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Posted By	Discussion Topic: The King's statement on the Kat situation
TeenWeek what's a status?	posted on 03-01-2001 @ 9:34 AM
O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00	This is messed up. I hope they work this out. The following release comes directly from Jerry Lawler First off, both Stacy and I would like to thank everyone who has e-mailed us with their concern over the recent developments. Your well wishes mean a lot to both of us at this difficult time. I feel the need to tell you all exactly what took place at the Smackdown taping in Tucson on Tuesday and even though it may not shed much light on the situation, it may help quiet any rumors or untruths that might be floating around. I guess a little background into the story is necessary to get us to what took place Tuesday. Stacy has been with the WWF for a little over a year now, and I know I’m a little partial, but I happen to think she is a beautiful and talented young lady. She has been used sparingly in the time she has been in the WWF with her longest-term angle as Chyna’s "mini me", or "Chynette". She always seemed to be received very well by the fans, and gave the wrestling world one it’s most memorable moments when she showed the world her "puppies" at Armageddon. Subsequently, she didn’t refuse when WWF officials asked her to be stripped topless in a pay-per-view catfight in the United Kingdom. The Kat was always game for just about anything the WWF writers could come up with. But for the past several months the Kat was seldom used. She came to every TV only to find herself sitting in the back while every other girl on the WWF roster was used in some situation or angle. It was very frustrating for her and for me, as I could not understand why the writers could always seem to come up with something for everyone to do except Stacy. Finally I came up with an idea for Stacy to be inducted into RTC against her will. I presented my idea to all the writers on the creative staff verbally and written out. It was a hard sell, with a couple of writers saying they liked the idea and a few not too enthused with it. So finally I went straight to Vince with the idea and it eventually got put into motion. Once again, I know I’m partial, but I thought the whole "right to nudity" versus "right to censor" was going extremely well. It was entertaining, the fans responded to it with enthusiasm; it made for a nice little "underneath" match at "no way out". Me and the Kat vs. Steven Richards with ivory had to follow one of the most spectacular matches ever on a WWF pay per view in Austin versus Triple H. They literally tore the house down for 45 minutes. And after the fans had witnessed that great match and were nearly as exhausted as the wrestlers, I still felt they responded very well to our match and enjoyed it. It was the perfect change of pace match to be in that position on the pay per view. I also thought ivory and Stacy did a magnificent job in that match. Their facial expressions were perfect and helped sell the emotion of the Kat causing the king to lose and being forced into RTC against her will. The following night on raw I thought Stacy put on her best performance ever as she showed the pain and anguish of being a part of RTC, but she still showed that her spirit was not going to be broken without a fight. Everything was set to continue the angle on Smackdown, which was taped on Tuesday in Tucson. On TV days, a production meeting is held early in the day that includes most TV personnel, but not the wrestlers. During this meeting, a rough draft of the show is presented (usually by Vince himself) to everyone so they know what they are going to be working on that day. On Tuesday, Vince read the basics of the show to everyone which included who would wrestle who, who would be interviewed and where, and what parts of the show would be pre-taped. During the reading of the show Vince said that the Stacy and RTC angle would continue with Val Venis volunteering to personally teach the Kat to respect the RTC. It would involve Val proposing his idea to Steven Richards. Then Val and Kat going into a room and closing the door, Steven Richards waiting impatiently outside the door, and then Val finally emerging from the room looking disheveled and flustered and it would be obvious that Val had "fallen off the wagon" at the hands of the Kat. This scenario was a part of the continuing angle that I had presented to Vince and would be followed by a similar situation on raw the following Monday with a different member of RTC. The meeting ended at about 2pm and I went over to catering where Stacy was eating lunch. I told her what she was doing in the show, and she said "great". At that point Stacy left to go work out with Trish Stratus at the gym and I left the building and drove to a local mall about 4 miles away. I returned to the arena at about 5 or 5:30 and as soon as I walked in, Steve Lombardi said, "King, JR wants to see you right away, in his office!" Funny thing was JR and I dress in the same room at the different arenas, so JR’s "office" was also our dressing room. I walked in with JR and Bruce Pritchard and we all sat down. I said, "you wanted to see me JR?" And he said "King, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to say..." I was totally confused, and asked him what he meant. He said, "Vince has decided that he doesn’t want to go any further with the Kat’s angle, and subsequently he wants me to give her her release today." I couldn’t believe my ears..."why? Did he give you any reason?" I asked, and JR said, "Vince said the writers or ‘creative’ felt Stacy was hard to work with and didn’t have the right attitude and that if she was featured any more and became any bigger she would be impossible to control." I thought this had to be some kind of a joke...I said, "when did Vince tell you this?" And JR said, "as soon as he arrived at 2:30 Vince told me to release Stacy". So sometime between the production meeting ending at 2pm with Vince saying Stacy was being featured in the show and 2:30 when JR arrived the decision was made to fire Stacy with neither she nor i being at the arena at the time. I was in shock! I said to JR, "if someone doesn’t like Stacy’s attitude shouldn’t you sit down with Stacy and say "your attitude is becoming a problem and we need to address it or there could be serious consequences"? And JR just said that this was Vince’s decision and he was just delivering the unpleasant message. Then JR asked me if I wanted to be the one to tell Stacy she was fired or did I want him to do it. I said, "I’ll tell her, while we’re on our way to Memphis!" JR said. "What do you mean?" And I said, "this is bullshit, JR, there’s no problem with Stacy’s attitude, I know that.... But if you guys want her gone then I’m gone too." JR said, "King, I wish you wouldn’t do this." I said, "what would you do JR? If the shoe were on the other foot and they were firing Jan for no reason? Would you stay?" And JR said "probably not". I said. "Well I’m not either, and you know me well enough to know that I would react this way and so does Vince, so I can only figure you guys want me to leave as well!" At that point I started gathering my briefcase and suitcase and JR said, "What will you do, King?" I said, "I can be on another channel next Monday night if i want to, but right now, all I know I’m going to do is go get Stacy and go to Memphis." With that, I left the room and went downstairs to find Stacy. Stacy was in the ladies locker room and when she came out I pulled her to the side and said simply, "JR just told me that you’ve been fired, so I told him I quit, so get your stuff and let’s go home." Stacy smiled at me and said, "you’re kidding, right?" I had to watch the expression on my wife’s face as I told her, "no, I’m serious, let’s go." Stacy was stunned. She just had a blank look on her face as she stumbled back into the locker room to get her stuff. About a million things were running through my mind as I tried to make sense of this situation, but as hard as I tried I couldn’t figure it out. One of my best friends in the WWF is Kevin Dunn. He is the producer of raw and Smackdown and he is a genius. He is also, actually my boss in the WWF as he is the head of the television department. He works in the control truck in the back of the arenas pushing the buttons and calling the shots that make the shows the success they are. Kevin and I have been close friends over the eight years that I have been in the WWF and I have confided in him about many things. I immediately wondered if Kevin knew of Vince’s decision. In about 3 minutes, Stacy emerged from her dressing room with her things and we went out the back of the building toward the control truck. Stacy and I went up the steps and into the truck where Kevin was sitting. When he turned and saw Stacy and I, I knew immediately that he already was aware of what had happened. I could tell from the look on his face that he was upset. It was the first time I had ever seen him look helpless. Kevin is always in control, but I could tell there was nothing he could do about this situation. He tried to reassure Stacy and me that maybe things could be worked out. From there, Stacy and I went to Vince’s office. He was on the phone. He looked up and saw me waiting and motioned that he would be with us in a minute. A few minutes later, Vince was off the phone and Stacy and I sat down in front of Vince. Stacy spoke first and said "Vince, what have I done that was so bad that I’m being fired?" Vince said, "Well, I’m really not aware of all of it, it’s more of a talent relations issue." I said, "JR said that the writers said there was a problem with Stacy’s attitude, if that’s the case, why didn’t someone tell her or me that there was a problem so it could be addressed before this?" Vince said, "someone should have." I said, "well, no one did..." Vince said, "well, they should have." And I said, ‘well, no one did!" And Vince said..."that’s bad then" I said, "and I think it’s bad that she’s being let go without being told that and so I’m leaving with her...you had to know I would leave with her Vince," Vince said, "I hoped you wouldn’t" I said, "well, I’ve got to." At that point Vince just looked at me and said, "well, King, I want to thank you for all you’ve done for us here and all the hard work you’ve put in for the WWF. You’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty for us here and I thank you." With that, he reached out and shook my hand and I turned, and Stacy and I left his office and the building. It was all over that quickly...on the way out of the building I almost expected someone to come up to me and say with a smile, "what a rib!" And that this would all be some kind of sick joke or something. But that didn’t happen. It wasn’t a joke. It was the real thing. Stacy and I went back to our hotel room and within an hour my cell phone started to ring. It was a friend of mine calling to tell me that wwf.com had already reported that Stacy was fired and that in protest, I had parted ways with the WWF. Neither Stacy nor I slept at all Tuesday night. We caught a 6:45am flight to Memphis through Houston and got home at about 1pm today. Needless to say, the phone has not stopped ringing, the e-mails have not stopped coming. And as I said earlier, we both appreciate your outpouring of support. Let me say that I don’t really know what is going on other than that I feel there is more to this than meets the eye. I’m not knocking anyone in the WWF, they’ve been too good to me to do that. I just really don’t totally understand this whole scenario. Once again, thanks for being out there! Check back with us here on the website often, and Stacy and I will keep you all posted on our future plans. Jerry Lawler & Stacy

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