WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2025: Lex Luger
When it comes to football players moving over to pursuit a career in professional wrestling, there is a long list of great athletes who have made the move. When you look at those who were successful, Lex Luger has to be near the top of list. He played with a Miami Hurricanes team that has five Pro Football Hall of Fame members on it. He spent time in the Canadian Football League and the old USFL. After football was over he went back to Florida and was trained by Hiro Matsuda. He made is his debut in pro wrestling in October of 1985. Luger started in Championship Wrestling from Florida, where he worked with top names in the industry such as Rick Rude, Wahoo McDaniel, Barry Windham, Bruiser Brody, and Kevin Sullivan.
After Florida, Luger would take his career to Jim Crockett Promotion (WCW). Luger had a lot of early on success being involved with the Four Horsemen. During his first run in WCW he worked with some of the all time greats like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Stan Hansen, Sting, Ron Simmons, Ricky Steamboat, and Nikita Koloff. He held the WCW United States Championship for 523 days. Luger was the United States Champion on five separate occasions, which is why he is regarded as one of the greatest United States Champions. Despite Luger’s success, there were issues with his contract and he departed WCW in 1992.
When Luger left WCW, Vince McMahon initially wanted him to be a part of the World Bodybuilding Federation. The WBF never got off the ground, so Lex made his WWE in-ring debut in January 1993 after recovering from his motorcycle accident. He dubbed as “The Narcissist” and his first feud was with Mr. Perfect, which culminated at WrestleMania. His time as a heel was short lived, because WWE had moved on from Hulk Hogan and was looking for a new hero. Throughout the rest of 1993, he feuded with Yokozuna and his allies. One of Luger’s claims to fame is that he and Bret Hart are the only co-winners of the Royal Rumble match in the history of the event. His run at trying to claim the WWE Championship ended at WrestleMania 10. In early 1995, he had formed with a tag team with The British Bulldog, known as the Allied Powers. The two teamed together until Luger’s departure from WWE in August of 1995, What happened after that was a complete and utter shock.
Lex Luger shocked the world on the premier episode of WCW Nitro in September 1995. He had just been on WWE television a week earlier. He made an immediate impact when he showed up during a match between Ric Flair and Sting. At the end of the night, he was face to face with Hulk Hogan and challenged him for the WCW Championship. He spent the next few months feuding with the Randy Savage and aligned himself with the Dungeon of Doom. Despite have animosity with Savage and Hogan, he began teaming with his friend Sting. Luger and Sting were linked together for the majority of 1996 until the nWo was formed and created chaos with everyone in WCW. Luger spent all of 1997 feuding with the nWo and eventually dethroned Hollywood Hogan as WCW Champion. Unfortunately, Luger’s reign only lasted six days. Despite such a short championship reign, he found success as a WCW Tag Team Champion, WCW Television Champion and WCW United States Champion.
In 1999 and 2000, Luger was involved in multiple storylines with Sting, Flair, and Hogan but WCW was in such disarray that these storylines never led to anything greater. World Championship Wrestling closed it’s doors in March of 2001 and Luger would not appear on mainstream television again. After WCW closed, Luger spent time in NWA-TNA and the independent circuit, but he was having a lot of problems in life. He also suffered a major spinal injury in 2007, which left him unable to walk. With all of the legal problems and health issues he had, people refused to give up on Luger. One of those people is Diamond Dallas Page.
Currently, Luger is in physical rehabilitation with the help of DDP. He has become of a source of inspiration, positivity, and someone who isn’t afraid to speak on the mistakes he’s made so others don’t make the same ones. Luger’s body of work is something that should be honored and recognized. There will always be critics that will blame him for the events that took place in 2003, but when someone shows remorse, they deserve redemption. Luger has shown remorse and regret. He took the steps to redeem himself and become a better person. Luger’s life and career has come full circle with his upcoming WWE Hall of Fame induction. Congratulations to Lex Luger on being named to the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
