83 Weeks - Lex Luger 1995-97 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Today we’re going to be discussing Lex Luger’s 1995 to 1997. Sadly Lex lost his mother a few days ago so if you want to send him some good well wishes his way you can follow him on Twitter @GenuineLexLuger.

Lex turns 64 on June 2nd!

Your experience with Lex before he returned to WCW was what exactly because you’ve talked in the past about how you weren’t terribly interested in his returning?

It’s been said in the past that Lex’s return was really pushed hard by Sting to you. If anyone besides Sting had pushed for this…would you had done it?

We’ve discussed in detail the first Monday Nitro where Lex returned as a surprise while most thought he was under contract with the WWF since he had wrestled for them on a house show the night before and had TV taped with him appearing in it for the future. Be sure to check it out in the archives but I want to focus on Lex the person. Was he humble that night do you remember? Excited?

When do you really get a chance to speak with Lex the person not the bodybuilder who was pushed in 1986 to be a Horsemen and got the big contract?

Talk us through what you recall about your conversations with Luger about bringing him in, and why the first Nitro was the perfect place for this to happen.

Luger of course shows up in the aisle during Flair vs Sting on that first Nitro, and then at the end of the show challenges WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan to set up a title match for the 2nd Nitro in Miami, which is the first to go head-to-head with Monday Night Raw.

How important is it to set up this first-time ever Hogan/Luger match to combat the return of Raw after 2 weeks of pre-emptions due to the US Open?

It works, as a reminder, Nitro beats Raw in that first head-to-head with a 2.5 rating against their 2.2 rating.

From the Observer:
“Hogan beat Luger to keep the title via DQ in 5:28. With the added weight, Luger looked even more clumsy than usual and it was bad, made worse because of all the hype going in with Bischoff calling it "The Match of the Century." With all the talk about Luger, it was shocking just how not over he was live. They traded a few no sell spots with Hogan in the babyface role although the crowd was kind of split and flat for a Hogan match. Finish saw Hogan do the superman comeback complete with legdrop when the inept heels all attacked Hogan for the DQ, so he at least gave the impression that he was going to beat Luger. Hogan, Savage and Sting then destroyed the heels in all of 30 seconds, making me want to see the War Games really bad, while Luger did nothing, still selling the devastating legdrop. Savage got mad at Luger for not helping while Sting defended Luger and wanted him on the War Games team. In a badly acted skit where it appeared the fans could have cared less, Hogan asked Luger where he was coming from and Luger said he'd agree to be on the team provided Hogan gave him the title rematch he had promised Vader.”

You’re cycling out Vader at the same time you’re cycling in Luger - is this tough to fit Lex in in this short little time for creative to completely make sense?

From the Observer:

“The Lex Luger jump became an even more intriguing situation this past week when word we received is that contrary to reports here and elsewhere and claims of WCW management, WWF is claiming Luger has a valid contract with the organization through January 6, 1996. Luger has claimed all along he was wrestling with Titan for the past few months without a contract and thus was free to make the jump at any point. Apparently Luger, according to sources within WCW, is now claiming that

Titan put white-out on his original contract and filled in a new later date in order to make this claim and that his contract had long since expired. No lawsuit has been filed by WWF in regard to the Luger jump at this point, but the situation is said to be in the hands of the lawyers. According to other sources, the word that Luger informed Vince McMahon he was going to WCW was said to be denied with the report that McMahon found out about Luger joining WCW at the same time the rest of the country did, while watching Monday Nitro on 9/4.

“According to WWF sources, Luger's window to give notice would have ended on October 6, 1995, but that is immaterial because he had exercised his option to not have his contract renewed months before that date. As has been reported elsewhere, during the spring he gave notice and wanted a guaranteed money deal and/or a guarantee of a specific spot in the pecking order. Luger had been perhaps the first wrestler at Titan who earned a guarantee because in his first year as a Titan wrestler, he worked under his guaranteed money WBF contract before that expired. McMahon hadn't agreed to either stipulation, which, given the current state of the Titan business, is less likely to be a concession given at this point in time than in the past when the company was profitable. Others close to the situation claim Luger and his attorneys feel they've found a technicality which breaches the Titan contract and made him a free agent. WCW must have been confident enough of that being the case when they put the deal together with him and rushed him on the air.

Even more strange about this deal is that in mid-August, McMahon and Luger had a meeting where Luger informed McMahon about the potential WCW deal and McMahon gave him permission to negotiate. Without Titan's permission to negotiate, any WCW approaches to Luger would have been illegal contract tampering and you have no idea how closely both groups watch their words in negotiations to avoid breaking that law and the ramifications because the penalties are so severe. Given the environment that the WWF/WCW situation has turned into, it is hard to fathom why McMahon would have given Luger the permission to negotiate at that point in time. However, it is said that after the original negotiations fell through over a large difference in money, Luger informed McMahon negotiations fell through and was put in a semi-prominent position.”

How quickly did the WWF’s attorneys contact WCW’s? How messy is all this? When you’re presented with all this - do you think having Luger be a part of the company at this time was the best idea?

“The claim is that after Luger and WCW reached their verbal deal on 8/31, Luger called McMahon up the next day but never told him about any negotiations or informed him of anything. Luger continued to work the Canadian house shows through the Sunday night before he showed up on the Nitro show in Minneapolis. Luger never called McMahon after 8/31 and as of this past weekend, still hadn't called.”

Did you enjoy sticking this to Vince more than acquiring Luger?

Luger is right away a tweener - and no one really knows if he’s a babyface or a heel. Is the attempt to figure out what is going to be the best role for him?

At Fall Brawl 95 Luger replaces Vader in War Games. This is the best case scenario when you have Vader and Orndorff fight and you need to fire Vader to have a ready made top babyface easily slot in there right?

During the War Games match, they tease a Savage and Luger feud and this leads first to a match on the October 2nd Nitro, where Luger defeated Savage where Luger said he would quit WCW if he lost.

Seems pretty early for Luger to be putting his WCW career on the line does it not Eric?

From there at Halloween Havoc, we end up with Savage defeating Zodiac, and Luger defeating Meng, and because of Savage and Luger both winning, they would wrestle each other later in the night. Savage pins Luger with the flying elbow in that match after colliding on the apron with an interfering Jimmy Hart.

This is an interesting concept and feud to be putting together Eric - two babyfaces fighting for the right to face each other. What did you think of it?

Then later in the show, Luger gets involved in the WCW Title match with Hogan and The Giant, and puts Hogan and then Savage in the Torture Rack, with Jimmy Hart turning on Hogan to align with Luger, which makes no sense after what happened earlier. Is it hard to provide surprises that make the most sense for your story telling when this is the end goal?

Why Luger as a heel with the Dungeon of Doom? You’ve talked about how Konnan didn’t fit in the Dungeon of Doom - did Luger?

It’s an interesting dynamic the next few weeks as Luger is presented as a heel with Jimmy Hart as his manager, and also still teaming up with Sting in tag matches. Is this your shades of gray before Vince McMahon had his shades of gray?

What did you think of Lex in his early run here? Easy to deal with? Team player?

A few months into Luger back in WCW are you more pro-Luger than you were before bringing him in?

Onto the first World War 3 PPV, Luger gets the win over Savage this time with him putting an armbar on Savage to knock him out until Sting saves Savage. Savage later goes on to win the 60-man 3-ring battle royal to become WCW Champion…did you see a lot of money in Savage & Luger feuding over the WCW World Title?

Savage’s first title defense is against Luger on Nitro on December 2 with Luger winning via DQ after interference from Flair plus Sting and Hogan getting involved. Luger being involved in top programs wasn’t about a money aspect since his contract of $150,000 was low - it was getting the most out of him is that fair to say?

Did Lex enjoy having this weird face/heel dynamic?

Luger worked twice at Starrcade - defeating Kensuke Sasaki as part of the WCW - New Japan series and then in a triangle match between himself, Flair & Sting where the winner would take on Randy Savage for the WCW Title. You’re really putting Lex to work here huh?

As we begin 1996, the Luger/Sting alliance pays off as they defeat Harlem Heat to win the WCW Tag Titles on a hot Nitro from Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas on January 22. It seems like Luger is drifting away from the Dungeon of Doom but he’s also there when it’s convenient. What do you think Sullivan was going for here with Lex?

We now have the Road Warriors and Steiner Brothers in the fold too so there’s a lot of great stuff going on in the tag division for a little while here - how important was the tag team division to WCW at this time?

Luger also wins the WCW TV Title from Johnny B Badd on March 6th in Badd’s last match with the company making Luger a double champion.

This was probably a late call with Badd leaving, right? The TV Title is essentially an afterthought while Luger has it.

During this early part of 96, Luger is still a tweener as he’s obviously the tag champ with Sting but he’s still involved with Jimmy Hart and the Dungeon of Doom including the ill-fated Doomsday cage match at Uncensored 96 in March with Luger costing his team the win, and thus ending his other alliances except for with Sting. It was just time to break Lex away from all this right?

Do you think by this point he had outperformed his contract? It’s reported in court documents that Luger would eventually earn $445k for his contract in 1996. When do you rip his deal up for a new one or did you sign him to an extension after year 1?

During the summer Luger gets a title shot vs The Giant at the Great American Bash on June 16. Could you picture Luger as a top babyface at this point or in the top 3 for the company?

He and Sting lose the tag titles on the June 24 Nitro to Harlem Heat in a 3-way match also involving the Steiners after being distracted by Hall & Nash appearing at ringside with baseball bats. Ideally - when you have Hogan joining the nWo locked into your mind - the 3 men at Bash at the Beach - Luger - Sting - Savage - the next top babyface is one of them right?

Luger of course is part of team WCW vs the Outsiders at Bash at the Beach, but is taken out early in the match leaving Sting & Randy Savage to go the rest of the match on their own and be outmatched when Hogan appears. This is a gigantic match as we all know but there’s also a lot of egos involved. Did Luger have any issue being taken out?

Luger & Sting lose to the Outsiders at Hog Wild in August as we really kick the WCW vs. nWo war into high gear. How important is Lex being an over babyface as you prepare to turn Sting into the Crow?

Lord Steven Regal defeats Luger for the TV Title on August 20 in Dalton, GA for WCW Saturday Night, thanks to interference from the Outsiders. It was just time to get the title off Lex was it not?

Sting & Luger form an alliance with Flair & Anderson from the Horsemen, to put their differences aside to go against the nWo in War Games at Fall Brawl 96.

The nWo claims Sting has joined with them, which was just a ruse to cause tension as they had their own nWo Sting. But this leads to Sting/Luger breaking up and Sting essentially walking out on WCW…did you see Luger vs. Sting being a money drawing program down the line?

Luger defeated Arn Anderson at Halloween Havoc in October in Arn’s last pay-per-view match. I know this seems like a redundant question - but it’s important to continue to bring up because of your hesitancy with bringing Lex back - had he given you any issues up until this point? Was he a model employee like Jeff Jarrett likes to call himself?

Luger vs nWo Hogan in a singles match is tried out for the first time in a dark match after Nitro on November 11 in St. Petersburg. Are you already thinking…babyface Lex vs. heel Hulk…could be dollar signs?

Luger gets to the final 3 of the second World War 3 60-man battle royal, which The Giant wins by eliminating Luger and Kevin Nash as Nash was up in the Torture Rack. The Giant - for those unsure of where we’re at in the timeline - is a heel with the nWo but this would lead to his babyface turn when he wants his World Title shot against Hogan for Souled Out.

Luger defeats The Giant at Starrcade 96 in only his second pinfall loss (first was losing to Hogan at Hog Wild) after using the baseball bat left in the ring for him by Sting. How important was it to protect Giant and do you think Lex’s victory wasn’t made to be as big a deal as it should have been?

Luger’s final match of 96 is defeating GREG VALENTINE on the December 30 Nitro in Knoxville, TN. Something of a styles clash but man talk about two guys who really did it all in wrestling.

As we open 97 and as you’ve been following along here this year on 83 Weeks - The Giant leaves the nWo and forms an alliance with Luger. They beat the Outsiders for the tag titles at SuperBrawl in February, but were stripped of the titles by Eric the next night and given back to the Outsiders. Are you already looking down the line for a big Luger - Hogan pay-per-view?

Uncensored 97 in March, Team nWo beat Team Piper and Team WCW (Luger, Giant, Scott Steiner). Luger was 1 on 4 vs the nWo but managed to eliminate Savage, Nash and Hall before finally getting defeated by Hogan. With Sting out of action being the crow - it’s hard to deny that Lex is the #1 babyface in the company in the ring at this point correct?

Spring Stampede 97. Luger defeated Giant, Booker T & Stevie Ray in a 4-way to become no.1 contender for the WCW World Title. Was there a plan for the Luger - Hogan match to be sooner than Road Wild or the 100th Nitro and the Rodman deal delayed that?

On Nitro on June 9 in Boston - which we are covering next week and it’s a big Nitro, Luger ends up defeating Hogan with the Torture Rack in a non-title match. How did Lex & Hulk get along behind the curtain?

Bash at the Beach in July, Luger & Giant defeated Hogan & Dennis Rodman when Hogan submits again to the Torture Rack - we will be covering this show in detail in a few weeks - but man what a win again for Lex. For those that say Hogan rarely lost and creative control and blah blah blah - this is a lot of losses in just a few week span Eric. Do you think this hurts Sting’s push against Hogan or does it sort of run parallel with it?

August 4 at the Palace of Auburn Hills, MI for the 100th episode of Nitro and first 3-hour episode. Luger defeated Hogan to win the WCW World Title with the Torture Rack and a great celebration after the match with all the WCW wrestlers coming out. We covered this whole show in the archives and what a moment it is. Does a reaction like this and everything that goes along with it - prove how well it worked out bringing back Lex in your mind?

The celebration ends quickly as 5 days later at Road Wild, Hogan defeated Luger to win the title back. I don’t know Eric…a babyface Luger taking on members of the nWo - could’ve saved you from not having Nick Patrick normal count 3 at Starrcade…just saying! Lex was really always tan too…

From there it feels like Lex is stuck in neutral. He teams with DDP at Fall Brawl and defeats Randy Savage & Scott Hall…he wins by DQ over Scott Hall at Halloween Havoc with Zybysko as special guest ref when Syxx attacks…and then he loses at Starrcade to Buff Bagwell when the nWo helps Buff. This is…maybe not a fall from grace but the dude was over like rover when he beats Hulk - holds the title for 5 days - and he’s putting over Buff Bagwell at the biggest show in company history just 3 months later. Do you remember what the deal is here?