I was transferring planes in the Las Vegas airport when they pushed a man in a wheelchair past me. I noticed he was wearing a Jerry “the King” Lawler hat. Then I realized—that was Jerry “the King” Lawler!
Memphis-born professional wrestling Hall of Famer and friend of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lawler was probably most famous for his feud with comedian Andy Kaufman in the 1980s. After Kaufman died, Lawler admitted that the whole feud had been staged, and that he and Kaufman were actually good friends.
Lawler even introduced me once, as a guest MC at the Ponderosa Stomp in 2006, the year that the festival temporarily relocated from New Orleans to Memphis after Hurricane Katrina.
By the time I realized I had seen the real Jerry Lawler, he was long gone. Even though this is Las Vegas and you should expect to see anything at the Las Vegas airport, I was not prepared to see seventy-five-year-old Jerry Lawler being pushed in a wheelchair through the crowd. What a trip!
