What if Lex Luger Never Blabbed?

[Tenta]

Wrestlemania X. Well know very well about that event. The opening contest, which was easily the best opening match in Wrestlemania history. The clusterfuck of a finish between Yokozuna and Lex Luger. And of course, the memorable ending to Bret Hart and Yoko, ending the worst WWE Heavyweight Championship run in history, and letting the world know that Bret Hart was officially "the guy". Bret finally got his due, and git the championship reign that he deserved, now fully thrusted into the spotlight of the WWE. He would be the WWE's best face for quite some time, and would carry the promotion into the new generation.

But apparently, it wasn't supposed to go down that way. The urban legend that typically goes around about this event is that Lex Luger was originally supposed to unseat Yoko for the crown. Unfortunately, he got piss drunk one night, and blabbed it all to reporters. He never did get his run with the WWE Title, and was shoved right back down to the mid card, never to taste success in the WWE again.

But what if he had? What if Lex never spilt his guts to reporters, and told them he was going to win the title? How would the WWE have been altered with Lex winning the WWE Title?

First, I'll go on a little presumptuous speculation.... I honestly feel Bret Hart would have left the WWE. Bret was extremely paranoid, if not agitated, with how Vince was booking him at this point. He was still a bit bitter about the Hogan/Yoko fiasco that was Wrestlemania IX, and I honestly don't think it's too much of a stretch to insinuate that being looked over again for a muscle man would have driven Bret Hart to more anger, and possibly leaving the WWE for WCW. WCW would have happily taken him, though they wouldn't have known how to use him. Then, again, it goes to wondering if it would have been awkward between Bret and an incoming Hulk.

Also, how would this affect the legacy of Lex Luger? I personally feel the guy would have been inducted into the Hall of Fame at some point. The guy is a borderline HOF'er as it is, and adding this crown to his trophy case would have led to him eventually being considered for the HOF. Also, who knows how he would have booked, but it seems that Vince was attempting to book him as the next Hulk Hogan. Do you feel it would have gone over well.

So many different possibilities... And that's half the fun of this. What do you think would happen if Vince decided to give the strap to Lex?

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

It would have been a bad mistake. The misconception about Luger is that he's such a great overall wrestler. He's not. He's also a WCW guy and always was. Vince may have given the strap to Lex, but Hart would have raised enough hell to have it taken off of him. Hart's a WWF guy, Luger was a WCW guy. Hart would win that battle. I say Luger wins the belt from Yoko, then drops the belt to Hart at Wrestlemania...or Luger turns bad guy at WM, manages to cheat and beat Bret, then Hogan comes in and wins the belt. That would have still happened, no matter who had the belt.

So it doesn't really boil down to what if Luger never blabbed, but who Hogan would have beaten at WM had Luger not blabbed to reporters? Hogan trumps everyone. Even Hart. Even Luger.

 

[PEP3]

First of all, for clarification's sake, are you calling Yokozuna the worst WWF Champion of all-time? I know I must have misunderstood...

Secondly, I was always shocked that Luger didn't win the belt at some point during his WWF tenure. Certainly Vince & Co. built him up to be an unstoppable force from the get-go. Not to mention the E doled out reportedly huge money to bring him over from WCW for the failed WBF. One would think he planned to milk that contract for all it was worth. Then again, Vince also shelled out massive cash for Mark Henry's contract -- something like $10 million over the term -- and look where that went. Thank God for tax write-offs, right?

Anyway, had Luger won the belt, I think we might have seen a heel turn for Bret. These two could have put on some interesting bouts for the belt. Considering Bret's talent, he could have easily carried the workload and made the most of those contests. Honestly, I don't think that would have been bad at all.

In the long run, though, I think creating "another Hulk Hogan" was already out of the question. The times were changing rapidly in the wrestling industry, and the era of the cut-and-dry, flag-waving, patriotic "good guy" were quickly passing. The only way Luger got over in that capacity to begin with was the strength of Yokozuna's reign. (Again, are you saying... No, it's not possible.)

To keep that kind of fire going, Vince would have had to create a series of massive challenges that would have probably bored us to tears. Instead, Bret wound up with the belt and kick-started one of the best eras of pure wrestling the WWF has ever known.

 

[Tenta]

It would have been a bad mistake. The misconception about Luger is that he's such a great overall wrestler. He's not. He's also a WCW guy and always was. Vince may have given the strap to Lex, but Hart would have raised enough hell to have it taken off of him. Hart's a WWF guy, Luger was a WCW guy. Hart would win that battle. I say Luger wins the belt from Yoko, then drops the belt to Hart at Wrestlemania...or Luger turns bad guy at WM, manages to cheat and beat Bret, then Hogan comes in and wins the belt. That would have still happened, no matter who had the belt.

Hmm.... That possibility you brought up, Lariat.... Lex turning bad guy after winning the title, then losing the belt to a bayface. Granted, I know Lex's reign in WCW during that time was much longer, but it seems as though this is more or less where you're taking it.

And I like it. I always felt Lex was a far better heel. Him as a face just didn't seem to work for me... To plastic, and not the genuine article. Lex always worked best as a heel, and I felt the guy couldn't rally support for himself on his own if his life depended on it. Still, I have reason to believe that Lex was going to be built up as a mega-face or a mega-heel, and I just can't see him dropping the belt to Bret until at least Survivor Series. Then, I could see Vince giving Bret another chance to run with the ball. But again, I really do feel that Bret would have been fed up, and left for WCw.

Now, while I don't want to take this too far off topic... I can't resist...

First of all, for clarification's sake, are you calling Yokozuna the worst WWF Champion of all-time? I know I must have misunderstood...

Nope, didn't misread me there. I've never really liked Yokozuna. The guy always struck me as a bad worker who got covered up by being in an era that very few people noticed. Many people say WWE 1994-95 was the worst time for the WWE, but I personally felt the seeds were sown with Yoko's reign. The guy couldn't cut a ten minute match without relying on rest holds, and all of his main event matches were terribly slow for my liking. Now, some will say to look at who he was wrestling, and I grant that. Surely the Undertaker isn't Rey Mysterio. But there's a difference between working slow building matches and working bad slow matches. And Yoko was more prime for the latter.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

One thing to remember is that Hart was leaving WM10 with the belt regardless of whether or not Luger won it earlier in the evening. With that said I don't think it would of changed too much, Luger would of worked a short program with Hart because I think it was going to be Bret vs. Owen anyways. The biggest thing that would of happened is if Luger did win the belt, he may not of went to WCW on the first Nitro (obviously I don't know if its true but I heard one of the big factors for Luger leaving the WWE was because they didn't put the title on him at WM10). I think it was pretty much a sealed deal that Hart was going to be the guy after WM10 because even though the WWE tried their best to make Luger the top guy, he could never get over Hart and that was the biggest reason he was never scheduled to have a long run with the title.

 

[dansaun77]

I think you have your wrestlers mixed up. It was Sid Vicious in WCW who was to win the WCW World Title from Vader. They had even filmed weekly syndicated TV with Sid coming to the ring with the belt around his waist.(this being the days when they filmed weeks ahead of airing dates). He was due to be the man to topple Vader, but after his drunken arrogant tirade, it was decided that he would not be the guy to be the top guy, so they went back to the tried and tested Ric Flair.

 

[Tenta]

I think you have your wrestlers mixed up. It was Sid Vicious in WCW who was to win the WCW World Title from Vader. They had even filmed weekly syndicated TV with Sid coming to the ring with the belt around his waist.(this being the days when they filmed weeks ahead of airing dates). He was due to be the man to topple Vader, but after his drunken arrogant tirade, it was decided that he would not be the guy to be the top guy, so they went back to the tried and tested Ric Flair.

Hmm.... That actually makes for a great topic right there. However, I won't steal it from you. That'd be great for you to select to do a thread on.

However, no, I'm referring to two things:

A. The alleged case of Lex blabbing to reporters he was going to get the belt at Wrestlemania X. Again, I've come to the conclusion he'd get it by the way he was booked (The "Last Chance" Situation), as well as the clusterfuck that was Lex's and Yoko's match, which couldn't possibly been the intended ending.

B. Lex's win of the World Heavyweight Title in WCW, where he turned Heel by taking a steel chair from Harley Race, pile driving Barry Windham into the chair, and effectively turning heel. Sting, the face, would then defeat him for the belt.

Anyway, nope I don't have my thoughts confused. Though doing the Sid/Vader topic would be a great thread, Dansun. You'll get my response, should you choose to create it.

 

[MaciniRocks]

This is one I wasn't aware of.

At the time of the 'Mania in question I was 10. I remember being so big hoping for Bret to win. Especially after the year before. I never liked Luger. Even back then something turned me off to him. I thought his arriving on the USS whateveritwas to slam Yoko was stupid. I thought the whole idea of them doing 2 title matches on this card however was GREAT!!!

Back then I still thought titles meant something, so this was HUGE in my eyes. Could Luger and Bret face off? Would Bret still be able to compete after Owen? and would Yokozuna somehow make it out of Wrestlemania with his title? I was huge into this Wrestlemania.

Now if Luger had not blabbed his mouth, he could have gone over in the first match. But he should have lost in the 2nd match. Looking back, he wasn't that over. And I don't remember him ever being that over. I was looking at some old WCW back when they were still NWA affiliated and even then, I didn't see anything in the guy. But anyway...

I don't think it would have had a real effect except to potentially give Bret something to do in the middle of his Owen feud. I mean Luger beats Yoko. Bret doesn't get revenge for WM9, instead beats Luger. Luger goes ballistic and turns but is a filler feud for Bret and they could have drawn out the Owen feud longer. Actually I think that wouldn't have been a bad idea. Even though that would have meant more Luger but I digress....

And thanks for shedding light on an old story I never knew about. You rock Tenta. And dansaun too for his input

 

[XgringolocoX]

I think if Lex won the title at WM 10 it would have been very short lived. He was just average IMO. Bret Hart would have taken over either that night, or shortly there after. Lex would have then jumped ship and MAYBE had a better run in WCW, then again probably not. Everything else in world's history unfolds as it did except people chant "YOU SCREWED LEX!" at Bret Hart for the rest of his life....

 

[reddevil69]

I've never heard this before and I think it's a lot of crap. Luger didn't get the strap because at the 1994 Rumble, when they did the "photo finish" Bret got the bigger pop. Bret talks about this in his book. Vince came up with that finish on purpose to gage which guy the fans were behind more. When Bret's hand is raised he clearly is the fan favorite. There have been alot of other books published by wrestlers that have been called into question as being being innaccurate or just plain untrue. I've not heard one person come forward that ever worked for WWF or WCW question anything in Bret's book. I would think that someone would have come forth and spoken out against the book if it was full of innaccuracies and I don't see anyone disputing it.

I've also got an interview with Lex from a few years back and when asked if he was upset that he never got the strap he answered "no. Bret was the right guy to carry it at that time, so I have no problem with how that happened".

 

[TellMeWhy]

If Vince gave Lex the strap, it would've worked. Lex not winning that belt is something I never understood and I'm glad it's being discussed. Lex Luger was so over. He had the Lex Express, he was on Regis & Kelly (back then known as Regis and Kathy Lee), he was built as an American hero, he was given the hero music and given the whole American theme. Vince should've pushed the button on Lex. What should've happened was at SummerSlam 1993, Lex Luger was built strongly and should've clearly have beaten Yokozuna that night. And then, the WWE should've built up a feud between Luger and Bret Hart heading into WrestleMania 10. That would've made much sense. The American Face vs. Canadian face but once again, Vince blew it, the same way he blew a Flair vs. Hogan showdown that should've happened at WM8. But overall, Luger could've been a big and strong face for that era but boy did the WWE not follow up on Luger's buildup. They completely killed his momentum. And then afterwards, they put him in squash matches on WWE Superstars aka the show no one watched. It was sad. Luger never won the WWE title or never really became a force in WWE for only that short Lex Express period so I don't think he'll go into the HOF. WWE made him a flavor of the month when he shouldn't have.

It would have been a bad mistake. The misconception about Luger is that he's such a great overall wrestler. He's not. He's also a WCW guy and always was. Vince may have given the strap to Lex, but Hart would have raised enough hell to have it taken off of him. Hart's a WWF guy, Luger was a WCW guy. Hart would win that battle. I say Luger wins the belt from Yoko, then drops the belt to Hart at Wrestlemania...or Luger turns bad guy at WM, manages to cheat and beat Bret, then Hogan comes in and wins the belt. That would have still happened, no matter who had the belt.

So it doesn't really boil down to what if Luger never blabbed, but who Hogan would have beaten at WM had Luger not blabbed to reporters? Hogan trumps everyone. Even Hart. Even Luger.

I'm confused. Why are you bringing Hogan's name into this situation. Hogan has nothing to do with this situation. Hogan wasn't even in the WWF/E at the time. He was long gone.

 

[Chadmw]

I'm confused. Why are you bringing Hogan's name into this situation. Hogan has nothing to do with this situation. Hogan wasn't even in the WWF/E at the time. He was long gone.

Yeah I think that poster is getting confused with the previous WM when Bret lost to Yokuzuna only for Hogan to come out and beat Yoku and win the belt.

 

[Dre Guevara]

I heard this incident supposedly happened a few days leading up 2 Summer Slam 93 since they had Luger on that All American Hero Campaign. outside of WCW, I feel that Luger would've been a decent transtional champion in the WWF, either way, this incident, IMO, probably played a factor in the demise of kayfabe.

 

[NSL]

At the time, everyone wanted to see Luger v. Yoko, and were happy with Bret only facing Owen. Luger getting screwed out of his shot during the show got a huge "Bullshit" chant from the crowd. It wasn't a chant against Hart, everyone just wanted to see Luger get the belt. He was that big at the time.

From a historical perspective, I don't see how things could have changed all that much. Bret would have left for WCW earlier, but they still would have misused him, and he would've been a nobody by the time Goldberg ended his career. Maybe we would have gotten a solid Bret v. Hogan match in the early days, but I don't see how much could have been changed in the long run.

 

[The Brain]

I've never heard this before and I think it's a lot of crap. Luger didn't get the strap because at the 1994 Rumble, when they did the "photo finish" Bret got the bigger pop. Bret talks about this in his book. Vince came up with that finish on purpose to gage which guy the fans were behind more. When Bret's hand is raised he clearly is the fan favorite. There have been alot of other books published by wrestlers that have been called into question as being being innaccurate or just plain untrue. I've not heard one person come forward that ever worked for WWF or WCW question anything in Bret's book. I would think that someone would have come forth and spoken out against the book if it was full of innaccuracies and I don't see anyone disputing it.

I've also got an interview with Lex from a few years back and when asked if he was upset that he never got the strap he answered "no. Bret was the right guy to carry it at that time, so I have no problem with how that happened".

I'm with you here. I had heard the urban legend before, but I never believed it. Supposedly Luger blabbed just a week or so before mania. If this is true then why was Bret even involved in a title match at mania in the first place? It would have been simply Lex vs. Yoko. No need for Bret in a title match. It's not like Bret didn't have anything to do at mania. He had Owen to work with. I guess if Luger blabbed before the rumble it may be true, but that is supposedly not the case.

 

[theHeadliner]

Luger didn't get the belt because Vince realized he hated the job, hated the life, hated the road, and didn't care. Thats why he was shot back down to the mid-card.

At Rumble 1994 Bret won the popularity contest and was way more over. He got his new contract and the end of 1993 just before the Survivor Series. He was upset on how he was jobbing out to both Yoko and Lex at house shows, and even jobbing to rookies on occasion. I would be pissed too if I was a 2-time IC champ, then the heavyweight champ, then basically turned into a main-event jobber. He threatened to put in his notice at the end of the year and the WWF office went into chaos.

The next nite he, Vince, and Pat had a meeting til 3 AM where they came up with the brother vs brother angle(it was originally supposed to be Bruce because Pat didn't believe in Owen). Lex got the title shot at SummerSlam but they weren't taking the belt off Yoko that soon. The Survivor Series match with Yoko was a traditional elimination match so he couldn't have lost it there. Rumble was with Taker, and we all know what happened with WM10. Bret was the most popular face in the company no matter how much Vince wanted another "American Hero" character.

I never heard that story about blabbing while he was drunk. Bret was the better wrestler, more passionate wrestler, and more experienced wrestler when it was actually about the wrestling.

 

[theHeadliner]

This is from a Lex interview: PW torch:

"And I've heard these crazy rumors. Someone saw something on Wikipedia one time - which is not an encyclopedia. You can type in and change whatever you want that I was in a bar, messed up, telling everyone I was going to win so they didn't do it. But I was actually, the night before, not in a bar in New York saying I was going to win the World Title. I was actually staying two hours away from New York for the site of Wrestlemania at my wife's friend's house in Connecticut. So I wasn't anywhere near a bar telling people I was going to win the World Title."

"No. To be honest with you, I knew maybe a few months before WrestleMania because my family had never been to an event. So I asked (The WWF) for tickets to WrestleMania and Vince was upset. He called me into his office, this is months and months before WrestleMania, and he goes, "Lex, you know, you're not going to be winning the belt at WrestleMania." And my ex-wife Peggy had some really good friends out of New York. Their family had kids the same age as my kids, so I wanted them there no matter what. So I said, "Vince, I just want them to go to the event with their friends. It doesn't matter. That doesn't have anything to do with me wanting tickets." So he let me know months out that I was not going to be World Champion at WrestleMania because he was worried about me flying my whole family in to celebrate me winning the title and he was courteous enough to tell me that I wasn't winning the belt. So I knew months out."

So the blabbing thing isn't true.

 

[Last Falconry]

From a historical perspective, I don't see how things could have changed all that much. Bret would have left for WCW earlier, but they still would have misused him, and he would've been a nobody by the time Goldberg ended his career. Maybe we would have gotten a solid Bret v. Hogan match in the early days, but I don't see how much could have been changed in the long run.

I beg to differ.

Bret would've left for WCW probably immediately after Mania, or more towards the first Nitro. In turn, Bret would've replaced Luger as the "omg" moment of the first Nitro. Also, by Bret leaving earlier, there would be no Bret vs. Diesel, or Bret vs. Sid or Bret vs. Michaels, or Bret vs. Austin. Taking away the majority of major 90's feuds. Bret vs. Austin made Stone Cold who he became, and Bret vs. Michaels set the tone for the attitude era by having Vince McMahon portrayed as the perfect heel boss everyone hated. Had Bret left in '95, the spark that led to the Attitude era would've never been sparked, meaning that there would've been no Attitude era, and no "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

It's common knowledge that Vince was leaning more towards going under in the mid-90's, when Bischoff declared war, than he ever was. Had Bret gone to WCW, it would've ruined Vince's moneymaker and possibly sealed the fate of the WWF. I think had Luger been given the strap, the entire face of wrestling would be changed. Vince Russo never would've received his ego from "making the attitude era", thus WCW never would've been murdered by him and Bischoff.

Basically, that single moment in wrestling history would've changed the entire face of the industry.

 

[klunderbunker]

I beg to differ.

Bret would've left for WCW probably immediately after Mania, or more towards the first Nitro. In turn, Bret would've replaced Luger as the "omg" moment of the first Nitro. Also, by Bret leaving earlier, there would be no Bret vs. Diesel, or Bret vs. Sid or Bret vs. Michaels, or Bret vs. Austin. Taking away the majority of major 90's feuds. Bret vs. Austin made Stone Cold who he became, and Bret vs. Michaels set the tone for the attitude era by having Vince McMahon portrayed as the perfect heel boss everyone hated. Had Bret left in '95, the spark that led to the Attitude era would've never been sparked, meaning that there would've been no Attitude era, and no "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

It's common knowledge that Vince was leaning more towards going under in the mid-90's, when Bischoff declared war, than he ever was. Had Bret gone to WCW, it would've ruined Vince's moneymaker and possibly sealed the fate of the WWF. I think had Luger been given the strap, the entire face of wrestling would be changed. Vince Russo never would've received his ego from "making the attitude era", thus WCW never would've been murdered by him and Bischoff.

Basically, that single moment in wrestling history would've changed the entire face of the industry.

I'm not so sure about this. the one difference between Luger and Bret was simple loyalty to the company. Bret was a WWF guy and wanted to be one. Luger had no problem with jumping to another company when he was offered a better paycheck. I don't think Bret would have jumped in 95 even if Luger had gotten the belt. Also, I've never bought into the story of one night of Luger allegedly blabbing causing Vince to change the entire ending of Mania and the rest of the year's booking. Bret vs. Owen had been booked long before that so they would have found something for Bret to do. Luger vs. Bret could have easily headlined Mania 11. While it would have made a difference, I don't think it would be the earth shattering one that people are making it out to be.

 

[Nadeem Ahmad]

I still don't understand how a "Triple Threat Match" would not be considered as a more basic solution to letting two winners of the Royal Rumble both technically compete in the actual main event of Wrestlemania but that is just something which would not happen. I think if Lex Luger did win the title only to lose it immediately to Bret Hart, it would seem cheap just like the victory of Hogan did during the prior year. While letting a favorite competitor of the fans close out the show with a victory was important, it did not need to be an unbroken tradition of Wrestlemania as was the case with Triple H who retained at Wrestlemania Sixteen.

Before I gave the thoughts, I just wanted to mention about how competing more than one time on the same televised show unless it was for a tournament or for the Royal Rumble or for some special stipulation like punishing Triple H on "WWF Smackdown!" by telling him to fight five times did not sink in too well for me and it would just be somewhat of a sign of the later mess of the "twenty four seven rule" that the Hardcore Championship was defended by only to a much smaller extent.

Since Bret Hart already fought the brother in the opening match, it seemed like an extra dose of him which might have ruined the surprise of the show to some people. Maybe if Lex did not drop it an excuse could be realized about Bret who wrestled twice on that night and a possibility for him to instead win it at King of the Ring from him would have been just as sweet as then it would be more fitting to be involved in multiple bouts of the same card and possibly somewhat more rewarding.