Report: FOX Wants Jerry The King Lawler to Host WWE's FS1 Studio Show

As part of WWE's new deal with the FOX network, the company will start producing a WWE-centric studio show on the FS1 channel on Tuesday nights starting this fall. Monday Night Raw color commentator Renee Young has already been rumored to host the show, and a new report dropped on Tuesday that might indicate who her co-host will be.

According to wrestling insider @WrestleVotes, who has correctly broken numerous stories in the past, the FOX network executives have circled WWE Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler as a frontrunner to work the show.

"FOX has floated the idea to WWE about having Jerry 'The King' Lawler as a main part of their WWE studio show that will begin once SmackDown moves over in October," the account tweeted. "The feeling is that Lawler's image & voice is a familiar one, thus something Fox Sports is looking for."

Lawler has been gradually phased out of WWE programming in recent years. He had the color commentator spot on SmackDown when the brand split started back in 2016, but was quickly moved to the pre-show panel for pay-per-views. That ended by the end of 2016 and Lawler was used only for special occasions and as host of the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony.

"[Kevin] Dunn said that due to WWE being a public traded company, it comes down to dollars and cents," Lawler said in a radio interview back in December 2016 when asked about getting taken off of television. "That having his salary being absorbed on the pre-show after he was taken off of Smackdown made it a very expensive to produce, so they decided to get rid of the pre-game show."

Back in March reports started coming out that Lawler would not be the host for the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. Lawler conducted an interview with Bill Apter where he stated it was just a rumor, but when the company decided to restructure the ceremony procedure Lawler was removed as the host and replaced by Young and Corey Graves.

Lawler was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame back in 2007. After dominating the Memphis Wrestling scene from 1970-1992, he joined the WWE as a wrestler and eventual commentator. His final match in the WWE came in September 2012, in which he suffered a heart attack due to cardiac arrest.