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Post by jason88cubs on Apr 6, 2021 11:32:36 GMT -5
When Lex returned he went right after Hogan's title.
Do you think a good storyline would have been if they had it where Luger was so obsessed with Hogan because of a previous time (WWF) where Luger was forced to be like Hogan and Luger ended up having such an obsession with Hogan that's why he returned to WCW, to face him and beat him
I mean it does sound kinda dumb but does it sound good at all?
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Post by cordless2016 on Apr 6, 2021 15:05:09 GMT -5
I think a Hogan/Luger feud in 1995 would have been great had they put more effort into it. The only thing I can see is Hogan maybe rejecting it out of fear of Luger possibly getting cheered over him (I think a lot of fans forget how over Luger was in late-95/early-96 when he played a tweener).
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Apr 6, 2021 15:53:04 GMT -5
I always found it funny that Eric Bischoff said he didn't want Lex Luger back in WCW, and gave him a low ball offer and Lex took it anyhow.
Four months later and Lex Luger is holding both the WCW TV Title and the WCW Tag Title with Sting. For Bischoff not liking Lex, he gave him two title runs at the same time.... I figured you would only do that to someone you liked and wanted in your organization.
Lex Luger to me never felt right in the WWF. I enjoyed his WWF run, don't get me wrong. I can't imagine Lex not being the USA flag wearing guy during those few years. But it almost became like Lex Luger was just a USA ambassador for the WWF then.
Lex jumping to WCW just felt right. Lex feuding/teaming with Sting, Flair, Arn, it all just felt right.
With all that being said, nobody in wrestling in 1997 was more popular than Lex Luger was. I know Steve Austin was popular then, he just turned baby face at Wrestlemania 13, but if you go back and watch Lex Luger defeat Hollywood Hogan on WCW Nitro for the WCW World Title, the place went nuts! I believe Lex even won Most Popular Wrestler of the Year award for PWI in 1997.
Seeing Lex in the year 2000 and into 2001 in WCW was just sad. Totally Buff should have been WCW Tag Champions, not Palumbo and O'Haire.
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Post by MKSavage on Apr 6, 2021 15:53:53 GMT -5
I think they did okay with Luger when he returned, I kind-of liked him in the tweener spot between a heel and a face. I liked his feud with Savage and the play between heel Luger and face Sting. And cordless2016 is correct, Luger was super over, especially in 1996/1997, the pop he got when he beat Hogan for the belt on Nitro in 1997 was deafening. |
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Post by CM Tusk on Apr 6, 2021 15:59:09 GMT -5
I always thought it was funny that he came in such a big deal after looking like such a loser in WWF. Never bought him as a main eventer. Should have just been stuck in a tag team and then used as a random NWO member. He wasn’t very good.
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Post by cordless2016 on Apr 6, 2021 16:50:28 GMT -5
I always found it funny that Eric Bischoff said he didn't want Lex Luger back in WCW, and gave him a low ball offer and Lex took it anyhow. Four months later and Lex Luger is holding both the WCW TV Title and the WCW Tag Title with Sting. For Bischoff not liking Lex, he gave him two title runs at the same time.... I figured you would only do that to someone you liked and wanted in your organization. Lex Luger to me never felt right in the WWF. I enjoyed his WWF run, don't get me wrong. I can't imagine Lex not being the USA flag wearing guy during those few years. But it almost became like Lex Luger was just a USA ambassador for the WWF then. Lex jumping to WCW just felt right. Lex feuding/teaming with Sting, Flair, Arn, it all just felt right. With all that being said, nobody in wrestling in 1997 was more popular than Lex Luger was. I know Steve Austin was popular then, he just turned baby face at Wrestlemania 13, but if you go back and watch Lex Luger defeat Hollywood Hogan on WCW Nitro for the WCW World Title, the place went nuts! I believe Lex even won Most Popular Wrestler of the Year award for PWI in 1997. Seeing Lex in the year 2000 and into 2001 in WCW was just sad. Totally Buff should have been WCW Tag Champions, not Palumbo and O'Haire. “USA Lex” and the blatant Hogan-ripoff gimmick was lame and I think it seriously hampered Lex’s potential in the WWF. That gimmick was dead in the water when he didn’t win the title at SummerSlam 1993, and it was a slow, downhill tumble from there for the next two years. I’ve never been a big Yoko fan and always felt Lex would have made a great heel champ in 1993 as the Narcissist. Have him beat Hogan at KOTR and go on a long title run until dropping the belt to Bret at WM10. He could “dodge” Bret by claiming he didn’t deserve to face him and instead work guys like Taker, Savage, and Perfect until finally facing Bret to end his run. |
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Post by jason88cubs on Apr 6, 2021 16:56:08 GMT -5
I think a Hogan/Luger feud in 1995 would have been great had they put more effort into it. The only thing I can see is Hogan maybe rejecting it out of fear of Luger possibly getting cheered over him (I think a lot of fans forget how over Luger was in late-95/early-96 when he played a tweener). Hogan was beyond paranoid in WCW in that time period |
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Post by JokerFC on Apr 6, 2021 18:19:22 GMT -5
I was so shocked to see Luger on that Nitro...also hell yeah he was over like crazy in 97 as THE WCW guy...even though he spent 2.5 years up North? Fans still bought him as a homegrown guy to fight off Hogan...
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Post by cordless2016 on Apr 6, 2021 18:39:56 GMT -5
I was so shocked to see Luger on that Nitro...also hell yeah he was over like crazy in 97 as THE WCW guy...even though he spent 2.5 years up North? Fans still bought him as a homegrown guy to fight off Hogan... I consider his 2.5 years up north nothing more than a short “vacation.” Luger bled NWA/WCW. |
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Apr 6, 2021 18:48:32 GMT -5
Luger defeating Hogan in August of 1997 was much more exciting than when Sting won the WCW Title off Hogan at Starrcade a few months later.
I think if Luger hadn't beaten Hogan, it wouldn't have mattered how botched the ending of Sting vs. Hogan was, fans would have loved it.
I also think that even if Sting beat Hogan clean at Starrcade that it still wouldn't be half as impressive or accepted as Luger's win back in August.
I am a huge Sting and Luger fan, but Luger winning the WCW Title that August killed Sting's victory at Starrcade. For they already proved Hogan can be beaten for the WCW Title. Sting doing it wasn't anything special that Luger hadn't already done months earlier.
WCW screwed themselves royally with that.
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Post by cordless2016 on Apr 6, 2021 20:08:41 GMT -5
I think a Hogan/Luger feud in 1995 would have been great had they put more effort into it. The only thing I can see is Hogan maybe rejecting it out of fear of Luger possibly getting cheered over him (I think a lot of fans forget how over Luger was in late-95/early-96 when he played a tweener). Hogan was beyond paranoid in WCW in that time period Easy E - “So Terry, we got Sexy-Lexy coming in soon. What are your thoughts on working a program with him?” Hulk - *twisting fu manchu* “that don’t work for me, brother. What about the Bootie Man, DUDE?!” |
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Post by MKSavage on Apr 6, 2021 20:14:21 GMT -5
I always found it funny that Eric Bischoff said he didn't want Lex Luger back in WCW, and gave him a low ball offer and Lex took it anyhow. Four months later and Lex Luger is holding both the WCW TV Title and the WCW Tag Title with Sting. For Bischoff not liking Lex, he gave him two title runs at the same time.... I figured you would only do that to someone you liked and wanted in your organization. Lex Luger to me never felt right in the WWF. I enjoyed his WWF run, don't get me wrong. I can't imagine Lex not being the USA flag wearing guy during those few years. But it almost became like Lex Luger was just a USA ambassador for the WWF then. Lex jumping to WCW just felt right. Lex feuding/teaming with Sting, Flair, Arn, it all just felt right. With all that being said, nobody in wrestling in 1997 was more popular than Lex Luger was. I know Steve Austin was popular then, he just turned baby face at Wrestlemania 13, but if you go back and watch Lex Luger defeat Hollywood Hogan on WCW Nitro for the WCW World Title, the place went nuts! I believe Lex even won Most Popular Wrestler of the Year award for PWI in 1997. Seeing Lex in the year 2000 and into 2001 in WCW was just sad. Totally Buff should have been WCW Tag Champions, not Palumbo and O'Haire. “USA Lex” and the blatant Hogan-ripoff gimmick was lame and I think it seriously hampered Lex’s potential in the WWF. That gimmick was dead in the water when he didn’t win the title at SummerSlam 1993, and it was a slow, downhill tumble from there for the next two years. I’ve never been a big Yoko fan and always felt Lex would have made a great heel champ in 1993 as the Narcissist. Have him beat Hogan at KOTR and go on a long title run until dropping the belt to Bret at WM10. He could “dodge” Bret by claiming he didn’t deserve to face him and instead work guys like Taker, Savage, and Perfect until finally facing Bret to end his run.I like this idea, I think heel Lex was much better and in hindsight it would have been better for Bret going forward not to have a 2nd babyface challenging him for the top spot. Having Lex beat Hogan at KOTR93 then dodging Bret for almost a year would have been a nice build. During the build, have Luger beating Savage, Crush, Perfect, and Tatanka among other top babyfaces at the time. Bret during this time could have the run he had with Lawler then start the build with Owen. Then have Bret win the Royal Rumble out right and then go to beat Lex at WM10 for the belt. Then after WM10 Bret can go into his run with Owen. I wouldn't even mind if Luger came back and beat Bret at Survivor Series 1994 for the belt then drop it to Diesel at the Royal Rumble in 1995. If possible, and if Anvil could have lasted, have Bret and Davey face Owen and Neidhart at WM11 in the be-all-end-all family grudge match - Piper could even ref the match since he was close to the Hart family. If Anvil couldn't hang on and last until WM11, they could still do the tag team match just have Owen bring in Yoko as his surprise partner since he previously beat Bret at WM9 for the belt (which he then lost to Hogan who then lost it to Luger to start all of this). |
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Post by The Brain on Apr 6, 2021 20:36:52 GMT -5
Not the biggest Luger fan but it was a glorious sight to see him rack Hogan for the belt in 97.
That POP still resonates 24 years later.
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Post by JokerFC on Apr 7, 2021 16:06:24 GMT -5
Luger defeating Hogan in August of 1997 was much more exciting than when Sting won the WCW Title off Hogan at Starrcade a few months later. I think if Luger hadn't beaten Hogan, it wouldn't have mattered how botched the ending of Sting vs. Hogan was, fans would have loved it. I also think that even if Sting beat Hogan clean at Starrcade that it still wouldn't be half as impressive or accepted as Luger's win back in August. I am a huge Sting and Luger fan, but Luger winning the WCW Title that August killed Sting's victory at Starrcade. For they already proved Hogan can be beaten for the WCW Title. Sting doing it wasn't anything special that Luger hadn't already done months earlier. WCW screwed themselves royally with that. And once again? Given away for free on tv...crazy. |
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Apr 7, 2021 17:14:14 GMT -5
Luger defeating Hogan in August of 1997 was much more exciting than when Sting won the WCW Title off Hogan at Starrcade a few months later. I think if Luger hadn't beaten Hogan, it wouldn't have mattered how botched the ending of Sting vs. Hogan was, fans would have loved it. I also think that even if Sting beat Hogan clean at Starrcade that it still wouldn't be half as impressive or accepted as Luger's win back in August. I am a huge Sting and Luger fan, but Luger winning the WCW Title that August killed Sting's victory at Starrcade. For they already proved Hogan can be beaten for the WCW Title. Sting doing it wasn't anything special that Luger hadn't already done months earlier. WCW screwed themselves royally with that. And once again? Given away for free on tv...crazy.
Just goes to show how popular and exciting wrestling was back then if you can do that for free on TV and know that fans will still turn around and pay for a PPV a week later. I am sure AEW, WWE and Impact Wrestling wish they could do that now.
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Post by JokerFC on Apr 8, 2021 3:41:34 GMT -5
And once again? Given away for free on tv...crazy.
Just goes to show how popular and exciting wrestling was back then if you can do that for free on TV and know that fans will still turn around and pay for a PPV a week later. I am sure AEW, WWE and Impact Wrestling wish they could do that now.
I'm sure they do but it was a crapbusiness model by Bischoff. Luger vs Hogan Sting vs Hogan Goldberg vs Hogan Warrior/Sting vs Hogan/Hart All on free tv when they could have been huge draws for them on PPV..nuts |
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Post by The Brain on Apr 8, 2021 3:49:27 GMT -5
Just goes to show how popular and exciting wrestling was back then if you can do that for free on TV and know that fans will still turn around and pay for a PPV a week later. I am sure AEW, WWE and Impact Wrestling wish they could do that now.
I'm sure they do but it was a crap business model by Bischoff. Luger vs Hogan Sting vs Hogan Goldberg vs HoganWarrior/Sting vs Hogan/Hart All on free tv when they could have been huge draws for them on PPV..nuts This sticks out the most from the list here. The streak vs title SCREAMS PPV but they do it on a random episode on Nitro in July 98. SMDH |
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Post by cordless2016 on Apr 8, 2021 10:39:45 GMT -5
Outside of the stupid idea to give so many money making matches away on free TV, I think WCW wrote themselves into a corner with Luger and Sting in 1997.
Obviously the big pay off was Hogan/Sting, but with Sting not actually working matches for over a year, someone had to be the one fighting the WCW’s honor. That ended up being Luger, who I previously stated was super over that year.
So they get to nearly a year into Hogan’s title run and Luger has been chasing him this whole time with Sting also watching from afar. No doubt Luger/Hogan for the title should have been a PPV match. The only thing is, should Luger have still won the title? I’m a Luger mark so I will always say yes, but like others said, all it did was hurt Sting’s eventual title win since Luger proved Hogan could be beaten. But if Luger fails to beat Hogan after a year of chasing him, he just looks like a looser (though to be fair, they didn’t do much with him following his loss to Hogan until joining the Wolfpack the following year).
Tough corner they booked themselves into with that one.
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Post by JokerFC on Apr 8, 2021 12:14:26 GMT -5
Outside of the stupid idea to give so many money making matches away on free TV, I think WCW wrote themselves into a corner with Luger and Sting in 1997. Obviously the big pay off was Hogan/Sting, but with Sting not actually working matches for over a year, someone had to be the one fighting the WCW’s honor. That ended up being Luger, who I previously stated was super over that year. So they get to nearly a year into Hogan’s title run and Luger has been chasing him this whole time with Sting also watching from afar. No doubt Luger/Hogan for the title should have been a PPV match. The only thing is, should Luger have still won the title? I’m a Luger mark so I will always say yes, but like others said, all it did was hurt Sting’s eventual title win since Luger proved Hogan could be beaten. But if Luger fails to beat Hogan after a year of chasing him, he just looks like a looser (though to be fair, they didn’t do much with him following his loss to Hogan until joining the Wolfpack the following year). Tough corner they booked themselves into with that one. Yup...the build for Sting was excellent but yes indeed it left a gap & it was a conundrum. |
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Post by jason88cubs on Apr 8, 2021 13:11:14 GMT -5
I'm sure they do but it was a crap business model by Bischoff. Luger vs Hogan Sting vs Hogan Goldberg vs HoganWarrior/Sting vs Hogan/Hart All on free tv when they could have been huge draws for them on PPV..nuts This sticks out the most from the list here. The streak vs title SCREAMS PPV but they do it on a random episode on Nitro in July 98. SMDH and didnt they announce it was gonna happen on Thunder? |
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