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Throughout WWE history, there have been several all-time great feuds between legends, world champions, and Hall of Fame talent, with the likes of The Rock vs Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho, and countless more over time. However, not every feud between two notable names has been a budding success. One of the more silly rivalries came between two Hall of Famers in Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Jerry “The King” Lawler. This rivalry took place in two main stages, the second of which came in 1995 during WWE’s New Generation Era, with that particular chapter being one that was quite ridiculous at times.
Bret Hart And Jerry Lawler First Feuded In 1993
Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler first came to blows back in 1993. Hart was just on the back of a stint in the main event scene as the WWE Champion, but unfortunately with the return of Hulk Hogan, Hart was bumped as the top babyface in favor of Hogan, who took much of the spotlight. At SummerSlam 1993, it was supposed to be Hogan vs Hart for the WWE Title, but due to Hogan not wanting to give another babyface the rub, these plans were scrapped.
In a change of plans and direction, WWE had Hart feud with Jerry Lawler, who had only arrived in WWE fairly recently after making a big name for himself in the Mid-South wrestling scene. Their feud began following Hart’s victory in the King of the Ring tournament, with Lawler proclaiming himself to be the one and only real King in wrestling. At SummerSlam, Lawler would feign an injury, leading to Hart battling Doink the Clown instead. However, Lawler attacked Hart after the match, setting up a bout between the pair, in which Lawler escaped with a DQ win.
From there, Lawler came to blows with other members of the Hart Family, in a feud which would cross the Forbidden Door into the USWA, with wrestlers from WWE making crossover appearances there, in which Lawler would play the babyface in a very fascinating rivalry. However, after a while, things were dropped, with Lawler and Hart taking a break from one another. In 1995, the rivalry was rekindled, but this time it was far sillier.
Their Feud Reignited When Jerry Lawler Called Bret Hart A Racist
In 1995, Hart won a WWE Magazine Award for being popular with the fans, leading to the return of his feud with Lawler. Lawler, who was now leading Hakushi, claimed that Hart was a racist, and that Japanese fans had been excluded from the vote which gave Hart the award. There was obviously zero basis for this, and to throw around the word “racist”, even in the storyline, was quite ridiculous, even for WWE standards.
Hart would then battle Hakushi at the first ever In Your House PPV, coming out victorious, before feigning an injury himself to help lure Lawler to the ring for another match later in the night. In a weird detail, Lawler brought a younger woman to the ring and pretended it was his mother, claiming that his own mother was more attractive than Hart’s. It was a very odd addition to the story that felt unnecessary. Lawler would ultimately win their match thanks to help from Hakushi.
Bret Hart And Jerry Lawler Battled In A “Kiss My Foot” Match
The next stage of their rivalry was in one of the weirdest gimmick matches in WWE history - a “Kiss My Foot” match, in which the loser had to “kiss” the other’s foot. This match came at the King of the Ring PPV in 1995, which is often renowned as being one of the worst PPVs of all time. The match between Hart and Lawler was perhaps one of the better things on the show, but according to cagematch.net, that wasn’t saying too much as the match has a very low rating. It was over the top, had poor comedy overall, and was far below both men.
That wouldn’t even end the feud, as Lawler brought his own personal dentist, Isaac Yankem D.D.S, to take out Lawler. Yankem would later become Kane, but at the time, this was an odd gimmick. Why Lawler had to use his own dentist as an enforcer makes very little sense, and the resulting matches with Hart were nothing special by any means. This chapter of their feud would finally come to an end, with Lawler moving full-time to the commentary desk, and due to Hart eventually leaving a couple of years later for WCW, meaning that they remained separated. It was a peculiar part of both men's career, and a very strange and odd feud.