You Can Be Happy for Lawler the Person and Not Like Lawler the Announcer

Glad you're okay Jerry, but retire, please
Photo Credit: WWE.com

I for one am pleased that Jerry Lawler is healthy enough to come back to his job as color commentator for RAW. I thought he was toast when he suffered a heart attack at ringside in Montreal while calling the action, and given that Lawler is a legendary wrestling icon and a dude who, despite "liking them young," really seems like a non-scuzzball as far as wrestlers go, I didn't want to see him go out like that. I can't stress that enough. His presence on the show last night and last night alone was part of why the segment featuring him, CM Punk, Paul Heyman and Mick Foley worked as well as it did. His presence on the show was needed last night.

However, let's not get swept up in nostalgia here and pretend that Lawler coming back full time to his announce position is a good thing. I don't think I need to remind people how bad Lawler has been lately, and he gave us a few reminders last night with an oh-so-timely reference to "Puppies!" and gay-shaming Antonio Cesaro's European satchel. Yes, as if the fanny packs that wrestlers still carry around are any less woeful a fashion accessory.

I don't think I should have to pretend that Lawler did a good job last night because he just came back from his heart problems. It'd be a bigger disservice if I said I was glad he resumed the position when Jim Ross and Michael Cole were doing a far better job in the dual-hybrid commentator thing they had going for them. The three-man PPV booth was a lot better than it normally has been too with JBL in the third chair with Ross and Cole, save his weird, seemingly ad-libbed sexist diatribe during the Divas Championship match.

I also don't think that calling Lawler out on his inadequacies means that I wish ill will on him as a person. I'd think that if WWE was really concerned about him, they'd give him a sweet Legends deal with an everlasting option and trot him out when they're in Memphis or when they need him to speak Memphis to help a story going rather than making him travel even once a week, twice max.

I don't want to come off as cold or callous, but at the same time, I've gotten used to the uptick in quality in the WWE announce booth. Hell, even Cole has seemed better in the last month (and I don't think he was as bad as advertised outside of when his heel shtick reached its nadir of obnoxiousness). I think once people figure out how to reconcile both those feelings, we can get back to normal as a fanbase.