The Kaufman Lawler Feud: Chapter 13 - In Studio and Against Jimmy 

I'm from the Memphis area. This was the biggest homerun in wrestling history. Pure gold!!!

Only Andy could get a crowd cheering for Jimmy Hart. Love him or hate him Kaufman was one of the greatest heels ever.

there is no form of entertainment better than old school wrestling, kaufman knew it too

better than any WWE show right now

Kaufman was a genius. They said wrestling ruined his career, but I disagree. It was his final frontier.

I never realized how important Jimmy Hart was to the Lawler vs. Kaufman feud until now.

I've seen this a hundred times and still laugh. Andy was a genius. The way he incited the crowds.."I'LL SUE YOU ALL!!!" 🤣

You can tell Andy was in his element. He loved this more than working in Hollywood in Taxi. I really believe he loved Memphis and he would've continued just to have fun. Miss the guy.

If you grew up watching this on Saturday mornings then you had an awesome childhood....such memories..this is like 100000000 times better than what we see on Monday and Tuesday nights

The greatest heel in the history of professionally wrestling. Period. No one did it better. No one sold it better. No one was more authentic. He gave the audience exactly what they wanted: someone to loathe and hate, with a passion.

I grew up 80 miles from Memphis. I’m 62 and still live 80 miles from Memphis. First watched wrestling with my great grandfather. I even watched wrestling with my grandmother. They would both yell at the bad guys and offer advice and encouragement to the ones they liked. I recall one match where the ROAD WARRIORS ran out of the dressing room, slid under the ropes, beat the compound hell out of the other guys and walked back to the dressing room WITHOUT the bell starting the matched ever being rung. My grandmother never said one word. I asked why she didn’t offer advice or help and she said “ they didn’t act like they needed it”.

So crazy that Andy was actually working road shows for a week for this angle.

Easily one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t stop giggling after I noticed Jimmy and Andy acting so tough while keeping Lance Russel directly between them.

Absolutely brilliant. Andy, Jimmy, et al. What a great performance. When this happened in 1983, everyone believed this was real. It was great.

There is NO ONE out there nor will there EVER BE another person who got more women to watch wrestling than Kaufman did.

Incredible. This art form is never coming back.

"You slapped me in front of 355,000 people out here!!!" I loved Jimmy!

Kaufman was a genius. the wrestling bit was pure genius.

Kaufman cuts a better promo than most of the WWE roster today and generated more heat than any current heal.

It's so obvious now how much Andy Kaufmann loved the wrestling bad guy shtick.

RIP Andy Kaufman and Lance Russell

Kaufman really is the master of trolling. Perfect for wrestling.

Kaufman's whole act was as a wrestling heel. He worked hard to get heat from the audience, even as a comedian

3:33 “HE’S PICKIN’ HIS NOSE!!!” 😂 6:30 I love that little smile on Andy’s face that starts to show up when he’s about to leave and him catching it just in time to turn it into a snarl.

way..waaaaaayyyy ahead of his time....

I love how Andy never came out of character lmao. He really pushed people to their limits , even the closest of friends and his family had to question what was real and what wasn't. Then you know you're good if you can do that!!

Kauffman was a genius. Man I miss this era of comedy. The best ever. Belushi, Kauffman, Akroyd, Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx etc. This was when comedy was at its finest.

Arguably the greatest heel of all time. Kaufman played this to the hilt. There is no question he should be in the WWE HOF. When I was stationed at NAS Millington down the road from Memphis for a few months, this was awesome to watch.

Classic old school villain Andy truly was a fan of wrestling

Those matches brought in sell out crowds, that was wrestling greatest time ever.

The greatest heel ever was. He wasn't a professional wrestler but showed the professional wrestling world how you really draw heat.

The story goes (if I'm recalling it correctly) that after Taxi was canceled Kaufman set his plan into motion to get involved in wrestling as he was a lifelong fan (since childhood)...He had his co-stars from Taxi give snipet interviews on different cable tv shows how he was trying to become a wrestler and that he had bought wrestling tights, set up a wrestling ring in his garage, and was suffering some mental illness because he was watching wrestling 24/7 and taking classes (I remember Robin Williams, Marilu Henner, and Tony Danza all contributing to this farse)... The story continued that Kaufman approached Vince McMahon Sr about getting involved and Vince Sr pretty much told him he had nothing available BUT he had just sent Lawler down to Memphis to try and consolidate the SouthEast (bring the different factions together as I recollect) and that maybe Lawler had some ideas...So he/Kaufman (or Kaufman/Lawler together) hatched this brilliant idea about Kaufman becoming the "Inter-Gender" Champion by way of wrestling women from the crowd and proclaiming himself "the best"...So in his final "Inter-Gender" match against Foxy Brown Lawler decided he was going to be in her corner and when things got going hot and heavy Kaufman started to get into Lawlers face and the PUSH that sent Kaufman flying halfway across the ring started THE FEUD...Supposedly ticket sales went through the roof and by all accounts that was true... Everyone was talking Kaufman vs Lawler and what a terrific time it was for fans...It has been revealed that Kaufman never cashed a single check from SE Network Wrestling (or from Vince Sr/or Lawler) but did it for the love of the sport...Just wanted to be involved and was he ever...I think Chapter #'s 13 and 15 are my favorites out of the entire collection...Later on AWA Chair Vern Gagne grabbed Larry Szybizco? for his heel which I still feel was spun out of Kaufman's success (but Larry was good in his own right as well)...Too bad we still don't have Kaufman with us here today...Tough loss looking back so many years ago...

"......... nobody slaps me in my hometown." Lollllll

Have we ever talked about how fucking awesome Jimmy Hart was?

I imagine that the wrastling bad guy stuff appealed huge to Kaufman's nature. And who better than the King to pull off a good show. RIP Andy, and thanks Jerry for one of the best spoof's of the modern era.

Agreed, this is the first time I've gotten to watch the feud in such detail, Kaufman seems so comfortable in his role, as if he was born to be the greatest heel in wrestling history.

lance is the rock of gibraltar of credibility. he's so humble and credible and passive you'd have to presume everything was on the level

this is truly a lost era in television. Back then there was so much less to work with they had to make it better.

“If you don’t mind, mister Hollywood..!”😂

It is such a shame that Andy died so young. He would have been a great heel manager for decades no matter what wrestling organization he was in. I almost fell out of my chair when he started talking in a southern accent telling them to go back to their farms and plow the feilds, calling them dumb hicks.

Pure solid gold. I love how the cop is even laughing along with the crowd. :)

Andy really knew how to work the crowd, he was the original troll.

All these guys deserve an Academy Award for this genius

he is better than any other celebrity that stepped foot in wrestling

Best heel ever..that is working the crowd

GOD I remember all this craziness. I grew up right in the middle of the Memphis area. My great-uncle was a Jeweler in Blytheville Arkansas and very good friends with Eddie Marlon. He created the first Southern Heavy Weight title belts. His name was Bill McCaughey if anyone wants to check it out. I went to every match at the Armory on Friday nights. Dave Brown was the Ron Burgundy of Memphis weathermen.......lol.

Hilarious...!! - I remember watching ''tis live . Yes, I'm a "Mamphis hick"

I remember at the time the whole country was saying, "What in the hell is going on?" lol

Cuts a better promo than any wrestler of the past 10 years

folks who didn't grow up with Memphis wrestling can't conceive how much andy kaufman was really hated. I mean his life was actually in danger many times from fans that wanted to KILL him; that is not hyperbole. I mean, in a few minutes, he got this studio crowd to cheer for . . . jimmy hart! . . . the most hated heel in Memphis at the time!

Those slaps while Hart was trying to talk!!!!! Lmao hahahaha this is great.

I think this was a dream fulfillment of Andy's. Loving every moment.

Kaufman was a genius , once in a lifetime performance artist.

“I’LL WALK RIGHT OUT OF HERE!” 😂 R.I.P.🙏❤️

5:45 - "And I will sue you, I will sue Hart, I will sue Lawler, I will sue everybody....I'll sue you all!"

Man ............. this is definitely the best wrestling entertainment I've seen in 25 years . I was just a kid when this first aired but I remember it like it was just yesterday

Really wish the Jim Carrey movie covered this more. Holy crap this dude was the best heel ever who had never wrestled before. Love it

I remember watching this as a kid. Kaufman was the ultimate heel!

I'm a Northerner who was unable to get these great wrestling matches back in the day. Thank goodness for RU-vid. I could just imagine a match between A US wrestler versus a North Korean. Lance Russell interviewing a relative of the supreme commander? That would be great.

This was the greatest angle ever in pro wrestling.

this is light years better then WWE RAW these days.

"I charge again, and Lawler knocks me into next week . . . " LOL

I was so lucky to have grown up in the Memphis/Mid-South area. I saw this as it happened. If you can find it watch the Documentary Memphis Heat.

greatest moment in wrestling. Why can't today's wrestling be as emotional as those days?

Great memories watching this again. You know it's good if Jimmy Hart is getting cheers.

This is best glory wrestling Andy Kaufman was the funniest heel bad guy wrestler and legend this is better than WWE and WCW 2000 era and I'm from Hollywood is Kaufman legacy career I miss Kaufman R.i.P he can be the joker

i swear to god this is 1 of the funniest videos i have ever seen. Who is that southern guy with the bears n the white suit. omfg, comedic genius. Nobody slaps me in my hometown!!

The Kaufman Lawler routine was and still is pure entertainment.

The powers that be in the WWE should take note on this. Story lines today can't even come close. & to this day, the Lawler/Kaufman story line is still talked about. How much you wanna bet that people still believe it's real?

He was excellent on the mic. SHUT UP OR I'LL LEAVE!!! LOL And you know that when he did that accent and called them hicks there was some old hicks in the crowd taking offense!!

this is how your friendliest seeming celebrities are behind the scenes. andy had the guts to be authentic on camera

Jimmy Hart was better in Memphis than WWF because they used him more. This was just brilliant.

Andy was a comedic genius!

I'm from hollywood..classic

Dammit, I love Lance Russell.

The best part is 98 percentage of audience thinks this was real

The ONLY studio brawl where Lance actually physically intervened. 😂😂😂

"I look back and he's picking his nose man"...LMAO

The best show I have ever seen. That fight was epic. Andy was the best.

You know what's funny. Kaufmann was the actor but Hart outshone him. "He slapped me in front of 350,000 people!"

How awesome Wrestling is choreography it is Ballet and it also takes toughness to take it every night the bumps and bruises it is not fake it is a work and they did a hell of a job on this thank you.

Jimmy Hart getting a round of applause lol

"Why don't ya go plow the fields, ya Meeeeeyemmmphiyiiiiiiiiiis hicks!" Andy loved Memphis--his hero Elvis was from there. But he's not wrong about the South in general lol.

Poor Kaufman, its sad he died. He would have been successful at anything, but he loved wrestling so much, he would have done that for decades more, he's such a great heel.

i wish they would re-run all the saturday wrestling in order it happened, i would plan my saturdays around channel 5 wresting again. it was fake but it was great entertainment. something we dont have today.

Andy loved this stuff

At 3:59 that shit was funny as hell

3:35 hahaha andy was about to spill

Don’t know which was better,Von Erich’s,or this feud

the commentary on the wrestling match was hilarious.

Andy Kaufman was a legend in his time. R.I.P. Andy.

Yes that was me and yes I'm from Hollywood and yes I'm alive and well and thank you very much

When you anger the crowd and other wrestlers it’s called making heat, Andy was good at it. The iron sheik was the best at creating heat.

' nobody slaps me in my hometown ' lol this was storytelling and how wrestling was great loved Lawler vs Kaufman

ANDY WAS GREAT,LISTEN TO THE POP FORM THE PEOPLE THEY HATED HIM.

Kaufman promos are so funny. If Kaufman went to the wwf in 1985 as a manager it would have been great. ,

Austin Idol is the best tough wrestler alive baby Andy kaufman and Jerry Lawler they put together an amazing wrestling history still old school wrestling back in the days can't beat by wwe and AEW and impact wrestling of today not in 2022 2023 and above that long live Andy kaufman rest in peace ☮️ I'm a real fan of Kaufman the greatest legend Bad Guy heel ever

THIS was the true Golden Age of Pro Wrestling.

this was unreal prob the only time lance and dave got between the wrestlers pure gold

The greatest ruse in the history of wrestling -still hilarious and amazing today!