Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2019 14:30:55 GMT -5
I was thinking about how when it comes to Lex I see jokes about his failed main event push in the E and his tight t-shirt lamentations on this board but not a whole lot else, even though that stuff was such a small part of his resume. I'm not too familiar with his work in the 80's or early 90's, but I do remember hearing that his US title reigns were well received and his friendship with Sting regardless of alignment being mentioned as a pretty unique thing in wrestling.
I've been watching through some New Generation stuff recently and while he didn't work out as a top guy, he was always pretty over as a midcarder and when he went back to WCW was REALLY over and definitely could've had a reign with the title longer than a week or whatever it was.
Just curious about how history--or at least this board--views his career.
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Post by 2coldMack is even more baffled on Aug 22, 2019 14:35:09 GMT -5
Probably as a career underachiever. He's always a guy who, if you look at him, and how hard he was pushed, should have been THE guy at least once in his career, but he could never quite bridge that gap.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2019 14:37:18 GMT -5
Probably as a career underachiever. He's always a guy who, if you look at him, and how hard he was pushed, should have been THE guy at least once in his career, but he could never quite bridge that gap. Would you say he was Sheamus-esque then?
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Post by Jacy Jayne Atomic Dog AMV on Aug 22, 2019 14:39:39 GMT -5
I DON'T KNOOOOOOOOOW
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Post by 2coldMack is even more baffled on Aug 22, 2019 14:40:30 GMT -5
Probably as a career underachiever. He's always a guy who, if you look at him, and how hard he was pushed, should have been THE guy at least once in his career, but he could never quite bridge that gap. Would you say he was Sheamus-esque then? That's a pretty apt approximation, yeah.
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fw91
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Post by fw91 on Aug 22, 2019 14:41:35 GMT -5
should've been the first reply
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Aug 22, 2019 14:49:35 GMT -5
I watched through the new Generation and switched over to WCW during the monday night wars and Luger finally started to connect as a face in 97, so naturally they squandered it, giving him a few days with the belt so Hogan can look like a team player, paving the way for what he did to Sting. Luger never really recovered from that and kind of floated around the card like a lost soul, looking really dated in the Russo era.
He was never cut out to be a WWF style babyface, slapping hands, kissing babies, not when he looked and acted like the guy who'd steal your girlfriend and smirk at you, wriggling his pecs. In WCW he became a good antihero, the villain on the side of good because the people he was going up against were so much worse, he was friends with someone with bulletproof face credentials so the fans went along with it, even though they knew he was a sneak and a snake. I loved that his real life friendship with Sting was made into fuel for storylines the way it was in a largely keyfabe heavy company like WCW.
In terms of titles, I think he probably got what he deserved, there were better options at world title level for most of his run, even if they weren't used particularly well. The tail end of the 90s and 2000s were probably his best shot at a serious run but WCW gave up on him and relegated him to midcard veteran by then... because of course they did.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Aug 22, 2019 14:52:33 GMT -5
Good but should have been great
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The Ichi
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Post by The Ichi on Aug 22, 2019 14:54:14 GMT -5
He kind of gets an unfair rep because Vince hastily tried to use him to plug up the huge Hogan-shaped hole. Nobody would have been suited for that role.
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Post by Johawn on Aug 22, 2019 14:55:25 GMT -5
f*** I love Lex Luger I don't even give a shit
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Aug 22, 2019 15:07:01 GMT -5
It is funny I do think a little bit thanks to OSW Review, Luger is given a little more due
To expand upon what I said before about good but not great. He had the tools to be great and was in stretches but never truly elevated to where he could sustain himself at. His name was big and he was over but for the stretches he was good, he had equal stretches of what the f***
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Aug 22, 2019 15:28:35 GMT -5
He kind of gets an unfair rep because Vince hastily tried to use him to plug up the huge Hogan-shaped hole. Nobody would have been suited for that role. He did the same thing with Diesel, burying the natural charisma of Nash to make him Smiley American McHandslapper.
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Allie Kitsune
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Aug 22, 2019 15:32:21 GMT -5
I'm surprised it took as long as it did.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Aug 22, 2019 15:36:24 GMT -5
He was a guy who made a mark and was a star, but fate sometimes conspired against him. The underwhelming top face run in WWF, being stuck as filler for Flair when Sting got hurt and Flair had already made his mind up to lose the title to Sting when he'd get back, and WCW deciding Sting vs Luger was not a winning formula for sales like Sting vs Flair was, it all combined to make people question if he really was, well, the Total Package. Still, he did have moments of greatness, like defeating Hogan for the title.
By 1999-2000, he was turning into a bit of a walking punchline in his lack of grace about his aging. He didn't seem to take it as well as, say, a Paul Orndorff, and he was roided out in a bad way. That probably hurt his standing with people for a long time, along with the Miss Elizabeth stuff.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2019 15:41:42 GMT -5
When he first returned to WCW in 95 up until just after his shock with against Hogan in 97 he was unbelievably underrated and WCW had no idea what they had on their hands.
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Greer
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Post by Greer on Aug 22, 2019 15:45:29 GMT -5
His WCW run from 1995-1997 was great. He had a character arc most stars don't have in an entire career let alone 2 years.
Left WCW for greener pastures in WWE, returned to WCW as a tweener that only Sting trusted, became a full on heel and eventually redeemed himself by taking on the nWo and winning the title from Hogan. He was arguably the biggest face in the company in 1997.
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Post by Cieto on Aug 22, 2019 16:05:13 GMT -5
91/92 Heel Luger with Harley Race and Mr Hughes was Peak Luger to me.
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Aug 22, 2019 16:29:26 GMT -5
I wouldn't even really say he under-achieved. I think he had a good career based on the talent he had.
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Post by bob on Aug 22, 2019 16:40:57 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2019 21:49:53 GMT -5
He kind of gets an unfair rep because Vince hastily tried to use him to plug up the huge Hogan-shaped hole. Nobody would have been suited for that role. I actually think he was a pretty solid Hogan tribute act but fans were just beyond ready for something different in the main event scene. A lot of the goofy shit like the Lex Express might've played better if Hogan had left a few years sooner and they brought Lex in.
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