96-410: Honky Tonk Man may refer to: The Honky Tonk Man , ring name of professional wrestler Wayne Farris Honkytonk Man , 1982 American film starring Clint Eastwood Honky Tonk Man (album) , 1975 album by country singer Steve Young " Honky-Tonk Man ", 1956 country song by Johnny Horton, also covered by Bob Luman and Dwight Yoakam Topics referred to by
192-594: A battle royal . He soon won the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship under the managerial service of Sam Bass with partner Jim White . In 1974, Lawler began feuding with Jackie Fargo , who had been his trainer and mentor. This led to a match for the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship . On July 24, 1974, Lawler won the belt and the title of "King of Wrestling." During 1975, Lawler teamed with
288-459: A 15-year-old girl, though charges were dropped when the alleged victim recanted her story. As a result, the feud between Lawler and Vince McMahon back in the USWA was also abruptly discontinued. Lawler did not face Bret Hart at another pay-per-view until the first In Your House , when he beat Hart after Hakushi and his manager Shinja interfered. This set up a "Kiss My Foot" match at King of
384-605: A 50s-styled, themed entrance song performed by Farris (included on Piledriver: The Wrestling Album II , the WWF's second album of wrestling themes ). By September 1987, "Macho Man" Randy Savage was in the midst of a fan favorite turn and began challenging Honky for the title (after Honky had made comments about himself being "the greatest Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion of all time" and making disparaging comments about former champions, particularly Savage). Although they had several matches beforehand – they had also met in 1986, when
480-509: A Legends contract. Prior to joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1992, he wrestled in numerous territories , winning many championships , including multiple World Heavyweight Championships, throughout his career. Lawler is a one-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion and a three-time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion : he unified the titles by defeating Kerry Von Erich at Superclash III , forming
576-657: A World Pro Wrestling event in Colusa, California , teaming with Doink The Clown (a new masked version) to face WPW World Tag Team Champions The First Class Express, Jerry Grey and Mighty Henrich. The match ended in a no contest as Doink turned on Honky and the three triple-teamed him. On May 7, 2009, Honky and Bushwacker Luke defeated "Kowboy" Mike Hughes and "Wildman" Gary Williams for the UCW Tag Team Championship. On January 31, 2011, Honky made his Dynamic Wrestling Alliance debut defeating Col. Jonathan James at
672-422: A brief feud with The Ultimate Warrior , Lawler began feuding with Jake Roberts after making fun of Roberts' real life drug and alcohol problems. The two met in a match at SummerSlam 1996 , which Lawler won. After the match, Lawler poured Jim Beam whiskey down Roberts' throat. Afterwards, he feuded with Mark Henry , which the two meet at In Your House 10: Mind Games which Henry won. In early 1997, Lawler
768-571: A burgeoning roster which also included recent signings Andre the Giant, Greg Valentine, and Rick Rude. He (as well as Rude and Valentine) made their debuts on the January 9, 1991 tapings of UWF Fury Hour . Appearing as The Honkytonk Man, Ferris did an in-ring segment with Captain Lou Albano where he was prevented from singing for the fans in attendance. The WWF filed a lawsuit claiming trademark to
864-681: A double disqualification for United Wrestling Alliance on February 19, 1991. He faced USWA Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lawler at the TWA Spring Spectacular 2 on May 18, 1991, losing via disqualification. Ferris next appeared for the TWA ( Tri-State Wrestling Alliance ), where he faced Paul Orndorff. He lost to Don Muraco at Century Toyota on June 28, 1992. Then he made a one night appearance on November 11, 1993, for United States Wrestling Association as he lost to Jeff Jarrett by disqualification. On August 5, 1994, Ferris resurfaced in
960-484: A fan favorite turn. The feud intensified when Honky attacked Roberts on his talk show set, The Snake Pit . According to Roberts, Honky was supposed to hit him with a gimmicked balsa wood guitar; he believes Farris accidentally grabbed a real, non-gimmicked guitar (made of fiberglass) and smashed it across Roberts' back, legitimately injuring him. According to Roberts, this started his dependence on prescription pain medication (in an interview, Roberts alleges that he
1056-906: A feud against The Moondogs . The feud between Jarrett/Lawler and The Moondogs was voted the 1992 PWI Feud of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated . He won the USWA World Tag Team Championship with Jarrett four times and twice with Bill Dundee . Lawler dropped the USWA Unified World Heavyweight for the last time to Dutch Mantel on August 8, 1997, in an All Body Hair match. The promotion closed in November 1997. Lawler began his WWF career in December 1992 as an announcer on Superstars , while still working in USWA. He made his in-ring debut at
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#17327794752631152-434: A feud with "Outlaw" Ron Bass after Bass committed a sneak attack on Beefcake; the incident was aired the weekend before SummerSlam. At the event, it was announced that a "mystery opponent" would face Honky for the title. When it came time for the match, Honky grabbed the microphone and proclaimed that he did not care who his opponent was. The Ultimate Warrior then ran out and pinned his stunned opponent in just 31 seconds for
1248-557: A feud with Tazz. At SummerSlam , Lawler wrestled Tazz in defense of Ross, and defeated him. At Unforgiven , he lost to Tazz in a Leather Strap match. Also, Lawler feuded with Tazz's partner Raven until January 2001. With the creation of the XFL in 2001, Lawler was given the job as an announcer for the new football league. Lawler claims that he never wanted to announce for the XFL (he would admit on-air that he knew and cared almost nothing about
1344-570: A guitar. He also appeared at PDX Wrestling (the new-age Portland Wrestling , run by Sandy Barr 's son Josh) teaming with a local fan favorite against two villains. On April 26, 2008, Honky was inducted into the XWF Hall of Fame by its creator Jack Blaze at their 2008 XWF Superbrawl event. XWF was later renamed LPW (Legends Pro Wrestling) where Honky is still honored in their Hall of Fame. On June 28, 2008, in Chicago Ridge, Illinois , he made
1440-460: A highly interactive message board community, extensive photo gallery, audio updates, and more. Notable online feuds began between The Honky Tonk Man and Jerry Lawler , Roddy Piper, and others. These often intense online rivalries became a major drawing point for fans. The website unexpectedly closed without much explanation in December 2006. The site now forwards to various new ventures of former website manager Ryan Smith, who remains tight-lipped about
1536-632: A jobber to the stars. He wrestled frequently in Birmingham, Dothan, Mobile, and Pensacola as "Dynamite" Wayne Farris. He achieved greater success when he teamed with Larry Latham to form The Blond Bombers when they were put together by Jerry Brisco in Florida Championship Wrestling. The Bombers were later put with Sgt. Danny Davis as their manager when they came back to Memphis. The Blond Bombers were involved in heated feuds with several fan favorite teams across
1632-573: A losing effort for SSOW. After a brief stint in the American Wrestling Federation, Honky resurfaced in the WWF on December 17, 1996, at a Monday Night Raw taping in Tampa, FL. In a show that aired on December 29, Honky Tonk told the fans that he could not sing for the fans and instead provided color commentary. This would expand to commentary work on Raw Is War , WWF Superstars , and Shotgun Saturday Night , and then as
1728-625: A match between the two at King of the Ring 1994 which Lawler lost. In the fall of 1994, Lawler initiated a feud with Doink the Clown. Lawler popped the balloons carried by Doink's midget sidekick, Dink . After Doink and Dink retaliated, Lawler introduced a midget sidekick of his own, who he named Queasy. In the following weeks, Doink added two more sidekicks, Wink and Pink, while Lawler introduced Sleazy and Cheesy. This led to an elimination match at Survivor Series 1994 , which Lawler's team won. After
1824-512: A match that went to a time limit draw. Honky Tonk suffered his first WCW defeat on October 28, 1994, losing to Johnny B Badd at a house show in Tampa, FL. This presaged several further defeats to Badd on the house show circuit; in the meantime it was announced he would face the WCW World Television Champion in a rematch at Starrcade . Honky Tonk continued to remained undefeated on television, with his final match before
1920-607: A notorious feud with comedian Andy Kaufman . At the time, Kaufman wrestled women as part of his skits and had declared himself the Intergender Heavyweight Champion. On April 5, Lawler, who had taken exception to the skits, wrestled Kaufman in Memphis. During the course of the match, Lawler delivered two piledrivers to Kaufman, the second after the bell rang, sending him to the hospital and nearly breaking his neck. On July 29, Lawler slapped Kaufman in
2016-500: A prison warden returning Dario Cueto's things upon his release. In 2008, Santino Marella announced his intention to break Honky's record for longest Intercontinental Championship reign, usually displaying a special "Honk-a-meter" comparing Honky's 64-week record with the length of his own reign at the time. On the October 6 episode of Raw , Honky (now a fan favorite for the first time since 1986), along with Goldust and Roddy Piper,
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#17327794752632112-500: A promo aired from Honky where he declared that he would tap dance on the head of Paul Orndorff . Similar promos aired on following episodes of Superstars that month, as well as the new Wrestling Challenge syndicated program. Honky made his televised WWF debut on the September 28, 1986, episode of Wrestling Challenge , defeating Terry Gibbs . Originally pushed as a fan favorite wrestler with an Elvis impersonator gimmick , he
2208-586: A public appearance in Canada before an Ultimate Championship Wrestling show in Charlottetown , Prince Edward Island . He was making an appearance at Boston Pizza in Charlottetown several hours before the show when someone wanted to take a photo with him with both men clashing guitars. When the guitars collided, the neck of Honky's guitar turned and sliced into Honky's finger, almost severing it. Honky
2304-411: A special guest appearance for Ring of Honor with the storyline that "Sweet N' Sour" Larry Sweeney had brought him on board with his Sweet N' Sour, Inc. faction. He praised the crowd and was about to sing and dance for them until Sweeney stepped in and told him he would not be doing either until their demands were met. On July 27, 2008, Honky almost had the index finger of his right hand severed during
2400-787: A variety of partners such as Mr Wrestling II, Don Greene, and Bob Orton, Jr . He won the NWA Macon Tag Team Championship twice during this period. While Lawler began his career as a heel , he became a face after splitting from Bass at the end of 1974. In 1977, promoter Jerry Jarrett broke away from Nick Gulas' NWA Mid-America promotion and formed his own promotion, the Continental Wrestling Association . Lawler—Gulas' biggest star—opted to join Jarrett. The CWA quickly outperformed NWA Mid-America, which ultimately folded in 1981. Lawler
2496-496: Is a first cousin of Jerry Lawler and a first cousin once-removed of the late Brian Christopher . He is an avid golfer in his spare time. Farris's first marriage to Judy Lynn Nuckolls was brief, but he has been married to his current wife Tammy since 1984. He has lived in Gilbert, Arizona since June 1993. Although a kayfabe rival of Randy Savage , Farris had a professionally friendly relationship with him. Both men held
2592-408: Is a fine storyteller and keeps fans well-versed with current storylines, whereas he provides reaction and emotion to liven the commentary. In 2003, Raw's announce team of Lawler and Jim Ross feuded with Sunday Night Heat ' s team of Jonathan Coachman and Al Snow . At Unforgiven , Lawler and Ross lost a match against Coachman and Snow, thus losing their right to do commentary on Raw . In
2688-512: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The Honky Tonk Man Roy Wayne Farris (born January 25, 1953) is an American retired professional wrestler . He is best known for his tenure in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 1986 to 1991, where he performed under the ring name The Honky Tonk Man . He also performed for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994, and for Stampede Wrestling between 1982 and 1986. He
2784-488: The 1993 Royal Rumble when he participated in the namesake match, which was won by Yokozuna . From 1993 to 1995, he feuded with Bret Hart and the rest of the Hart family . The feud began at King of the Ring when Lawler interrupted Hart's victory ceremony and attacked Bret. Lawler claimed that he was the only true king in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and the two were scheduled to wrestle at SummerSlam to settle
2880-619: The JAPW Heavyweight Championship in Secaucus, New Jersey . He lost the title a month later to Dan Maff . Also made appearances in Ohio Valley Wrestling , International Wrestling Cartel, and other promotions. On November 11, 2005, he teamed with Brad Armstrong and Jeff Hardy to defeat The Midnight Express and Jim Cornette for CCW A Tribute for Starrcade. On November 7, 2008, a tribute show
2976-682: The USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship , a championship which he held 28 times. He is also known for his feud with comedian Andy Kaufman , and for portraying himself in the 1999 Jim Carrey film about Kaufman, Man on the Moon . In 2007, Lawler was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame . Lawler was born November 29, 1949, in Memphis, Tennessee , where he graduated from Treadwell High School. When he
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3072-514: The WWE Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009. In 2010, WWE offered him a place in the WWE Hall of Fame, but he rejected it. Honky made a brief appearance on Old School Raw on March 4, 2013. Following a match between the team of Brodus Clay and Tensai and 3MB, he smashed 3MB member Heath Slater over the head with a guitar. He then danced with Clay and Tensai to his signature "Cool, Cocky, Bad" theme song. On February 26, 2019, WWE confirmed that
3168-648: The WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship for over one year, with Farris beating Savage by a few weeks. Farris considers Harley Race to be the greatest professional wrestler of all time. Farris has stated that he donates his hair to Locks of Love once a year. Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry " the King " Lawler , is an American color commentator and professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under
3264-459: The referee with his megaphone while Beefcake had Honky in a sleeper hold , and this saw Honky retain the title, but Hart got a haircut from Beefcake himself) and continued during the spring and summer of 1988 – Honky vowed not to let Beefcake cut his ducktail hair, something Beefcake often said he would do in promos. In their matches, Honky was often seconded by a mysterious woman named Peggy Sue; while WWF Women's Champion Sherri Martel played
3360-847: The "Golden Opportunity II" event in Middletown, Ohio. On June 5, 2016, Honky wrestled in Impact Pro Wrestling in New Zealand , at the Armageddon Expo in Wellington . He teamed up with Brook Duncan and Britenay to defeat the team of the IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Champion Curt Chaos, Taylor Adams and Mr. Burns. Honky made a cameo appearance in the first episode of season 3 of Lucha Underground , appearing as
3456-614: The AWA, most notably Lawler claiming that he was never paid for the match at Superclash. Lawler continued feuding with Kerry Von Erich in WCCW. He lost to Von Erich in a steel cage match on November 25, 1988. He would defeat Von Erich by disqualification to retain the WCCW heavyweight title. He wrestled Mil Mascaras to a draw on July 28. In 1981, Lawler wrestled for Championship Wrestling From Florida feuding with Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk . In 1985, Lawler traveled to Hawaii , where he won
3552-761: The Big Two, joining World Championship Wrestling and defeating Terry Taylor on WCW Worldwide . Promotional vignettes began airing for the former WWF star, and he next appeared on August 15, 1994, on WCW Pro with a win over Brad Armstrong . The Clash of The Champions special on August 24, 1994, featured the debut of his new song "Honky Dog Baby". Honky Tonk Man remained undefeated on WCW television, defeating Mike Winner and Sam Houston. He began appearing on WCW's renewed house show circuit in October, defeating Brian Pillman in multiple encounters. On October 24, 1994, he appeared on his first WCW PPV, wrestling WCW World Television Champion Johnny B. Badd on Halloween Havoc in
3648-867: The CWA merged with World Class Championship Wrestling to form the United States Wrestling Association . On March 7, 1983, Lawler won the AWA International Championship by defeating Austin Idol . On May 30, 1983, Bill Dundee defeated Jerry Lawler for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship . The feud quickly escalated and on June 6, 1983, the two met in a Loser Leaves Town Match for the title, in which Lawler won. Lawler defeated Ken Patera on July 25 to begin his second reign as
3744-535: The Honky Tonk Man would join the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2019 . He was inducted on April 7, 2019, by his former manager Jimmy Hart. Honky appeared in the coin operated arcade game WWF Superstars which debuted in 1989. Honky appeared in an episode of the court based show Judge Jeanine Pirro as a witness to the defendant; the episode, which aired on October 11, 2010, was also the highest rated show for Judge Jeanine Pirro of all time. Honky appeared in
3840-513: The Honkytonk Man character, with the segment subsequently not airing. This would also extend to Rick Rude and Greg Valentine, who would never actually appear on UWF television. Ferris left the promotion following a pay dispute with Abrams, and the latter refused to pay him or Valentine. After leaving the UWF, Honky went the independent circuit . He wrestled his former partner Greg Valentine to
3936-581: The Intercontinental Championship, ending his reign at 454 days. Honky had been the champion for one year, two months, and 27 days (454 days total), which stood as the longest Intercontinental Championship reign until September 2023, when he was surpassed by Gunther . In 1989, Honky entered the Royal Rumble , where he was eliminated by Tito Santana and Bushwhacker Butch . In late 1989 and 1990, he and Greg Valentine , who
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4032-795: The International Champion. Lawler became the NWA Mid America Champion on April 12, 1984, when he defeated Randy Savage for the title. He later returned to the United States , where he defeated Bill Dundee on July 29, 1986, to begin a new reign as the AWA International Champion. Lawler feuded with Tommy Rich , Austin Idol, and Paul E. Dangerously throughout early 1987. The animosity began after controversy over an AWA World Championship title shot involving Nick Bockwinkel . During
4128-776: The International Tag Team Championship. On June 20, 1986, he defeated Bad News Allen for the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship ; the title was vacated when Honky left for WWF in 1986. Farris entered the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in July 1986 under the ring name The Honky Tonk Man. Honky made his televised debut on the August 30, 1986 episode of The Body Shop (the last Body Shop interview segment conducted by Don Muraco ), held on
4224-605: The International Wrestling Cartel and with Maryland Championship Wrestling , where he held the promotion's world title after defeating The Bruiser on November 2. He would return to WWF after a nine-month absence. On March 31, 2002, he reunited with his son, Brian , to defeat David Flair and Jim Cornette at the Tojo Yamamoto Memorial Show. On November 8, 2003, in a match refereed by Mick Foley , Lawler defeated Al Snow for
4320-455: The June 13, 1987, episode of Superstars , Honky defeated Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat for the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship ; Honky reversed Steamboat's inside cradle and grabbed onto the bottom ropes for extra leverage to get the pinfall win. Butch Reed was originally scheduled to win the title. Honky was originally meant to be a transitional champion to only hold on to
4416-785: The NWA Polynesian Pacific title on January 25, 1986, defeating Lars Anderson . He dropped the title to Tui Selinga on March 26 in Honolulu, Hawaii. In March 1989, he wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling . He lost to IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tatsumi Fujinami on March 16, 1989. In 1989, Lawler made his debut in the Memphis brand United States Wrestling Association , where he won the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship 28 times from 1989 until its doors closed in 1997. While champion, he feuded with The Soultaker , Jimmy Valiant , Kamala , Eddie Gilbert , and Jeff Jarrett . In 1992, Lawler teamed with Jeff Jarrett in
4512-453: The November 22, 1986 episode of Superstars , the results predictably came back negative, and it was not long before Honky turned into a cocky villain and took on "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart (later billed "Colonel" as a reference to Elvis Presley 's manager Colonel Tom Parker ) as his manager. Honky's first major feud came against Jake "The Snake" Roberts , who was in the midst of
4608-440: The October 27 episode of Raw , Honky appeared as a special guest commentator. After an impersonation of Marella's on-screen girlfriend, Beth Phoenix , Charlie Haas was knocked into the announcer table, and Marella attacked Honky, prompting Piper and Goldust to block Marella's escape from the ring. Upon Goldust's entry to the ring, Marella turned around to be smashed over the head by Honky's guitar. Honky inducted Koko B. Ware into
4704-549: The PPV coming on December 17 in a win over Steve Collins on WCW Worldwide . At Starrcade 94 he left the company due to a dispute with management. In his book Controversy Creates Cash , Eric Bischoff stated that his favorite firing was that of Honky. Honky has responded by saying that it was an honor, as Bischoff had fired a number of people while in WCW until he got himself fired. After an unsuccessful stint with WCW, Honky returned to
4800-417: The Ring 1995 , which Bret won. As a result, Lawler was forced to kiss Bret's feet. The feud took one final turn when Lawler introduced his " dentist " Isaac Yankem, D.D.S. . After Hart defeated Yankem by disqualification , however, the feud quickly disappeared. Following the end of his legal troubles which kept him out of Survivor Series 1993, Lawler eventually returned to the WWF at WrestleMania X , which
4896-459: The USWA. There, Lawler played the babyface to his hometown Memphis audience, whereas McMahon (who had always played face in the WWF) was being portrayed as a smug heel intent on dethroning Lawler as the king of professional wrestling. As part of the cross-promotion, McMahon, Bret and Owen Hart , Giant González , Tatanka , and "Macho Man" Randy Savage would begin appearing on USWA television to further
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#17327794752634992-631: The WWF and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). In interviews and commentary, he referred to the promotion as "Extremely Crappy Wrestling". His frequent insults toward ECW eventually led to the promotion "invading" Monday Night Raw in February 1997. He wrestled in two matches. The first on July 19 at Heat Wave 1997 in a steel cage match with Rob Van Dam and Sabu in a no contest against Rick Rude , The Sandman , and Tommy Dreamer . He wrestled against Dreamer at ECW's Hardcore Heaven pay-per-view in August, which Dreamer won. During his absence from
5088-410: The WWF for a one-time appearance at the 2001 Royal Rumble , but was quickly eliminated by Kane after being hit on the head with his guitar. Since 2000, Honky has worked independent wrestling shows all over the world. Honky, along with Ryan Smith and a host of others, ran a series of controversial wrestling websites from 2000 to 2006. TheHonkyTonkMan.com featured frequent updates from Honky himself,
5184-413: The WWF for the first time and left the announce position, to which Lawler began praising McMahon's name on commentary as part of his own heel persona, much to the chagrin of Jim Ross . It was McMahon's departure from the commentary team which led to the strong on-screen chemistry between Lawler and Ross in subsequent years. This played a key role in a change of Lawler's character; although he still supported
5280-466: The WWF, Lawler made appearances on the independent circuit in both Australia and the States, as well as joining the fledgling Xcitement Wrestling Federation (XWF) promotion alongside WCW veteran Tony Schiavone as a color commentator. On October 26, 2001, he appeared on WWA The Inception as a commentator alongside Jeremy Borash, as well as wrestling in a battle royal. He also made appearances with
5376-515: The aftermath of the Alliance's loss at the previous night's Survivor Series . As he had been before his departure, Lawler once again became color commentator on Raw and pay-per-view events alongside Jim Ross and SmackDown! with Michael Cole , until the brands were separated and Lawler became exclusive to Raw . Lawler stated that his well-worked chemistry with Jim Ross has been a result of their different styles; according to Lawler, Jim Ross
5472-405: The alleged non-gimmicked guitar shot. During their feud, which culminated at WrestleMania III , Honky grabbed the ring ropes to score a tainted win; afterward, Roberts cleared the ring of Honky before he and Alice Cooper attacked Hart with Damien, Roberts' python . Following WrestleMania his feud with Jake Roberts was temporarily sidelined, with the newly returned Ken Patera substituting for
5568-700: The closing. Honky has wrestled for Southern Championship Wrestling in Castroville, Texas, and MSW in eastern Canada. On April 23, 2008, Honky was seen wrestling in Presque Isle, Maine for the North Atlantic American Wrestling Association promotion. He appeared on Heavy on Wrestling on June 14, 2008, in Superior, Wisconsin . He wrestled as a fan favorite, defeating Big Brody Hoofer and hitting Cameron Steele with
5664-477: The debuting Undertaker , against Rhodes' Dream Team of The Hart Foundation and Koko B. Ware at the 1990 Survivor Series , where they emerged victorious. Honky wrapped up his WWF career with a stint as a pro-villains color commentator alongside Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper on Superstars before leaving in January 1991. Universal Wrestling Federation promoter Herb Abrams immediately set about signing Ferris to his growing roster of former WWF stars, adding to
5760-465: The dispute. At the event, however, Lawler came to the ring on crutches and claimed that he could not wrestle because of injuries suffered in a car accident. Hart faced Lawler's "court jester", Doink the Clown instead, and beat him by submission . Lawler then attacked Hart, revealing that he was not injured. Hart defeated Lawler by submission but refused to release the Sharpshooter . As a result,
5856-687: The early 1980s, winning multiple singles and tag team championships in each. Farris made his debut for Stampede Wrestling in Calgary in 1982 where the Honky Tonk Wayne gimmick was born. A spinoff of rock star Elvis Presley , he sported slicked-back hair, sideburns, and carried a guitar. Honky and Ron Starr won the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship in 1985 and 1986. He later teamed with Cuban Assassin to win
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#17327794752635952-535: The face on an episode of Late Night with David Letterman . Kaufman responded by shouting profanities and throwing his coffee at Lawler. Years later, Lawler appeared as himself in the Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon ; the film revealed that Lawler's feud with Kaufman had been staged. Lawler later claimed that not only was his entire feud with Kaufman staged, but also the two were actually very good friends. In 1988, Lawler feuded with Dutch Mantel . In 1989,
6048-642: The feud, the trio defeated Lawler in a steel cage match and cut his hair, which caused a riot in the Mid-South Coliseum . Lawler won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from Curt Hennig on May 9, 1988. During his reign, Lawler feuded with World Class Championship Wrestling 's Champion Kerry Von Erich . He defeated Von Erich on December 15, 1988, at Superclash III to unify the two titles. Soon after, Lawler's issues with Verne Gagne led to his departure from
6144-424: The feud. While the program continued in the USWA, the feud between Lawler and McMahon would not be acknowledged on WWF television. The Hart family ( Bret , Owen , Bruce , and Keith ) was scheduled to face a team captained by Lawler in an elimination match at Survivor Series . However, Shawn Michaels had to take Lawler's place because Lawler was facing legal troubles. He was indicted for raping and sodomizing
6240-422: The final taping of All Star Wrestling . Taped several days later, he was introduced to fans at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center by Junkyard Dog in the final episode of WWF Championship Wrestling , which also aired on August 30. The WWF's introduction of the new character continued apace on their new clutch of syndicated programs that debuted that fall. On September 6, 1986, on the first episode of WWF Superstars ,
6336-454: The heels (leading to the formation of The Mega Powers ). Honky continued his bitter feud against Savage, as Honky would frequently make advances toward Miss Elizabeth – including one such incident at the 1987 Slammy Awards – to agitate his challenger. The last high-profile Savage-Honky match, aired as part of the undercard to Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant on the 1988 The Main Event I , saw Honky lose by countout after Savage rammed him into
6432-649: The heels, he showed a sense of right and wrong, and would condemn actions of heels when they went too far. Lawler during this period would continue commentating and rarely wrestled for the WWF. He wrestled between 1999 and 2001 mainly in house shows. On June 22, 2000, he made an appearance on SmackDown! teaming with The Kat to defeat Dean Malenko and Terri Runnels . This would be the first time in two years he wrestled on WWF television. A week later, he defeated Malenko on Raw. He would turn face by 2000 (while wrestling). This began when Lawler surprisingly attacked Tazz when Tazz started bullying Jim Ross, thus beginning
6528-434: The indies. In 1995 he wrestled for the National Wrestling Conference having matches against former WWF stars Virgil , Ultimate Warrior , and Jake Roberts . He worked with them until 1998. In 1996 he worked for American Wrestling Federation where he feuded with Koko B. Ware . In 1998 he worked for Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) in British Columbia, Canada. On May 5, 1999, he wrestled Michael Hayes in
6624-425: The injured Roberts in multiple house show matches. For the first time since his WWF debut he was on the losing end of a feud, being pinned numerous times. On the May 18, 1987 episode of Prime Time Wrestling he suffered his first televised pinfall, losing again to Patera. On the June 8th episode of Prime Time he again loss by pinfall, this time to Billy Jack Haynes . On May 30 he again lost to Patera on Prime Time. On
6720-426: The manager of Billy Gunn , who had started a singles run. Under Honky's tutelage, Gunn became known as "Rockabilly" in April 1997, which was a short-lived and unsuccessful gimmick and was also disliked by Honky himself. When Gunn formed the New Age Outlaws with Road Dogg in October 1997, Honky was taken off TV. He then made an appearance in the 1998 Royal Rumble event eliminated by Vader . Honky returned to
6816-412: The match at No Way Out . The next night, Lawler teamed with the APA ( Bradshaw and Faarooq ) as they defeated Right to Censor members Bull Buchanan , The Goodfather and Val Venis on Raw. This would be Lawler's last WWF match. After No Way Out, The Kat was released by the WWF and Lawler quit the company in protest. In 1997, Lawler became heavily involved in the working relationship between
6912-408: The match), ran into the ring and attacked Savage, getting Honky disqualified. Savage's manager, Miss Elizabeth , attempted to stop the attack on Savage, but Honky shoved her down and she fled to the locker room; meanwhile, Honky completed his attempt to break his guitar over Savage's head. Shortly thereafter, Miss Elizabeth returned with Savage's former rival, Hulk Hogan, who aided Savage in running off
7008-506: The match, however, Lawler's team turned on him, joining with Doink's team to attack Lawler. In late 1994 and early 1995, Lawler wrestled briefly in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) while still continuing to commentate sporadically for the WWF. During his absences, Shawn Michaels filled in for him as color commentator on Monday Night Raw . He defeated Tony Anthony for the promotion's top title in January 1995. Lawler
7104-588: The referee reversed the decision and awarded the title of "Undisputed King of the World Wrestling Federation" to Lawler. The two would continue to work throughout the fall on the house show circuit, including in steel cages. Simultaneously, in a form of cross-promotion, Lawler engaged in a bitter feud with Vince McMahon (who at the time was never advertised as the actual owner of the World Wrestling Federation) back in
7200-573: The ring post on the outside of the ring. Their feud was blown off in the weeks before WrestleMania IV through a series of tag team-style steel cage matches, involving various allies of both Honky and Savage on their respective sides and Savage usually emerging victorious. Honky retained the title in matches with Savage and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake , Honky's next major rival. During the Beefcake-Honky feud – which began at WrestleMania IV (where Jimmy Hart got him disqualified by knocking out
7296-407: The role for television tapings, more often than not, "Peggy Sue" was Jimmy Hart dressed in drag. Beefcake countered with a "woman" of his own: "Georgina" (George "The Animal" Steele in drag). Honky and Beefcake were scheduled to square off at the 1988 SummerSlam in what was billed as Beefcake's last shot at the now renamed Intercontinental Championship. In a storyline twist, Beefcake was thrust in
7392-424: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Honky Tonk Man . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Honky_Tonk_Man&oldid=781080636 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
7488-616: The sport), but that he agreed to it after McMahon and Kevin Dunn asked him. In February 2001, Lawler's then-wife Stacy "the Kat" Carter was involved in a storyline where Right to Censor (RTC), a group of wrestlers purportedly wanting to rein in the vulgarity of the "Attitude Era," during which she demanded equal time for the "right for nudity". RTC's leader Steven Richards offered a match with Lawler at No Way Out. If Lawler won, Kat got naked and if Richards won, Kat became RTC property. Richards won
7584-633: The then-villain Savage was champion and challenged by the fan favorite Honky – the first Savage-Honky match to air on national television was on the October 3, 1987 Saturday Night's Main Event XII , which was taped on September 23 in Hershey, Pennsylvania . During that match, Savage nearly defeated Honky until Honky's allies in Jimmy Hart's stable , The Hart Foundation (who had interfered throughout
7680-824: The title for a short period of time, until Roberts failed several drug tests following WrestleMania and Honky was booked to remain champion for what would be a record-setting run. In a later interview, Honky remarked that Hulk Hogan , whom he then had a friendly, collaborative relationship with outside of the ring, had helped give Honky a chance at the title after a coincidental meeting between Hogan, Honky, and Vince McMahon took place. Hogan stuck up for Honky, even though McMahon had someone else in mind. To preserve his title, which could only be taken by pinfall or submission , Honky often got himself deliberately counted out or disqualified against challengers such as Steamboat, Billy Jack Haynes , Bruno Sammartino , and George "The Animal" Steele . Also during this time, Honky began using
7776-599: The two competing Tennessee promotions , appearing in both Nick Gulas 's Nashville based territory, and Jerry Jarrett 's Memphis area. Their signature moment was the now famous "Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl" against Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee . He then had stints in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promotions , World Wrestling Council (WWC), Southeastern Championship Wrestling , Southwest Championship Wrestling, National Wrestling Alliance and Stampede Wrestling through
7872-741: The video game WWE All Stars as a free downloadable character. He also has appeared in WWE 2K15 as part of a downloadable content pack and is in WWE 2K16 as an unlockable character from the special objectives. His most recent video game appearance is in WWE 2K24 as part of the “Post Malone & Friends” DLC He was cast in John Wesley Norton's film Executive Ranks . Honky also appeared in Insane Clown Posse 's music video for "How Many Times" along with The Bushwhackers and his former tag team partner Greg Valentine . Farris
7968-419: Was 19, his father, Jerome Lawler, died. While working in Memphis, Tennessee , as a disc jockey , Lawler's artistic ability attracted the attention of local wrestling promoter Aubrey Griffith. The two made an agreement in which Lawler would give Griffith free publicity in exchange for free wrestling training. Lawler debuted as a wrestler in 1970, and won his first championship in September 1971 by winning
8064-478: Was also his first appearance as a commentator on a WWF pay-per-view. During the main event of the night, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper served as special guest referee for the second WWF World Heavyweight Championship match. During this Lawler began making disparaging remarks about him. Lawler would continue to berate Piper on later episodes of Monday Night Raw , including bringing a skinny kid into the ring dressed as Piper and forcing him to kiss his feet. This ultimately led to
8160-424: Was also managed by Jimmy Hart, aligned themselves as the tag team Rhythm and Blues . At WrestleMania VI , they notably rode in a pink Cadillac , with future WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page as the driver. After competing against such teams as The Hart Foundation at WrestleMania V and The Legion of Doom , Rhythm & Blues were part of Ted DiBiase 's Million Dollar Team along with his "mystery" partner,
8256-480: Was both a co-owner of the CWA and its top star. On November 12, 1979, while working in the CWA, Lawler defeated Superstar Billy Graham to become the CWA World Champion . In 1980, coming off the back end of a feud with The Fabulous Freebirds , his career was put on hold due to a broken leg suffered in a game of touch football, but he returned to the ring after several months. In 1982, Lawler began
8352-578: Was endorsed via an inset promo by none other than WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan himself. He made his debut on the house show circuit on October 8, 1986, defeating WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage via disqualification in a match in Warren, OH. Wrestling as a fan-favorite, he competed against Randy Savage and Jake Roberts in subsequent matches. Honky received a televised match against Savage on October 18, 1986, in an encounter broadcast from Philadelphia, but lost by countout. Fan support
8448-527: Was held for Lawler called Lawler 35 - A Tribute Fit For The King. it was held in Nashville. In the main event match, he defeated Sid Vicious . On March 16, 2012, he defeated Tommy Dreamer at Wrestle War 2012. On November 19, 2001, after a nine-month hiatus from the company, Lawler returned to the WWF. He was reintroduced by Vince McMahon on Raw as the replacement for color commentator (and Alliance member) Paul Heyman , who had been (kayfabe) fired in
8544-885: Was immediately taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital where doctors stitched the finger and bandaged it. Honky made his appearance at the Ultimate Championship Wrestling show several hours later. He was unable to wrestle his scheduled match due to the injury and was replaced by Trash Canyon, whom he managed from ringside. Honky, although injured and in obvious pain, sang his theme song twice in the ring. In August 2008, Honky appeared at Wrestling Supershows across Canada. Honky also made appearances in SWCW in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On October 24, 2008, he wrestled for Big Time Wrestling (his first match in four months), beating L'Empereur. On January 7, 2009, he appeared in
8640-702: Was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the 2019 induction ceremony . A heel for the majority of his active professional wrestling career, he has been described by Bleacher Report as "one of the greatest villains to ever grace a professional wrestling ring". His 454-day reign as WWE Intercontinental Champion was the longest reign in the history of the title until it was broken by Gunther in 2023. Farris began his career in 1977 working in Malden, Missouri and wrestled alongside his training partner Koko B. Ware for promoter Henry Rogers. Farris then moved on to Memphis Wrestling in 1978, originally working as
8736-427: Was involved in a working relationship between the WWF and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). In June, Lawler entered the King of the Ring tournament for the first time and advanced to the semi-final round where he was defeated by Mankind . By the fall, the WWF introduced a new "light-heavyweight division" to compete with World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s cruiserweight division. Lawler's son, Brian Christopher ,
8832-524: Was lukewarm to hostile, and the company pivoted as Honky soon cut a series of promos with Jesse "The Body" Ventura that aired on the WWF's syndicated programming asking fans for a "vote of confidence". When he asked for the vote of confidence, he insulted fans in a way that resembled Andy Kaufman before him. On November 16 he wrestled Mr X ( Danny Davis ) in a match taped in Toronto for Prime Time Wrestling , with those in attendance firmly against him. On
8928-439: Was named as one of the possible opponents for Marella's Intercontinental Championship at Cyber Sunday . He was elected by fans to challenge for the title with 35% of the vote; despite concern that his injured finger might require surgery, he did appear, winning the match by disqualification (thus failing to win the title). After the match had ended, Goldust and Piper came down to the ring and, along with Honky, attacked Marella. On
9024-415: Was one of the major superstars in the division, although the WWF played up an angle where both Lawler and Christopher would deny their family relationship, even though the two would aid each other in matches and so on. USWA folded in November of that year. By 1998, Lawler rarely wrestled in the WWF and focused on commentary. Despite their feud in the USWA in 1993, by 1998, Vince McMahon had turned heel in
9120-481: Was picking pieces of the guitar out of his back for weeks after he was hit). This has been disputed as Roberts had been a known drug user years before this incident. In an interview for World Wrestling Insanity , Honky disputed Roberts' assertion saying, "That's not true and, in fact I attribute most of that to Mick Foley , who wrote about it in his book, and Jake, who lied about it". Yet Roberts continued to wrestle regularly following this angle bringing into question
9216-409: Was the last SMW Heavyweight Champion defeating Brad Armstrong on Boxing Day 1995. The promotion closed its doors on December 30. By 1996, Lawler wrestled occasionally on WWF Superstars where he would take on jobbers while holding a microphone in the ring to, essentially, "do the commentary on (his) very own matches" while occasionally serving as the official cornerman for Isaac Yankem D.D.S. After
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