A quarter-mile stretch of Homer Street near Given Avenue and Treadwell Elementary now carries the name of Memphis wrestling royalty. A street-naming ceremony honoring Jerry “The King” Lawler was set for 1 p.m. in Memphis, drawing attention to a corner of the city that shaped one of professional wrestling's most enduring figures.
The event, streamed live by WREG.com, formalized a decision the Memphis City Council made weeks earlier. On June 9, the council unanimously passed a consent agenda resolution without opposition to honorarily rename the Homer Street segment between Given Avenue and Rhea Avenue in Lawler's honor, according to NoDQ.com. The vote drew no dissent, a fitting outcome for a man WREG describes simply as a world-renowned wrestling celebrity and a Memphian through and through.
A Street Steps From Where It All Began
The chosen stretch of Homer Street runs directly adjacent to Treadwell Middle School and Treadwell Elementary, and sits close to Treadwell High School, where Lawler attended and graduated, the same outlet reports. Lawler was previously featured on local Memphis public school promotional billboards as a star alumnus, a detail that underscores just how tightly his personal story is woven into that stretch of the city. Long before he became a national television fixture, he was a Memphis kid walking those same blocks.
That geography matters because Lawler's rise never really left Memphis behind. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he served as the main box-office draw and promoter for the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association and United States Wrestling Association, according to PWMania, holding the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship 57 times. That dominance is where the lifelong nickname “The King” took root, turning Memphis into one of the most profitable wrestling territories in North America.
From Local Legend to National Name
Lawler's championship résumé extended well beyond Memphis rings. In December 1988, he unified major regional world titles by defeating Kerry Von Erich at SuperClash III to become the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion, a belt he would go on to hold 28 times, per Wikipedia. His national profile exploded a few years earlier, in 1982, during a staged rivalry with comedian Andy Kaufman that culminated in a July appearance on NBC's Late Night with David Letterman, where Lawler slapped Kaufman on live television. The feud was kept under wraps as a real dispute for years before it was revealed as a planned publicity stunt.
That national fame eventually led to wrestling's highest institutional honor. Lawler was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 31, 2007, with actor William Shatner presenting the induction, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. Shatner's involvement traced back to a comedic wrestling angle the two had shared in 1995. WREG's own file photos capture another slice of Lawler's public life in Memphis, showing him standing courtside during a break in a Memphis Grizzlies-Minnesota Timberwolves game on March 23, 2019.
A Civic Life Beyond The Ring
Lawler's Memphis footprint runs deeper than wrestling and television. In 1999, he mounted a high-profile bid for mayor of Memphis, finishing third in a 15-candidate field with 11.7% of the vote behind incumbent Mayor Willie Herenton, as noted by Pro Wrestling Stories. His campaign platform centered on public safety, traffic flow improvements, and property tax relief. He also built a lasting commercial presence downtown by opening King Jerry Lawler's Hall of Fame Bar & Grille at 159 Beale Street, a venue that displays memorabilia from his multi-decade career alongside live music, according to Lawlers on Beale.
Health Struggles Behind The Timing
The decision to honor Lawler now, at age 76, is shaped in part by his recent health history. He suffered his third stroke in September 2025 at his Florida home and revealed in a December 2025 interview with Memphis TV station Action News 5 that the incident left him colorblind, according to POST Wrestling. He had previously suffered strokes in 2018 and 2023. Years earlier, during a live televised broadcast of WWE Monday Night Raw in September 2012, Lawler collapsed at the announcer's table after a life-threatening cardiac arrest, shortly after wrestling a match earlier in that same broadcast, and was revived by ringside medical staff, per Sports Illustrated.
Hoodline previously reported on Lawler's legacy in wrestling storytelling, noting that the “Ugandan Giant” Kamala character, posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, was created by Lawler himself. That creative legacy, paired with decades as the central figure of Memphis territorial wrestling, is part of why the city council moved to put his name on a street sign while he can still see it for himself.
