WWE Hall of Famer and one of the biggest names in the history of Memphis Wrestling and one of the recognizable voices of the Attitude Era is no longer with World Wrestling Entertainment.
PWInsider is reporting that WWE declined to renew Lawler’s contract with the company. This ends a relationship that started at the end of 1992 when Lawler joined the company as a wrestler and a broadcaster.
The news of Lawler’s exit was reportedly met with surprise by people in the company, given that he’s been there so long and the fact that he almost died during a live Raw in 2012 after suffering a heart attack. One source in the company remarked that Lawler would have been taken care of under the Vince McMahon regime but we are now in a “new era.”
Another person was quoted in the PWInsider story as saying that “the old company is dead” and while people can dislike or hate Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn, someone like Lawler would have been taken care of and someone like Howard Finkel, if he was still alive, would not have a job in today’s WWE.
Lawler is said to be doing better since suffering a massive stroke in February 2024 and he has been doing select signings in the Memphis area. For what it’s worth, Jim Ross recently stated on his podcast that he would love to call one more match with Lawler. Now with Lawler out of WWE, that’s more of a possibility. It’s not clear though if AEW would be interested in bringing Lawler in. During the early days of AEW, Ross was pushing to bring in Lawler but WWE offered The King a new deal.
Prior to his stroke, Lawler would be brought in for guest spots and he would be featured in WWE PLE pre-show panels.