“The Total Package” Lex Luger sat down with WWE to take a look back at his storied career, and I thought it was a really nice 20 minute conversation about eight of his biggest moments.
Since this isn’t WWE Worldwide, I figured I’d take a look at the WCW-centric moments. WCW Lex was always better than WWE Lex anyhow.
The first moment is his match against Barry Windham for the WCW World Title at The Great American Bash on July 14, 1991. This one is somewhat infamous as Luger was slated to take on champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, but Flair took off to WWE between the time the match was announced and the event took place.
From an in-ring standpoint of course Barry Windham was up to the challenge to fill Flair’s shoes, but those two competing for a vacant WCW World Title isn’t quite the same. Luger noted Baltimore was a good town for wrestling and for him personally. WCW used this match to align Luger with manager Harley Race and bodyguard Mr. Hughes.
He also noted that Windham was one of the few at that time to escape the Torture Rack (of Doom if you’re Michael Buffer).
The next four moments discussed are from his time in WWE: Debuting as The Narcissist, Bodyslamming Yokozuna, Survivor Series 1993, and Royal Rumble 1994.
The only WCW related moment out of all of those is that he mentions how important it was that Rick & Scott Steiner, The Steiner Brothers, were there with him in WWE during that time. To me, that’s interesting as well because both The Steiners and Luger accomplished things in WWE, but will always be WCW star in my mind. I’d hazard a guess that’s how most feel about them.
We get to 1995 and Lex makes his surprise return to WCW at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the first WCW Monday Nitro.
Lex showing up at that show is really and truly an iconic moment in wrestling history. It helps kick off the Monday Night War era which was one of the hottest and most exciting times in the industry.
He notes that it was odd that he did not take off the “big white shirt,” and that it was shirt custom made for NBA player Kevin Willis who was most well known for his time with my hometown Atlanta Hawks. The shirt has since been given to someone that Lex is mentoring.
As for him turning up in WCW at that time, he had fully planned to re-sign a two or three year deal with WWE up until a few weeks before that show. Once he heard the reaction to his interaction with Hulk Hogan he knew he made the right decision.
Speaking of Hogan, next up is the Bash at the Beach from July 13, 1997 where the nWo’s Hollywood Hogan teamed with basketball legend Dennis Rodman against WCW’s The Giant (AKA The Big Show) & Lex Luger.
To be perfectly honest, this match completely slipped my mind until I watched this video as the Rodman match with Hogan against DDP & Karl Malone kind of eclipsed it for me personally.
Rodman’s involvement did not bother Lex as he felt outside guys like that helped branding and visibility and he was “thrilled to be part of that match.” He also notes that he felt similar about the rise of Goldberg. 2023 Lex Luger at the very least claims to believe in the “a rising tide raises all boats” philosophy.
That brings us to the final moment covered in this video which is the WCW World Title match between Lex and the nWo’s Hollywood Hogan on the August 4, 1997 episode of WCW Monday Nitro.
Goldberg versus Hollywood Hogan at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta from July 6, 1998 might surpass this is an all time great WCW Monday Nitro moment, but this was absolutely HUGE in its own right.
I often call it the most underrated great moment from the Monday Night War Era. Lex notes that more often than not he spent the end of Nitro covered in beer and nachos after another beatdown by the nWo.
The match even lays out perfectly to tap into that “here we go again” mentality as The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) attempt to interfere as did “Macho Man” Randy Savage. The bell never rings for a disqualification however, and Hogan submits to the Torture Rack.
It’s a cathartic moment for the WCW faithful as the babyfaces fill the ring, and they remove that nWo paint off of Big Gold in the locker room.
Lex noted that’s the same building (The Palace of Auburn Hills) where he failed to win the WWE Title from Yokozuna at SummerSlam 1993 so it was kind of a full circle/vindication moment for him.
He also appreciated that Hogan chose him for that moment. As a fan, I always think of referee Randy “Pee Wee” Anderson calling for the bell. It really put over what a big moment that was (in storyline) for WCW. The fact that the title switched back just days later at WCW Road Wild (1997) is pretty inconsequential.
That’s it for moments covered. The big omission was WCW Bash at the Beach 1996 where Lex teamed with Savage and Sting to take on The Outsiders and their mystery partner who turned out to be Hogan.
I think this video is worth the 20 minute investment of time because hearing Lex talk about these moments is interesting, and he comes off as an extremely humble and grateful guy now when I’m quite certain that was not always the case.
I’ve been a Lex Luger fan clear back to his time with the Four Horsemen so I’m going to continue to root for that guy, and I was glad to see he seems to be doing well.
40+ years old and grew up on Saturdays at 6:05 on TBS and Joe Pedicino’s wrestling block in Atlanta, Georgia. Collects toys and talks all types of pop culture in a variety of places. Husband and father of 2.