Dinner With the King Recap w/ Jeff Jarrett – Lawler’s WWE Contract, Jarrett’s “Good Train-wreck”, Will Smackdown be WWE’s #1 Show? More!

Lawler is joined on today’s show by his co-host, Glenn Moore.

Lawler informs that he’s planning a big event at his bar on Beale Street in Memphis. He’s setting up a ring outside the bar and planning a match between two UFC fighters and two professional wrestlers. UFC President,  Dana White will be in attendance, as the event will be taped for White’s “Looking for a Fight” television show.

Moore asks Lawler if he had to ask WWE’s permission to be on this show, but Lawler informs that he didn’t. He adds that he’s always been under contract with WWE, the same contract since 1993 to be exact. He just does different things for the company now. He notes that Jim Ross is in a similar boat in regards to his contract situation with WWE.

Lawler talks about the news that Smackdown will be moving to FOX in 2019. FOX and WWE reached a deal for Smackdown’s television rights this past week which will pay WWE over $1 Billion through the 5-year term. Moore asks Lawler if he thinks WWE will rest on their laurels, but Lawler doesn’t think anyone has that mindset at WWE. He notes that Vince McMahon didn’t become a Billionaire by resting on his laurels.

Lawler mentions that having a show air on FOX is a huge deal for WWE, because FOX reaches a huge audience in the United States and FOX can promote WWE during their other programming such as football games. He adds that these two factors could really help Smackdown, and it wouldn’t surprise him if Smackdown actually became WWE’s #1 show over time.

Moore questions whether Vince McMahon would ever allow Smackdown to become WWE’s number 1 show since RAW has always been his baby. Lawler doesn’t think McMahon prefers one show over the other because he wants both shows to succeed. Lawler also doesn’t think McMahon will ever ride off into the sunset with his Billions of dollars. He thinks McMahon truly loves what he does, working 24 hours a day to improve WWE.

Lawler responds to people who criticize WWE. He notes that these critics represent a small portion of the audience and he thinks it’s sad that they have so much free time that they decide to sit in front of their computers and complain about WWE all day. He adds that whatever WWE is doing is working, so they’re making all of those critics eat their words on a daily basis.

Lawler welcomes Jeff Jarrett to the show.

Jarrett informs that he had so much fun at the WWE Hall of Fame, especially singing “With My Baby Tonight” with Road Dogg after his induction. He informs that they rehearsed their performance during the day, but things didn’t necessarily go as planned when they performed the song during the ceremony. Nonetheless, he thought it was a “good train-wreck” to watch live.

Jarrett notes that it’s actually quite a long song, running approximately 4 and a half minutes. Lawler informs that his sarcastic remark at the end of their performance actually came directly from Vince McMahon. Lawler said that the Country Music Hall of Fame called, and they banned Jarrett and Road Dogg for life.

Lawler asks Jarrett if he remembers the first promo he cut on The Jerry Lawler show many years ago. Lawler jokes that nobody remembers what they did on the Jerry Lawler show, but Jarrett says that he does remember that promo. He recalls staring at the question on a piece of paper that he was set to respond to, and it was a fan question that addressed his lack of size at that time.

Lawler informs that a lot of talents had trouble cutting promos back in that day. Jarrett points out that cutting promos could be very uncomfortable in those days. Promos were often cut in a backstage area with a bunch of peers watching you in the background. Most performers just wanted to get the promos over with, and often times that would lead to people rushing and having to do multiple takes. Lawler recalls certain performers requiring 10-15 takes just to get a good take of their promo.

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!