Jerry Lawler Collapses Due To Heart Attack During WWE RAW

Lawler's collapse resulted in a silent commentary team for the remaining hour of RAW.

Early in the 10 p.m. Eastern Time slot of the program, both Lawler and his commentary partner, Michael Cole, fell silent. This uncharacteristic quietness was followed by concerned looks from fans at ringside, whose attention had left the ring and faced the announcers' table.

While off camera, the WWE Hall of Famer collapsed, and was immediately attended to by doctors and rushed to a nearby hospital in Montreal. At about 10:55 p.m., his condition was reported to have stablized.

"Jerry 'The King' Lawler suffered a heart attack while commentating during last night's broadcast of Monday Night Raw in Montreal," says a statement from WWE.com. "We are hopeful Jerry makes a full recovery and returns to WWE in the near future. Our thoughts are with Jerry and his family."

The 62-year-old wrestler's heart attack came after Lawler took part in a wrestling match earlier that night. In the hour prior to his collapse, The King teamed up with Randy Orton to face Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk in a tag team match.

Lawler is credited with winning 168 championships throughout his career in professional wrestling, but the aged performer was been put against main event superstars, including top names like Orton, Ziggler and WWE Champion Punk. Lawler even performed in a brutal cage match two weeks ago with the Second City Saint, and has reportedly been wrestling live events over the past weekend.

NoDQ claims that Lawler fought matches on Friday and Saturday in Aruba. Unnamed sources are cited as saying there were no health concerns for the veteran wrestler. Some fans feel that this should have an impact on the way WWE treats their Legends (former wrestlers).

"The Heath Slater storyline heading into Raw 1000 was a great way to use legends without making them take undue risks," says a Bleach Report correspondent.  "Jerry Lawler's recent storyline with Punk has been the opposite."

NoDQ wrote in an article this morning that there was a chance that blood was cut off from Lawler's brain and that it could cause brain damage. Though this is a possibility, the website provides no source for the information.

The condition is still "very serious" as WWE and Michael Cole have put it. After the incident occurred, Michael Cole broke character on live TV to inform audiences that this is not a stunt, and commentary would not continue throughout the rest of the program, though matches and scheduled interviews did take place.

The feeling of the night bared some resemblance to Over the Edge in May 1999, when Owen Hart fell to his death in front of a live WWE (then WWF) audience while performing an elaborate ring entrance. "Owen Hart" was trending on Twitter last night after the collapse of Lawler, and Owen's real-life brother Bret Hart was coincidentally an honarary guest on last night's RAW.