Royal Retirement: Why Jerry Lawler Will Retire at WrestleMania XXVII

On November 22nd, 2010, something unexpected happened on Monday Night Raw. The Miz cashed in his Raw-exclusive Money in the Bank contract against Randy Orton, became the new WWE Champion, and ushered in what we now know as The Age of Awesome.

The following week, on November 29th, 2010—the night of the 2010 King of the Ring tournament—something even more unexpected happened. The newly crowned WWE Champion, The Miz, was forced to have his first title defense, and his opponent was none other than the 61 year old WWE Hall of Famer, and Raw's color commentator, Jerry "The King" Lawler.

For the first time in his tenure with World Wrestling Entertainment, which spans nearly twenty years, Jerry Lawler became the #1 contender for the WWE Championship. However, the TLC title match at King of the Ring turned out to be a disappointment for The King.

With help from Raw's play-by-play commentator, (and self-proclaimed #1 Mizfit) Michael Cole, The Miz managed to beat Lawler, and escape with the WWE Championship. From that point onward, a quiet feud began to brew between the two men behind Raw's announce table.

For the next two months, Lawler would return to the ring several more times, and would end up beating The Miz with help from other superstars like Randy Orton and John Morrison. Meanwhile, the tension between Lawler and Cole grew, with Cole becoming increasingly more sarcastic and insulting towards the man that continued to humiliate his favorite WWE Superstar, and Lawler threatening to attack him on several occasions.

This past Monday night on Raw, something unexpected has once again happened. Instead of The Miz defending his title inside of the Elimination Chamber against five other Superstars, he will instead defend the title in a singles match against Jerry Lawler—a surprise that humored himself, shocked the WWE Universe, and disgusted Michael Cole.

The Raw Elimination Chamber match will instead determine who will become the #1 contender for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXVII.

Now if I were a gambling man, and I had a million dollars to bet on the winner of the WWE title match at the Chamber, I would no doubt put it all on The Miz, as would you. Depending on you ask, the idea of the 61 year old commentator becoming WWE Champion isn't impossible to imagine.

Bret Hart held the United States Championship for a week last year, and he can barely walk. But we all know Jerry "The King" Lawler isn't walking into WrestleMania XXVII—the biggest PPV of 2011—with the title around his waist. It simply isn't happening. But that dosen't mean he isn't having an important match at the event.

The singles match at Elimination Chamber is merely a way to have The Miz keep the WWE Championship, where he will face the winner of the Chamber match itself (AKA John Cena) in April. But for Lawler, the match is a set-up to an even bigger match at WrestleMania, where he will put his career on the line. The opponent? Michael Cole, or someone working for him.

As stated earlier, Lawler has repeatedly physically threatened Cole over the past few months. Michael Cole, being the voice of the anonymous Raw GM, has also repeatedly stated that if touched, Lawler is fired.

Well, I have a feeling the ending to Miz vs. Lawler at Elimination Chamber will be a repeat of Miz vs. Lawler at King of the Ring—it's going to involve Cole helping The Miz, and subsequently getting his butt kicked by an angry King.

The boiling point will have finally been reached, and will set up Lawler vs. Cole at Mania, where Jerry will finally get his chance to take out all his anger and frustrations on his "vintage" partner.

The problem, of course, with the whole situation, is that even if Lawler were to somehow beat Cole, and keep his career, things would never be the same, which is why I believe Jerry Lawler's career will end at Mania.

There's too much build up and time spent on him right now for this to not be the end of his career. The return to the ring on a semi-weekly basis? The storyline with The Miz and Michael Cole? Title shots at King of the Ring and Elimination Chamber? A returning Booker T rumored to soon take up a commentary position? This all a build up for Lawler to have one last match and a one last 'Mania moment.

For decades, Jerry "The King" Lawler has entertained millions of wrestling fans around the world both in the ring and behind the announce table.

All good things come to an end, and I feel as though Jerry Lawler's time in the WWE is almost up. He's been original, he's irreplaceable, and he will certainly be missed (particularly whenever a Diva is present), but that's just how things go.

It had to happen eventually, and I can't think of a better time for it to happen, At WrestleMania XXVII, I believe Jerry Lawler will go out with a bang on the grandest stage of them all, and will subsequently retire from the world of professional wrestling.

Long live the king.