In the late 1970s, comedian Andy Kaufman called out the women of America, challenging them to wrestle him and offering $1,000 to any woman who could beat him. A few years later, his wrestling foray led him to Memphis and his legendary feud with Jerry 'The King' Lawler. Hundreds of women responded to the challenge from the "Taxi" star and "Saturday Night Live" featured performer, and much of the correspondence has been collected in a new book called "Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts!"
Reviewing the book in The New York Press, Mike Edison pens a grand tribute to Kaufman's wrestling career, going so far as to call him one of the great heels (bad guys) in wrestling history:
Reviewing the book in The New York Press, Mike Edison pens a grand tribute to Kaufman's wrestling career, going so far as to call him one of the great heels (bad guys) in wrestling history:
It is too easy to say he was "ahead of his time" (especially in a post-Borat world), and that he did it because it was his art. He was a real wrestling fan--naked and not ashamed. It may have been his popularity as a television star that allowed him to go to Memphis, but that would never be enough to carry him for more than a couple of weeks in front of the hardcore crowds they used to breed at the Mid-South Coliseum. His ring success didn't come so much from some twisted vision, rather it was born of genuine respect for wrestlers, and a deep love and understanding for professional wrestling. If he didn't have that he would have been exposed as a fraud and chased from the territory ex post haste.Wrestling is very democratic that way.Edison's article pays particular attention to the Kaufman/Lawler feud, which gained national media attention and led to the two men brawling on the set of "Late Night with David Letterman."
What had just happened? Who could tell any more what was a "work" and what was a "shoot"--was this cooked, like the matches were, or was it real?
Wrestling has never been concerned with separating fact from fiction, but this had blurred the lines in a way that nothing had before. Even people in the wrestling business couldn't parse exactly what went down--it was outside the confines of the ring, so was it still playing by wrestling's own self-defining rules? The natural order of things had been ruptured. It was like discovering that feathers fell faster than bricks in a vacuum. It was seriously weird.
How about a link to the actual story? http://www.nypress.com/article-20716-loved-to-be-hated.html
Oops, accidentally left it off. Fixed! Thanks!
feathers and bricks fall at the same rate in a vacuum.
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An extremely convincing post. I simply am bewildered at the title Andy Kaufman book review pays tribute to his epic feud with Jerry Lawler - Links to Memphis. Just spectacular!