The Run-In #19

I want to preface all of this by saying that I'm glad that Jerry Lawler is OK. I was half-watching Raw and talking to my wife when he had his heart attack live on TV a few weeks back, and sat in a dumbfounded stupor during the rest of that show (as were many of my compadres). Knowing how active he is both with the WWE and for independent feds around the country, even though he doesn't drink or do drugs, at 62 he might be running a bit too hard. So I have to ask: is it too soon?

This came up because he's already taking bookings over the next few weekends. He has a show this weekend that he was supposed to be wrestling at, but the thought is he'll just be doing commentary. He was also booked to wrestle Sid Vicious on Saturday, but who knows what he'll be doing at that booking. Let me ask you: if you just suffered a pretty serious heart attack, one that you escaped merely because the hospital was so close to the arena, would you be back to work so soon?

I don't like beating those drums. I don't want to hobble the horse and put it out to pasture. I don't want to see the man stop earning a living, but he's been with the WWE for a decade and a half now. Surely he's got enough guap just from his work with the WWE to live life right now - right? It can't be a need of loot that's driving him to continue working. What is it?

Pride? Pride can be a mother. So many stars spoil their spotlight by continuing to eek out praise and approval well past their prime, and the wrestling industry suffers from it almost worse than others. There's no reason I've had to see Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair wrestle at ALL over the past decade. None. It never draws as much as you'd like it to, and you only get frustrated at how good "the old days" truly were. And the wild part is, there are ways to get around it. Like with what Lawler does for the WWE...

Except for when he gets in the ring. Just because he can still go, doesn't mean he should. He's been fine (for the most part) in his role on the mic providing commentary on Raw - why do we need him to face the heel champ of the year in a random feud? Why does he need to wrestle on the weekend? It has to be that feeling I hear wrestler talk about, the charge they receive from the crowd. Maybe his drug of choice is attention, the kind he can only get from a white-hot crowd, cheering him on.

It's sad, because the last thing I want to see - or worse, want my son to see - is someone who's past their prime dying on live TV. No WWE, I won't pay for that. Figure out how to keep people employed doing what they should be doing, not writing them into pointless feuds that could jeopardize their health.