Jim Ross shoots on Lex Luger showing up on Nitro

For over forty years Jim Ross has been the Voice of Wrestling. From starting as referee in the regional territories to becoming the Executive Vice President for WWE, nobody has a story quite like Jim Ross. From recruiting and hiring some of the biggest superstars in the industry to providing the soundtrack for the most important moments in wrestling history, “Good Ole JR” was there for it all. Join us every Thursday morning as Conrad Thompson grills JR like you’ve never heard before, uncut and uncensored!
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[@henrikschmidt3964]

Managing to debut Lex Luger on the first Nitro was an awesome stroke. Luger had had his run on top in WWF, so for him it was greener pastures. Lex was more over in WCW 97 than in WWF in 93. And he didn't even have to ride a bus.

[@ibzanarroyo704]

Luger played it perfectly cause the last two house shows he did, the 1st and 2nd of the month of September, while he rode with bob Holly, bob said in his KZbin shoot, that it totally caught him off guard cause he said lex gave him his number to work out in the gym later in the month, so he evened had his car partner fooled.

[@ibzanarroyo704]

@ShadowAngel actually not really. The host said the same thing, and he didn’t mention who but told a wrestler who was in wcw at the time if it was legit, and they said yes.

[@shayr.3412]

@ShadowAngel Yikes! 😬

[@tun-tunninc.6492]

Anyone could fool Holly. Even I could and I don't know the guy...

[@finsfan90]

@ShadowAngel Wtf

[@joshualewis9654]

Vince messed up the lex express. How do you push someone like that. And not let him win the belt?

[@blakerackley8874]

He was a powerhouse butt he wasn't very confident in the spotlight. I believe his doubt in himself held him back from proving his ability to put on a great match. Look at him in WCW, he sat in the background of groups like NWO Wolfpack.

[@ganglabesh]

because fans were not into it like expected

[@jasonrfoss248]

They could have put the Intercontinental belt on him just to see how he and the fans reacted and then waited until the following wrestlemania to give him the WWF title. But they screwed that pooch on that one.

[@clintgrimsley]

I believe he "won" the WWF title at a house show and it wasn't a good reaction so the idea was scrapped

[@rosemaryfarell5264]

As Vince was still trying to fibd his next STAR and wasnt truly sold on Bret I would have booked lex to win title at Summerslam with intentions of seeing how he went,fan reactions,etc. If failing have lex drop title to Yokozuns in a 'Special Raw' in December then do what they eventually did at rumble and Mania.

[@RalphJrTrozzo]

Love the fact that JR states WWF in the past stories and not WWE. I also clocked out when WWF became WWE. Till this day I struggle to call it WWE.

[@pigs18]

It's been WWE at this point nearly as long as it was WWF.

[@Ykwhat75]

Fr bro

[@finsfan90]

@@pigs18 Doesnt mean anything. The difference in quality and entertainment is night and day.

[@pigs18]

@@finsfan90 I presume you're referencing the "Attitude" era which was an even shorter period of time.

[@Clubber-Slang]

@@pigs18 i actually assume all of the 80s & 90s. maybe just because i'm 42 and started watching when I was 4 lol

[@ibzanarroyo704]

Luger has publicly stated his deal ended the month after wrestlemania but he said he had a hand shake deal with Vince that he would be working until they come to an agreement. I still think may thru September, Luger was smart of not bringing it up to his attention and just was waiting for any opportunity to jump ship.

[@mattm6580]

Had Lex stayed.... 95: feud with Bulldog (their tag team had recently split) 96: feud with Vader (familiarity with each other from wcw days) 97: feud with Bret (likely takes the Patriots role in the Canada-USA feud or they form a team) After that I dont see anything left for him in wwf. He'd probably jump to wcw in late 97.

[@1joshjosh1]

I want to book for my wrestling company? God damn it I don't have one but I should start one and let you book it.

[@Anhviet19]

98 feud with Mankind

[@TrevStoker]

@Awesome Sauce I disagree.. the WWF had the better roster by Royal Rumble ‘99... SCSA, The Rock, Mankind, Taker, Kane, DX, D’Lo & Mark, Shamrock, Val Venis, The Godfather, Test, Owen Hart, The Acolytes, The Brood... They were more entertaining than the 80s has beens & the convoluted NWO storylines. As for the original comment, I think that woulda been the best way to maximize Lex in WWF. But I agree that Lex was better served in WCW.

[@Clubber-Slang]

@Awesome Sauce considering he said Rumbe 99, why are you mentioning the roster of the previous 2 years? not to mention Bulldog wrestling in both places, half the guys you listed getting pissed at WCW and leaving by 2000. bret, syxx, hennig, ruge and jarrett having JUST left WWF (not to mention everyone else besides Flair making their name in WWF). Warrior was horrible in WCW. I mean the easiest comparison frankly is the last WCW N64 game vs. the wrestlemania 2000 lineup. There's a reason Aki/THQ jumping ship as well lol

[@Clubber-Slang]

@Awesome Sauce no I'm saying of the list you originally posted did. "Etc" doesn't count lol. And yes they had a better roster for about 3 years, however the person originally said by rumble 99, not 96, 97 and 98.

[@josephdobry257]

I remember watching this live, I was 13yrs old, It was a crazy WTF moment for a kid.

[@mr.perksy]

Agreed man, I felt the same. I was 17 when it happened. The pre-internet wrestling days were great with all the surprises.

[@paparazziluchalibre9473]

i was 11 i was like WTF

[@inlovewithi]

I was almost 4 years old and my mind was blown. I was like, WTF?

[@UnHolyWible]

I was 14 at the time and I had no clue Luger had jumped to WCW. I didn't watch the first show. I just remember Vince announcing they would have Luger on superstars to get his thoughts on Bulldog turning on Diesel and then when the show came, there was no mention of Luger and I was like ok wtf.... then one night I happened to turn on WCW and Luger is cutting a taped promo talking about how he's back in WCW where the action is... that was definitely surprising.

[@donaldpump3072]

I was 1 and was WTF! Made me spit out my hwhisky

[@foroneanotherwinningtogeth1142]

Even if the push wasn't going as hoped, he should have gotten the belt for a time for the sake of integrity. I mean, the whole company pushed this. He should have gotten the belt in the Yokozuna match to complete that story. Then decide what to do next. Might have been better than expected.

[@BeeBumper]

This was Vince dropping the ball

[@latonyapierce3236]

I always was a big fan of Lex an I was so happy when he came home!!!😅😅😅😅

[@bdr113080]

Me too. I know in the 80’s and 90’s guys were all going back and forth with different Territories companies but some guys even if they go to other companies that are still known as a “NWA/WCW” guy or “WWF guy” . Lex was definitely a WCW guy. Man I miss the days of WCW so much. I know the last year and a half it was not very good but WCW went through stages. If Turner would have never lost control of his company we would still have a WCW today. WCW didn’t go away because it lost a rating swore because if that was the case it would’ve closed up shop in 1991. And I get tired of this argument that people say “ well if they were putting out good ratings they would still be around” . WCW nitro was still the highest rated television show TNT had when they sold it to WWE. They sold the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Hawks to and that didn’t have shit to do with wrestling. Ted Turner lost control of his company and no longer had a say and Time Warner/AOL selling off those assets was the reason WCW went away. In 1991WCW got pretty bad for a while but turner realize that and fired Jim Herd. Pro wrestling hasn’t been pro wrestling since WCW went away.

[@soulofanerd9364]

@@bdr113080 man you're 💯 spot on

[@soulofanerd9364]

WCW was definitely home for Luger. Same with Dusty, Flair, Windham, Tully and Arn, The Steiners and Road Warriors in my opinion.

[@marccaselle8108]

I only saw lex Luger in 1998 when I stated watching WCW and WWF regularly. He was over like rover in the late 90s. I watched luger on some old nwa/WCW ppvs I have and he was over then too.

[@joshualewis9654]

Luger was amazing

[@1joshjosh1]

How so? Do tell.

[@DUFFYISBACK]

@@1joshjosh1 he had lovely long hair

[@1joshjosh1]

@@DUFFYISBACK That he did. 😆

[@pigs18]

He invented planking. Go back and watch him take a bump. He's lie perfectly straight with arms to the side.

[@slabbusterrtr7690]

I thought he was boring as hell ok in the ring zero promo skills

[@Antihero297]

Luger was so much better in WCW as Sting's buddy. He wasn't exactly the wrestlers wrestler, but he was a good strongman. It was impressive to see him torture rack the likes of the Giant, Kevin Nash and Scott Norton.

[@TommysHouseOfMunch]

Its so funny seeing a wall of championships behind a dude who has never had an athletic achievement in his life

[@mikeid3067]

its not like any of those championships are athletic achievements either

[@jamief1263]

Lex was never the guy, he had Bret’s mic skills (not great) and about 20% of his in ring ability. He therefore relied on his look, which was going back to the 80’s. Bret and Shawn changed WWE wrestling from the Hogan crap wrestling, to actual proper wrestling. The Lex express was a stupid idea, but what killed him more was the rumble, the original plan was to have Luger beat Yoko and Bret at Wrestlemania, but cheers for Bret at the end of the rumble exceeded Luger’s by a large margin, so they changed the plan to Bret wining at Mania X. Luger should have remained a heel, got a decent manager to handle the promo’s and been the companies top heel.

[@barryallen871]

Proper wrestling?? What a Mark!

[@corey2232]

This is a good amount of revisionist history... Luger was not nearly as underqualified or poor in the ring as you make it sound. He was a hell of a lot better than many people are today, even if not one of the greats. By his second run in WCW, he managed to get himself over & be respectable in the ring. What you said rings more true to someone like Ultimate Warrior than it does Luger.

[@jamief1263]

@@corey2232 not really to quote Shawn, ban the clothes line and you take away 2/3’s of lex’s offence. Luger wasn’t that bad, he just wasn’t “the guy”. He worked as a heel, with someone acting as his mouth piece, but stunk as the companies baby face.

[@suicidality2744]

According to Luger, Vince never promised him a title run. Also, he had no discussion with JJ Dilion about his contract situation. Luger gave notice to Vince in December 1994. He and Vince continued to negotiate a new contract but never got to an agreement. Luger's contract expired in March, 1995. Vince asked him to stay on. They were working on a handshake deal for the next 6 months.

[@theungreatkahli]

I wish I could tag out on life.

[@anthonyterry8162]

You cant blame Lex for leaving after going through the whole Lex Express stuff and not get anything out of it at the end.

[@jrupp8853]

The Lex Express was embarrassing and would have caused anyone to run out the door.

[@HorrorFreak68]

Luger was fabulous. All around.

[@QuentinDude]

They should of given Luger the title at Summerslam. DQ or count out finishes at major PPVs are just lame. They could of then had him lose it to Taker or Bret Hart at Survivor Series.94 . Anyway Bischoff said in his shoot that he didn't really want Luger back and only offered him 100 grand a year and Luger wanted out of WWF so bad he took it.

[@attiepollard7847]

My alternative timeline in 1993 lex Luger wins the belt but drops it to macho Man Randy Savage at survivor series and then Randy drops the belt to Bret Hart at WrestleMania 10.

[@QuentinDude]

@@attiepollard7847 Ya I really thought they should of had Hart/Savage headline a PPV for the title. Would of been a incredible match and I'm sure Randy would of done the honors for Bret.

[@corey2232]

He offered him $150k, which was $350k less than he originally was getting paid 4 years prior. Yet he still took it, AND it was higher than what Bruce Prichard & co. offered him in WWF.

[@brianalex2193]

I know how lex luger feels when you realize a job isn't doing anything with you move on

[@tun-tunninc.6492]

Quieter...

[@brianalex2193]

@@tun-tunninc.6492 stay miserable

[@tun-tunninc.6492]

@@brianalex2193... No problemo.

[@roobear78]

vince and co for sure knew lex was out of contract because he was working on a weekly verbal when it did! Lex was never gonna get over with the wwf audience at that time simply because of the way vince pushed him. Credit to lex but he knew he was damaged in wwf and even took a pretty hefty cut to come back to wcw and it paid off

[@markwint605]

Luger got stale quickly in the wwf like vader.

[@StuUngar]

He was very underutilized. He definitely had value. He was insanely over in 97.

[@barryallen871]

What a Mark!

[@Brook11223]

I think the reason with Lex Luger not winning at title in WWF was due to him spilling the beans by breaking Kayfabe during the event of U.S.S. Intrepid while partying gave away the spoiler about the wrestling business saying he was going to win against Yokozuna during summerslam to some reporter, then someone got hold wind of this and reported it to Vince McMahon. After that what I read is McMahon was pissed at Luger for giving away secrets of the wrestling business and punished him for that which is why he didn't win the WWF title during the 90s.

[@barryallen871]

Way to take that out of context. The reporter asked him about the match like it was a legitimate sporting event. Luger confidently said he would win, just like thousands of other athletes would say. Kayfabe was never broken. 🤦

[@djmeduna2009]

Okay

[@nonyabusiness9192]

It's funny to hear him talk about a " drug program". Cena and hhh certainly have a drug program.

[@jameshutchinson568]

It looked like Luger was being groomed to become NWA/WCW champion in the late 1980s, at least temporarily. I don't know what happened, but it looked like he was going to be champion for a little while instead of Ric Flair.

[@joshuamoss1660]

I always thought lex was on both wwf and wcw at the same time, but I guess its because he was just going back and forth and I was too young to understand.

[@Darren-su2gm]

Luger worked great as a Babyface and Heel.I think he was great against theNWO and his battles against Ric Flair in the late 80's early 1990's.He was good on his own as a heel.Lugar was way more talented than the Ultimate warrior and Goldberg.No knock on Goldberg but Lex knew way more wrestling moves than Goldberg.Lex was safe in the ring with opponents.Lex was great against Hogan and when he was a Babyface in the Red and black wolfpack NWO with Nash,konaan,Sting

[@Football__Junkie]

I really liked Luger even though he couldn’t talk. I thought it was better that he would show up and be an enforcer and never talk. In real life, he seemed to be kinda dumb.

[@nujabeez6573]

Should have had him win the belt and turned him heel, the whole ra ra yay America gets old quick and the fans would of started hate him regardless

[@thetowerofivory]

Owww!

[@cameronsurface6137]

WHOA, GAH, OUCH

[@thetowerofivory]

Argh! Owf!

[@marccaselle8108]

Luger:I stubbed my toe in the ring OWW!

[@marccaselle8108]

Wow, my clotheslines are the ultimate! WOW, WOW!

[@Darren-su2gm]

Lex should've beat Yokozona for the World heavyweight championship belt.That was a big mistake Vince McMahon made that mistake Vince and his team messed up not signing Lex to a contract.WWE👎

[@slabbusterrtr7690]

I thought lex was boring ad hell ok in the ring zero promo skills his body got him along way

[@MickyKaka8]

Why is Meltzer gospel in this guy’s mind?

[@edwardfarnsworth5915]

Which reporting should he be reading from?

[@powerful-knowledge77]

The locker room was going to revolt on Vince if he put the bet on luger. It was led by bret and shawn. kevin nash said luger had no support in the locker room.

[@SneeUnit]

Sassafras

[@Dakatari]

Lawrence Lex Pfohl had the look and body but lacked everything else.

[@sophieschollsreinkarnation5078]

That's why he worked best as a heel. He was awesome with Bagwell as "Totally Buffed".

[@jefferyespj]

Lex Luger is in the top 10 of greatest of all time in the wrestling business

[@1joshjosh1]

I know Lugar is a nice kind old man now... But somebody has to be honest with themselves until he was kind of boring during his career. 😴😴😴😴. But he did have the look I guess.

[@jimbowlan5804]

Lex should of be pushed when he was hot in late 88 to 90 with flair

[@1joshjosh1]

@@jimbowlan5804 Maybe... But I guess we will never know

[@deadend1041]

More boring than the undertaker? More boring than Brett the snoozman Hart? More boring than Yokozuna? Nah, I don't think so

[@joshualewis9654]

Guys. Why do you believe Dave. Wtf. Biggest stooge in the business. He is completely wrong and making shit up. And you guys are talking about it like it’s true. Wtf

[@tejeda7324]

Lex Luger sucked Zero charisma Zero technical skills 1-4 moves total 100% roids Horrible mic skills

[@123myballsitch]

sounds like roman reigns

[@jd9119]

Sounds like Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and John Cena.

[@timfinney1]

Sounds like Hogan

[@deadend1041]

Rather watch that than the over gymnastic bullshit they do today

[@corey2232]

Everyone was taking roids back then, yet they didn't all look like Luger... clearly it wasn't "100%" the steroids that got him that way. He was also far more respectable in the ring than you give him credit for, and definitely had SOME charisma, otherwise he wouldn't have managed that 1996-1997 run with so much fan support.