By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

One of the most iconic scenes in late-night television was included in the series finale of David Letterman's "Late Show" Wednesday night on CBS.

In July 1982, Jerry Lawler and comedian Andy Kaufman ran a wrestling angle on Letterman's then-"Late Night with David Letterman" show on NBC to promote their feud. Lawler famously stood up and slapped Kaufman, who then went on a tirade to highlight the first year of Letterman's late-night talk show.

During Wednesday night's broadcast, Lawler's slap was included in a final montage of highlights from 33 years on the air. The montage of photos and video clips followed Letterman's final words as "Late Show" host.

Interestingly, Lawler noted during a radio interview over the weekend that he did not think the footage would make the air because of the "network rivalry" between NBC and CBS.

Lawler said on the "Cerrito Live" radio show in Memphis that he heard that CBS would not allow Letterman's old NBC footage to air on the show, but that apparently changed.

Lawler joked that it would have been a "perfect ending" to slap Letterman right off the air to book-end Letterman's show, but the problem was they could not set up Lawler's appearance in 2015 if the footage from 1982 was not available.

The closest thing was comedian Jim Carrey appearing during Letterman's final "Top 10" segment. Carrey famously played Kaufman in the 1999 "Man on the Moon" movie.

Coincidentally, as Lawler noted during the radio show, Kaufman died 31 years ago this week when he was pronounced dead on May 16, 1984. "Or at least faked his death," Lawler half-joked, playing up the urban legend that Kaufman is actually still alive after playing the "ultimate prank."

Lawler also talked in-depth about what was planned and what was off-the-cuff when he appeared with Kaufman on Letterman's show taped in New York City.

"Nobody knew (about the slap). I didn't know. Even Andy didn't know. And possibly the reason why it lives in infamy all these years and made it so classic was the fact that is it just sort of happened," Lawler said.

Lawler then told the entire story about what happened. Lawler said he and Andy were flown to New York for the show, where they had a meeting with the segment producer to go over their planned two-segment appearance.

Lawler was told that the idea was for he and Andy to be antagonistic in Segment 1, Letterman would cut to break, and they would come back in Segment 2 to resolve their issue. Lawler even noted that Letterman had a wrestling ring bell underneath his desk to try to "settle things down" between Andy and Lawler during Segment 1.

So, Lawler returned to his hotel room, where Andy called him to go over their segment. Lawler recalled telling Andy that it would be the end of their big wrestling feud if they resolved their issue on the air. "He paused for a minute and said, 'What would happen if you just hauled off and slugged me?'" Lawler recalled Andy saying to him.

Lawler replied that NBC probably would not show it on the air since their appearance was going to be taped earlier in the evening. "Wouldn't it be great, though?'" Lawler recalled Andy saying before they hung up. "And that's how he left it."

Lawler said Segment 1 went as planned building the tension that was designed for Letterman to step in and calm them down. However, when it came time for Andy to apologize, he didn't really apologize. So, Lawler did not either. Things escalated, Letterman realized the segment was not going according to plan, and Letterman started to go for another break to "get rid of them," so Lawler realized he had to do something.

Looking back on the footage, Lawler says it looks like he was "having an out-of-body experience" when he stood up and slapped Kaufman, saying it doesn't look like how he would have acted back then. Lawler recalled knocking Kaufman clear out of his chair, sending the studio into shock. "Dave couldn't even look at us. He was stunned and shocked looking straight ahead," Lawler recalled.

Lawler continued that he was escorted off the stage by security, then taken to the green room, where he hung out for 15 minutes while there was a commotion in the theater. Lawler was then told by an intern that Letterman wanted to wrap up the segment. At this point, Lawler realized they were actually going to show the slap on the air when it aired at night.

Lawler said they came back to finish the taping, when Kaufman let loose with his obscenity-laced tirade that culminated with Andy throwing Letterman's coffee. Lawler said it was a shock to him, and he tried to convey to Andy in the moment that he was "ruining this" because he figured NBC would show the slap on the air, but not his tirade. So, he tried to grab Andy before security hauled Lawler out of the building. Lawler recalled the ultimate ad-lib from Letterman trying to own a moment that he lost control of: "Well, I think you can say some of those words on TV. But, you cannot throw coffee."

Lawler noted that he returned to his hotel room and waited for the show to air at night. Lawler said he was surprised they aired the whole thing. And, he thought the best part was they used coo-coo noises instead of bleeping for Andy's swear words.

Lawler concluded that he knew that Letterman was "really upset" about the segment "until the next day" when his show got nationwide attention for the stunt. Lawler said he was contacted by national publications and the New York newspapers wanting to talk to him about his feud with Andy. "It made huge news," Lawler summarized.

A call-back to the Lawler-Kaufman angle coincides with WWE releasing a new Jerry Lawler DVD this week. Lawler noted that he talks extensively about his feud with Kaufman on the new DVD.

[ LINK: Lawler's full interview on "Cerrito Live" can be heard HERE ]

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