Backstage Reason for Jerry "The King" Lawler's Move to "Smackdown"

Thursday night, it was announced WWE would be making several changes to its announcing teams, in a move that surprised many. After a trial run this past week on “RAW,” WWE decided to stick with the team of Michael Cole, John “Bradshaw” Layfield and Booker T going forward as its “A” team.

With that, the company opted to move longtime-“RAW” announcer Jerry “The King” Lawler off Monday nights and on to Thursdays for “Smackdown.” Lawler will be teamed with Cole and newcomer Byron Saxton, who replaces Tom Phillips.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, WWE has had plans to move Lawler for some time.

Meltzer revealed on the message board for F4WOnline the company had been wishing to get him off Mondays, but couldn’t because there was a sense of guilt after he had his heart attack on-air in 2012. But according to him, the move to Thursdays for “Smackdown” gave officials a chance to have an excuse for the move, and pulled the trigger on it.

Lawler hasn’t been consistently off “RAW,” illness aside, since November of 2001. It was then he made his return from a near-year-long absence, after he protested the release of his then-wife Stacy “The Kat” Carter. He replaced Paul Heyman on color commentary.

Editor’s Note

The announcing team is among the weaker aspects of “RAW,” so a breath of fresh air won’t be bad. Though it could also be insufferable. I noted on Twitter I believe this is the first step in them taking Lawler off-air permanently.

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