WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler joined the commentary booth on RAW this week, after a few weeks of staying away from announcing duties. This week’s episode was the first live episode in quite some time, and Lawler chose the wrong words to speak on the live broadcast.
Lawler’s return to programming was already a major talking point, as the 70-year-old has pre-existing heart conditions. Lawler suffered a cardiac arrest years ago during a live broadcast of Monday Night RAW. With the COVID-19 outbreak, it was rather surprising to see him take a flight over to Orlando for the show.
Adding to this, Lawler’s commentary during the Austin Theory-Akira Tozawa matchup caught the attention of the fans, leading to a major backlash on social media. Tozawa’s senton maneuver during the match was called as “Ramen Noodle Moonsault”, which the fans have since deemed racist.
Lawler has often been the man for controversy with his comments, and this one quickly turned into a huge mess. Lawler and “Ramen Noodle Moonsault” have been trending worldwide since last night’s show.
NXT Superstar Rachel Evers sent out a tweet during the show and said that being racist is not ok, which could be in reference to the comment made by the Hall of Famer. Fightful reported that Hulu is broadcasting the repeat of the red brand’s show with Lawler’s line edited out.
Lawler hasn’t responded to the controversy yet, but Jim Cornette chimed in earlier today to give his thoughts on the incident. He was rather critical of the modern wrestling fans, and said that they can’t appreciate the wrestling business without whining over every little thing.
Cornette himself is not a stranger to controversy over commentary calls, as he was fired by the NWA quite recently after a racist comment on wrestler Trevor Murdoch. He has often been critical of the current wrestling landscape and took this opportunity to let out his latest rant.
