Lawler is joined on today’s show by his co-host, Glenn Moore, and Jim Cornette.
Cornette opens the show by speaking about Lawler’s recent stroke. He urges Lawler to stop scaring us all with these health scares and Lawler laughs, noting that he hasn’t been doing it on purpose. Cornette adds that Lawler has kicked out from death a few times now, and it’s just incredible how he’s been able to recover from these cardiac events.
Cornette mentions that he was terrified to hear that Lawler had worked a recent match with Joey Ryan, who he’s had issues with in the past for the way he works wrestling matches. Cornette points out that some other very credible names like Mick Foley have recently worked with Ryan and have taken the “dick flip” spot, and he doesn’t know why these individuals sink to Ryan’s level. He assumes they just feel bad for Ryan.
When he heard that Lawler was working a match with Ryan, Cornette was annoyed that Lawler would even consider getting beaten by a penis. Lawler informs that when he showed up to the building that day he had no idea who he was going to work with, but when he arrived he was told he’d be wrestling Joey Ryan. Lawler immediately made it clear that he wouldn’t be taking the “dick flip” spot, especially since he was just recovering from a stroke.
The promoter had no issue with this, and asked Lawler if he could come up with any creative ways to work with Ryan. Lawler came up with the idea of shooting a fireball at Ryan’s penis, after Ryan spent some time portraying the Andy Kaufman character who Lawler worked with in Memphis decades ago. The spot went over perfectly and the audience loved it. After the spot the audience even chanted, “6-star match”.
Cornette points out that he had to watch the clip when he heard about it, and admits to laughing when Lawler shot Ryan’s penis with a fireball. He adds that it was no surprise to him Lawler was the performer to find the perfect way to work with Ryan. After watching the video Cornette was actually okay with how this spot played out, so he’s not going to be too critical of Lawler.
Cornette informs that he has major issues with certain things going on with the industry right now, specifically things like ” the imaginary man” or “the imaginary grenade” spots. He points out that these stupid spots live on forever in videos online, and when people find it they perceive wrestling to be hokey. He notes that it’s hard for the business to escape those stereotypes.
Moore points out that several years ago, Vince and Shane McMahon challenged Shawn Michaels and God on WWE programming. Lawler can’t even remember this even though he called the match, but notes that if anyone can beat God it’s Vince McMahon. Cornette jokes that you’d think McMahon would have booked God to win a few times instead of beating him in his WWE debut.
Lawler wonders if this was one of Vince Russo’s ideas, but Cornette informs that Russo had left WWE at that point. Regardless, Cornette points out that Russo had established a terrible pattern of programming in WWE by this time and the company continued to reach in order to match the level of nonsense after Russo left.
Moore asks Lawler and Cornette to guess the ticket price for WWE’s upcoming Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia. Cornette mentions that ticket prices have to be at a premium given how many Superstars are on this show. Moore informs that the cheapest tickets are actually $2 US, and even ringside seats (that aren’t open to the public) are only $60 US.
Moore also notes that full families will be presented in certain sections where they’ll be highlighted for WWE’s cameras. This was planned in order to show that the nation is becoming more open to sexual equality, yet at the same time, single women aren’t allowed to purchase tickets.
Cornette points out that some people are beginning to look at WWE as some sort of flag bearers for social justice. He suggests that since WWE are being paid handsomely for this event, they should just give each woman on the roster a healthy paycheque. Lawler says, “I think that’s exactly what’s happening”.
Moore wonders if Lawler will encounter any issues in Saudi Arabia due to his “King” gimmick. Lawler says that’s a good question, and he begins to question whether he’ll be allowed to portray his “King” gimmick there due to it possibly offending the Royal families there.
That sums up today’s episode of Dinner With the King. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!
