Last week, Lex Luger was announced for induction into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, an achievement that many thought might not happen because of his rocky exit from the organization when he jumped ship to WCW with no notice to appear on the first live episode of Nitro. Furthermore, there was also speculation in the past that Lex might not even live long enough to see such a celebration of his career, given several years of drug issues, as well as a stroke that left him partially paralyzed in 2007.
The tale of Luger’s career in the ring is almost as complex as his real life outside of it.
A former football player, the real-life Larry Pfohl started his wrestling career in the Florida territory in late-1985 under the direction of Hiro Matsuda, the trainer credited with breaking Hulk Hogan into the industry. With legendary promoter Eddie Graham’s death at the start of that year, the once.vibrant Florida circuit was on borrowed time, particularly with the WWF’s ongoing national expansion that had started in early-1984. Given Vince McMahon Sr’s friendship with Graham for decades earlier, the WWF under the second generation McMahon didn’t run Florida until CWF officially folded as a sign of respect for the late promoter. Because of that, there were three editions of “super shows” so to speak, entitled “Battle of The Belts,” a moniker that was used in recent years for All Elite Wrestling as a nod to the history of the business. The WWF’s wait to run Florida was probably what kept the CWF office open long enough to run Battle of the Belts for three years, which actually provided a key opportunity for the rookie Luger. With just a year of experience, Lex challenged “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, wrestling to a 60-minute draw, while being showcased as a promising young talent in the process.
The notion of being thrown into a big spot, perhaps before he had the chance to gain the proper experience to truly be ready for that spot is something that followed Lex throughout much of his career.
The bodybuilder was a puppy with big paws so to speak, as he was a novice in terms of in-ring experience, but his impressive physique made him a commodity for promoters so when CWF folded a few months after his hour-draw with Flair, he was offered work with Jim Crockett Promotions, the Carolina-based group that emerged as the national competition for the WWF at the time when many of the regional groups shut down simply because they couldn’t compete with McMahon’s national expansion so the territory system that was thriving for decades prior evaporated in the span of just a few years.
JCP wasn’t immune to the strain of competition on its business as the organization still ran out of the same small office with the same limited staff that it had for almost four decades previously at a time when the company was touring on a national basis, albeit mostly the southern areas of the country in an effort to keep pace with McMahon. Ironically, 1986 was the promotion’s highest-grossing year, but ambitious spending, including the $9 million deal to buy the Mid-South territory from Bill Watts in mid-1987, and using private jets to transport the top talent to the increased number of live cards the promotion ran in a larger geographical area, led to the company near bankruptcy by late-1988.
Similar to the closure of Florida that shifted Lex’s career very early on after his debut, the sale of Crockett Promotions to Ted Turner, who bought the company to keep wrestling on his network, not too long after he arrived eventually had an impact as well.
Throughout the first few years of Turner’s ownership, Luger was prominently featured, often in the US title picture. In 1990, when Sting suffered a legitimate knee injury that sidelined his scheduled feud with Ric Flair for the world title, Lex was plugged into that spot, again with less than four years experience. Luger’s look was undeniable, and one of Flair’s calling cards, specifically during this era of his career, was that he made both Sting and Luger shine during his respective rivalries with him. Lex didn’t capture the belt in 1990, as that was slated for Sting when he returned to action, but the following year, it looked like Luger might be in line for the world belt when he was scheduled to compete against Flair again.
However, the match-up never took place, as Flair left the Turner organization after a dispute with former Pizza Hut executive, Jim Herd, who was one of the revolving door of figureheads that were brought into run the wrestling project during this time. Without Flair, who went on to have a two-year stint in the WWF before he returned to Turner, Lex was left as the lame duck challenger. He beat Barry Windham at The Great American Bash pay-per-view in 1991 to essentially take the role of the lame duck champion. Flair’s trademark motto, “to be the man, you gotta beat the man” summed up the state of WCW at that point. Sure, Lex was the world champion, but regardless of who the titleholder was, chants of “we want Flair” echoed in the building during WCW broadcasts.
Truth be told, Lex was put in a no-win situation, as anyone that was in the position to have to follow Flair, arguably the greatest in-ring performer of all time, would be in a tough spot, but under those circumstances, where Flair was stripped of the belt with little to no explanation to the audience, his successor was doomed to face criticism, particularly because there wasn’t a “pass the torch” moment to cement a new champion.
The fact that the Turner organization bought JCP to keep wrestling on the air was admirable, but within the three years since its purchase, the media conglomerate couldn’t find a capable boss to run the wrestling venture, with the previously mentioned figures that cycled through the WCW offices, including the hard-nosed Bill Watts for a cup of coffee. The lack of structure eventually led to Lex Luger’s exit from the organization, and while he couldn’t sign with the WWF immediately because of his Turner contract, he inked a deal with the newly-created World Bodybuilding Federation in 1992 to serve as a place holder until his WCW agreement expired.
Unfortunately, in mid-1992, Lex was involved in the infamous motorcycle accident that required a steel plate to be used to repair serious damage to his forearm, with the plate later used as a part of his character in the WWF. Luger didn’t recover until early-1993 when he made his WWF debut as a narcissistic heel. The WBF had flopped and folded by the time that Lex was healed from the wreck so he was a full-time WWF star. Hulk Hogan, who was marred in controversy at the time because of the steroid scandal and Vince McMahon’s federal trial, distracted himself from the company, opting to leave not long after he dropped the WWF title to Yokozuna at that year’s King of the Ring.
McMahon needed another all-American baby face, and despite being a heel for only about three months, the office decided to shoehorn Lex into the role with the start of the Lex Express, culminating with Luger body slamming the massive champion on the fourth of July to hype their scheduled bout for the belt at Summer Slam. Similar to the way that he was rushed into the WCW title picture in 1991 to cover for Flair’s departure, he was propelled into the position to have to follow Hogan, which is another tough spot to be in, specifically for a character that was obviously being shoehorned into the main event scene. The character wasn’t organic or authentic, and the fans knew it. The fact that the Summer Slam bout finished with a DQ more or less sent the message that the company wasn’t truly behind their replacement for the Hulkster. Bret Hart winning the WWF title at Wrestlemania the following year reinforced that notion.
All things considered, a jump to WCW was probably the only way that Luger would’ve been able to jump start his career since he was clearly labeled as a secondary baby face in the WWF. That’s not to say that Lex should’ve gotten the spot that Bret had, but rather to point out that the scenario didn’t provide anything else for him to do as a top guy in the WWF. He had a push to the main event scene and failed, which is why he was relegated to the tag division with The British Bulldog in 1995.
His jump to Nitro was historic, but even with a fresh start in WCW, he was still initially mismanaged as a part of the Dungeon of Doom. However, after the arrival of The Outsiders in 1996, Lex was elevated as one of the top guys in the promotion to combat the heel faction. By 1997, he was one of the most popular performers on the roster, a position that was strengthened by his ability to be one of the forces to help WCW. His 1997 title win over Hogan on Nitro received a massive reaction from the crowd, and was arguably the peak of his career. He was a bonafide star and one of the most popular names at a time when pro wrestling was in a major boom period.
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Hogan won the title back less than a week later at the Road Wild pay-per-view. Lex never got a chance to see how far this popular phase of his career could’ve taken him and the argument could be made that his star power saw a steady decline over the next three years before WCW folded.
Speaking of which, by the time that Vince bought WCW in early-2001, Lex was more or less finished with his in-ring career, with only a handful of appearances, including a TNA cameo in 2003. A few months before that TNA match, Lex. who had spiraled out of control with drug and alcohol addiction, was arrested twice. During a drug binge, Luger was involved in a domestic incident with his girlfriend at the time, Elizabeth Hulette, known to fans as Ms. Elizabeth.
Sadly, Ms. Elizabeth passed away from an accidental drug overdose in May 2003. Some have blamed Luger for her death, and Lex actually mentioned in a recent interview that he wasn’t a good influence on her. That being said, I think it’s unfair to blame him for her death, as unfortunately, she made some unwise decisions and those were her choices to make, not something that Luger can be held responsible for. That being said, the whole thing is terribly tragic, as Ms. Elizabeth truly was one of the most well-known figures in the history of the industry and truly defined the term, “the first lady of the WWF” as far as her graceful on-screen presence.
Following Elizabeth’s death, Luger faded from the headlines until the previously mentioned stroke in 2007 that revealed that he was confined to a wheelchair. I have to be honest, given how grim the reports were about his health in the years after the stroke, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he passed away years ago. It wasn’t until more recently through the convention circuit and podcasts that it was revealed that despite use of a wheelchair, that Lex had turned his life around, crediting the change in his life to his religion. I’m not religious in any way, shape, or form, but if that’s what allowed Luger to find peace in his life then good for him.
I think that’s why I wanted to pen this article, in an effort to put Lex’s career in the proper context. He was often rushed into a top spot or had to follow a much bigger star throughout his career, but when he was given the chance with the proper level of experience, such as he was in 1997, he shined as a major star. Furthermore, and this is probably the much bigger point than any scripted wrestling accomplishments, the sports entertainment industry has far too many cautionary tales of true talent lost too soon, and not nearly enough redemption stories. It should be said that it takes a truly solid human being to admit when they were wrong and to try to make the best of themselves going forward. By all accounts, it seems like Lex Luger has done that, which is very commendable.
I actually had the chance to meet Lex at Wrestle Con when I went to Summer Slam on the road trip to Cleveland with my wrestling pal, the great Pat Maclaughlin. I wasn’t sure what to expect, especially given Luger’s complex history, as even he acknowledges now that he wasn’t a nice guy during much of his life. Thankfully, I can honestly say that during the few minutes that I talked to him, Luger was very polite and gracious. I actually told him that it was great that he was doing so well after his health challenges, and he said thank you several times so it was very nice to see that he seemed to legitimately found a level of peace in his life.
Aside from the Hall of Fame announce, Lex has spent 2025 working with Diamond Dallas Page to use Page’s yoga program in an effort to help him walk again. Was Lex Luger perfect? Absolutely not. Was Lex the best wrestler of all time? No, he wasn’t. Was he a major star that should get the recognition? Yes, he should. Is it great to see that he turned his life around? Definitely.
As I said, pro wrestling has too many cautionary tales of drugs, steroids, early deaths, but not nearly enough redemption stories. Wouldn’t it be quite the redemption story if Lex Luger could walk across the stage to accept his Hall of Fame induction this year?
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
