Jerry Lawler's Heart Attack Emphasizes Why WWE Must Keep Its Universe Separate

Michael Cole’s professionalism with his long time colleague and friend Jerry "The King" Lawler potentially dying beside him cannot be praised enough. 

Where most people would have panicked, Cole was able to continue his role and keep the television audience’s attention upon the match while critical treatment was administered to Lawler.

Cole then took on the ambassadorial role to communicate the terrible news and explain in the most dignified terms possible why certain events were unfolding the way they did. 

Yet Cole’s need to constantly remind the WWE audience that the tragic event occurring in-front of them was not part of the programs entertainment shows how close the company is running in parallel with real life.

It is also in these moments that the WWE needs to be able to both separate itself from real world events and console fans with the basic entertainment of two or more men (or women) performing breathtaking moves in the middle of the ring. 

In these circumstances small annoyances in the story line, such as the invasion of legal mumbo-jumbo, are potentially opened up to far harsher criticism as the WWE deviates from light entertainment and introduces sombre real world themes that jar with current events.

If nothing else, such real world plots just remind the crowd of the worrying situation happening beyond their sight, so hearts and minds wander further from the advancing storyline and closer to their fallen hero. 

To WWE’s credit, the company provided this core entertainment for the most part after Lawler’s heart attack and avoided real world plot advancements.  

Booker T’s announcement stating that if Sheamus uses the Brogue Kick in any situation he will forfeit his World Heavyweight title had far reaching consequences. Such a bold stance from a supposedly face General Manager would have certainly distracted some younger audience members, who could have been disturbed by the events going on, and this has to be considered a positive move.

Underplaying the reason why the move was banned was also a nice touch, as this took the emphasis away from injuries and potential reminders of ‘King’s’ problems.

The final segment with CM Punk invading an interview between Bret Hart and John Cena was also nicely utilized, as the focus was kept in the past with narrow comparisons made to certain individuals. These cheap pops might seem generic to some, but it was the perfect way to keep the audience’s mind focused upon the show and not the condition of Lawler.

This was a great example of the WWE Universe being different from the real one as well. 

References to great matches and harrowing feuds from the past takes the audience into their personal wrestling worlds filled with heroes and villains. Their fantasies elevate the interview beyond the here and now, to a far away place where Hulk Hogan continuously slams Andre The Giant and Stone Cold hangs on desperately while stuck in the Sharpshooter.

This helps the audience enjoy the product, even if the sadness over what happened to King returns shortly after. 

Such a relief could not have been produced, had the WWE used the earlier section with David Otunga handing over a civil suit with the main evidence being damage to two WWE employees. 

Presumably both have a clause in their contract stating that they may have to take certain bumps in the line of duty, creating a clash between the wrestling world and its real life counterpart. Evoking the real world here, if produced after the Jerry Lawler incident, would have only set minds towards his welfare. 

WWE’s move towards reality-based feuds will make it increasingly difficult to evoke fantasy situations when real life troubles need to be bypassed. 

It is far easier for the WWE to come out of their world to address the real world, as seen by John Cena’s announcement that the American military had killed Osama Bin Laden, than it is for them to magically reconstruct the unique properties of a world outside our own.

Admittedly, reality is the big ratings draw of the current era. The continued referencing of CM Punk’s pipe-bomb from the summer of 2011 is testament to that, however its greatness is only apparent when breaking the fourth wall means something. 

Having a fantasy world for people to hide from their troubles in is a part of the WWE experience that has been forgotten in the search for ratings and interactivity.  

The group loss felt when Lawler went down on Monday is terrible, but the lesson must be learnt that the WWE needs to keep its way of being separate so all wrestling fans have somewhere to escape to from real life turmoil.