When Andy Kaufman was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2023, younger fans were very confused as to who Kaufman was and what his connection to wrestling actually was. Little did they know that without the late comedian, celebrity involvement in wrestling wouldn’t be what it is today.

Due to the fact that Kaufman was one of the most high profile individuals to know about kayfabe, he would travel around independent shows as the “Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World,” challenging any woman to wrestle him for a $1,000 cash prize if they could win. Of course, the woman who would challenge him was pre-determined, and Kaufman gained a reputation for wrestling women in the process. After being knocked back by Vince McMahon Sr. about working with WWE, Kaufman was introduced to Jerry “The King” Lawler through famous wrestling photographer Bill Apter.

Kaufman and Lawler would have a feud in 1982 that received mainstream attention as Kaufman had his neck broken by Lawler in Kaufman’s first match wrestling a man, which was then followed up with a fight on “Late Night with David Letterman.” It was a feud so well done that it wasn’t until 1995, 10 years after Kaufman had passed away, that people learned that both men were actually friends, and they had worked the entire world. The feud also became a main focal point of the 1999 movie “Man on the Moon” about Kaufman’s life, where Jim Carrey (who played Kaufman) got to recreate the feud with Lawler, who played himself.