WWE: It's Good to Be the King - The Jerry Lawler Story Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

WWE: It's Good to Be the King - The Jerry Lawler Story Blu-ray Movie Review

Put this king in your ring.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 1, 2015

Fans who haven't been on board with WWE all that long probably only know Jerry "The King" Lawler as a ringside voice who does commentary primarily on Thursday Night SmackDown and various Pay-Per-View events (Booker T fills his spot on RAW, and Booker shifts to pre- and post-event analysis for the PPVs). Perhaps, if fans go back more than a couple of years, they will remember Lawler as a participant in several post-career matches, including a ladder match against The Miz for the WWE title and a bout against fellow commentator Michael Cole at WrestleMania XXVII, each his one and only shot at both moments in the spotlight in an otherwise long and illustrious Hall of Fame career in the WWE and the broader landscape of professional wrestling. For fans both new-ish to wrestling and those who go back as far as Lawler in his in-ring heyday, or further, It's Good to Be the King - The Jerry Lawler Story offers a thorough look back at King's life and progression through the ranks of sports entertainment in what is another well-rounded WWE Home Video documentary.

The Blu-ray itself is about this big...

Fortunately, this release offers a proper, full Lawler documentary rather than piecemeal sound byte glimpses into his career shoved in between what is otherwise a match compilation. WWE Home Video has seen fit to give Lawler over 80 minutes to tell his story, a story that begins with a fairly standard upbringing in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of a Ford assembly line worker. The film looks at the family's move to Cleveland, Ohio and his shared roots in both the Volunteer and Buckeye states. Lawler, a natural talent with pen and paper, caught his break when Lance Russell, then voice of Memphis Wrestling, took note of his work and hired him to serve as the organization's official ringside artist. That talent ultimately earned him a scholarship to the University of Memphis, but it was his push through the ranks of the wrestling world that would make him another Memphis King, alongside the likes of Elvis and the late B.B. Lawler would cross state lines and finagle his way into a main event match in West Memphis, Arkansas but it was his time in Memphis Wrestling where his legend grew, his character developed, arenas sold out, and his talent shined. The film covers in detail his rivalry with legendary Comedian Andy Kaufman and their unorthodox appearance on the David Letterman show. The documentary follows his further ascendance, first becoming the AWA champion and his emergence into WWE where he was dubbed "the perfect heel." The film looks at his growing popularity in the ring and his expanding talents outside of it as a ringside commentator, first alongside Vince McMahon and later his longtime friend and partner, Jim Ross. Also featured is his departure from WWE after the company fired his wife Stacy Carter and his return in 2001. Also included are modern career moments including various in-ring matches and a heart attack suffered on-air in 2012 and subsequent return to duty.

While It's Good to Be the King - The Jerry Lawler Story follows the basic rhythmic flow of the typical WWE Home Video biography, it remains an appealing entry with its focus on a broad narrative arc that hits the highlights of Lawler's career and, while absent anything earth-shattering, does a commendable job of coloring in the details of Lawler's life in and around the world of professional wrestling. Colleagues both in-ring and ringside, figureheads around the sports entertainment landscape, and even one of Lawler's high school teachers chime in to paint a picture of a man of truly humble roots who practically stumbled into professional wrestling and found his life's calling by way of his passion for art. The film does a fine job of finding the balancing duality between "career" and "passion," how they intersect, and for Lawler, can be, and sometimes are, one and the same. It's a fine little glimpse that will leave the audience ever more appreciative of the man behind the voice, leaving the program feeling like they've made a friend and gaining a greater understanding of how life has a funny way of guiding an individual to the right intersections and opening the way for a remarkable journey.

WWE: It's Good to Be the King - The Jerry Lawler Story Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

It's Good to Be the King - The Jerry Lawler Story presents a fine quality 1080i transfer framed at 1.78:1. It's largely typical of the basic WWE Documentary. Both newly minted HD footage and vintage clips are presented at that full-frame 1.78:1 ratio, but vintage matches and moments presented as supplements retain their original ratios. Image quality in the older footage is expectedly hit-or-miss, mostly on the miss side, but aside from repurposing it to fill the HD screen, there's little room for complaint; it's a classic case of "it is what it is." The HD interview footage, however, looks fine outside of some noise, minor compression artifacts, and aliasing that pop up from time to time. That aside, basic textures impress. Skin and clothing details are strong, and the close-up shots of Lawler's drawings reveal every fine stroke detail. The lighting can be a little harsh in some of the clips but colors are otherwise satisfying in a basic sort of way that preserves and presents them as naturally as can be expected. Its not perfect, but for a 1080i WWE Documentary the results are just fine.

WWE: It's Good to Be the King - The Jerry Lawler Story Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

It's Good to Be the King - The Jerry Lawler Story's primary concern is the spoken word, which it handles with fine baseline proficiency and center speaker placement. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack features a few additional bits, primarily in the form of overlay music and old match sound bytes. The former is adequate, coming across as a bit shallow in places and front heavy but it satisfies the program's requirements well enough. Much like old match video clips, sound suffers from a number of inherent flaws but again plays to the program's needs.

WWE: It's Good to Be the King - The Jerry Lawler Story Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

It's Good to Be the King - The Jerry Lawler Story contains special features on both Blu-ray discs.

Disc One (1080i, 2:43:15 total runtime):

• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Terry Funk. Memphis Wrestling -- April 25, 1981.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawyer vs. Andy Kaufman. Memphis Wrestling -- April 5, 1982.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. "Superstar" Bill Dundee. Memphis Wrestling -- June 6, 1983.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Eddie Gilbert. Pro Wrestling -- October 1, 1984.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Curt Hennig. AWA Wrestling -- March 12, 1988.
• Career Moment: Jerry "The King" Lawler on Being AWA Champion -- AWA Superstars -- May 29, 1988.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Kerry Von Erich. WCCW Wrestling -- September 26, 1988.
• Career Moment: Jerry "The King" Lawler WWE Debut. Prime Time Wrestling -- December 7, 1992.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Jim Powers. RAW -- April 5, 1993.
• Career Moment: King's Court with Giant Gonzales. Wrestling Challenge -- May 23, 1993.
• Career Moment: Jerry "The King" Lawler Interrupts Bret "Hit Man" Hart's Coronation. King of the Ring -- June 13, 1993.
• Career Moment: King's Court with Tiny Tim. RAW -- July 19, 1993.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Owen Hart. Wrestling Challenge -- July 25, 1993.
• Career Moment: Bret "Hit Man" Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow. RAW -- July 26, 1993 (Lawler taunts Hart from the stands).
• Career Moment: King Foolish. RAW -- April 11, 1994.
• Career Moment: King's Court with Rowdy Roddy Piper. RAW -- June 6, 1994.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper. King of the Ring -- June 19, 1994.
• Casket Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Undertaker. White Plains, NY -- September 28, 1994.

Disc Two (1080i, 2:56:31 total runtime):

• Career Moment: King's Court with William Shatner. RAW -- January 9, 1995.
• Career Moment:Kiss My Foot Training #1. RAW -- June 5, 1995.
• Career Moment:Kiss My Foot Training #2. RAW -- June 12, 1995.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Bret "Hit Man" Hart. King of the Ring -- June 25, 1995.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Al Jackson. Superstars -- March 23, 1996.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts. SummerSlam -- August 18, 1996.
• Career Moment: The Great Debate. RAW -- March 10, 1997.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler & Rob Van Dam vs. The Headbangers. Shotgun Saturday Night -- June 14, 1997.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Tommy Dreamer. ECW Hardcore Heaven -- August 17, 1997.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lalwer & Brian Christopher vs. Flash Funk & Scott Taylor. Shotgun Saturday Night -- October 14, 1997.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Tazz. SummerSlam -- August 27, 2000.
• Legends Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Rick Flair. RAW -- November 29, 2004.
• Career Moment: Jerry "The King" Lawler Hall of Fame Induction. Hall of Fame -- March 31, 2007.
• TLC Match for the WWE Championship: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. The Miz. RAW -- November 29, 2010.
• Career Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Michael Cole. WrestleMania 27 -- April 3, 2011.

Disc Two Blu-ray Exclusives: (1080i, 1:29:01 total runtime):

• Meeting Jimmy Hart: Lawler discusses how his passion for music led him to meet Jimmy Hart.
• Jerry's First Match: Lawler tells the story (or what he remembers of it) of his first time in the ring.
• The King Gets His Crown: Lawler remembers taking his crown and robe on loan from Wrestler Bobby Shane, who perished in a plane crash before Lawler could return the items.
• Mid-South Coliseum: Lawler remembers how the arena played home to popular wrestling.
• Life on the Road: Lawler discusses the rigors of regional wrestling travel.
• Sam Bass: Lawler recalls his relationship with the manager and his death in a car accident.
• The King vs. the King?: Lawler discusses his relationship with Mickey Poole and pitching an idea to wrestle Elvis.
• Living Clean: Lawler says nobody prodded him to try "bad habits."
• Jim Ross: Lawler further describes his relationship with J.R.
• Brian Christopher: Mexican Shooter: Lawler's son talks about his own career.
• Career Match: Jerry Lawler vs. Ric Flair. Memphis Wrestling -- August 4, 1982.
• Boxer vs. Wrestler: Jerry Lawler vs. Andy Kaufman. Memphis Wrestling -- November 21, 1983.
• Career Moment: King's Court with Jerry Lawler Interviewing Himself. Wrestling Challenge -- June 27, 1993.
• Career Match: Kerry Lawler & Nova vs. The Prototype & Sean O'Haire. OVW Wrestling -- Spring 2002.
• Career Moment: After RAW Birthday Celebration. RAW -- November 29, 2010.

WWE: It's Good to Be the King - The Jerry Lawler Story Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's Good to Be the King - The Jerry Lawler Story serves to ire-introduce longtime WWE and Jerry Lawler fans to one of the most recognizable talents -- in the ring and outside of it -- in sports entertainment. It's also a revelatory program for relative newcomers, an open box of information that's presented here in a linear, accessible manner and with an obvious passion for the man and the life that's touched so many, literally from his mouth to his heart to his fingertips to the feet that moved him through the ring. Along with solid video and audio and a wide assortment of quality matches and moments, this is a must-own for any wrestling fan. Highly recommended.