Dinner With the King Recap – Addressing Paige Rumours, Vince McMahon Pranks, Importance of Mic Skills, More!

Lawler is joined on today’s show by his co-host, Glenn Moore.

Lawler opens today’s show by addressing certain headlines that were written after last week’s show. He says that some wrestling websites wrote stories about him getting Paige’s number while backstage at Smackdown recently, but he says that was taken completely out of context. He didn’t ask her for her number, rather they took a picture together and he simply asked her to text it to him.

Moore mentions that it’s been 20 years since King of the Ring 1998, and the famous Hell in A Cell match between Mick Foley and The Undertaker. Lawler mentions that when he watched the tape back of Foley’s iconic fall, it was as if he was almost in shock at the commentary table. Ross did the majority of the talking during and after Foley’s fall, and Lawler was only able to squeeze in an audible gasp or two. Lawler adds that he was even more shocked by Foley’s second fall, when Undertaker chokeslammed him through the top of the cage.

He mentions that Foley was able to control the dive from the top somewhat, but he had no control at all when the top of the cage broke and he went soaring down to the ring mat, landing on his neck. Lawler thought that Foley might have been dead after that fall. He notes that he and Ross were certainly concerned but they had to remain in character. There was no sense for them to take their headsets off, break character, and run to the ring to check on their friend because medical personnel were on the scene.

Lawler says it still catches him off guard when fans thank him for what he’s done in the business. He notes that Mick Foley is someone who fans should be thanking because Foley sacrificed his health for years to entertain fans. He meets up with Foley from time to time and it’s evident that Foley has some trouble getting around, and he wonders now if Foley regrets some of the bumps he took throughout his career.

Moore asks Lawler if Vince McMahon ever ribbed talents in WWE. Lawler laughs and notes that McMahon ribs talents all the time. He mentions that McMahon is famous for pushing talents into swimming pools during meetings. On one occasion he and McMahon were walking past a huge fountain near Caesar’s Palace and he saw McMahon charging at him in an attempt to knock him into the pool. Lawler saw him coming and moved out of the way, resulting in McMahon falling into the fountain.

Moore asks Lawler if there’s any truth to the rumours that McMahon doesn’t like sneezing. Lawler laughs, noting that McMahon doesn’t like having sick people around him. He also recalls McMahon getting a kick out of people falling asleep during production meetings. If he noticed someone asleep during a meeting he’d stop the meeting, walk up to the person and slam a book next to their head in order to scare them.

Lawler informs that one time before RAW McMahon tried to pass gas in the backstage area in order to make Gerald Brisco stomach sick. Unfortunately, McMahon had an accident in his pants instead and was forced to work RAW like that. Lawler mentions that cameras weren’t allowed to film below McMahon’s waist that night. Moore asks Lawler if he’s ever had an accident like that in the ring, and Lawler says everyone’s had a little accident from time to time.

Moore asks Lawler who he travelled with in WWE. Lawler mentions that he had several travelling partners over the years but he spent a lot of time driving with his commentary partner, Jim Ross. He notes that Ross used to be a chainsmoker and they’d have to stop quite frequently for him to smoke, and that was the only thing he didn’t like about travelling with Ross.

Next, Moore asks Lawler if he considers any specific performers overrated. Lawler says he doesn’t really consider any performer he’s worked with overrated. Some people say that certain performers aren’t the greatest in-ring technicians, but in his opinion the ability to talk is even more important than the ability to work in the ring. He thinks a great talker with average in-ring skills will have more opportunities to be a star than an average talker with great in-ring skills.

He points out that guys like Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Steve Austin were all fantastic talkers, and the ability to entertain played more of a role in their stardom than their in-ring abilities. He considers himself to be in that category as well.

That sums up this week’s episode of Dinner With the King. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!