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Post by jason88cubs on Aug 5, 2022 5:44:59 GMT -5
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Aug 5, 2022 8:47:00 GMT -5
Amazing moment for WCW and for WCW Nitro.
However....
It made Sting's win at Starrcade seem not as exciting. Even if the match at Starrcade didn't have a ridiculous finish, Sting beating Hogan clean at that event would have been "meh" to me because Luger did it cleanly just months earlier on Nitro.
The year 1997 was so crazy for Lex. I never seen a guy be so over like he was for that short period of time. A year later?? He's hanging with Nash, Konnan, Savage and Sting and has a 4 day US Title reign.
A far cry form a 7 day WCW World Title reign a year earlier.
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Post by LA Times on Aug 5, 2022 9:41:22 GMT -5
People often forget that a main reason Hulk Hogan's heel turn worked so well was that WCW had Lex Luger and Sting ready to take over as the company's top faces.
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Post by cordless2016 on Aug 5, 2022 10:13:36 GMT -5
A lot of fans today underestimate just how over Luger was when he jumped shipped to WCW in 1995. By early 1996 he was already getting some big pops despite playing a “tweener,” and his popularity rose to another level once the nWo angle started. While Sting was in the rafters for a year and a half, Luger was the main guy fighting the nWo in the ring. Fans got behind him big-time as the hero WCW needed in the war with the nWo.
The problem, though, was that WCW painted themselves into a corner. Sting/Hogan was clearly the long term plan, but Luger was the guy actually chasing Hogan for over a year. If Luger doesn’t win the strap at some point, the feud seems all-for-naught. But if Luger does win the strap, it lessens Sting’s eventual win.
I think Luger winning was the right call. My issue is that he dropped the strap 6 days later and his momentum never recovered. Luger remained over, but he never hit those heights again as he did chasing Hogan in 1996/97. Maybe give Luger his win alittle earlier in the year, only for Hogan to get it back after a month or two.
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Post by JokerFC on Aug 5, 2022 12:44:50 GMT -5
I remember this Nitro really really well. Man the crowd was roasting for Luger since the nWo was formed in fairness....
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Post by MKSavage on Aug 5, 2022 13:22:35 GMT -5
Such a great moment. One of the loudest pops I remember. This period and the summer of 93 was the most over Luger ever got. Looking back, it does kind-of put a damper on Sting's win, but at the time, I don't think it did. It was four months prior; it was kind-of forgotten when Sting won. It was a great moment, and kind-of needed, because up to that point the NWO was always winning, WCW needed a win at that time.
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Post by LA Times on Aug 5, 2022 16:52:08 GMT -5
I remember this Nitro really really well. Man the crowd was roasting for Luger since the nWo was formed in fairness.... IIRC, it was a 3 hour Nitro to experiment things before they added the 3rd hour in 1998. |
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Post by The Brain on Aug 5, 2022 18:58:56 GMT -5
Not the biggest Luger fan in the world but still a great moment for the company
Always a plus to see the pukester squeal in a submission move
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TheEvilDoink1987
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 22, 2010 21:37:52 GMT -5
Posts: 2,807
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Aug 6, 2022 5:03:57 GMT -5
Not just one of the best highlights in the history of Nitro and WCW in general, but also the greatest moment of Lex Luger's career.
When Randy Anderson signaled that Hogan had tapped out and the crowd exploded, it was like vindication of 4+ years going back to his WWF run when he was slated to take the torch from Hogan which never happened. Luger was labeled as a choke artist in the kayfabe world which kind of mirrored his real-life image as someone who never quite lived up to their own potential throughout his pro wrestling career. Him winning the WCW World title on live TV in front of a massive crowd was his moment in the sun.
It definitely took some of the steam away from Sting's win against Hogan several months later especially when you consider how that mess at Starrcade went down. Lex wiped out the entire nWo in the process and decisively beat the man who many deemed as his predecessor right in the middle of the ring clean as a whistle. He looked like a million bucks while Sting came across like a chump who blew his shot, but got bailed out anyway.
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Post by MKSavage on Aug 8, 2022 8:18:19 GMT -5
Anyone watch the A&E biography on him? It was good. For some reason, this was the biography that I was most interested in seeing this season (followed by the Monday Night Wars and Undertaker episodes). I was interested in seeing why they decided to go away from the Narcissist gimmick and make him the all-American boy. Seems it was really as simple as Vince wanted him to be the next Hulk Hogan, and he thought he could make it work. Shame, I feel that the Narcissist gimmick had more of a shelf life, and even fit Luger's personality better. Also, I always thought that Bobby Heenan was pronouncing the name Narcissist wrong at the Royal Rumble, he called him Narcissus, I just assumed he couldn't pronounce the word. We all have those words that for some reason we just can't say, and I thought this was Heenan's. But apparently, the original name for Lex was going to be Narcissus, they even show the printed name on the sketch drawings. Who knew??? I'm glad a lot of guys talked about how not giving him the belt at Summer Slam 1993 ruined his push (Nash, 123 Kid, Cornette, Bret, etc.) I think a lot of people look at that moment and think it was Lex who wasn't getting over, but I think if they put the title on him at SSL93 it would have helped his run in the WWF. They also discussed his moment in WCW winning the title over Hogan on Nitro, that Lex had earned that moment with his work ethic and personality backstage. I thought it was a pretty good episode.
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TheEvilDoink1987
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 22, 2010 21:37:52 GMT -5
Posts: 2,807
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Aug 8, 2022 9:35:48 GMT -5
Anyone watch the A&E biography on him? It was good. For some reason, this was the biography that I was most interested in seeing this season (followed by the Monday Night Wars and Undertaker episodes). I was interested in seeing why they decided to go away from the Narcissist gimmick and make him the all-American boy. Seems it was really as simple as Vince wanted him to be the next Hulk Hogan, and he thought he could make it work. Shame, I feel that the Narcissist gimmick had more of a shelf life, and even fit Luger's personality better. Also, I always thought that Bobby Heenan was pronouncing the name Narcissist wrong at the Royal Rumble, he called him Narcissus, I just assumed he couldn't pronounce the word. We all have those words that for some reason we just can't say, and I thought this was Heenan's. But apparently, the original name for Lex was going to be Narcissus, they even show the printed name on the sketch drawings. Who knew??? I'm glad a lot of guys talked about how not giving him the belt at Summer Slam 1993 ruined his push (Nash, 123 Kid, Cornette, Bret, etc.) I think a lot of people look at that moment and think it was Lex who wasn't getting over, but I think if they put the title on him at SSL93 it would have helped his run in the WWF. They also discussed his moment in WCW winning the title over Hogan on Nitro, that Lex had earned that moment with his work ethic and personality backstage. I thought it was a pretty good episode. I literally just made a thread about this and asked the same thing. 🤣 Agreed that it was very enjoyable. It feels like the same dozen topics/stories get rehashed over and over for these documentaries, but this one was fresh because Lex has never had a career retrospective like this. |
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Post by MKSavage on Aug 8, 2022 10:13:33 GMT -5
Anyone watch the A&E biography on him? It was good. For some reason, this was the biography that I was most interested in seeing this season (followed by the Monday Night Wars and Undertaker episodes). I was interested in seeing why they decided to go away from the Narcissist gimmick and make him the all-American boy. Seems it was really as simple as Vince wanted him to be the next Hulk Hogan, and he thought he could make it work. Shame, I feel that the Narcissist gimmick had more of a shelf life, and even fit Luger's personality better. Also, I always thought that Bobby Heenan was pronouncing the name Narcissist wrong at the Royal Rumble, he called him Narcissus, I just assumed he couldn't pronounce the word. We all have those words that for some reason we just can't say, and I thought this was Heenan's. But apparently, the original name for Lex was going to be Narcissus, they even show the printed name on the sketch drawings. Who knew??? I'm glad a lot of guys talked about how not giving him the belt at Summer Slam 1993 ruined his push (Nash, 123 Kid, Cornette, Bret, etc.) I think a lot of people look at that moment and think it was Lex who wasn't getting over, but I think if they put the title on him at SSL93 it would have helped his run in the WWF. They also discussed his moment in WCW winning the title over Hogan on Nitro, that Lex had earned that moment with his work ethic and personality backstage. I thought it was a pretty good episode. I literally just made a thread about this and asked the same thing. 🤣 Agreed that it was very enjoyable. It feels like the same dozen topics/stories get rehashed over and over for these documentaries, but this one was fresh because Lex has never had a career retrospective like this. Sorry, didn't see that. I will post this in that thread. Thanks. And I agree, we've never had a Lex documentary, so it was nice to see something new. |
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TheEvilDoink1987
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 22, 2010 21:37:52 GMT -5
Posts: 2,807
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Aug 8, 2022 10:21:21 GMT -5
I literally just made a thread about this and asked the same thing. 🤣 Agreed that it was very enjoyable. It feels like the same dozen topics/stories get rehashed over and over for these documentaries, but this one was fresh because Lex has never had a career retrospective like this. Sorry, didn't see that. I will post this in that thread. Thanks. And I agree, we've never had a Lex documentary, so it was nice to see something new. Hahaha no need to apologize at all just thought it was funny how I saw your post literally right after I created it. If anything, I should've just checked here first before making a whole new topic, but nothing wrong with some Flexy Lexy love across multiple threads if you ask me. |
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