JERRY THE KING AND STACY UPDATE
The following is directly from KingLawler.com dated 07-03-01

Well, it's 2:45 in the afternoon on July 3rd, and I have a couple of hours before I have to be at the "Star Spangled Celebration" which is a huge event taking place here in Memphis, sponsored by the television station that airs our classic wrestling program. The event is being held at Shelby Farms and will feature live bands, wrestling, and fireworks. It is expected to draw over 75 thousand people. We are starting our wrestling at 6pm and since it is about 92 degrees here in Memphis today, I'm really not especially looking forward to it. Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that this is all outside! However, since Jimmy Hart is managing my opponent, I may have some fun by chasing him around the outside of the ring until he has a heatstroke! We also have the Rock 'n' Roll Express, the Moondogs, Bill Dundee, Humongus, Grandmaster Sexay, Spellbinder, and the Kat on the show, so it should be fun for everyone. Since I have a little time before I have to go to the show, I thought I would update everyone on the latest developments in light of all the rumors and speculation that has been flying around lately. It seems that a lot of people expected to see me return to WWF television last night on Raw....well, don't feel like the Lone Ranger, because I expected to be there too! At least I had been talked to about being there. I had been sent an itinerary that said I would be there. Airline tickets had been bought that would have taken me there. Wrestling websites galore were reporting that I would be there. So why wasn't I there? Well, believe it or not, I think I finally know the answer...but in order for you to know, you're going to have to read on!

First of all, let me say, I am the world's worst on remembering dates, but since I spent all of last week in New York and Cleveland, it had to be sometime before that the call came in. I say "the call" because it was from the WWF. Someone, in the television department called and asked if my position was still the same concerning returning to the WWF. I said it was, and that is simply return things to the way they were before this all took place, nothing more, nothing less. I am not trying to hold anyone up. I am not asking for more money, or a better position, I am just asking that things be made right and everybody go about the business of making the WWF as good as it can be.

Before Stacy was released she had a contract with the WWF. She was on the WWF roster so to speak. Her contract called for her to be paid only if she was booked to work or appear at a WWF event. There was no minimum guarantee that she would be paid every week whether she worked or not, like most of the WWF Superstars have. So, in essence, if the WWF did not book Stacy to perform, she cost them absolutely nothing. That's a pretty good deal for them if you ask me. I can assure you Terri, Trish, and Lita all get a hefty check every week whether they are booked or not. But Stacy has not asked for a guaranteed contract or for more money, only to be returned to her original contract. One that really costs the WWF nothing. Now some people may ask, "what right does Stacy have to demand her job back after the WWF has said they do not want her by firing her?" Well, since the firing, we have learned and I think almost everyone in the WWF has learned that the reasons for the firing were untrue and unjust, and all of this could have been avoided if we had been consulted before she was fired instead of after. The person who was responsible for starting the rumors or concerns about Stacy is no longer employed by the WWF.... and let me say emphatically, that it was not Chyna. And I am publicly apologizing to Chyna if any of the things we have said have implied that she was responsible for Stacy's release. That was not the case. So we feel that since the reasons for Stacy's firing were not true we feel that it is not unreasonable to ask that she be reinstated. That has been and still is our position on this whole situation, so that is what I told the official caller from the WWF. He said he understood and that he was personally going in to talk to Vince about us coming back and that he would call me the next day and let me know what happened.

When we spoke the next day I thought the news was very good. He said he spoke to Vince and he felt we could once again do business. He said Vince told him "It's time to stop thinking about egos and do what's best for the television show." This was very encouraging news for me and he said that he and J.R. would get back to me with the details shortly. Stacy was vacationing with her parents in Florida when I called and gave her the good news. I told Stacy, "It looks like this is finally going to get resolved and we are going back to the WWF." Needless to say, she was relieved and happy that this whole ordeal was going to end. A couple of days went by and then I got a call from J.R. and Kevin Dunn, the head of WWF television. They both seemed glad that there was going to be a reconciliation and we were to go over the details of how Stacy and I would be brought back. This is when they told me the plan was for us to be brought back in the WCW. The feeling was that it would help give the WCW instant "credibility" with the WWF fans by having a familiar face and voice bringing them the new action. I agreed and the plan was that Shane would introduce his "WCW match" participants and then his announcers. Scott Hudson and the King! We would be escorted to the ring by the "Kat" and hopefully everyone would be pleasantly surprised! Plans were to do one match on Raw and then two the next night on Smackdown. J.R. said that he expected everything to return to normal in no time. He said, "I just think you and Stacy show up for work as usual and act the same way you guys always did backstage and around everybody and I think all of this stuff will be forgotten in no time. King, you should play cards with the guys or go to the mall or whatever it is you want to do and I think everything will be just fine." This all sounded fine and the conversation was very pleasant and light hearted. The next day I spoke again to Kevin Dunn to ask about our terms of coming back financially. I just said, "What will our deals be?" and he said, "I assumed the same as when you left. At that time, I asked if it might be possible to get Stacy a deal where she had a minimum guarantee so that she could at least expect a paycheck every week, if not, the same contract she had originally would be ok, but I was just asking. Kevin said he would check with Vince on that. In the meantime, we were faxed our travel itinerary and the dates and locations for the next three months of tv, along with a big note that said "WELCOME BACK JERRY AND STACY!" That made us both feel very good. Unfortunately, that feeling didn't last long.

The next day I got another call from Kevin Dunn saying that he had met with Vince and that Vince wanted us to know that they didn't have any plans for Stacy after her initial appearance on this tv and that it may take a while for the writers to come up with something for her to do in the way of a storyline and that their plans were not to bring her to any tv's in the meantime. Kevin assured me that he strongly felt that if I was back in the fold that eventually the writers would come up with something for Stacy to do. So, I talked with Stacy and she agreed and I called Kevin back and said that we would go ahead and try it their way and that we would come to this tv and that after that Stacy would wait until the writers came up with something for her. In the meantime, she would at least be back on the WWF roster and could make personal appearances and J.R. said he could use her a lot for "on sale" appearances by WWF Superstars when event tickets first go on sale in cities. So the deal wasn't quite as appealing as it had first sounded, but we still had a deal. Then, the next day, which was Saturday, two days before Raw, the bomb dropped! I was signing autographs at the National Sports Card Collectors convention in Cleveland when my cell phone rang. I excused myself and went behind the curtains to take the call from Kevin Dunn. He said, "King, I just spoke to Vince and he what he told me may be a deal killer." I said, "What did he tell you?" He said that Vince said he was not going to bring Stacy back at all...no contract, and no appearance on tv at all. He said Vince told him that it was just me alone that could come back to work and Kevin felt that he had gone back to Vince so many times on this that this was a "take it or leave it" ultimatum! So, suddenly we were back to square one. All they were offering was for me to come back with absolutely nothing being done to rectify Stacy's situation. Actually making it worse by dangling the hopes of having her job back only to yank it away at the last minute. So I told Kevin Dunn I would "leave it" I felt they had changed the deal not once but about three times. And why? No explanation whatsoever was given, but I was told over the phone today that an "inside source" or someone who actually works in the WWF office said that the deal was done and approved to bring us back by Vince and Kevin Dunn and then on Friday, Bruce Prichard went in to Vince and said, "We already have enough trouble in the locker rooms, why would you bring them back?" And apparently, Bruce Prichard was able to at least convince Vince not to bring Stacy back.

So Raw went on without the King and the Kat. How was it? I don't know. We went to the movies to see A-I. I did read on the internet that Vince was upset about the whole WCW match, announcing and wrestling as well. Who should he be upset with? Himself or Bruce Prichard? Hey, the last I heard, the segment Stacy and I did for "Inside Edition" is supposed to air tomorrow on July 4th. I really don't know if it will or not but it's worth checking out. We will be appearing at a Monster Truck Show in Mansfield, Ohio on July 4th and then we will be wrestling at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York on Friday, July 6th, along with Road Dogg and Grandmaster. Then, Saturday, the 7th, we will be at the ECW building in Philly, then back in Cleveland on Sunday the 8th. We have a very busy July and August coming up, but the WWF knows I keep my cell phone with me at all times. We will talk to you all later!!!! Thanks for keeping up with us.

Jerry Lawler

BACK TO HOME PAGE