I knew people who knew that professional wrestling was fake but still thought the Andy Kaufman wrestling drama was real. Andy was really convincing. The slap from Lawler on Letterman was a significant part of that. Some people said that loud slap proved their conflict wasn't fake. It was a genius idea.
Andy was such a fantastic heel and did so much to legitimize pro wrestling back in a time when it wasn't "cool" to do it. He totally understood kayfabe and was just perfect at playing the role of the "uppity celebrity" heel. Jerry was the perfect foil for Andy, and it's great to not only know that they were friendly off-camera, but that Jerry still credits Andy for boosting both his career and pro wrestling as a whole. It would have been great to see where Andy would have taken things had he lived. I think he would have went full into wrestling, like Jerry said. Would have been awesome to see him come out as Tony Clifton to manage a heel wrestler. That was a perfect heel manager-type character.
I met Mr Lawler back in the very early 2000's. Super nice guy, incredibly gracious, really taking the time to answer my questions. Of course I asked him about Andy. I'll never forget that meeting, what a legend.
Jerry is KING...👑 Thank you for setting the record straight... I'm sure you had shed some tears behind closed doors in the past all the time keeping the curtain up in public about your true friendship with Mr. Kaufman...
I’d suggest watching Taxi, Andy was in this tv show and also check out the slap on David Letterman’s Show with Jerry and Andy in which EVERYONE thought was real lol. He was also on Saturday Night Live for a little while before he got kicked off. :P Man on the moon is also great! I’m old enough to have been around when Andy was doing these stunts and was a fan of him then as a child. It pleases to no end seeing younger people enjoying his act.
One of the craziest,funniest, most unique performers of all time… Tony Clifton, Taxi, the happening on Saturday nite live, the brilliant wrestling bit… funny as hell… he did one of the best Elvis impersonation of all time…
I wanna say that Jerry must have great genetics combined w really taking care of himself. If you watch man in the moon which came out in 99 that was like 20 years after the real Events and he looks great. In 20 years after that he look really good.. A lot of wrestlers even in their 40s don’t look so good Jerry did
After Andy's passing his wife went through his office and found every check Lawler and Jerrett gave Andy for all his performances, his fair cut of all the shows he was on, were all still there, Andy never cashed a single one.
The Kaufman Lawler show woke up Wrestling and Cable TV. The Entertainment value and the sold-out crowds in Memphis made wrestling into entertainment vs. some brawling sport. Kaufman took the Heel role to another level. Soon After, Vince McMahon told the New Jersey Gaming Commission that wrestling was entertainment, not a sport. 30 years later, Wrestling is a dominant player on cable TV.
I remember all of this when it was happening. It was quite a spectacle! Andy, already famous from Taxi, would be on late night talk shows, and he'd taunt women in general about being weak, and dare any woman from the audience to wrestle him. He'd eventually pin her and he'd then taunt some more. That seemed to be his schtick for a while but Lawler came into the picture. It was getting national attention that an actor and a professional wrestler had an ongoing beef. Then they wrestled, or more accurately Lawler mauled Andy, and the footage of it also made its rounds on entertainment news shows and late night talk shows because a professional wrestler did that to a famous actor. I remember the first time I saw the clip, I thought Lawler broke Andy's neck; it looked brutal! The aftermath was, was Lawler going to be in legal trouble? What's going to happen? Then the David Letterman thing happened. I remember tuning in because I was expecting them to bury the hatchet and all. After all, they had a big beef that played out in public that resulted in a bad injury for Andy, so this should be it, right? When they both sat next to each other on set, Lawler looked like a monster compared to Andy. Then the slap happened. Wow, that was one of the most shocking things I've seen happen on TV! National TV talk shows never lose control of their guests, but everyone just witnessed a real physical assault from a big professional wrestler to a guy half his size - it was crazy! I remember thinking, well Andy kinda had that coming lol. Then more chaos ensued with Andy being hysterical. Then that was it. Or so I thought. Fast forward almost 20 years and Man on The Moon came out and the scene came on that revealed that Andy and Lawler were in cahoots that whole time! Absolutely brilliant! You got us, Andy. You got us good!
Kaufman was so innovative and different as the “anti-comic” - a wild performer who just wanted to rile the crowd and keep everyone guessing. Nobody did what he did before or since. True, unique performance artist.
In 1985 Jerry Lawler and his wife came into my piano store in a mall in Clarksville Indiana. He was very nice but my step brother happened to be there at the too and he started in on Lawler not being a champion at all and how fake it was. The whole deal, insulting him the entire time he was there. He had just came in to buy a song book and was treated so badly. I tried to apologize to him and he acted like it was all ok. But I really felt lousy that he was treated that way in my store . He never lost his cool he just took it. A true gentleman. I kinda wish he could have gotten back at him somehow.
It's really sad Andy had to die when he did. And, yes, I think he really did die. It would of course be the ultimate joke to fake his death but it really did happen
So glad that Jerry was honest about how it was an entertainment stunt. Behind the scenes as showed in the film it was all an act. They were friends because it helped promote the wrestling business. Jerry was told not to give it away and Andy would have wanted people to believe it was Real when it was an act.
Vince McMahon sr turned down Andy Kaufman for the act Andy wanted to do because he felt it would make more people believe wrestling was fake by bringing in an actor. He was about kayfabe. Vince McMahon jr capitalized on the acting and encouraged it just look at the first wrestlemania. Andy and Lawler did something before their time. What they did and spread was genius for the wrestling world
I've been watching all your videos for the last couple days I and I was wondering why you haven't done a video of wrestlers who put over other wrestlers. For example when Andre the Giant put over hulk Hogan when he let him body slam him. Another example is when razor Ramon lets the 123 kid pin him.
Muhammad Ali adopted the same strategy of self-promotion in his career, creating the persona of the guy you love to hate... Ali said he wanted to provoke as many people as possible into paying money to come see him lose...
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Classic comedy....wrestling had a country reputation. The Country Club set was not going to wrestling nor are they going to encourage their publicity friends to glorify it. Too bad, it's a great comedy athletic and real guts show alot.
Not to get political- but some have written that Trump fashioned his whole presentation , branding, fanfare, hostilities etc -based on - this stuff. Not sure , but i can see it. And gee- what an irony if Trump was mimicking Andy.
Trump definitely is using Wrestling Heel tactics. It's no coincidence during his 2016 Campaign that Vince McMahon endorsed his campaign and when Trump won Vince's wife was given a spot in Trumps cabinet. Vinny Mac taught Trump how to perfect wrestling promos.
If you read and listen to what happened to Kauffman after wrestling he did get tossed from Saturday night live and he was lucky to finish out taxi and then he died. This is the problem with wrestling or the "fake" "scripted" wrestlers is that they will never (rarely) knock wrestling. Lawler didn't tell the truth about the movie or Kauffmans career (pertaining to what wrestling did to Kauffumans career). Thatsbecause they earn lots of money scripting a "sport." Image getting a director and producer and you and you fellow athletes (that couldn't play pro sports) and athletic friends (and I played at high levels) and know exactly, like a movie who wins, who loses and the like and get paid lots of money. That is what wrestling is at the pro level. Personally, I think once taxi was cancelled Andy may have did a few things but nothing major, more writing and production end than the talent end, because he didn't have any talent. God Bless brothers and sisters!!✝️✝️✝️
i think andy got snl vote before the lawler feud...i could be wrong andy was doing the wrestling of women on snl people didnt get it...because this was before wrestling went mainstream....which andy helped to happen the things that hurt andy's career were the bad movies he was put in hollywood didnt get him...till after his death
