Jerry Lawler On How Much Spectators Paid For WWE GRR Tickets, Why Titus 'World-Slide' Gimmick Ended

Just a few weeks after WrestleMania 34, WWE presented the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia. The inaugural event featured matches such as Brock Lesnar against Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship, John Cena vs. Triple H, and was headlined by the 50-man Royal Rumble match. Braun Strowman won the Greatest Royal Rumble match, and was presented with a trophy and championship title.

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One of the most memorable moments of the evening was when Titus O'Neil ran out to enter the ring, but instead tripped and slid under the ring. The commentators immediately started laughing, and it became a running joke on social media. Jerry Lawler, who also attended the event on the pre-show panel, gave O'Neil a word of advice to capitalize on this mishap.

During an interview with the Twin Lakes Sports Network, Lawler stated that it took him 19 1/2 hours to get to Saudi Arabia, but thankfully the first class luxury that was paid for by the WWE made it bearable. From his experience, he also feels that Saudi Arabia wants to be "westernized," but many leaders have strict laws in place to prevent that from happening.

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Despite the cultural restrictions, Lawler enjoyed his experience, and said it was the first time going to the middle east in his entire career, which spans over four decades. The Saudi government fronted the bill of the event, and paid "millions and millions" of dollars while only charging the spectators $2 a ticket, according to Lawler. Lawler then commented on O'Neil's slide, which soon was named the Titus "World-Slide", and the advice he gave to him.

"I actually talked to Titus the next day, and I said, 'man, that's something that you really need to capitalize on,'" said Lawler. "And, actually, I talked him into it. If you remember the following week, he did something similar, and I told him, 'if you could start doing that every week on your ring entrances, if you get down to the ring and just, all of a sudden, take that belly bump and slide all the way under the ring, and then have your opponent come over and look down and just be laughing, then you come from the other side of the ring, come across, roll him up, get a quick 1-2-3, all of a sudden, it makes you look like the smartest guy in the world."

While Titus "World-Slide" turned out to benefit O'Neil, with even merchandise being made for it, Lawler explained why the gimmick was unfortunately short-lived.

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"[Titus] said, 'that's a great idea, and we'll go with that,' except for the fact that they realized they use those big LED light boards on the side of the rings now, so you can't really go up under them like that," Lawler said.

Lawler added that WWE still did an angle where O'Neil acted like he fell, which distracted the wrestler in the ring, and his opponent ended up losing the match. Lawler said that it "was a cool thing that happened to Titus, because it will always be remembered."

If any portion of these quotes are used, please be sure to credit the Twin Lakes Sports Network with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Source: Twin Lakes Sports Network

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