This Day in Wrestling History (Sept 10): Jerry Lawler Suffers Heart Attack During Raw

On This Day In Wrestling History: 10th September 2012
By Divyan Mehta

Jerry Lawler Suffers Heart Attack During Raw

What started out as a normal episode of Monday Night Raw quickly turned into a frightening and dangerous situation. On the 10th of September 2012, Raw emanated live from Montreal Quebec, Canada. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler were at ringside as usual providing commentary on the action. Approximately, an hour into the program, Kane and Daniel Bryan were competing against the Prime Time Players, Titus O’Neil and Darren Young. During the match, many of us watching the show noticed that Jerry Lawler had become uncharacteristically silent at ringside and Michael Cole had become distracted.

Now, Professional Wrestling has always been a scripted form of entertainment but the situation that unfolded was very real and completely unexpected. We would later learn that Jerry Lawler collapsed at the announce table, falling face first on the desk. Michael Cole later stated that he heard Jerry snoring into his microphone and believed that Jerry was making some kind of joke. When Michael turned to his left, he saw the state that Jerry was in and quickly hit his mute switch that all announcers have at their disposal.

He saw that Jerry’s arm was uncontrollably shaking and he was unresponsive. With his mute switch on, Michael screamed for WWE doctor Michael Sampson, who was luckily sitting at ringside. Doctor Sampson and a production assistant came to Jerry’s aid. Both men were able to catch Jerry and bring him safely to the floor, as he fell out of his chair. At first, they believed that Jerry was suffering from a seizure but doctor Sampson quickly confirmed that Lawler was having a heart attack. A stretcher was immediately brought to escort Jerry backstage where they could attend to him.

With a confused audience viewing Raw, a pale Michael Cole had to inform everyone of this horrific situation. He continuously stated that this was in no way part of the evening’s storylines or entertainment. He said that Jerry had collapsed at the announce table and was receiving CPR. Backstage, everyone had been told to clear the area as doctor Sampson performed fifteen minutes of CPR, which ultimately saved Lawler’s life. His heart had actually stopped beating so the situation was getting desperate. Jerry was rushed to hospital and regained consciousness two days later. He stayed in hospital for over a week and returned to Raw two months later.