Lawrence ("Larry") Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), is an American former professional wrestler, bodybuilder and football player better known by his ring name, Lex Luger.
| Lex Luger | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 2, 1958 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Lex Luger The Narcissist The Total Package |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
| Billed weight | 275 lb (125 kg) |
| Billed from | Chicago, Illinois Atlanta, Georgia Boca Raton, Florida |
| Trained by | Bob Roop Hiro Matsuda |
| Debut | September 1985 |
Wrestling career
Training
In 1985, Pfohl met Bob Roop at a celebrity golfing event in Florida and was given the chance to get into professional wrestling. Roop arranged for Pfohl to be trained by Hiro Matsuda, who had previously trained Hulk Hogan and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. Pfohl adopted the ring name "Lex Luger", being a fan of the comic book villain Lex Luthor, and made his in-ring debut in September 1985.
NWA Florida (1985-1986)
Luger began wrestling in the NWA Florida territory, and quickly came to dominate the area. He got his first victory on Halloween 1985 against Ed "The Bull" Gantner, and won the Southern Heavyweight Championship from Wahoo McDaniel the next month. In 1986, he fought NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair to a 60 minute draw.
Towards the end of his run in Florida, Luger was involved in a now-legendary steel cage match with Bruiser Brody, where Brody stopped cooperating, leading to a quick exit from the ring by Luger.
World Championship Wrestling (NWA)
1987
In 1987, Luger went to work for Jim Crockett's World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which was under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner, with the nickname "The Total Package" and began using the "The Human Torture Rack", an Argentine backbreaker as his finisher. He was first booked as an associate to Ric Flair's "Four Horsemen" stable until Ole Anderson was kicked out and he became an official member of the group. His first big feud came against Nikita Koloff, whom he defeated for the NWA United States Championship in July at The Great American Bash.
He held the title until StarrCade in November, when he lost it to Dusty Rhodes in a steel cage. This loss set the stage for Luger leaving the Four Horsemen, as manager J.J. Dillon's interference is what cost Luger the match.
1988
Luger left the Horsemen in 1988 after he and his stable-mates; Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, and J.J. Dillon, were the sole wrestlers left in a Bunkhouse Stampede battle royal and Dillon asked the other wrestlers to give themselves up so he could win. Although Blanchard and Anderson complied, Luger (kayfabe) refused and eliminated Dillon, leaving the Horsemen in the process.
Now out of the Horsemen Luger befriended Barry Windham, his former Florida ally, and formed a tag team, dubbed "The Twin Towers", with him. The Twin Towers first teamed at Clash of the Champions in March to defeat Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Only a few weeks after the title win, a shocking swerve took place in the NWA with Barry Windham suddenly turning on Luger during a title defense (against Blanchard and Anderson) and joined his former stable, The Four Horsemen.
Days later, the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup tag team tournament was held with its first night in Greenville, South Carolina. A partner-less Luger was teamed with an equally partner-less Sting (whose partner Ronnie Garvin had been (kayfabe) injured) and together the impromptu team won the entire tournament, defeating Blanchard and Anderson in the finals.
As Clash of the Champions II, held in June, approached it was announced that Luger would challenge Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash on July 10 in Baltimore. The contract was signed on a yacht with Flair delivering the now famous line "You gotta make it to Baltimore..." to Luger. As Luger arrived at The Clash in a limousine he was attacked by The Four Horsemen, leaving him (kayfabe) injured and bleeding in the parking lot on live television.
The build up to the Flair/Luger match helped the event draw a 14,000 person crowd, only to see Luger lose the match in one of the biggest wrestling controversies ever. While Luger had Flair in the "Torture Rack" and Flair was about to submit, the match was abruptly stopped by the referee who cited (kayfabe) "Maryland State Athletic Commission" rules about a cut that had opened up on Luger's forehead "bleeding excessively".
Luger faced Flair in many rematches across the country, never winning the title - although he did frequently win their matches by disqualification (titles don't change hands on a disqualification). The Luger/Flair feud came to an end after December's StarrCade where Flair pinned Luger in the main event (illegally) using the ropes.
1989
With the feud with Flair over, Luger was matched up against old foe Barry Windham at The Chi Town Rumble in February, winning the NWA United States Championship from him. Luger defended the US Championship regularly, remaining one of the top draws in the NWA.
He teamed up with Michael Hayes against Barry and Kendall Windham in a match which saw Hayes turn on Luger, setting himself as a contender to the US Title at Wrestle War in Nashville, Tennessee. In what was considered a shocking upset at the time, Hayes defeated Luger for the title when a surprise appearance by Hayes's ex-Freebird mate Terry Gordy helped cost Luger the match. Luger regained the US Title from Hayes in a rematch a couple of weeks later, beginning a heel turn when he broke the rules by pulling Hayes' tights to win the match.
The turn became "official" shortly after, when at Clash of the Champions VII Luger attacked the popular Ricky Steamboat after he'd defeated Terry Funk by disqualification. Luger yelled out in frustration about Steamboat continuing to be the #1 contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and a feud between Luger and Steamboat occurred with matches around the country for Luger's US Title, with Luger always coming out on top. Eventually, Luger and Steamboat faced each other at The Great American Bash in July with Luger winning by disqualification. Steamboat departed the NWA shortly afterward.
In the fall of '89, Luger's US Championship began taking a back seat to the main event feuds occurring between Flair, Sting, Terry Funk, and The Great Muta, relegating Luger to defend the US Title against lower caliber opponents. In November, things picked up for him again as Brian Pillman began to challenged him at Clash of the Champions IX. Luger won the match after hitting Pillman with a chair, pushing him back into the spotlight. After the main event of the card, which saw Ric Flair and Terry Funk in a (now famous) "I Quit" match, Luger made a surprise run in, attacking both Flair and Sting, who had come out to save Flair from a post match attack by The Great Muta.
December's Starrcade featured an "Ironman" tournament between Flair, Sting, Luger, and Muta. The tournament featured 15 minute time limit matches pitting all of the men against each other, with no titles on the line, and points awarded for victories. Though Sting eventually won the tournament, Luger was the only participant to go undefeated for the night. (Sting got pinfall victories over Muta and Flair, giving him the most points to win the tournament). This elevated Sting to the #1 contender for Flair's world title.
1990
With Sting and Flair set to square off at Wrestle War '90 in February, Luger seemed to be dwindling away from the main event scene. He was booked to defend the US Title against "Dr. Death" Steve Williams on the card, but a (legit) injury to Sting caused the entire booking of the card to get changed. Luger was elevated to face Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which failed to receive much hype, mostly as a result of the many times the two faced each other in 1988 with screwjob finishes. An injured Sting appeared in Luger's corner during the match, eventually being attacked by Ole and Arn Anderson. When Luger left the ring to help Sting he was counted out, giving the match to Flair. The idea here was to build Luger up as a "changed man" that had "gained self-respect" by saving Sting. Luger challenged Flair across the country in rematches, but similar to their 1988 feud, the matches always ended with Luger not winning or winning but not earning the title. In the final match of the feud, a few months after Wrestle War, another screwjob finish occurred where Luger won by disqualification against Flair in a steel cage match when the cage rose up from the ground and outside interference marred the match. The whole Flair/Luger feud that year was considered a blur and just filler until Sting's injury healed by many in the wrestling community.
In mid-1990, Luger's focus went back to defending his US Championship while the NWA focused on Sting and his reign as World Heavyweight Champion. It became difficult coming up with opponents to feud Luger until Stan Hansen entered the company and the two of them feuded for a couple of months, with Luger eventually dropping the title to Hansen at Halloween Havoc in October, though he won it right back at December's Starrcade.
World Championship Wrestling
- Beginning in 1991 World Championship Wrestling began to withdraw from the National Wrestling Alliance to become its own company. For more information see here.
1991-'92
Luger started 1991 feuding with Danny Spivey, who unsuccessfully challenged him at Wrestle War in February for the WCW United States Championship. Following their match, Nikita Koloff suddenly appeared to attack Luger, reigniting their feud from 1987. It didn't last long, however, as Koloff found himself being pushed into a program with Sting instead of Luger, and Luger again began to challenge Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship after becoming #1 contender by defeating The Great Muta at Clash of the Champions XV.
With the history of "screwjob finishes" between Flair and Luger their title match was set to be contested at The Great American Bash in a steel cage with the added stipulation that should Flair get disqualified he would lose the title. The match never occurred, however, as Ric Flair began to have disagreements with Jim Herd, the head of WCW, and eventually quit the company (being "stripped" of the title in the process), and took the World Title belt with him.
With the title now vacant, Barry Windham was declared the #2 contender and was set to face Luger in the cage at The Bash. During the match Luger was turned heel (and Windham face) when Harley Race and Mr. Hughes came to ringside and "ordered" Luger to piledrive (an illegal maneuver) Windham. He did it, winning his first WCW World Heavyweight Championship - but the title was considered very watered down at this point. The fans were very vocal on their thoughts of the recent events, chanting "We want Flair!" throughout the pay-per-view.
The rest of 1991 was spent trying to get Luger over as champion and top heel, including a controversial racial angle with Ron Simmons where he asked Simmons to join his entourage, but as a chauffeur. The feud was met with apathy by the majority of fans, and Luger defeated Simmons at Halloween Havoc in October. Eventually, Luger began to have his own issues with WCW, and the contract he had seemed to have him wrestling less and less while still collecting money.
In the fall of '91 Luger had a brief feud with Rick Steiner, defeating him at Clash of the Champions XVII in November. The next month's Starrcade was booked with the BattleBowl format, which Sting winning #1 contendership at the end of the night.
Under Lugers contract he was only required to work a specific number of dates, and having fulfilled them he "sat out" the end of 1991 and beginning of '92, leaving Sting to build the feud against him on his own. Aside from one January title defense (against Masa Chono), Luger did not wrestle a match until February's SuperBrawl II, where he lost to Sting.
World Bodybuilding Federation (1993)
After losing to Sting at SuperBrawl Luger negotiated a departure from WCW that forced him out of wrestling for the rest of 1992. Instead he joined Vince McMahon's World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) and appeared regularly as a co-host on its Saturday-morning program, WBF BodyStars. He was slated to guest pose at a WBF pay-per-view event, but was injured in a motorcycle accident. By the time he recovered, the WBF was out of business.
World Wrestling Federation
1993
After his accident and the closure of the WBF, Luger joined The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as The Narcissist, a heel gimmick that saw him pose before full-length mirrors before every match. The WWF also incorporated his motorcycle accident into his gimmick, capitalizing on the fact that he had a metal plate inserted into his forearm which was claimed to cause more damage when it struck an opponent. In fact, a number of his opponents (kayfabe) demanded that he wear a cover over it during matches as he had a streak of knocking people out with it.
When Hulk Hogan left the WWF in mid-1993, Vince McMahon dubbed Luger "The Real American", turning him from his heel run to a "mega"-face in a memorable 4th of July event, when he arrived (by helicopter) on the deck of the USS Intrepid and body slammed the over 500 pound (227 kg) WWF champion Yokozuna after a number of other WWF superstars and other athletes attempted and failed. Following this he began the "Lex Express" bus tour, traveling the country in a Red, White, and Blue painted bus to greet fans.
Luger went on to face Yokozuna for the WWF title at Summerslam 1993, with the stipulation that this would be Luger's only shot at the WWF title. Luger won the match by count-out, meaning that Yokozuna retained the title. Throughout the rest of 1993, Luger continued to feud with Yokozuna and newcomer Ludvig Borga.
1994
At the January Royal Rumble Luger and Bret Hart were declared "co-winners" of the rumble match after both men went over the top rope and had their feet hit the ground at the same time. As such, both received shots at the WWF Championship at WrestleMania X.
Luger was originally booked to win the WWF Championship at WrestleMania X, but after getting drunk at a bar not long before the event, Luger (legitly) told several people (including a local reporter) about the pre-planned outcome.[1] When the information spread, and got back to the WWF higher ups, the plans were changed and not only did Luger not win the title, but Bret Hart did.
For the summer of '94 Luger first feuded with Crush, then aligned himself with Tatanka until (kayfabe) rumors began to swirl that Luger was planning to join Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation stable. Tatanka and Luger's friendship broke up over the lack of trust between them, and at a match at SummerSlam in August Tatanka suddenly turned on Luger and joined the Corporation, the very action which he'd accused Luger of. Luger continued to feud with The Million Dollar Corporation, leading a survivor series team consisting of himself, Mabel, Adam Bomb and The Smokin' Gunns (Billy and Bart Gunn), dubbed "Guts & Glory", to a victory over the Corporation team of Tatanka, King Kong Bundy, Bam Bam Bigelow and The Heavenly Bodies ("Gigolo" Jimmy Del Ray and Dr. Tom Prichard) in a match at the November event.
1995
1995 saw Luger form a team with Davey Boy Smith, dubbed the "The Allied Powers", at WrestleMania XI. Between March and July of '95 The Allied Powers joined the hunt for the World Tag Team Championship, until Davey Boy turned on Luger to join James E. Cornette's stable of heel wrestlers.
Following the breakup of The Allied Powers, Luger was set to once again enter the WWF Championship picture after he saved (champion) Diesel from King Mabel at SummerSlam in August. However, he left the company before those plans could go anywhere.
World Championship Wrestling
1995
In late August 1995, Luger got a call from World Championship Wrestling Vice-President Eric Bischoff asking him if he'd like to "jump ship" back to WCW. In an interview with Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Luger claimed he was wrestling without a WWF contract and could, therefore, leave unannounced.
Reportedly Vince McMahon was very upset with the abrupt departure of Luger, who McMahon claimed had given "his word" that he would stay with the WWF. In the years since, McMahon has taken pot shots at Luger, going as far as outright denouncing his talent and indirectly blaming him for the death of Miss Elizabeth on an episode of WWE Confidential.
Years later, Eric Bischoff would claim that he was never a "fan" of Luger on a personal or professional level. Bischoff has said that he only made the decision to talk to Luger at the behest of Luger's longtime friend Sting (with whom Luger had operated a gym with in Atlanta, Georgia at one point). Bischoff offered Luger 20% less than he was making in the WWF, believing that he would turn the contract down allowing Bischoff to go back to Sting and tell him that he "tried." To Bischoff's surprise, Luger agreed to the deal. He wrestled his last WWF match on September 1, 1995 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Luger's first appearance in WCW was his shocking appearance during a match featuring Sting vs. Ric Flair from the first WCW Monday Nitro on September 4, 1995. Luger appeared in the entry aisle observing the match before showing up again after the main event (Hulk Hogan vs. Big Bubba Rogers) to help Hogan fight off a number of wrestlers who jumped him. During both appearances the Mall of America crowd erupted into chants of "Luger". For his first next several months with the company, Luger played a tweener, siding with various wrestlers on either side of the heel/face dividing line and feuded with others.
1996-'97
Luger's status unofficially changed to face early in 1996. First he and Sting won the WCW World Tag Team Championship, then on February 17 defeated Johnny B. Badd to take the Television Championship, lost it back to him the next night, and won it again on March 6. In the summer Luger began a feud with The Giant for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, unsuccessfully taking him on at June's The Great American Bash.
When The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) arrived on the scene beginning they called "a hostile takeover" of WCW, "Macho Man" Randy Savage spearheaded the WCW wrestlers against them with Luger and Sting with him. Luger, along with Savage and Sting, took on The Outsiders and a third, mystery, partner that they claimed was an "insider" at July's Bash at the Beach. Luger went down in the first few minutes of the match and had to be helped to the back, fueling speculation that he was faking the injury to become the third nWo member. At the end of the match, to the shock of nearly everyone, Hulk Hogan arrived as the "mystery partner", officially creating the New World Order (nWo) after the match.
Luger continued to be one of the leaders the WCW's siege against the nWo, wrestling and feuding with a number of their members. He repeatedly wrestled Hulk Hogan in 1997, winning the World Heavyweight title from him on the Nitro six days before a August's Road Wild (and also becoming the first wrestler to make Hogan submit in a sanctioned singles matchup), but losing it right back to him at the pay per view. His victory, however, marked the first time in a year that WCW had won their world title back from the nWo.
1998-2000
Luger feuded with Scott Hall and Buff Bagwell in the first half of 1998 until he joined the nWo Wolfpac. Luger played a central role in the group's war with Hogan's original nWo, until he was sidelined with a (legit) bicep injury. His membership in the Wolfpac ended in 1999.
In 1999 Luger began another heel run, only going by the name "The Total Package", and declaring "Lex Luger" dead. For this run he was managed by Miss Elizabeth and formed a team, "Totally Buff", with Buff Bagwell. The duo joined Ric Flair's Magnificent Seven stable, where they stayed until The WWF purchased WCW.
Since Luger's WCW contract was not a part of the WWF's purchase of WCW's assets, Luger collected the remainder of his guaranteed contract through a subsidiary of TimeWarner that had been set up to handle outstanding debts and business from WCW.
Semi-retirement
World Wrestling All-Stars (2002)
In late 2002, Luger joined the European tour of World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA). He debuted on November 28, 2002 in Dublin, Ireland, teaming with Sting to defeat Buff Bagwell and Malice. On December 6, 2002 at WWA Retribution, Luger defeated Sting to win the vacant WWA World Heavyweight Championship after Jeff Jarrett interfered on his behalf. In Manchester, England on December 7, Luger and Sting faced Bagwell and Jarrett in a match in which both Luger's WWA World Heavyweight Championship and Jarrett's NWA World Heavyweight Championship were on the line, though neither title changed hands, as Sting pinned Bagwell. Luger made his final appearance with WWA on December 13, in Zürich, Switzerland, when he lost the WWA World Heavyweight Championship to Sting in a three way dance that also featured Malice.[2]
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Luger worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in late 2003, appearing on November 12, teaming with Jeff Jarrett in a loss to Sting and A.J. Styles. He returned to TNA on February 25, 2004, interfering in Styles's match with Abyss for sole possession of the NWA World Tag Team Championship and helping Abyss defeat Styles.
Throughout 2004 and 2005, Luger made sporadic appearances on the independent circuit. He made another appearance in TNA on the April 27, 2006 episode of TNA iMPACT! as the second of Sting's potential tag team partners for Sacrifice. Throughout September and October he appeared on iMPACT! as one of the people (along with Buff Bagwell) helping Sting to "prepare" for his upcoming match against Jeff Jarrett at Bound for Glory.
Wrestling facts
- Finishing and signature moves
- Human Torture Rack / Rebel Rack (Argentine backbreaker rack)
- Bionic Forearm / Luger's Elbow (Running elbow / forearm smash)
- Lex Plex (Superplex)
- Attitude Adjustment (Piledriver)
- Hip toss
- Neckbreaker
- Powerslam
- Scoop slam
- Managers
Championships and accomplishments
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (4 times) - (4th reign carried over into WCW when the title was renamed the WCW U.S. Championship)
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Barry Windham
- NWA Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament Winner (1988) - with Sting
- WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Royal Rumble co-winner (1994) - alongside Bret Hart
- Ranked #20 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
- Ranked #52 of the best tag teams of the PWI Years (with Sting)
- Ranked #90 of the best tag teams of the PWI Years (with Barry Windham)
- Rookie of the Year (1986)
- Feud of the Year (1987) Four Horsemen, vs. the Road Warriors and The Super Powers
- Feud of the Year (1988) vs. Ric Flair
- Feud of the Year Award (1990) vs. Ric Flair
- Match of the Year (1991) with Sting, vs. Rick and Scott Steiner
- Comeback of the Year (1993)
- Most Popular Wrestler (1993)
- Wrestler of the Year (1997)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Most Improved Wrestler (1989)
Personal life
Legal problems
On May 1, 2003, Luger's girlfriend, and former valet, Elizabeth Hulette, died in the townhouse they shared in Marietta, Georgia after mixing pills of hydrocodone, Alprazolam (Xanax), and anabolic steroids (testosterone and sazien) with vodka. Luger was arrested later that day after a search of the residence revealed a number of illicit controlled substances, including anabolic steroids, OxyContin, synthetic growth hormone, testosterone and Alprazolam. He was charged with 14 drug possession counts, 13 of them felonies. He was released the following day on a bail of $27,500 USD. Hulette's death was eventually ruled accidental. Luger pled guilty to the charges on February 3, 2005. He was given a $1,000 fine, sentenced to five years probation and required to submit to periodic drug testing.[3]
Luger was arrested once again on January 31, 2005 for driving under the influence. He was also charged with having altered or expired tags, no proof of insurance and of having an open alcohol container in the vehicle.[4]
In December 2005, Luger and fellow wrestlers Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner were removed from a flight from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Canada. They were detained for several hours before Bagwell and Steiner were released, while Luger was held without bail as a result of two outstanding felony charges in the state of Georgia (he had neglected to obtain permission to leave the country from his parole officer). Luger was detained in the Hennepin County jail for two weeks before being extradited to Georgia to stand trial on December 22, 2005. Luger was sentenced to nine weeks imprisonment, and was released in February 2006.[5]
Viral Video
The neutrality of this section is disputed. |
Around 2004, Luger appeared for NWA Shockwave and did a promo for the promotion that has now became a viral video. In the promo, Luger complains about a card called "Superbrawl Saturday" in which he would face Ron Killings. He also rants about a presumed promoter "Billy Whatshisname" (probably Billy Firehawk) and wonders if he can afford to pay Luger for his match, and then yells, "I don't know!" He then precedes to have trouble taking off his t-shirt, and complains about how tight they are. He leaves, saying "I'm pissed now!" and then tries to leave and complains about the door being locked. It has been viewed well over several hundred thousand times on sites such as YouTube. [1] Bill Simmons of ESPN.com ranked the video among his "YouTube Hall of Fame" [2].
Trinity Broadcasting Network Appearance
On September 28, 2006, Luger appeared on Praise the Lord, the flagship talk program of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, and declared himself a born again Christian. In an interview conducted by Sting (the host of the program), an emotional Luger discussed the downward turn of his career and personal life -- including the events surrounding Hulette's death -- and how it led to his religious conversion.
References
External links
