Comedy Legend Andy Kaufman Set For Induction Into WWE Hall Of Fame
The WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2023 has a new member. Per Variety, WWE will induct legendary comedian Andy Kaufman, who passed away in 1984. WWE confirmed the news shortly thereafter.
BREAKING: @ndykaufman will be inducted into the #WWEHOF Class of 2023, as first reported by @Variety! pic.twitter.com/8emfaH5dhm
— WWE (@WWE) March 20, 2023
A longtime wrestling fan, Kaufman originally stepped through the ropes himself in the 1970s, when he began wrestling women as part of his comedy act. In 1979, he wrestled Lacoste heiress Mimi Lambert on "Saturday Night Live" and declared himself the Intergender Wrestling Champion of the World. He eventually began approaching wrestling promoters in an attempt to get further involved in the industry, eventually finding his perfect foil: Jerry "The King" Lawler.
Kaufman's feud with Lawler in Lawler's Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association in 1982 — only revealed to be a storyline years after Kaufman's death — holds a celebrated place in wrestling history for the way it blurred the line between fiction and reality. Among its most notable moments were the fight between Kaufman and Lawler on the set of "Late Night with David Letterman," in addition to Lawler "breaking" Kaufman's neck with a piledriver.
The latter incident led to the heel Kaufman wearing an oversized neck brace long after any such thing was necessary, a trope that has remained a staple of wrestling storytelling in the decades since. Kaufman's inter-gender wrestling shtick and work with Lawler served as a prominent piece of the narrative in "Man on the Moon," the Kaufman biopic starring Jim Carrey as the late comedian, though Lawler says certain scenes were fictionalized.
Kaufman is the third official entrant in the 2023 Hall of Fame class, joining Rey Mysterio and The Great Muta.