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Post by cordless2016 on Jul 14, 2024 10:28:10 GMT -5
Recently watched SummerSlam 1993 and it still annoys me to this day that Vince put all this promotion behind Lex, only to pull the rug out at the last second. It’s not like Luger was getting Roman Reigns “go-away” heat from 2015-2019. He was getting solid fan reactions, and that’s saying something considering he had just turned face about a month earlier.
Was his all-American character a cheap Hogan-knockoff? Sure, but it was working based on crowd responses. It’s just crazy to me that Vince put money into converting a bus into the “Lex Express” and doing a cross-country promotion over the summer, only to say “nah, he’s not the guy.”
I’ve never been a big Yokozuna fan, and it was clear that the guy could barely go 3 minutes without gassing himself. With the promotion put behind Lex, and with business already on a downturn, why not give Luger a run from SummerSlam-Royal Rumble? If things aren’t working out by the Rumble, throw the belt back on Yoko to drop it to Bret at WM.
Anyone else wish that Lex got the belt at SummerSlam, or do you think they made the right decision by changing plans and continuing with Yoko?
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Post by The Brain on Jul 14, 2024 10:45:58 GMT -5
Vince really put himself in a bad spot here. Yoko wins the belt at KOTR and now with Hogan gone, needed a good monster run with it after the whole fiasco at Mania. Fast forward few weeks later and Luger is now anointed the new top babyface. So what do you do? Give the new top dog a run with the belt or keep it on Yoko who's only had it for 2 months by time SSlam rolled around. Tough all around as if Yoko loses that does some good damage as he's nothing more than transitional in the end and with Lex they built him all Summer as this conquering All American babyface so anything but him winning the belt wouldve been a flop
So what did we get? A countout finish...Yeah it protects both guys but they had Lex out there celebrating like he's the new champ. KILLED this run instantly.
And they axed the Narcissist for this. A character that had helluva more potential than this one here
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Post by Ohtimate Wahriah on Jul 14, 2024 13:03:29 GMT -5
Right down to announcing him as the next WWF Champion in his entrance , they just set him up for failure. Lex was over just fine, this event totally killed him. His celebration at the end made him come off like a total loser,
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TheEvilDoink1987
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Jul 14, 2024 13:58:38 GMT -5
Vince really put himself in a bad spot here. Yoko wins the belt at KOTR and now with Hogan gone, needed a good monster run with it after the whole fiasco at Mania. Fast forward few weeks later and Luger is now anointed the new top babyface. So what do you do? Give the new top dog a run with the belt or keep it on Yoko who's only had it for 2 months by time SSlam rolled around. Tough all around as if Yoko loses that does some good damage as he's nothing more than transitional in the end and with Lex they built him all Summer as this conquering All American babyface so anything but him winning the belt wouldve been a flop So what did we get? A countout finish...Yeah it protects both guys but they had Lex out there celebrating like he's the new champ. KILLED this run instantly. And they axed the Narcissist for this. A character that had helluva more potential than this one here Good point about "The Narcissist" gimmick especially considering the WWF was dangerously low on main event heels at that time. I think once you turned Lex face you had to put all your chips on the table and commit. They didn't strike while the iron was hot and it eventually killed his push.
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Post by The Brain on Jul 14, 2024 14:13:37 GMT -5
Vince really put himself in a bad spot here. Yoko wins the belt at KOTR and now with Hogan gone, needed a good monster run with it after the whole fiasco at Mania. Fast forward few weeks later and Luger is now anointed the new top babyface. So what do you do? Give the new top dog a run with the belt or keep it on Yoko who's only had it for 2 months by time SSlam rolled around. Tough all around as if Yoko loses that does some good damage as he's nothing more than transitional in the end and with Lex they built him all Summer as this conquering All American babyface so anything but him winning the belt wouldve been a flop So what did we get? A countout finish...Yeah it protects both guys but they had Lex out there celebrating like he's the new champ. KILLED this run instantly. And they axed the Narcissist for this. A character that had helluva more potential than this one here Good point about "The Narcissist" gimmick especially considering the WWF was dangerously low on main event heels at that time. I think once you turned Lex face you had to put all your chips on the table and commit. They didn't strike while the iron was hot and it eventually killed his push.I liked Yoko but no doubt this. You put all that time and effort into the character with the Lex Express, interviews, music videos etc. that you have to go all in at that point
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Post by Ohtimate Wahriah on Jul 14, 2024 14:19:35 GMT -5
Good point about "The Narcissist" gimmick especially considering the WWF was dangerously low on main event heels at that time. I think once you turned Lex face you had to put all your chips on the table and commit. They didn't strike while the iron was hot and it eventually killed his push.I liked Yoko but no doubt this. You put all that time and effort into the character with the Lex Express, interviews, music videos etc. that you have to go all in at that point They put all the balloons in the ROOF! It’s like they got right to the finish line and didn’t cross it.
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Post by hbkjason on Jul 14, 2024 15:12:47 GMT -5
He also looked like a total chump the following year as well. I have always wondered if it was a last minute decision not to put the title in him as the celebration was so freaking weird.
Vince should have gone all in with Bret! The fans wanted Bret as the guy, but Vince was always looking over Bret for the next big thing instead of seeing he had it with Bret the whole time. It was like he used Bret as his placeholder top guy while looking for someone else.
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Jul 14, 2024 16:08:02 GMT -5
I liked Yoko but no doubt this. You put all that time and effort into the character with the Lex Express, interviews, music videos etc. that you have to go all in at that point They put all the balloons in the ROOF! It’s like they got right to the finish line and didn’t cross it. I always wonder if that was a game day decision by Vince. 🤔
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Jul 14, 2024 16:12:35 GMT -5
He also looked like a total chump the following year as well. I have always wondered if it was a last minute decision not to put the title in him as the celebration was so freaking weird. Vince should have gone all in with Bret! The fans wanted Bret as the guy, but Vince was always looking over Bret for the next big thing instead of seeing he had it with Bret the whole time. It was like he used Bret as his placeholder top guy while looking for someone else. Exactly. Won the SummerSlam match by COUNTOUT. Was a CO-WINNER of the Royal Rumble. Lex was never booked to look like THE guy in that push period.
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Post by sinfony on Jul 14, 2024 18:21:18 GMT -5
Lex was probably the biggest victim of the crap they pulled at the end of WM9. If only they had done that angle with Savage instead of Hulk they could have set up 1993 for some many potential clashes: Savage vs Razor or the Narcissist or the babyface match vs Bret. But Vince just couldn't get over his Hulkamania obsession and the tired re-run of the American hero vs the foreign monster... I never found Luger as Hogan 2.0 massively convincing in all honesty. He looked somewhat stiff in the role of the devout patriot and the sudden 180 degree turn was too leftfield for me. Luger seemed more natural/comfortable in the heel role, even if the Narcissist wasn't necessarily a brilliant character, but it was still good enough to get him over and could have been built up to a title reign in late 1993 to then carry the title until losing to Bret at WM10. They could still have used him as the face later if they needed him. Have him lose the title and then he questions why he was so self-obsessed and how when he looks in the mirror these days he sees nothing there.
Nonetheless, it really is surprising that they didn't let him win the title at Summerslam 1993, if only to move on from Yokozuna being at the top as the heel champion who can't actually talk on camera and is out of gas in every match inside 5 minutes.
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Post by JokerFC on Jul 14, 2024 18:55:21 GMT -5
Vince really put himself in a bad spot here. Yoko wins the belt at KOTR and now with Hogan gone, needed a good monster run with it after the whole fiasco at Mania. Fast forward few weeks later and Luger is now anointed the new top babyface. So what do you do? Give the new top dog a run with the belt or keep it on Yoko who's only had it for 2 months by time SSlam rolled around. Tough all around as if Yoko loses that does some good damage as he's nothing more than transitional in the end and with Lex they built him all Summer as this conquering All American babyface so anything but him winning the belt wouldve been a flop So what did we get? A countout finish...Yeah it protects both guys but they had Lex out there celebrating like he's the new champ. KILLED this run instantly. And they axed the Narcissist for this. A character that had helluva more potential than this one here Good point about "The Narcissist" gimmick especially considering the WWF was dangerously low on main event heels at that time. I think once you turned Lex face you had to put all your chips on the table and commit. They didn't strike while the iron was hot and it eventually killed his push. Bingo. This is it in a nutshell. Luger winning also had a bigger upside in the storytelling. You get him to use the forearm but NOT to beat him..Lex uses it to get himself out of trouble well BEFORE the match finish after interference from Cornette. That way it doesn't make Luger look like a gimmick & Cornette has something to fume about whilst cutting poisonous promos on Lex. Team Luger vs Team Yoko @ SSeries93. Team Yoko wins? He gets a shot at the RR 94. They do & Yoko beats Luger after interference/gaga. Bret wins RR & beats Yoko at WM. Doesn't interfere with Bret vs Owen either. That can still all play out as is.
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Post by cordless2016 on Jul 14, 2024 19:07:02 GMT -5
Vince really put himself in a bad spot here. Yoko wins the belt at KOTR and now with Hogan gone, needed a good monster run with it after the whole fiasco at Mania. Fast forward few weeks later and Luger is now anointed the new top babyface. So what do you do? Give the new top dog a run with the belt or keep it on Yoko who's only had it for 2 months by time SSlam rolled around. Tough all around as if Yoko loses that does some good damage as he's nothing more than transitional in the end and with Lex they built him all Summer as this conquering All American babyface so anything but him winning the belt wouldve been a flop So what did we get? A countout finish...Yeah it protects both guys but they had Lex out there celebrating like he's the new champ. KILLED this run instantly. And they axed the Narcissist for this. A character that had helluva more potential than this one here It’s a shame Luger didn’t debut as the Narcissist until the Rumble. I felt the character had a ton of potential and could have taken Yoko’s spot as the top heel in 1993, feuding with Bret, Taker, Perfect, ect… I’ve never been a big Yoko fan and felt Lex as a heel would have been far more effective.
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Post by cordless2016 on Jul 14, 2024 19:14:49 GMT -5
Lex was probably the biggest victim of the crap they pulled at the end of WM9. If only they had done that angle with Savage instead of Hulk they could have set up 1993 for some many potential clashes: Savage vs Razor or the Narcissist or the babyface match vs Bret. But Vince just couldn't get over his Hulkamania obsession and the tired re-run of the American hero vs the foreign monster... I never found Luger as Hogan 2.0 massively convincing in all honesty. He looked somewhat stiff in the role of the devout patriot and the sudden 180 degree turn was too leftfield for me. Luger seemed more natural/comfortable in the heel role, even if the Narcissist wasn't necessarily a brilliant character, but it was still good enough to get him over and could have been built up to a title reign in late 1993 to then carry the title until losing to Bret at WM10. They could still have used him as the face later if they needed him. Have him lose the title and then he questions why he was so self-obsessed and how when he looks in the mirror these days he sees nothing there. Nonetheless, it really is surprising that they didn't let him win the title at Summerslam 1993, if only to move on from Yokozuna being at the top as the heel champion who can't actually talk on camera and is out of gas in every match inside 5 minutes.
I’ve never cared for Yoko and felt his entire run from the RR ‘93 until WM10 was crap. Story-wise, Bret had him beat at WM9 prior to Fuji interfering. Then he stupidly offered Hogan a title match right there and lost seconds later. Then needed interference again at the KOTR to beat Hogan. Then the body-slam challenge came off more as he’s too fat for someone to lift, and not necessarily that he’s a monster. We get to SummerSlam, and he looses by countout. Come Survivor Series, his team looses. He then needed legit half the WWF roster to beat Taker in a casket match, finally getting to WM10 where he beat Lex by DQ, only to later loose to Bret. And this doesn’t even get into the fact the guy was gassed 3 minutes into every match. Lex has said he was never fully into the “Hogan 2.0” gimmick, and you could see that come across on TV. But he was still over enough to warrant moving the title to him at SummerSlam. Hell, it’s 1993 and things were already bad. Giving Lex a run wouldn’t have made things any worse, and if he wasn’t working out you could aways pivot back to Yoko at the RR, where he could drop it to Bret at WM.
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Post by cordless2016 on Jul 14, 2024 19:18:14 GMT -5
I liked Yoko but no doubt this. You put all that time and effort into the character with the Lex Express, interviews, music videos etc. that you have to go all in at that point They put all the balloons in the ROOF! It’s like they got right to the finish line and didn’t cross it. Some reports say Luger was never booked to get the belt. Some say it was weeks prior to SummerSlam. I call BS and say it was a same-day audible. How could anyone think that Luger winning by DQ and celebrating like he did would make anyone look good? I’ve always felt that Lex was booked to win right up until show time, until someone convinced Vince to change course. The way people like Bruce Pritchard speak of Lex, you’d think that Lex killed his dog yet the celebration makes it seem like he won the belt.
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Post by sinfony on Jul 14, 2024 19:29:49 GMT -5
Cornette said that Vince thought they should drag it all out so that the feud would build up to WM10, but by then Vince lost interest in Luger being his babyface champion.
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Post by The Brain on Jul 14, 2024 19:46:28 GMT -5
He also looked like a total chump the following year as well. I have always wondered if it was a last minute decision not to put the title in him as the celebration was so freaking weird. Vince should have gone all in with Bret! The fans wanted Bret as the guy, but Vince was always looking over Bret for the next big thing instead of seeing he had it with Bret the whole time. It was like he used Bret as his placeholder top guy while looking for someone else. 100% Bret was not only Mr. SSlam but he was Mr. New Gen as well in my book. No better guy to lead that era than him.
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Post by jason88cubs on Jul 14, 2024 19:48:17 GMT -5
I wish Lex had won
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Post by Ohtimate Wahriah on Jul 14, 2024 20:18:46 GMT -5
It’s just that, I’ve never seen a company bury a guy but then blame him like he couldn’t get over. AS he is literally walking to the ring, they are announcing him as the next WWF Champion over the PA…and then he wins by count out & celebrates like he won the World Series, he comes off like a total loser and it’s completely on the company.
I love Lex, I loved that Summer. All he had to do was win and then let the chips fall where they may. If it turns out he’s not the next Hogan, so be it. But he didn’t fail, he was sabotaged. He could have been disappointed he didn’t win the belt and THAT would have done wonders for keeping his momentum. It’s the whole thing was a disaster,
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Post by cordless2016 on Jul 14, 2024 22:17:10 GMT -5
It’s just that, I’ve never seen a company bury a guy but then blame him like he couldn’t get over. AS he is literally walking to the ring, they are announcing him as the next WWF Champion over the PA…and then he wins by count out & celebrates like he won the World Series, he comes off like a total loser and it’s completely on the company. I love Lex, I loved that Summer. All he had to do was win and then let the chips fall where they may. If it turns out he’s not the next Hogan, so be it. But he didn’t fail, he was sabotaged. He could have been disappointed he didn’t win the belt and THAT would have done wonders for keeping his momentum. It’s the whole thing was a disaster, I’ve always felt that Bruce Pritchard may have been one of the people to convince Vince to change course. In both his podcast and the documentary the WWE released on Lex last year, Bruce makes him out to be the most miserable guy in the world, yet the majority of his peers had nothing but positives to say about him. Hell, even Bret said that Lex was a quality guy. Lex brings up a good point too that all the footage the WWE has released of the “Lex Express” tour since then has been him at his worst, yet they rarely if ever show the footage of him enjoying himself.
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Post by hbkjason on Jul 15, 2024 3:32:15 GMT -5
I liked USA Lex Luger, but to me the money was heel Lex Luger vs Bret Hart for the title, but that I guess could have cost us Bret vs Owen if they went down that road.
You could have still had Undertaker vs Yokozuna going on, that story did not need the belt.
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