Dutch Mantell recently recalled how WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler worked without a script when he faced comedian Andy Kaufman in the 1980s.
The Kaufman vs. Lawler rivalry was the subject of a Tales From the Territories episode on VICE TV this week. Mantell was a panelist on the roundtable show alongside Lawler, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett, and Jimmy Hart.
On Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk, the legendary wrestling booker discussed Kaufman and Lawler's unique approach to creating finishes for their matches:
"I found out something that I never knew before after all these years," Mantell said. "I actually went out of my way not to know the finish of Lawler-Kaufman because I wanted to watch it as a true fan. Don't tell me, just let me watch it. And then I found out that Lawler and Kaufman, they didn't even know what the finish was. They would go out there and listen to the people and they would do what they wanted to do." [8:29 – 9:06]
Watch the video above to hear more from Dutch Mantell on Ronda Rousey's SmackDown Women's Championship victory over Liv Morgan at Extreme Rules.
Dutch Mantell on the success of Tales From the Territories
VICE TV's latest pro wrestling show follows on from the popular Dark Side of the Ring series. Tales From the Territories was created by Evan Husney and Jason Eisener in collaboration with The Rock's Seven Bucks Productions company.
Dutch Mantell, the former narrator of Dark Side of the Ring, told Husney that the new series is destined to succeed:
"I said, 'You've got a hit here with this.' He said, 'How do you know?' I said, 'I know. I know wrestling fans, and what you're gonna get here is all the old fans who want to see what wrestling used to be, and all the new fans who wanna learn more about it, so you can't miss with this show.' And it's not wrestling, it's stories." [5:35 – 5:54]
Tales From the Territories airs every Tuesday on VICE TV. The next episode will feature stories about the American Wrestling Association (AWA).
What would you like to see on Tales From the Territories? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.