Jerry Lawler Weighs in on Randy Orton’s Independent Wrestling Rant

Listen to the king. Over the last few days, a host of people have weighed in on the Will Ospreay vs. Rip Rogers issue, which is based around indy wrestling vs. more traditional wrestling. Various parties have argued that Rogers’ criticisms of indy matches are unfair while others say that the indy style doesn’t draw and isn’t how wrestling is supposed to work.

Now another legend has chimed in as Jerry Lawler has something to say about it. On his “Dinner with the King” podcast, Lawler spoke about the issues and seems to be more on Rogers’ side. While taking some issues with the indy wrestling style, Lawler offers some suggestions on why the style exists without talking down about it. Here are his comments with transcription courtesy of Wrestlinginc.com:

“I think that the problem Rip [Rogers] and Randy [Orton] have is what the young guys think they need to do to get noticed. It’s what the young guys do in these matches that bothers guys who have been in the business for a while. The young guys, like they said, they have a tendency to go out there and try to squeeze in every single move that they know. Every dive. Every flip. Every flop.

“Everything they can put in one 15-minute match. So in order to do that, if you are going to put all those moves in, you’re not going to have time to sell anything. It’s just going to be one move after another until the match is over…That is not the way wrestling became what it is today. Not what I think veterans look at and not what the business is supposed to be. It’s not that really entertaining for fans. I think that’s Rip’s and Randy’s point they are trying to make there.”

Source: “Dinner with the King” podcast Episode 10

Opinion: Did you really expect Lawler to be on the other side here? He’s as old school as you can get and it would be pretty surprising to have him go against someone like Rogers. He makes a good point about people trying to squeeze in as much as they can and that doesn’t make for the most technically sound matches. Then again, it’s not like they’re incapable of doing better and things would indeed change if they were in WWE, as is the case with everyone.

Whose side are you on in this? Does Lawler make good points? Let us know in the comments below.