What if Lex Luger was the first WCW guy in the Invasion

[nickcave]

Do you think it would have added weight to angle if Luger showed up unannounced on Raw like he did on Nitro instead of Lance Storm’s sneak attack. Obviously with Vince’s dislike of him and needing to buy out his pricey AOL contract it wouldn’t have happened but I think it would have added a much needed anything goes feel to it. But on the other hand I doubt any of Lex’s matches during that time would have been good so who knows lol

[Phosphor Glow]

Yeah I mean I definitely think Luger would've given a different vibe to the whole angle from the start, but considering the vindictiveness with which the angle was executed, I doubt it would've ended any differently.

[Hulkshi Tanahashi]

That would have gone poorly for Luger. I mean, look at what they did to Page. And, he didn't renege on a contract with Vince, like Luger.

[hassanchop]

He'd wear the same outfit he wore in the Mall of America. Only this time they did get him out of there, security just shows him out, Luger does nothing just passes by. JR just yells "Get him out of here!" and they do.

Though Luger's involvement in the Invasion might prove a bit useful. In case they can't get Goldberg, they could continue the storyline where Luger ended Goldberg's career which explains his absence, and he ends up feuding with Gillberg. Meanwhile vignettes show that Vince tries to sign Goldberg by trying to get a lawyer to look for a loophole in the contract but to no avail as a jealous Steve Austin watches on.

[Gerard Gerard]

Without wanting to exaggerate for drama, literally anything would've been better than what we ended up getting. The war for the soul of the company ended up being decided in a 10-man tag that had Shane 'Shitbags' McMahon as a key player, so even Lex Luger simply reading the phonebook would've outclassed that horseshit.

[johnnyk9]

Would’ve been interesting if they did it the same way as WCW did

[bob]

depends on if they were going to completely bury him like they did with DDP --- which most likely would've been the case imo

[Crappler El 0 M]

He probably does interviews now where he says he should have sat out and collected on his AOL/Time Warner contract, assuming he had one.

[jason1980s]

I can't imagine it going too well for Lex. You had WCW guys who had never even been in WWF, let alone do what Lex did in 1995. The regular WCW guys were buried and mistreated so I'm imagining the Taker's, Bradshaw's and Faarooq's and Holly's of the world would be doing whatever they could to make Lex pay for his high crimes against the poor ole' WWF.

[hassanchop]

Another thing to consider, if he came along with bad drug problems as Scott Hall, which Lex admitted he had, I can imagine it being either very short and very bitter with JR having eggs on his face, or he gets sent to rehab ASAP and probably never participates in the Invasion storyline.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

It would've been a slightly better start I suppose but he had nothing left at that point mentally or physically. At least DDP could still go.

[David-Arquette was in WCW 2000]

Would he have still participated at Superbrawl Saturday? I don'knowww!!

[Mozenrath]

Oct 16, 2021 4:38:21 GMT -5 Gerard Gerard said:

Without wanting to exaggerate for drama, literally anything would've been better than what we ended up getting. The war for the soul of the company ended up being decided in a 10-man tag that had Shane 'Shitbags' McMahon as a key player, so even Lex Luger simply reading the phonebook would've outclassed that horseshit.

Check out Cornette's ideas for the Invasion, and you may think differently. Some of them were really, really bad and mostly involved using a bunch of guys who hadn't been relevant in years by that point.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Oct 16, 2021 17:13:34 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Oct 16, 2021 4:38:21 GMT -5 Gerard Gerard said:

Without wanting to exaggerate for drama, literally anything would've been better than what we ended up getting. The war for the soul of the company ended up being decided in a 10-man tag that had Shane 'Shitbags' McMahon as a key player, so even Lex Luger simply reading the phonebook would've outclassed that horseshit.

Check out Cornette's ideas for the Invasion, and you may think differently. Some of them were really, really bad and mostly involved using a bunch of guys who hadn't been relevant in years by that point.

I think Dusty v. Funk at Mania would have been amazing!!!! Just, you know, 20 years before.

Cornette’s Mania would have been about 10 hours and insane.

[Gerard Gerard]

Oct 16, 2021 17:13:34 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Oct 16, 2021 4:38:21 GMT -5 Gerard Gerard said:

Without wanting to exaggerate for drama, literally anything would've been better than what we ended up getting. The war for the soul of the company ended up being decided in a 10-man tag that had Shane 'Shitbags' McMahon as a key player, so even Lex Luger simply reading the phonebook would've outclassed that horseshit.

Check out Cornette's ideas for the Invasion, and you may think differently. Some of them were really, really bad and mostly involved using a bunch of guys who hadn't been relevant in years by that point.

I've seen them. As pitiable as they were, I would have taken Terry Funk as WCW's crown jewel over having had to have witnessed Shane 'Twat Nozzle' McMahon and the McDrama that came with that overshadow what should've been some of the easiest money ever made in pro-wrestling.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

I suppose it would have been better than leading off with Mike Awesome and Lance Storm, but honestly, not by much. Lex Luger was ice cold by the time we got to 2001, probably the most devalued guy who had been a main eventer for WCW in the Monday Night Wars. The second he dropped the Lex Luger name in mid-1999 and was rebranded as "The Total Package," he was done as a serious main eventer that could draw money or ratings. It was a character that was just in the wrong era. You could watch a 40 year old guy literally named Package (commentators were given memos not to use the Lex Luger name, and it stuck for longer than most realize) doing cringey posedowns showing off a declining physique, coming off as very unintentionally homoerotic, or you could flip the channel and watch Stone Cold and The Rock doing things that were legitimately cool in 1999-2001.

That's the guy who would have shown up to the Invasion in 2001, not the bonafide main eventer that beat Hogan with the Torture Rack in 1997.

[Instant Classic]

Anything would have been better than Lance Storm kicking it off.