still signed but acknowledged that returning to commentating right now is not realistic for him.
“It’s not good for [commentating] right now, but I’m still under contract with them.”
Lawler then revisited the start of his WWE tenure in 1992, the working arrangement that allowed him to continue performing in the Memphis-based United States Wrestling Association at the same time, and his often-discussed role in shaping Vince McMahon’s first heel character.
“He agreed to bring me into WWE and still let me work in USWA. As a matter of fact, the first time Vince ever became a heel, he came down to Memphis and worked against me, and nobody else saw it.”
Asked directly whether he trained McMahon to be a heel, Lawler said: “Sort of. He learned a little bit from me there.”
McMahon’s 1993 appearances on USWA television in Memphis, where he played a villainous outsider opposite Lawler in a series of angles and skits, are widely credited as the foundational work for the “Mr. McMahon” character that would later become the WWE’s defining heel figure during the Attitude Era.
On becoming what many fans consider one of the greatest color commentators in wrestling history, Lawler said the broadcast career was never the goal. He wanted to wrestle.
“Of course, no, no, no, I didn’t know that. This has been since 1992 that I’ve been there. So I just did it every day, every week, every week, and it’s just something that I was doing. I wasn’t thinking about just making me the greatest or anything. I was just doing it on a daily basis, because I wanted to wrestle more than commentating.”
On his longtime broadcast partner Jim Ross, who is now the lead commentator for AEW, Lawler said the two still keep in touch.
“I do. JR, I mean, you know, I try to touch with him as much I can. I have not talked to him since I’ve been down here to this day, but I talked to him last week.”
Asked about his on-air chemistry with Trish Stratus during her WWE run, Lawler offered a more measured view of the actual relationship.
“You know what, it’s good that you think that, and it’s good to hear you say that. But we really had no relationship with her. I mean, what you saw on TV was just what was going on. She was not around there that much, but I thought the world of her. A couple times when she just started, she rode with me on a couple trips, and she was fun to be around. She just went on to be big, big, big.”
Lawler said the knee replacement has put him back on the road for autograph signings and conventions.
“It’s easy to be around because of my health, not having to travel very much, but now I’m back where, with my knee replaced, I’m traveling more…I’m doing something every weekend.”
Johnson noted at the close of the segment that Lawler has continued making health progress since the interview was recorded. Lawler was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 and has been with the company in some capacity for over three decades.
Where To Listen
Going Ringside is hosted by Scott Johnson and produced by News4Jax. New episodes are available on the Going Ringside YouTube channel and on Spotify.
