Late Comedy Legend Andy Kaufman To Receive Major Honor From WWE

By Jason Hall

March 20, 2023

Saturday Night Live - Season 5
Photo: Getty Images

Late legendary comedian Andy Kaufman will reportedly be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of its 2023 class during a ceremony ahead of WrestleMania 39 on March 31, the company confirmed shortly after a report by Vareity.com,

Kaufman, best known for his role as Latka Gravas on the ABC sitcom Taxi, famously dabbled in professional wrestling, which included declaring himself as the Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World by challenging women to pin him, as well as a legendary feud with WWE Hall of Famer Jerry 'The King' Lawler in the Memphis based Continental Wrestling Association.

The angle with Lawler culminated in Kaufman, wearing a neckbrace after taking a piledriver in their match, appearing alongside Lawler on Late Night with David Letterman and getting slapped out of his chair by the legendary wrestler during an incident that was later revealed to be staged between the real life friends more than a decade after Kaufman's death in the Emmy-nominated documentary A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman in 1995.

Lawler, who played himself in the Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon starring Jim Carrey, is still employed by WWE and has frequently attended and hosted the company's Hall of Fame ceremonies in recent years, however, has not been confirmed to attend the event as of Monday's (March 20) having recently suffered a stroke in February.

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