Legend reveals why Jerry Lawler was not allowed on magazine cover (Exclusive)
Legendary wrestling reporter Bill Apter recently recalled how Jerry Lawler was once rejected from a magazine cover earlier in his career.
Lawler is among the most well-known commentators and wrestlers of the last four decades. In 1981, however, the WWE Hall of Famer had not yet become a worldwide name when he fought Terry Funk to a no-contest in an Empty Arena match in Memphis.
Apter appeared on the latest episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Time Machine with host Mac Davis and wrestling legend Teddy Long. He said Lawler wanted the match to feature on magazine covers, but the idea backfired due to his lack of fans outside Memphis:
"With the magazines, Jerry was so wanting to get publicity, he used to send me packages of pictures every week from his photographers there," Apter stated. "He even did, this was for the magazine, a lot of people don't know this, remember that Empty Arena match that he had with Terry Funk? Empty Arena. That was done so he could get on the cover of the magazine, and the publisher of the magazine refused to put it on the cover because nobody knew, in his opinion, who Jerry Lawler was back then." [2:43 – 3:16]
Watch the video above to hear the panel discuss Hulk Hogan's claim that he received a message from Roddy Piper after the wrestler passed away.
How WWE legend Jerry Lawler could have been a cover star
In the 1970s and 1980s, Bill Apter wrote for magazines long before wrestling news websites became fans' number one source of information.
Apter believes Jerry Lawler would have had a better chance of landing a magazine cover had he worked for WWE at the time.
"It [Memphis Wrestling] was a regional promotion. Had that been done in New York or in WWF [WWE] or something, it would have been a great cover shot, but it wound up inside," said Apter. [3:16 – 3:27]
In 1992, Lawler joined WWE as a commentator and occasional wrestler. News recently broke that the 74-year-old is no longer under contract with the company as a broadcaster.
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