The following is from WWE.com:
In celebration of the 800th episode of Monday Night Raw, WWE.com gave several Superstars 800 words to describe the emotion, thrill and passion of WWE’s long-running weekly program.
When I try to figure out why Monday Night Raw continues to be a television juggernaut and why the program is definitely the dominant brand of WWE, about 800 reasons come to mind, but I’ll do my best to try narrowing it down.
First is longevity. You don’t have an 800-episode run in television unless you’re doing something that makes a lot of people watch week after week. Monday Night Raw is compelling television. It grabs you and keeps your interest and makes you want to watch again. When I say "it" grabs you, I’m talking about the entire show, but more specifically, I mean the "characters."
For 800 episodes, Monday Night Raw has introduced some of the wildest, craziest, most athletically gifted and charismatic Superstars and Divas TV has ever known. It has allowed them to slam, punch, kick, and scream their way into your living rooms every week. Monday Night Raw brought the world Dwayne Johnson, AKA "The Rock," Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Bret "Hitman" Hart, "The Showstopper" Shawn Michaels, John Cena, "The Phenom" Undertaker, "Stone Cold," Batista, Rey Mysterio, Good Ol’ Jim Ross and even me, Jerry "The King" Lawler, just to name a few.
If you were to go back to the first episode of Monday Night Raw, I’m sure you would find well over 800 Superstars and Divas that have come and gone and made their own indelible impact on the show over the years. Of course, to me, Superstars and events that stand out the most are the ones I have been personally involved with.
A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, when Monday Night Raw was in its infancy, I hosted a little segment called, "The King’s Court." During the "Court," a royal rug was laid across the floor and then a throne was loaded into the ring. I would then subject my "guests" to much verbal abuse. My guests were many of the colorful characters that helped make Monday Night Raw memorable and a "must see." I had WWE Superstars from Davey Boy Smith, AKA the British Bulldog to Paul Bearer and, "The Phenom," Undertaker on "The King’s Court," but some of the most memorable stars were not sports-entertainment Superstars. For instance, I interviewed singing star, Tiny Tim and actually smashed his beloved ukulele. I confronted media and acting legend, William Shatner and, after threatening to knock him where "no man has gone before," I fell victim to his famous "alien monkey flip!" (WATCH)
Major Hollywood stars appearances like this on Monday Night Raw over the years have helped the program maintain its incredible longevity. Maybe my all time favorite "King’s Court" was when I went into the balcony of the building to interview and insult Bret "Hitman" Hart’s parents, Stu and Helen Hart. Bret’s parents were kind of old, a little feeble and really easy targets for my one-liners. It just so happened that Hitman was in the ring wrestling against Bam Bam Bigelow at the same time I ambushed his parents in the stands. Once Bret realized what was going on, he bolted from the ring and made his way through the fans and into the upper deck where I was … or had been. By the time Hitman made it to his parents, I was long gone. But that "Court" set up the infamous, "Kiss My Foot" match between Bret and I.
Colorful, charismatic characters, interacting with other colorful, charismatic characters, is what Monday Night Raw is all about. And over the years, I have had the opportunity on Monday Night Raw to interact with some of the most colorful characters of all time. Who can forget my dispute with Doink the Clown, in which he finally enlisted the help of Dink, Wink and Pink, the vertically challenged clown clones? It forced me to go out and find three "mini-kings" known as Cheesy, Queasy and Sleazy to even the odds. Colorful memories indeed!
Speaking of colorful memories, how about the time I smashed a beautiful hand-painted portrait I had done, over the head of the The Ultimate Warrior. Then there was Jake "The Snake" Roberts, who I honed my skills of one-liner insults to perfection against. (I really, for real, hated that snake of his!)
I think my work in "The King’s Court" led me to the broadcast table – first alongside Vince McMahon and then later, Good Ol’ Jim Ross. I also like to think that my color commentating, along with the great play-by-play announcing with Vince, J.R. and now Michael Cole has helped Monday Night Raw be as much fun to listen to as it is to watch.
Well, those are all the reasons for Monday Night Raw’s success that I can fit into 800 words, so that’s my blog, and I’m stickin’ to it!!