( CNN ) -- It was vintage Andy Kaufman : New rumors that he might be alive . This time , his younger brother gave it credence . Never mind that Michael Kaufman said he was with his brother when he died in 1984 . Three decades later , he was now reading from a mysterious letter purportedly written by Andy in 1999 and standing onstage with a woman who presented herself as the comedian 's 24-year-old daughter . The announcement just happened to be made at a New York comedy club during the annual Andy Kaufman Awards show . We lapped it up . Because we sooooo wanted to believe it was true : The comedic genius would finally make his grand return . An aging Tony Clifton . A triumphant Latka Gravas . A limping Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World . Anything to keep the hope alive . Then , Michael Kaufman hit us with the next line : He believes he 's the victim of a hoax . Kaufman has already been immortalized in the R.E.M . song `` Man on the Moon '' and in the Jim Carrey movie by the same name . His wrestling antics with Jerry `` The King '' Lawler are forever etched into American lore from Kaufman 's infamous expletive-laced tirade on `` Late Night with David Letterman . '' This week 's news got us wondering why Kaufman still fascinates . Here are five reasons , in a reverse-order fashion he would appreciate : . 5 . The Ultimate Internet Troll . Kaufman was Sacha Baron Cohen 's Borat two decades before `` Borat '' hit the big screen . He was `` Jackass '' and `` Punk 'd '' rolled into one . Kaufman was the Internet troll before the Internet was created . `` He was like that annoying house fly who wo n't leave you alone , '' says Bob Thompson , a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University . `` He was the opposite of a super villain . It 's not like he could freeze the world or burn the world up . He could just irritate the daylights out of the world . '' 4 . The Big Rematch . Let 's face it : How much fun would it be to see Kaufman step into the ring with Lawler one more time ? The Great Ruse : The comedic genius who rocked wrestling . Maybe an Aging-Loser-Leave-Town match . Even Lawler pines for that moment . As the rumors swirled this week of Kaufman being alive , Lawler challenged Kaufman to hop back into the ring . `` We would have to have a rematch , '' Lawler told CNN . `` We could rekindle the feud with no problem . '' 3 . Milk and Cookies . He once took an entire audience out for milk and cookies after a show . Enough said . 2 . Love Him , Hate Him . If you 're 40 or older , you likely have some memory of Kaufman . On the sitcom `` Taxi . '' On `` Saturday Night Live . '' From Letterman . From comedy clubs . From wrestling . For that generation , Americans will always remember Kaufman -- as a comedic genius , as a befuddling buffoon , as a bulging-eyed maniac . `` What Andy Kaufman was doing was so new and so groundbreaking , '' says Syracuse 's Thompson . `` The idea that you would derive humor out of stupidity and absolute nothingness , I think , was really fascinating . '' `` He was doing a critique of the out-of-control American celebrity back when most people did n't even realize it was out of control . '' 1 . The Longest Joke Ever . Kaufman always talked about faking his death -- and doing so would be keeping within character , playing a joke long past the point of annoyance . The nation loves practical jokes , and clinging to the possibility that Kaufman is still alive lets us feel like we 're still playing along . `` Andy Kaufman was often about doing an awful lot of stuff and enduring an awful lot of hatred and scorn before the punch line ever arrived , if it ever did , '' Thompson says . Think about it : The setup comes in 1984 and the punch line gets delivered nearly 30 years later . `` You so want it to be true because it would be one of the greatest things to ever happen in the history of comedy , '' he says . `` It would be the longest joke ever told . ''
Internet buzzed this morning after news that Andy Kaufman might be alive . Kaufman 's lawyer ultimately said he felt he was guilty of hoax . People wanted to believe because ` ` it would be the longest joke ever told ''