Actor/comedian/wrestler Andy Kaufman is set to be inducted into WWE's Hall of Fame class of 2023. Variety first reported the news, which has since been confirmed by WWE.
Kaufman may not be too familiar to pro-wrestling fans under a certain age, but he was a highly controversial figure in the Memphis territories back in the early '80s when he declared himself the Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World, offering money to any woman who could pin him.
This led to a feud with Jerry “The King” Lawler, and the pair managed to convince fans that there was real animosity between them.
Their most famous interaction happened on Late Night with David Letterman in 1982, when Lawler slapped Kaufman and knocked him right out of his chair. Everyone in attendance - including Letterman - thought they had witnessed an actual assault.
Kaufman passed away after a short battle with lung cancer in 1984. Jim Carrey played him in Milos Forman's 1999 biopic, Man on the Moon.
The 2023 WWE Hall of Ceremony will air on March 31 at 10:30pm ET on Peacock, originating from the Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles after that week’s episode of SmackDown and the day before the first night of WrestleMania.