Dutch Mantel Reacts to Jerry Lawler Wanting One Last Match

At the age of 76, having survived an on-air heart attack and three strokes — the last one as recently as September, which left him color-blind — Jerry Lawler is still talking about the possibility of one final match. In the latest edition of his show “Story Time,” Dutch Mantel, who is the same age as Lawler, offered his thoughts on the possibility.

Mantell, to say the least, is conflicted, noting that for long-time main eventers, wrestling is like an addiction.

“When you start talking about a last match with a guy of Jerry’s scope and magnitude and the influence he’s had in the wrestling profession, you’re not really talking to Jerry the human being,” he points out. “You’re talking to Jerry Lawler, the wrestler. And he has an ego. So, when you’re talking to them, this is what they’re suffering from. They’re suffering from addiction. And because I think that every wrestler who’s ever done this and drawn money and looked out to see a sellout sitting out there waiting for his appearance, you know, you can get addicted to that.”

He notes that he’s not just pointing a finger at Lawler, saying, “Lawler is addicted to it; I’m addicted to it. Every wrestler that goes to the ring he’s addicted to the crowd urging him on. It’s human nature. It’s like a it’s a certain rush that you know you just don’t get every day. And it’s like a drug. If you could reproduce and remarket that drug that wrestlers have when they get that rush, it’d be a billion-dollar business.”

Mantell also admits, “I’m interested in this match. I really am, to see who his opponent would be. Would it be a tag team? Would it be a single? I’m pretty sure he’d have to have a tag team match like [Ric] Flair did because I don’t think he’s in any shape or any kind of shape to even have a singles match. But I would be very interested in seeing it.”

Then he addresses the major caveat: “What if he dies in the ring? I think that would be a very appropriate place for for him to go, which is really sad. But then it’s not sad if you think…he would enter another form of the stratosphere called history. I mean, he would always be remembered as, you know, dying in the ring, even though he knew he could die.”

However, he doesn’t want to see that actually happening, concluding with, “I don’t want anything to happen to my brother because we’re the same age. So, Jerry thinks long and hard about having that final match…Do what you want to do, Jerry, because you made it this far on your own. So, whatever you decide, I’ll go with.”

You can see the comments in full below: