ANDY KAUFMAN Goes Wrestling | From Sitcom Star to Hated Heel - Wrestle Me Review

[@tmage23]

After the whole Kaufman/Lawler angle played out, Jerry Jarrett received a call from Bill Watts thanking him for teaching that skinny New York comedian a lesson. That, to me, makes it the greatest angle ever performed in pro wrestling

[@HeavyJ713]

Paul bosch sent him a telegram pretty much saying the same thing

[@oisquidyx]

Thank god you guys are back. You’ve been gone almost as long as it takes big daddy to run across the ring

[@shaunbritton939]

I Morning Want Morning to go go go go to bed the day after I I have have think about have a look at the this stuff and to see if get the chance it would make 😮more a nice nice one for to me too lol I have a

[@nichhodge8503]

Wrestle Me wasn’t gone for nearly 2yrs 😂

[@Blandalorian]

The defender of all women - Jerry Lawler 😂😂😂

[@pendafen7405]

He might defend my DDs, that's about it. Old washed perv

[@mushroomsamba82]

PUPPIES JR, PUPPIES!

[@funforalgernon]

This might be the best Kaufman in Memphis documentary ever. Extraordinary achievement.

[@FAWicon]

lots of shit missing

[@WrestleMe]

@@FAWicon Part 2 on the way, hold your horses

[@chucksmanhood3074]

Calm the fuck down.@@FAWicon

[@Kaltagstar96]

You know, it really is ironic that Vince Sr apparently wanted nothing to do with Kaufman's act considering the mixing of pro wrestling and celebrity that the WWF would become known for. I honestly think if Kaufman wanted to, he would've been a heel manager on the level of Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan and praise doesn't get much higher than that.

[@jammiebooker6489]

I would have loved to see either Andy/Tony as a manager. He would get chased around like Jim Cornette

[@everyonelovesmajima]

Vincent J. never wanted Vincent K. to do basically everything he ended up doing.

[@casanovafunkenstein5090]

Given what Kaufman would have been like to work with as part of a travelling ensemble and the fact that he would want much more control over the narrative than would be reasonable to give him when there were so many people under contract with nothing approaching that level of power, I'm honestly going to say that Vince Sr made the right call. If he'd decided to take Kaufman up on the offer then the work wouldn't have been able to succeed as much as it did (in no small part because Jerry's chemistry was crucial and in the WWWF there'd be multiple opponents coming after him, as well as there being a lot of risk in terms of public liability when he wrestled audience members without adequate training on either side) and the talent that were signed up with the promotion would have been up in arms at the disparity between how the company dealt with him and the rest of the locker room. Kaufman could have been great in the manager role, no doubt, but I can also see him doing a bunch of stuff that he wasn't meant to be doing and driving the other wrestlers nuts by deliberately adopting a bunch of gross personal habits, specifically to wind them up, or turning up in disguise and then having one of his mates turn up in the same disguise a week later.

[@Kaltagstar96]

@@casanovafunkenstein5090 I do genuinely appreciate this response, I was going to reply that: Surely Kaufman would drop the act when with the boys considering the size of some of the dude's that would've been in the WWF locker-room at the time when he was doing the stuff with Lawler and what they could do to a man of his size, but this is Kaufman we're talking about, so nothing would surprise me with him.

[@tonybarrett8543]

Jimmy Hart but on a different level

[@nickyboyfox]

I have absolutely adored this since I was a child in the union 80s. Made me fall in love with Andy Kaufman and mostly wrestling. Pure gold in my eyes 😍

[@facerip2222]

Mott the Hoople and the game of Life, yeah yeah yeah yeah And Kaufman in the wrestling match, yeah yeah yeah yeah

[@WallKenshiro]

This is the kinda thing I hope to see when I watch KZbin; what an absolutely fantastic run down (bordering on in depth documentary) of the first part of one of (if not the) greatest angles in wrestling history! I can't wait for the next part, but know that it's entitled behavior for me to even want more from you guys. Once I've got the money to waste, I'll waste some of it on your Patreon. This vid shown me that Kaufman raised, then set, a very high bar in being a twat heel, and may have been the first Real Heat Magnet.

[@beejay271]

You had me at the title "This man invented shoot wresling" and points to Andy Kaufman. Andy is the inventor of trolling and one of the best wrestling heels of all time! 😁

[@davidshakesheff89]

So it stands to reason that Jerry Lawler got his trolling skills in his colour commentary from Andy Kaufman

[@thethinkingcatakaneonormie3527]

Kaufmans probably most modern equivalent is Eric Andre that the humour is the blending reality and doing bizarre stunts.

[@spiderjerusalem100]

Now I want Eric Andre to have a work shoot fued with someone. Someone funny like The Miz.

[@sherrilufflee]

I'd really disagree on the basis that Eric Andre really struggles to work outside the niche of his control of a situation. He has to instigate it.

[@Stonehopper1067HMG]

Andy wrestled women, Jerry wrestled girls.

[@mdjcsmith]

0:20 - "The work of Andy Kaufman is better talked about by other people, than watched" what a quote!

[@sickboy703]

Andy's Elvis impersonation was better than good. Its still the best I've ever heard to this day.

[@johnafirth]

Elvis himself supposedly said it was the best he ever saw.

[@ifgwelf]

Ive been binge watching alot of Memphis wrasslin lately. Some of the best stuff Ive ever seen. Lance Russell is a great announcer, and I love the feud with Lawler, Tommy Rich and Austin Idol

[@danielbroadhead7271]

Best wrestling related channel on KZbin!

[@markmark6938]

I hate you guys making this a two part episode. I was so invested... and then it ended. Great episode!!

[@jamtruck7252]

As a comedian, Andy gave the audience an experience. The ultimatr manipulator if audience energy i have seen a comic do to the point he guaranteed at least some confusion. He was a true genius in that respect

[@blacknapalm2131]

*'Someone around here is wearing too much perfume! Must be that time of the month!'* : Tony Clifton

[@mdkaff]

I hope you cover "I'm From Hollywood", the "documentary" directed by Lynne Margulies from 1989 about the Kaufman/Lawler saga that had segments with Kaufman's comedian friends basically giving worked shoot interviews about how worried they were for Andy because of his "obsession" for wrestling women, including a somber, very subdued Robin Williams saying that he knew things were bad when he noticed that Andy started secretly wearing his wrestling gear and Intergender World Heavyweight Title under his clothes.

[@djangofett4879]

I had seen Man in the Moon and this part of the story was by far the standout part of the movie. the real footage is even funnier

[@JasperSalem]

For years, my brother thought that Kaufman faked his death because that seemed like something he might do. I used to love watching him on SNL. RIP Andy.

[@Phantasia_Workshop]

Only time will tell. I wouldn't be surprised if he pops up one day alive and well

[@youfuckinknowit]

My dad said the same thing. He was sure Andy was going to pop up out of Michael Jackson’s “casket” during the televised Memoriam.

[@harryhanz1690]

I have an uncle who still believes he's alive. Way better than being a Q-tard.

[@pendafen7405]

@@youfuckinknowit SWERVE

[@Donathon-qx8kq]

I think this was the greatest feud in wrestling history.,. ever.... after all these years we still remember it.,who was Flair feuding with at this time.... does anyone know i doubt it

[@nathanwagner9895]

amazing content i fucking love you dudes,, you guys are the 2020's version of OSW

[@0xM4ND]

weird coincidence. this is my favourite wrestling channel. the other night I watched Jim & Andy, the night after I watched man on the moon, and the night after, this has been uploaded 😅

[@robrob9250]

I'm a big fan of both pro-wrestling and Andy Kaufman, and I think you summed him up perfectly, here. Most of the people I try to introduce him too don't get it, and I can appreciate why people find him embarrassing but I always thought he was a genius. People go to laugh at a comedians jokes because they're funny, but in Andy's case it was the audience that was the butt of the joke. Whether sitting their awkwardly watching his crap impressions before applauding the Elvis pay-off, or expecting to see cooky, friendly Andy and getting Tony Clifton and his ways. He controlled audiences without them realising it, to the point where he had people sit and listen to him read the Great Gatsby from beginning to end waiting for the joke, before realising the joke was that they just sat there waiting for hours for the punchline that ended up being themselves. I still watch him all the time, he's not the funniest comedian but he's a master of his craft, though he is more fittingly called a performance artist, I think. Anyway, ramble over, just wanted to say I thought these were some great takes on his act you gave.

[@longbeachgrrrrl]

Duuuuudes…. Brilliant! 👏 ❤ You guys!!! Thank you!!!!

[@namelessbumpkin]

Can't wait until part two, fellas!

[@mikehunt4986]

Great stuff! Keep it coming!

[@Greenery808]

Lawler was absolutely brilliant as well in this “fued”. I of course knew that it was all a joke for Andy but I was really convinced Lawler hated him for years.

[@kongshow6229]

Kaufman in many ways was a genius, he got over comedy wise with material that shouldn't work but just did, the line between success and failure so fine as for Lawler, He got it and ran with it beautifully

[@johnytwotimes4072]

As a kid I loved Wrestling and Comedy and this was just perfection

[@ericn.wilson2345]

Andy Kaufman was a conceptual artist, and the concept (at least the key one) was "Someone in the audience doesn't know he's putting them on, and at least one time, it might be you." His time working with Lawler was the perfect example of that.

[@jammiebooker6489]

Lawler and Kaufmann. Kings of improv 😂

[@samright4661]

I watched this unfold as a kid . I was genuinely shocked when I found out that it was a work! It’s was the greatest angle in wrestling history

[@ben8447]

You are the best wrestling channel ever.

[@ronrico2620]

That beautiful square body ambulance at the end. Best truck ever

[@zetetick395]

Whoever thought to let Tony Cliffton onto Television DID NOT KNOW TONY CLIFFTON! 🤣 🤣

[@mrmusickhimself]

Andy once played a maniacal televangelist named: Armageddon T. Thunderbird in a Marty Feldman movie, and I TRULY wish he'd been given a series of films AS that villain. The movie was sadly NOT very good, but I never forgot that role. Oh, and Richard Pryor played "God", so it's worth at least one watch.

[@num1shinfan]

Andy Kaufman was a genius. Not everyone is gonna get it. Not everyone gets python either

[@michaellee8816]

Andy Kaufman, funnier than 15 minutes about garlic bread

[@bernardroth7200]

I'd like to hear your opinion on breakfast with blasi

[@ConsumerkingUk]

At last! I have been waiting for this and long assumed its where Wrestle Me came from. Elvis said he was the best Elvis impersonator. Incidentally many if Jimmy Saville's wrestling quotes cane from Kaufman. Bobby Heenan was inspired by him too. Think about it. I am from Hollywooood!

[@animegamesmoviesandotherst3037]

Andy in an interview said, "I am not a comic, I have never told a joke." He was first and foremost a performance artist. He did the things he did for a reaction no matter if said reaction to it was good or bad, he wanted to see how his audience reacted to his performance. Thats why to me Andy fit into real pro-wrestling because he understood it in away most modern wrestlers do not, he understood how to get real heat, and cheap heat, he sold, he knew how to act, how to get what he wanted from the fans, His stuff in Memphis is the gold standard for how any star doing anything in pro-wrestling should do, they do not beat the wrestler clean or alone, no they cheat , or have help from other wrestlers, have plans, and have others take the huge bumps most times and like Andy with Jimmy Hart that was perfect as Jimmy took some of the bigger bumps, Jimmy also helped keep things going when Andy was not there,

[@wbcwinnipegbeltcollector]

Even if WWE is gonna copy write strike stuff We can always use more World of Sport history Side note: This is a lovely episode to come back on and quite a nice look at the whole nature of how this came to be In a easily digestible 20 minute video

[@MichaelPelestano-it4ym]

Hip new yorker lol😅😅 dont hear that no more 😅😅

[@Filmation77]

Kaufman was a pioneer in blurring the lines of "Work" and "Shoot" and did it so well ,that other actors copied his playbook like Joaquin Phoenix and Reality Tv Stars who play heel like Spencer Pratt,Brody Jenner and The Real Housewives

[@schweagfilms7116]

WHERE DOES THE OUTRO SONG COME FROM!?!?!???!!!

[@elbishus]

Anyone know the name of the intro song?

[@emperortrevornorton3119]

I wish that the vhs tapes that 2 matches of his that I got from a box of crap from a estate sale didn't get eaten f my old VCR

[@ErikRosenquist-c3n]

Timeless.

[@justins2497]

When i saw this as a child, i totally thought it was real!!! Kaufman was a supreme heel. I didn't know it was a "work" (the thing with Lawler)Letterman too) until i was like 30, seeing a Kaufman biography thing.

[@joshuaizzo8893]

Ok ya got a sub from me on that one. Good on ya mate!

[@jasoncoward-aintscared]

I never realized Kaufman was so tall. I always pictured him as a runt, but he is at least 6 ft tall.

[@jimmyblanka6025]

Brilliant!!

[@President_YE]

The snl brawl is legit funny. Andy Kaufman was brilliant.

[@timothyl8237]

Against Foxxy it was a shoot but Andy knew she was tough but he could still beat her so he played as a shoot and work, that’s the comedic genius of him.

[@nichhodge8503]

Andy Kaufman while wrestling women in the ring in Memphis was the only person in wrestling who was actually shoot wrestling that’s unbelievable when you think about how many people were wrestling back then and only his matches with women were an actual shoot

[@fifiwoof1969]

8:50 sound so much like Hotrod!

[@mnorris790]

Not to spoil part two here but for those who know, I remember an episode of I think Raw from the 90s, Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross on commentary, wherein there was a jobber who looked quite a bit like Andy Kaufman. Lawler points this out and Ross says well hell, it might be. You know how that goes.

[@KentuckyKid84]

To be fair, Kaufman always said that he wasn’t really a comedian. He made sure to tell Jerry Lawler, that he never told an actual joke in his life… Calling him a performance artist is nearly hit on the head.

[@pendafen7405]

Great Beyond R.E.M. is a mint song though ennit lads

[@Joeelkins.]

Guy was a comic and business genius

[@adamaizenberg756]

The true 👑 of Memphis Tennessee

[@nicolemerrill9167]

Damn Skippy can't wait for part two

[@wademcginnis9361]

Imagine if he was a full time Heel manager.

[@Benton.DuBollard]

If i had to describe Kaufman in one word it would be -Kaufmanesque

[@LuchadorMasque]

why didnt brian christopher play lawler?

[@majtechtings]

Brian Christopher was MASSIVE and sculpted size wise in 1999...he wouldn't have fit in the role.

[@desisdosis473]

Why should he? Lawler was still around and looked basically the same.

[@pmc8451]

Because he was shit

[@LuchadorMasque]

@@desisdosis473 it's because he's dead dude. it was a bad joke

[@LuchadorMasque]

@@majtechtings also, he's not alive . . .

[@sixth_under6766]

Yes!

[@everyonelovesmajima]

Because he’s from Hollywood.

[@freakyzed8467]

Exactly. Southerners were just as easy to lead around with hate back then as they are now. Never should have stopped them secceding.

[@CyrusCageSCWS]

You keep using this word "shoot"... I don't think it means what you think it means haha. Andy possibly invented the 'worked shoot'. Which is where sonething is planned but made to look legit off script. It was a reaction to the mainstream truly figuring out wrestling was a work. 'Shoot wrestling' just means straight up real wrestling.

[@pendafen7405]

'Scripted reality' as they call it in Newspeak these days

[@jamesoblivion]

Kaufman did shoot wrestle, though...against his female opponents.

[@WallKenshiro]

There is no Vic and Bob, Bo Selecta, Tim and Eric or Steve Brule without Andy Kaufman.

[@pmc8451]

Bullshit. It’s very unlikely Vic & Bob knew who Andy Kaufmann was when they started. It wasn’t like you had easy access to American TV in the UK in the 70s and 80s. SNL & U.S. talk shows were not on tv in the UK. Vic & Bob have also never mentioned Andy Kaufmann. Their comedy is so clearly influenced by Northern British variety & stand up mixed with Spike Milligan, the goons, the goodies etc. Tim & Eric maybe but they’ve not cited him as an influence as far as I’m aware.

[@WallKenshiro]

@@pmc8451 they wouldn't have made it onto national U.K TV if Kaufmann wouldn't have broke into the U.S mainstream first. Yes, their stuff is more influenced by all that you mentioned, plus Monty Python, but Kaufman was a known trend setter. Plus UK comedians were passing tapes of Kaufman, Pryor, Williams, Carlin etc. around since practically the second they become popular, so of course Vic and Bob knew who he was. Plus Tim and Eric totally are the millennial era (American) Vic and Bob.

[@Toooldforthis78]

@@pmc8451yeah, I seriously don’t think Vic and Bob were particularly aware or influenced by Kaufman and not sure their big break on channel 4 had much to do with him. He was interesting but there was lots of other alternative comedy out there by the ‘80s anyway.

[@pmc8451]

​@@WallKenshiro Yeah not buying it. Jonathan Ross was the main reason Vic & Bob got on T.V. and that's because he was a regular at their London shows where they'd been an underground hit for years. Jonathan Ross had probably seen the Letterman interview but that's more because Letterman was a big influence on his chat show style. Ross put them on T.V. because he liked what they were doing & what they were doing shows no influence whatsoever of Andy Kaufmans routines. Tim & Eric have said they wanted to create a nightmare version of public access television, what they do doesn't bear much resemblance to any of Kaufmans routines but there are probably at least somewhat influenced by him just by the nature of being American and being much more aware of him.

[@pmc8451]

If anything he's more of an influence on people like Sacha Baron Cohen, Nathan Fielder etc. Comedians that blur the lines between reality and performance.

[@Toooldforthis78]

Just an aside but I watched a documentary behind the scenes on Man in the Moon with Carey. Not sure why as I can’t stand him (Carey) but it gave a view of how he worked and how he becomes the character in each film and I’ve got to say I do respect him a lot more after seeing what he goes through. Still can’t stand watching the unfunny twat but I do respect him more! And completely understand he must be an absolute nightmare to work with and be around as he was very ‘method’.

[@pendafen7405]

Certainly an unbearable genius, and probably as unbearable to himself as he is to others tbf

[@desisdosis473]

Method acting is fake.

[@Miguel-mp7uz]

Timmyb has the whole thing on youtube

[@crinbob]

Are we gonna talk about how he calls himself ‘cowf-man’ and not ‘cawf-man’?

[@iommi13]

Either my phone has gotten 400% louder over time. Or y'all have really boosted the audio on that intro. Geez

[@brutallyhonest123]

Comedic sensibility ages like guacamole. Some things are trapped in the context of their time

[@CyrusCageSCWS]

Dude its pretty bigoted to say that the vast majority of the american south hated jews in the 70s. They're mostly normal people you know. My family down there are beautiful peoole and I've actually never met a legit racist in the south. Of course they exist, but its not fair to make sweeping claims like that.

[@baconatorrodriguez4651]

Oh wow, it's like the New Coke to OSW's Coke Classic.

[@boofuls]

Is that Tony Clifton 🤔

[@briansays2286]

❤Tony Clifton

[@markanthonycgranados]

Looking back, I think Nicolas Cage should have played Andy Kaufman.

[@Levity635]

Kaufman was shockingly entertaining in everything he did & very fascinating & unpredictable. Far from rubbish. Don't know what the fuck yous were smoking with that statement.

[@cjnovack]

Kaufman was a huuuge Slim Whitman fan

[@Kwisatz-Chaderach]

The King used to have it. Ngl.

[@jimmyjarrett-ws2iz]

I know it's said that a lot of this footage is lost, I'd bet Jim Cornette has got most of it.

[@Michaelarvin71]

Ali took boxing out of bars and basements… Andy took wrestling and made it world famous… just like Ali did for boxing. 2 of the greatest marketing executives ever

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

Ali didn't take boxing out of the bars and basements. Jack Dempsey did it decades earlier.

[@Michaelarvin71]

@@BiggieTrismegistus nope

[@GodLovesYou828]

I feel lk I seen this before

[@GetUPIWantToGetDown]

Super glad I found your channel. Great stuff!

[@oldfrittenfett1276]

I never really got what Andy Kaufman was doing. I find it more disturbing than funny.

[@pendafen7405]

Am not sure myself either, assumed it was a confrontational cringe/shock comedy thing that Yanks seem to like.

[@davidreeves4556]

Cringe comedy......have you seen the office? Peep show? In sickness and in health?@@pendafen7405

[@liveevil6386]

Comment comment. Eating my dinner

[@nellyfett2681]

Absolutely cannot stand McIntyre!

[@robertketterman2847]

The king looking young like the girls he was around 😅😅😅

[@BenSmith-od8fc]

Jerry Lawler should get more props from the wwe. He is a wrestling god

[@MURD3RWAVE]

This was his kink. Lets now be coy and think it was all about the lols. As we all are learning recently. Super wealthy and also people from Hollywood seem to turn to pervs. Seems Andy had a one, two punch of getting his laughs but my guess is he got satisfaction for his kink. I think he was hilarious but nobody talks about what prob was the catalyst for his wrestling women. He had a weird kink. Think of Taritino feet thing in his movies. Except Andy got to make a kink character. Still a legendary part of wrestling history.

[@paulburner3817]

No ones talking about a theory you have made up? I wonder why that is