Luger slams Yoko 30 years ago today

[fg]

Jul 6, 2023 11:21:38 GMT -5 Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite said:

I remember a basketball player got in the ring, took one look at Yoko and then just "Nope-d" out and left

And then Randy raised his hand as if he made a very gallant effort.

[hassanchop]

And weeks prior Hogan and Yoko feuded in Europeon house shows



He couldn't slam him but had no trouble bench pressing and tossing him up go figure

[Milkman Norm]

Jul 6, 2023 13:39:20 GMT -5 hassanchop said:

And weeks prior Hogan and Yoko feuded in Europeon house shows



He couldn't slam him but had no trouble bench pressing and tossing him up go figure

I didn't think about this then because I was a kid but in retrospect the whole thing seemed like a set up for Hogan's big return and then when it was Lex Luger who hadn't even teased a face turn wearing an American flag shirt the whole thing fell flat.

[Magnus the Magnificent]

Jul 6, 2023 14:31:00 GMT -5 Milkman Norm said:

Jul 6, 2023 13:39:20 GMT -5 hassanchop said:

And weeks prior Hogan and Yoko feuded in Europeon house shows



He couldn't slam him but had no trouble bench pressing and tossing him up go figure

I didn't think about this then because I was a kid but in retrospect the whole thing seemed like a set up for Hogan's big return and then when it was Lex Luger who hadn't even teased a face turn wearing an American flag shirt the whole thing fell flat.

If you watch the original broadcast, people are chanting "Hogan! Hogan! Hogan!"

The studio job that aired later and Vince's "Yes! It's Lex Luger!" is sooo jarring.

[eudypfohl]

Jul 4, 2023 12:24:43 GMT -5 Aceorton said:

Nothing that I watched when it happened can possibly be 30 years old. Thirty years ago was the 1960s. This is a vicious lie.

Ha. I remember around that time thinking it cant be almost 10 years ago that Hogan won the title from Sheik at the Garden, and how ancient that clip looked whenever they'd replay it (and that tattered cluster f of a belt they had at the time).

[tirtefaa]

Jul 6, 2023 14:31:00 GMT -5 Milkman Norm said:

then when it was Lex Luger who hadn't even teased a face turn wearing an American flag shirt the whole thing fell flat.

Did it though?

I mean, I guess you can say that fans were disappointed it wasn't Hogan, but that isn't to say that Luger wasn't over. I mean, he certainly was getting great reactions, even after his SummerSlam fail, and his WrestleMania loss. It's too bad that they jerked him around so much, and that he never got payoffs to his big feuds (Yokozuna, Tatanka), or they were dropped due to unfortunate circumstances (Borga, Mr. Perfect).

Like serious, Luger had some bad bad luck in WWF, yet he somehow maintained his popularity.

[fg]

Jul 7, 2023 0:54:45 GMT -5 tirtefaa said:

Jul 6, 2023 14:31:00 GMT -5 Milkman Norm said:

then when it was Lex Luger who hadn't even teased a face turn wearing an American flag shirt the whole thing fell flat.

Did it though?

I mean, I guess you can say that fans were disappointed it wasn't Hogan, but that isn't to say that Luger wasn't over. I mean, he certainly was getting great reactions, even after his SummerSlam fail, and his WrestleMania loss. It's too bad that they jerked him around so much, and that he never got payoffs to his big feuds (Yokozuna, Tatanka), or they were dropped due to unfortunate circumstances (Borga, Mr. Perfect).

Like serious, Luger had some bad bad luck in WWF, yet he somehow maintained his popularity.

Lex had a steel cage match at the Countdown to WM11 that served as the blowoff. That should’ve been on the WM11 card.

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

Jul 7, 2023 0:54:45 GMT -5 tirtefaa said:

Jul 6, 2023 14:31:00 GMT -5 Milkman Norm said:

then when it was Lex Luger who hadn't even teased a face turn wearing an American flag shirt the whole thing fell flat.

Did it though?

I mean, I guess you can say that fans were disappointed it wasn't Hogan, but that isn't to say that Luger wasn't over. I mean, he certainly was getting great reactions, even after his SummerSlam fail, and his WrestleMania loss. It's too bad that they jerked him around so much, and that he never got payoffs to his big feuds (Yokozuna, Tatanka), or they were dropped due to unfortunate circumstances (Borga, Mr. Perfect).

Like serious, Luger had some bad bad luck in WWF, yet he somehow maintained his popularity.

I don't know if I would say he was getting great reactions. Decent to good sure but not great. He was over but not that over. Definitely not number one babyface over. During the peak of his push he was probably the fifth most over face behind Bret, Taker, Razor, and Savage. I think you can even make a case Tatanka got bigger pops then him.

A lot of the problem was his turn and push was so forced and out of nowhere. Literally in one week he went from this self absorbed arrogant jerk to All American babyface superhero. With no buildup or anything. If they had built his face turn up more I think he would've been more over. Instead it came off like Vince realized Hogan wasn't coming back and he needed another All American face character to fill the void ASAP.

[johnnyk9]

He should’ve won the title

[tirtefaa]

Jul 7, 2023 14:52:40 GMT -5 ThankGodForSidJustice said:

I don't know if I would say he was getting great reactions. Decent to good sure but not great. He was over but not that over. Definitely not number one babyface over. During the peak of his push he was probably the fifth most over face behind Bret, Taker, Razor, and Savage. I think you can even make a case Tatanka got bigger pops then him.

A lot of the problem was his turn and push was so forced and out of nowhere. Literally in one week he went from this self absorbed arrogant jerk to All American babyface superhero. With no buildup or anything. If they had built his face turn up more I think he would've been more over. Instead it came off like Vince realized Hogan wasn't coming back and he needed another All American face character to fill the void ASAP.

Decent to good? He was getting some of the best reactions on the roster. Taker and Bret were sporadic in their appearances, and let's be honest...no one was going to outpop them no matter the circumstances, much like no one was going to outpop Hogan. It's really not fair to include Savage in there either since he was largely inactive. If we're going to go just by pops alone, then how about including the opening of Raw itself. 

I'd argue that Luger was getting better pops than Razor, at least up till mid to late 1994. Tatanka got great pops too, but it isn't on the same level that Luger was getting consistently. I'm not some Luger mark, but go back and watch those shows from mid 1993 to mid 1994...Luger was very over. It's not until his dropped program with Mr. Perfect before it seems like he's lost.

[bogussting]

I recall secretly eating this up as well as the whole Lex Express thing while pretending not to and cheering on Yokozuna. Either I knew this was kind of corny even as an 11-year-old and shouldn't like it - or still saw Yokozuna as this awesome monster and didn't want him to be bested? Or possibly just a silly contrarian thing? I think I had similar all over the place feelings regarding the NWO storyline. 

Anyway, I still have nostalgia for the Lex Express angle, but won't defend it.

[Mozenrath]

Jul 7, 2023 20:34:59 GMT -5 johnnyk9 said:

He should’ve won the title

I do wonder how much wrestling history changes if someone talks Vince out of Lex not winning the title at Summerslam. I think Bret still rises to the top over time, but if Lex doesn't feel the need to go back to WCW, that likely changes the complexion of WCW at that time a good bit, and it also provides a hurdle to HBK's rise. He still probably becomes a main eventer, but if Lex doesn't leave the WWF, he probably considerably limits Shawn's leverage, even if the Kliq would still probably wind up a significant force. Of course, if Lex ends up making WWF good money, then the payouts probably don't suffer as much in the mid-'90s, which also changes the Kliq's trajectory if they don't pool their resources out of grievances.

[tirtefaa]

Jul 16, 2023 3:26:34 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I do wonder how much wrestling history changes if someone talks Vince out of Lex not winning the title at Summerslam. I think Bret still rises to the top over time, but if Lex doesn't feel the need to go back to WCW, that likely changes the complexion of WCW at that time a good bit, and it also provides a hurdle to HBK's rise. He still probably becomes a main eventer, but if Lex doesn't leave the WWF, he probably considerably limits Shawn's leverage, even if the Kliq would still probably wind up a significant force. Of course, if Lex ends up making WWF good money, then the payouts probably don't suffer as much in the mid-'90s, which also changes the Kliq's trajectory if they don't pool their resources out of grievances.

While it might have changed the trajectory of the Kliq, I think the main event scene mostly improves with Lex's rise.

One of the biggest issues with the 1993 to 1997 roster is lack of main eventers, or essentially have guys who were capable of selling tickets.

I didn't think about this at the time, but after revisiting it, by not really 'making' Lex, you honestly hurt his credibility and hurt the credibility of the company. See, this was at a time when they were being a little more loose with sometimes having faces go up against other faces and whatnot. This worked for guys like Bret, Undertaker and Diesel, since they could realistically lose a title match to another face and remain unscathed since they were former champions.

Unfortunately, by not using Lex in programs like Bret or Diesel, WWF were overly reliant on their heel programs. And to be perfectly honest, a little Yokozuna goes a long ways. Mabel was a terrible choice to turn heel. And how many shots did Bulldog get?. Sid was okay, but he was getting pinned clean on Raw for the IC title. Realistically, Lex should have had a short run with the title to show he was able to win, if only to provide a little more meat for their main event scene.

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

Jul 16, 2023 10:43:54 GMT -5 tirtefaa said:

Jul 16, 2023 3:26:34 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I do wonder how much wrestling history changes if someone talks Vince out of Lex not winning the title at Summerslam. I think Bret still rises to the top over time, but if Lex doesn't feel the need to go back to WCW, that likely changes the complexion of WCW at that time a good bit, and it also provides a hurdle to HBK's rise. He still probably becomes a main eventer, but if Lex doesn't leave the WWF, he probably considerably limits Shawn's leverage, even if the Kliq would still probably wind up a significant force. Of course, if Lex ends up making WWF good money, then the payouts probably don't suffer as much in the mid-'90s, which also changes the Kliq's trajectory if they don't pool their resources out of grievances.

While it might have changed the trajectory of the Kliq, I think the main event scene mostly improves with Lex's rise.

One of the biggest issues with the 1993 to 1997 roster is lack of main eventers, or essentially have guys who were capable of selling tickets.

I didn't think about this at the time, but after revisiting it, by not really 'making' Lex, you honestly hurt his credibility and hurt the credibility of the company. See, this was at a time when they were being a little more loose with sometimes having faces go up against other faces and whatnot. This worked for guys like Bret, Undertaker and Diesel, since they could realistically lose a title match to another face and remain unscathed since they were former champions.

Unfortunately, by not using Lex in programs like Bret or Diesel, WWF were overly reliant on their heel programs. And to be perfectly honest, a little Yokozuna goes a long ways. Mabel was a terrible choice to turn heel. And how many shots did Bulldog get?. Sid was okay, but he was getting pinned clean on Raw for the IC title. Realistically, Lex should have had a short run with the title to show he was able to win, if only to provide a little more meat for their main event scene.

Looking back I do think not at least giving Luger the title was a mistake. If you are going to put that much effort into the guy you might as well pay it off. I used to think a lot of the problem was Luger lacked the charm and likeability to be the top face and I still do to an extent especially with him not being the most personable guy in the world IRL which is important for the role, a lot of the issue was mainly how abrupt and sudden his face turn was. It just felt so forced. It was proven in 1996-97 WCW that Luger could get over big time as face if he had the right character arch. So it's not like he lacked charisma. Then how Summerslam went down obviously didn't help. Having him celebrate a count out win with the stipulation being he couldn't get a rematch if he didn't win the title just made him look super lame. I get the logic of wanting to build to a rematch at Mania but it was executed very poorly. If they didn't want to put the title on Luger there they should've had it where he knocks Yokozuna out of the ring with the forearm and tries to get him back into the before the ten count and can't do it in time. At least that way it looks like he tried to get him back in the ring and it doesn't make him look bad at all as instead it just comes off like he was unlucky rather then dumb.

Even though I think he was a better heel and not someone who would be the best choice for the #1 face spot, I did think Luger felt more like someone who could be THE Guy then the other guys who got that opportunity in the mid 90's in Bret, Shawn, and Diesel. I think business would still not be great with him on top but if handled better I think he could've done better then those other guys did.

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

Jul 16, 2023 3:26:34 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Jul 7, 2023 20:34:59 GMT -5 johnnyk9 said:

He should’ve won the title

I do wonder how much wrestling history changes if someone talks Vince out of Lex not winning the title at Summerslam. I think Bret still rises to the top over time, but if Lex doesn't feel the need to go back to WCW, that likely changes the complexion of WCW at that time a good bit, and it also provides a hurdle to HBK's rise. He still probably becomes a main eventer, but if Lex doesn't leave the WWF, he probably considerably limits Shawn's leverage, even if the Kliq would still probably wind up a significant force. Of course, if Lex ends up making WWF good money, then the payouts probably don't suffer as much in the mid-'90s, which also changes the Kliq's trajectory if they don't pool their resources out of grievances.

I still don't get Vince's theory of hey we got Lex really over in a few months we can stretch this to mania!

Have him celebrate a count out victory like an idiot! >_>

Like if he won by count out and be pissed it wouldn't be great but it at least made sense... but the balloons and being paraded on his shoulders... especially with teh "if you don't win here you can't challenge again" stip.

[stephen90]

Didn't Ahmed Johnson make his debut by slamming an even fatter Yoko with the commentary team acting like Luger thing never happened since Luger was gone.

[Citizen Snips]

Jul 5, 2023 18:42:02 GMT -5 JasonVoorhees1988 said:

Jul 5, 2023 17:40:38 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

I wonder what have happened if someone did shoot slam Yoko, would they pull something out of their butt to claim it didnt count or something?

Could someone shoot slam him? I mean... Dude was huge. And strong.

It would be pretty hard to shoot bodyslam an average-size person unless you’re incredibly strong. It’s an easy position for the person getting slammed to block or simply go dead weight.

Add in Yoko’s weight and sheer size and I’d imagine it would be impossible to slam him if he didn’t want to go up. Just getting him up off his feet would be a huge deal.