wrestling / News

Jerry Lawler On Asuka’s Commentary Appearance For Raw, Precautions Being Taken For Tapings

March 26, 2020 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Jarry Lawler Asuka Raw

On the latest Jerry Lawler Show, Lawler discussed the changes being made to TV tapings due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Asuka’s appearance on commentary for last week’s Raw. Of course, everything has changed drastically due to the novel coronavirus, and Raw is now being taped at the WWE Performance Center with an empty studio. In addition, WWE is taking medical precautions as best they can and working to make sure contact is minimized backstage. Lawler recalled getting to the PC for last week’s Raw, being checked out by security outside and then how the inside of the Center was changed up.

Lawler also talked about Asuka’s well-received bit on commentary during the Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio match. You can check out the highlights and the full podcast below:

On the precautions being taken for tapings: “When I got there to the arena, it was almost like a Fort Knox situation. They had everything closed down and there were security guards that met you there out in the parking lot, basically. I came up in an Uber in the parking lot, and they escorted me up to the front door. I didn’t get there until probably about oh, 2:30 in the afternoon. Of course, everybody had already been there before me. And so anyway, they stuck a thing in your ear to take your temperature, and mine was 98.6, which I think that’s about perfect or something. But anyway, they said, ‘Okay you’re cool’, so I went inside.”

On what it was like inside the PC: “Everybody was, I mean the whole place had been I don’t know, just kind of refurbished for that particular situation to where you would have wrestlers and all the camera crew people and all of those people that was there. I’ve been down to the Performance Center a ton of times, because that’s where we would go to record the 2K games, the voiceovers for the 2K games. And so I know what it was usually like, and they just had everything rearranged for the show. They sort of had it where everyone was kept apart or away from each other.

“I never even go to catering. I just kind of hung out in talent relations. And then of course we went around and did some rehearsals, just kind of look at where things were going to be. And of course I talked to Mark, the Undertaker, and Steve Austin a lot and to Vince. I was sort of surprised Vince was there, but Vince was there. And it was like a regular Monday Night Raw. They just had people kind of go through the motions of where — because it was so different in where the camera men were gonna be and how things were going to be staged.”

On calling the Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio match with Asuka on commentary: “Well you know what, it was different, of course. But the main thing was, I was having to be more concerned with the camera shots that were happening, because they kept cutting away to Asuka and I was in some of those shots. But anyway, it was like, I was trying to concentrate more on Asuka and her commentary than I was on the match. And Asuka was just, I was looking at her more than I was the match. And of course she was ranting and raving and being against Rey Mysterio, and I was just trying to interpret, or at least make everybody believe I knew exactly what she was saying. So I was saying, ‘Oh, I agree 100%, I concur, I concur. You’re exactly right on that.’ And then I think I said one time, she went out for this big tirade and I at the end said, ‘Byron, she said your suit looks cheap’. So I left the calling of the match mostly to Byron and Tom, and I concentrated mostly on Asuka. And actually if you look online on the internet, she was the hit of the show. Everybody seemed to love Asuka on commentary.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Jerry Lawler Show with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.

article topics :

Asuka, Jerry Lawler, RAW, Jeremy Thomas