Jerry Lawler Says WWE May Be Easing Away From Heavily Scripted Promos

As previously noted, WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry 'The King' Lawler recently appeared on The Steve Austin Show via Skype. Among many other things, Lawler talked about the 2020 men's Royal Rumble match winner, Drew McIntyre.

Lawler, who recently won the CWA Arkansas Heavyweight Championship, stated that McIntyre could be WWE's franchise player.  

"[McIntyre] loves the business. He really does and he's excited to be where he is right now," Lawler continued, "I think he could be the guy. We all know that they've been looking for somebody since John Cena and they tried so hard with Roman Reigns. And, of course, Roman's over big and he's probably as good as anybody that they pushed to that extent, but I still think there's room. He's not John Cena. He's not 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. He's not a Rock yet. And they're looking for that type of personality and I really think just in being around him and watching him – I mean, he looks fantastic – I really think he could be the guy."

According to Lawler, Heyman being in charge of RAW has meant that a lot of performers are getting the opportunity to be themselves.  

"Now that Paul Heyman is sort of in charge of RAW, it's so much not the characters that are being predetermined by the writers or creative," Lawler said. "They're giving the guys a chance to be themselves just like [Austin was] back when [Austin] became 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. Nobody was telling you, 'oh, this is how it [has] got to be.' [Austin was himself] and [he] was given that opportunity and [Austin] took it."

In Austin's expert view, bookers trying to micromanage talent turns them into "robots".  

"When you've got somebody micromanaging you and telling you every single thing to do, you kind of turn into a robot and you think, 'am I doing this right? Am I doing this wrong? Am I screwing this up?'" Austin added, "you're too much in your head."

Lawler shared a story of witnessing a 20 year old WWE writer hand WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair a scripted promo.  
 
"I remember when I was not doing [RAW] on a regular basis, but I would come back and do WrestleMania, or Royal Rumble, or something like that. And I'll never forget. I was in the back. And [Austin has] come back and been in the back. And all-of-a-sudden, you'll get something from the writers, an interview they want you to cut, right? And I'm standing there in the back, and I looked over, and I see Ric Flair reading a promo that some 20 year old kid has written for him. And I thought, 'oh my God, what on Earth has happened to the business [of professional wrestling]?'" Lawler laughed, "that's the part that I don't get."

"But do you know what? Lawler asked rhetorically. "I really do think a little bit of that is changing now with Heyman in charge of RAW. Yeah, he's letting guys – like [Austin] said, giving them some bullet points and letting them go on their own."

Click here to listen to the podcast. If you use any of the quotations from this article, please credit The Steve Austin Show with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.