There are few in WWE history that can stamp their name into the record books without wrestling many matches. Most of the time, they are announcers like Jim Ross, Gene Okerlund, and Michael Cole, who come to mind immediately. Whether the WWE Universe agrees or not, those men will go down as one of the greatest WWE personalities of all-time. Another man on the list is Jerry “The King” Lawler.
Lawler is a part of WWE’s history as an entertainment business. He’s laced up his wrestling boots when need be, but his claim to fame is behind the announcer desk with Jim Ross on Monday Night Raw. Right after WWE confirmed SmackDown’s move to Thursday night, the WWE shook up the announcer teams for both shows.
According to PWInsider , there’s an update as to why the WWE removed Jerry Lawler from Monday Night Raw and it’s not the reason going around the WWE Universe.
“In an update on WWE’s decision to move Jerry “The King” Lawler to SmackDown , it’s being said that it wasn’t so much a demotion of any sorts, but rather it’s because they feel that having Lawler as a SmackDown commentator will make SmackDown look better and give it more of a ‘big time’ atmosphere like Raw .”
“WWE’s long term plan for SmackDown is to hopefully make it fairly equal to Raw again like it used to be years ago.”
The news came a week after Lawler was taken to the hospital for experiencing difficulties with his abdomen. It turned out that Lawler was suffering from diverticulitis, a disease Brock Lesnar underwent through much of his UFC career. “The King” has gone through many roadblocks in his life, including the infamous episode of Raw that saw him have a heart attack during the show.
Lawler is a fixture of WWE programming, and the move to Thursday nights doesn’t hurt his credibility. This writer’s opinion has Lawler actually helping the “blue brand” gain more popularity than it currently has. Remember, since the brand split ended a few years ago, SmackDown has been a very mediocre show. Aside from a few popular segments and live specials, SmackDown was nothing to write home about.
WWE moving Lawler over to Thursday is just the beginning of SmackDown’s revival. If the WWE listens to Daniel Bryan about him being the new face of Smackdown, they could finally compete with Monday Night Raw and have two grade-A shows. It will be the first time since the late-2000’s when Edge, CM Punk, the Undertaker and Jeff Hardy dominated SmackDown.
[Image via ringsidenews.com]
