Summary

Jerry Lawler says he and Michael Cole were not told in advance that the result of their WrestleMania 27 match would be changed after the bout.

Lawler looked back on the match while speaking on Notsam Wrestling Live, recalling that he believed the planned finish had already played out once his hand was raised. In the match itself, Lawler made Cole submit, with Stone Cold Steve Austin serving as the guest referee, before the anonymous Raw General Manager reversed the result and awarded the match to Cole by disqualification.

That WrestleMania 27 match still gets remembered as one of the more unusual celebrity-style detours on a WWE card, especially because the finish did not stand as it first appeared. Cole has remained a central WWE figure since then, and was recently named a co-host for the 2026 Hall of Fame ceremony.

Quote from Jerry Lawler

"He and I, Michael Cole, had no idea what the finish was gonna be (to our WrestleMania 27 match), and we did the thing and I got my hand raised and I said, well, that's nice, way it should be... I just kept thinking, I mean, this was good, we did the thing. Hand raised. Drank beer, well, I didn't drink it but I pretended to, and then, nobody told me that they were going to reverse the decision."

Lawler added:

"A lot of that stuff happens."

Lawler's WrestleMania 27 memory still defines the match

Lawler's story matters because WrestleMania 27 did not end with his submission win being the final result, and that reversal is still the detail most attached to the bout years later. His comments also underline how heavily WWE leaned into the anonymous Raw General Manager angle at the time, even after the in-ring portion had seemingly wrapped up.

Lawler says an in-ring return is still possible

The interview note also comes with a broader update on Lawler himself. After suffering his third stroke in the fall of 2025, the 76-year-old has said he is not ruling out another match.

Sources

Jerry Lawler while speaking on Notsam Wrestling Live