Royal Rumble weekend shows were given critical praise, but not everything went smoothly.
According to WWE Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler, he was confronted by Mark Henry because Pete Rosenberg told Henry that he didn't think that Lawler liked him. Henry, who got Rosenberg in the WWE, went to Lawler to straighten out the situation, as Lawler recounted on his podcast Dinner With The King.
When I first got to the dressing room at the Royal Rumble, it was early in the day, about 1:30. I hate getting there early, but I did get there early. We started the pre-show at, 5? I think 5 o’clock. So, I got there and the first person I saw was Mark Henry. And all of the sudden Mark Henry has got this real serious look on his face, and he says ‘I think me and you are gon’ have to fight.’ I said ‘are you kidding?’ and fortunately he was sitting down when I walked up to him, so I sat down right across from him and I said ‘me and you are going to fight?' (I said) 'About what?’ and he said (his) friend. I said ‘who is your friend?’ and he said ‘Pete Rosenberg.’ I said ‘what about Pete Rosenberg?’ and he says ‘I got him here’ and he said (Rosenberg) is a huge fan and his house is like a shrine to wrestling. Everything in his house is wrestling, his whole life is about wrestling. And he said, I guess he and Mark were close friends somehow, and I guess he’s the guy that got Pete hired up there, or at least got his foot in the door. And (Henry) said ‘he thinks you don’t like him’ and I said no, I really don’t even know Pete. I’ve only seen him, I’ve never really even had a conversation with him, I’ve really only seen him on the air. I said I guess I was trying to throw a little conflict into the show, play a little’s ‘Devil’s Advocate’ or something, I guess I said something about his name. I mispronounced his name and I think he took exception to that. (Henry) said ‘Oh. Maybe it’s just him being too sensitive.’ I said ‘yea! If he really thinks for real that I don’t like him’, because… I don’t have anything against Pete Rosenberg. He’s a fine guy. We don’t hang out together, I don’t know him that well. I guess I should say I don’t know him well enough to dislike him. So, that was interesting, and then to go onto the pre-show and to have Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens say they didn’t like him, I almost had to stick up for him there on the show.
Lawler chuckled at the idea that Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens shortly after picked on Rosenberg on the pre-show, which caused Lawler in character to stand up for Pete Rosenberg. Lawler has mentioned before on his show that some things Rosenberg has done have rubbed him the wrong way, including wearing a Bobby Heenan-styled jacket.
When Fightful asked about the incident following Lawler's podcast, we were told that it blew over almost immediately.
You can see a clip of the quote above.
