Was WWE wrong not to give Lex Luger the title at Summerslam 1993?

[quink987]

Summerslam 1993 had such a great build up with the Lex Express, USA vs Japan and the card was'nt that bad.
But with all the build up Lex Luger got, should he of won the match against Yokozuna and maybe if he did would he of stayed with the WWE instead of jumping ship.

for me WWE messed up big time by not giving him the title because Lex was over so much and Could of carried the Company really well, he had the Look like Hogan, the fans loved him so I dont know why they did'nt give him the title.

so what do you guys think?

 

[UnBEARaBULLfan]

If his runs with the WCW title were any indication of what might have been than I think it was better he didn't get a chance with the WWE title. I think his in ring work wasn't that good and his mic skills always sucked so I dont think it would have amounted to anything.

 

[I_got_bant_for_idiocy]

YESSSS probably one of the dumbest things EVER...they built him up so much n he wins the match with a count out and acts like he won the belt after the match hahahaa they had the lex-express bus to touring the states wooow wwe really FUCKED up!!! but the fuck up lead to that epic match between undertaker and yoko at the royal rumble !!!!! still i think wwe fucked up

 

[Da Truth]

I remember this when I was in high school. Even for that time the WWE was giving Luger a super push. The Lex Express thing was genius for those who were really patriotic. Lex was over with every part of the audience ( women-because of his look, men-because he was a patriotic ass kicker, and kids-because of the superhero type look). He was great on the mic, ok in the ring. I thought for sure he was going to win. I think the company did mess up, but back then in my youth I didn't see Luger as a long term superstar. I think he would've been the guy for that moment, about a year or year and a 1/2. Think about it, what were they going to do with after the patriotism worn off. I just don't see him carrying a wrestling organization of any sort. He could've been used to have an easier transition to someone else as a main star. That would have bought them time at the beginning of the Monday Night War. Maybe WCW wouldn't have such a big lead. I think he would've eventually gone to WCW anyway but later. But it was a great marketing campaign and storyline wasted. He definitley should've been champion.

 

[Seanjburkey]

Lex was just Hogan version 2 and people were tired of Hogan at that point. So its safe to say that that if they gave Luger the title and had him run with it like Hogan did people would tire of him quickly as well. Going with Bret over Luger was a good decision.

 

[asiatic7]

I always thought Luger would win the tiltle. He had that emotional video with that "I need a hero" theme and it seemed like it was gonna happen. But looking back, I realized he just didn't have anything going for him besides his physique. Flexy Lexy was better of in his Narsissist character(which he suddenly changed soon as he got out of the helicopter. He was narsissist up until that point.) He had Heenan talking for him and the controversial steel plated forearm, that worked for me. Trying to get him over as a patriotic hero sucked, but I thought Vince was trying to make an uber Hogan. Lex just lacked charisma and he could never sell a move(remember how he always yelled "AAAWWWW" everytime he got hit? Annoying), and his ring work sucked! It makes me wonder how he obtained a nick-name like "Total Package"... with all that said, he should have won the title. He got a tremendous push and it got him nowhere. It seemed like such a waste...

 

[amazing_blue]

I'll say that he shouldn't have won the WWF title, but having him win by countout was a nice way to celebrate with fans. The Lex Express was classic and that push he had in the summer of '93 was one of the biggest ever. I think that it's important to have good stars that don't win the title though.

 

[Defekt]

Not giving Luger the title at SS 93 is nothing Vince McMahon should wake up in the middle of the night regretting, but it might not have been a bad idea. Especially since we got the alternative (probably the lamest ending to a pay per view ever).

I guess Vince wanted to position Bret as the #1 guy, and couldn't make it work with Luger winning the title.

 

[JJ15776]

YESSSS probably one of the dumbest things EVER...they built him up so much n he wins the match with a count out and acts like he won the belt after the match hahahaa they had the lex-express bus to touring the states wooow wwe really FUCKED up!!! but the fuck up lead to that epic match between undertaker and yoko at the royal rumble !!!!! still i think wwe fucked up

LMAO! What were you smoking when you posted this??

The only fuck up was building up Luger in the first place. Luger was awful on the mic, worse in the ring, the only thing he had going for him was his look. Giving him the title would've been the biggest mistake the WWE had made in company history to that point. Just look at what he did after that point: precisely jack squat. Nothing in the WWE, nothing in WCW. Because he SUCKED.

No, the WWE got it right doing it just the way they did. Yokozuna keeping the title, beating Undertaker at Royal Rumble, the awesome Luger/Hart thing at Royal Rumble, the double matches at the next Wrestlemania, with Hart winning the title. It was PERFECT the way it was.

 

[DeathClutch]

Back then I loved Luger but now I've grown up and apperciate talent and understand the business more I've got a two answers.

1. Lugers skills weren't as good in hindsight and back then the WWF Title meant something, so Luger not getting it I'm not too fussed on, thou I believe he should of had a run with either the Tag belts (w/ Bulldog) or an Intercontinental title run at least.

2. WWE pushed Luger so much back in 1993 and had ZERO payoff for all their efforts and Lugers so it made no sense but Luger and Yoko had two matches at the top two PPV's of the year (SummerSlam 93' and WrestleMania 10 (1994) so not to shabby.

 

[GameOver]

It seemed logical that he was going to be the next Hogan Patriot type character initially but the hype on him died down quick and in ring he wasn't that impressive, i've never though he was that impressive, look wise absolutely but as an in ring talent and on the mic no. He was too slow alot like a Hogan pre 1984.

Bret Hart was the far better choice in the end.

 

[AmericanDragonSW]

You also have to consider that Luger was coming off of one bad gimmick before the one that lead to his huge push. I mean being called "The Narcissist" was just awful along with that horrible music. Then he got the whole Lex Express thing. I think if anything, all that build up with no payoff was the true failure. I admit that Lex Luger was nowhere close a big draw, especially in the WWE, but the WWE did mess up in the fact that it made all the build-up to summerslam and the match with Yokozuna priceless and the fact that it was a countout finish and they still celebrated like he won the title when he didn't. It was just a mess to say the least.

 

[boozinjedi]

It did seem like a lame ending for such a buildup,
even if he held it briefly it was a letdown,I remember having a bunch of friends over for the PPV and some were yelling:GET THAT FUCKER'S FAT ASS BACK IN THE RING,DUMBASS!!

My brother and I were in our bar-hopping years then,If I sprang for the PPV his friends would spring for the booze & pizza!!

 

[RicSpade]

I think the problem is that Luger was never properly utilized in WWE, and honestly made a better heel than face, I would've liked to see a title run around the time he was paling around with Bobby Heenan, although his face run was successful to a point I think there was two falters that you have to take into consideration when looking at Lugers shot at the title.
1. There was no heels that were legitimate top guys at the time, they were building HBK, Owen wasn't really top star material, so there isn't any feuds to build its why whenever a Diesil or Bret Hart got the title, they were mainly feuding with Yokozuna, but Yoko as champion had plenty of faces to fish through.
2. Luger in 91, while still pretty green had guys like Flair and Simmons and Sting to make him look good, but with the WWE as a face he again didn't have many guys to make him look good, Henning was face and heading out the door turning comentator, Owen had his feud with Bret, so who could he really feud with to make him look like a million bucks? No one...

Thats why I agree that it wasn't really in WWEs best interest to try and put the belt on the Lex Express...

 

[jmt225]

Nah, the WWF was definitely wrong not to give him the championship that night.

The fact is... I, and everyone else who ordered that show, paid (or got their parents to pay for it) to see Lex Luger win the WWF Championship, not win a bogus count-out decision. The conclusion of that event still pisses me off to this day. That was easily one of the dumbest things McMahon ever did. Luger had so much momentum behind him, and I guarantee there was not a single person tuning in who didn't want to see him as the new WWF Champion, especially when the champion is Yokozuna for fucks sake. Instead, we got this bullshit count-out finish, and never got a fucking rematch between the two until Wrestlemania 10, which had another bogus finish to it.

LMAO! What were you smoking when you posted this??

The only fuck up was building up Luger in the first place. Luger was awful on the mic, worse in the ring, the only thing he had going for him was his look. Giving him the title would've been the biggest mistake the WWE had made in company history to that point. Just look at what he did after that point: precisely jack squat. Nothing in the WWE, nothing in WCW. Because he SUCKED.

Yeah, you also forgot to mention that Luger was over as FUCK. Seriously, whether you think Luger sucks or not, who would you rather see as champion... Luger, or Yokozuna? What would you rather see as the main event of Wrestlemania 10... Bret Hart vs. Lex Luger, or Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna 2? The answer to those questions are mind-boggling obvious: Lex Luger.

Also, Luger was not awful in the ring. That's a huge misconception. Sure, he wasn't great, but with the right opponents... he was more than capable of having main event worthy matches, especially since the fans were so emotionally invested in him at the time.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Frankly I would've preferred anybody as champion over Yokozuna, so I would say yes. To the people who say Luger was bad, Yoko was just as bad not that I'm saying Luger is bad but my point is people need to look at Yoko before they judge Luger. But I wouldn't have Luger carry the company, that honor rightfully belonged to Bret Hart who was much better. I would've had Luger win it at SS 93 but lose it back to Yoko before Survivor Series 93 for the Taker - Yoko feud, I wouldn't change that. But imo Luger deserved at least one reign with the title, no matter if he was bad or not. They had a bad champion at the time anyway, so putting it on Luger wouldn't have done anymore harm.

 

[The Brain]

With the ridiculously huge build and push Luger got during the summer of 1993 it would have made sense to put the belt on him at SummerSlam. I assume they wanted to put the belt on Luger; just not at SummerSlam. I really think Vince had visions of Luger being the new Hogan. I’ve always thought the only reason Luger didn’t get the belt at SummerSlam was simply because they wanted him to get the big win at WrestleMania. Remember there was a stipulation in the SummerSlam contract that stated SummerSlam would be Luger’s only title shot against Yokozuna. This created a scenario where Luger would win the match but not the title and would not be able to get a rematch. Ideally the fans would rally behind Luger even more and demand a rematch. There was a loophole angle set for the Royal Rumble. Luger was allowed in the Royal Rumble with the reasoning being Yokozuna may not hold the title until mania. Of course Yoko still would be champ and Luger finally would have a way to get his rematch. The problem is the plan didn’t work. Instead of rallying behind Luger the fans just seemed to accept he would not get his rematch and his popularity faded by mania. He was still over, but nowhere near as over as he was during the summer. A title win at SummerSlam seems logical, but I think it was reasonable to sacrifice SummerSlam for WrestleMania. If Vince had a crystal ball he could have seen the mania plan wasn’t going to work but I don’t blame him for trying.

 

[Dre Guevara]

I've read on number of wrestling websites that Luger messed up that chance by telling a journalist in the biz that he was going 2 win the belt @ SummerSlam a week B4 the event & word got back 2 Vince, which pissed him off, so he changed the outcome of the match.

 

[reed214]

everyone already said every possible answer, so i'll just agree with the peeps that said the lack of in-ring ability. Vince always put those big f***ers that can hardly do anything outside of a body slam as champ. bret hart and even Yoko were just so good and if they were going to compete with nwa/wcw as far as talent goes,you can't have a champ who cant wrestle and put on a show. i think the situation was going to be built on and wwe was going to continue to try to shove him down the fans throats, but he ended up leaving and it was one of those mistakes that didnt really backfire at the wwe.on to hbk they went.

 

[jaceynightheat]

First of all the only skills that matters in pro wrestling is getting the crowd to react/bringing in money. Honestly. The Ultimate Warrior did more for the business than any indy guy who wants to pretend he's a MMA fighter.

When I was little I thought Luger was going to get the belt from Yokozuna. Then have a show down with Bret at Wrestlemania.