WWE News: Jerry Lawler Returning For 2017 ‘Royal Rumble’

When it comes to WWE announcers, Jerry Lawler had one of the most enjoyable moments in Royal Rumble history. Lawler was at the commentator’s table when his name was called as an entrant in the 1997 Royal Rumble. Lawler said, “it takes a King” and then went into the ring and was immediately eliminated by Bret “The Hitman” Hart. Lawler then returned to the announcer’s table and said, “to know a King.” Lawler then made comments about how the wrestlers were lucky he wasn’t in the Royal Rumble, pretending his entrance never happened.

There is a chance that could happen again this year. WrestleZone reported that Jerry Lawler would join the announcers for the 2017 Royal Rumble from San Antonio. The announcement was actually made on Talking Smack as Renee Young said that Lawler would join Michael Cole and Corey Graves as the announcers for the big match.

Jerry Lawler has been off WWE television since the Survivor Series pre-show event. Both Lawler and Lita were removed from the panels in a cost-cutting measure. As The Inquisitr previously reported, Lawler’s contract expired this month, and it sounds like he came to a new agreement with the WWE.

While that might not be the case, as no new contract has been officially announced, the WWE said at the time that Jerry would only appear for special events like the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.

“Jerry Lawler has a Legends agreement with WWE, however, he will no longer regularly appear on our pre-shows. He will continue to host special events, including WWE’s annual Hall of Fame celebration at WrestleMania.”

However, Jerry actually made his WWE return this week on SmackDown Live. Part of the reason that he appeared on Talking Smack after the show was because of an in-ring angle that he took part in with Dolph Ziggler.

Jerry brought back his King’s Court segment, and his guest was Dolph Ziggler. Lawler showed video of Ziggler losing last week to Kalisto and asked why he was making a change and turning heel. Ziggler wasn’t happy about the conversation and turned combative.

Ziggler then turned up the heat. As the WWE reported, Dolph hit below the belt when he mentioned a match he had with Lawler from two years ago. It was after that match that Jerry Lawler suffered a heart attack on the air. He said that Lawler still blames him for the heart attack.

Jerry Lawler refused to back down and said that it didn’t matter how many times that Ziggler changed his attitude, he will always be a loser. That is when Dolph superkicked Lawler square in the chest, calling to memory the heart attack from two years ago. JBL came into the ring to help Lawler, but Ziggler just walked out.

It was after SmackDown Live that Renee Young announced that Jerry Lawler would be announcing at the Royal Rumble. There is no way that the WWE sets up this angle and adds Jerry to the announce team for the Royal Rumble without paying it off with something happening between Lawler and Ziggler.

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Before the WWE allows Jerry Lawler to compete again in the ring, he would have to pass a physical and prove that there is no danger of another heart attack. Of course, the WWE won’t let anyone get physically involved in the ring without passing a physical, so Lawler had to pass something for the Ziggler angle to happen.

The Royal Rumble takes place on Sunday, Jan. 29, from San Antonio, Texas. It starts at 7 p.m. EST on the WWE Network.

[Featured Image by WWE]