Lex Luger

Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and football player. In 2011 he began working with WWE on its wellness policy. He is best known for his work with Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE).

Luger is a two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and one-time WWA World Heavyweight Champion. He is also a five-time NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Champion who holds the records for consecutive days and total days as champion. He is the second WCW Triple Crown Champion. Although he never won a championship in the WWF, he challenged for every title in the organization (including WWF World Heavyweight Championship matches at SummerSlam in 1993 and WrestleMania X in 1994) and was the 1994 Royal Rumble co-winner with Bret Hart. ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' readers voted Luger the Most Popular Wrestler of the Year in 1993.

Football career

Luger attended high school and played football in Orchard Park, New York. He then attended Pennsylvania State University on a football scholarship, but transferred to the University of Miami after his freshman year when the Penn State coaches thought he should move to linebacker or defensive end. Luger was an avid basketball player in his youth, and though he rarely played soccer, is a fan of English soccer club Manchester United. He eventually decided his skills would be better suited to football. He sat out the 1977 season as a redshirt transfer student in Coral Gables.

In 1978, Luger played for the Miami Hurricanes, which featured future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, Jim Burt, Mitch Guittar, Fred Marion, and Mark Richt. He was kicked off the team for what Luger referred to as "off-the-field incidents". On the team's road trip to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech, Luger, who was suffering from cabin fever and disappointed at not being named a starter by coach Lou Saban by the 5th game of the season, snapped and trashed his hotel room.

Upon leaving Miami, he played professional football for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League where he played in the 67th Grey Cup against the Edmonton Eskimos. He then signed with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League, but never played in a game and thus is not listed on their all-time roster, though he did spend the entire 1982 season on the team's injured reserve list with a groin problem incurred during training camp. He returned to the Packers training camp in 1983, but he was released before the regular season began. Luger wore number 66 for the Packers, the last player to do so before it was retired for Ray Nitschke. Luger said in a 2018 interview with the Green Bay Press-Gazette his wrestling career might have never happened had it worked out with the Packers. “I would have loved to have had a long-term career with the Packers; are you kidding me?” Pfohl said. "If I did, I probably wouldn’t have become a wrestler. So, in the big picture, it worked out for me in that regard ... Had it worked out in Green Bay, I seriously doubt I would have become a pro wrestler."

In 1984, Luger finished his football career playing in the United States Football League for the Tampa Bay Bandits, Memphis Showboats and Jacksonville Bulls. He was a teammate of future WCW rival Ron Simmons while playing for the Tampa Bay Bandits.

Professional wrestling career

NWA Championship Wrestling from Florida (1985–1987)

In 1985, Luger walked into the Championship Wrestling Florida office where he met Hiro Matsuda, who had previously trained Hulk Hogan and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. Luger adopted the ring name "Lex Luger", being a fan of the comic book villain Lex Luthor, which helped cast himself as a typical wrestling heel which he would continue to be throughout most of his early years in wrestling. Luger made his in-ring debut in September 1985. He was featured alongside other notorious heels, Percy Pringle and Rick Rude.

Luger began wrestling for CWF, gaining his first victory on October 31, 1985, against Cocoa Samoa and later won the Southern Heavyweight Championship from Wahoo McDaniel the next month. For a short time, he feuded with Barry Windham before they began teaming up against Sir Oliver Humperdink and his team of Ed "The Bull" Gantner, Kareem Muhammed, and The White Ninja. On September 1, 1986, he fought NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair for the title at a show ''Battle of the Belts III'', which resulted in a 60-minute draw. As a result, Flair retained the title. Towards the end of his run in Florida, Luger was involved in angles with Kevin Sullivan and Bad News Allen. He was also in a steel cage match with Bruiser Brody, where Brody stopped cooperating, leading to Luger climbing over the cage and leaving the match.

Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling (1987–1992)

The Four Horsemen (1987–1989)

In 1987, Luger went to work for Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), which was under the NWA banner, with the nickname "The Total Package" and began using " The Human Torture Rack", an Argentine backbreaker rack, 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 was with Nikita Koloff, whom he defeated for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship on July 11, 1987. Manager J. J. Dillon threw a chair over the top of the cage while the referee, Earl Hebner, was down. Luger knocked Koloff unconscious with it and then lifted up Koloff in the Torture Rack. A revived Hebner then dropped Koloff's arm three times with no response and awarded Luger a submission victory.

It was during this time that the Horsemen debuted the WarGames match.

He held the title until JCP's first pay-per-view event Starrcade in November, when he dropped it to Dusty Rhodes in a steel cage. This loss set the stage for Luger leaving the Four Horsemen, as manager Dillon's interference cost Luger the match. A steel chair thrown in by Dillon was dropped by Luger and Rhodes DDT'd Luger on it prior to pinning him for the win. Luger left the Four Horsemen on December 2, 1987 at the Knight Centre in Miami, Florida, after he and his stablemates (Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, and Dillon) were the sole wrestlers left in a Bunkhouse Stampede battle royal and Dillon asked the other wrestlers to eliminate themselves so he could win. Although Blanchard and Anderson complied, Luger refused and eliminated Dillon, leaving the Horsemen in the process.

Luger then befriended Barry Windham, his former Florida ally, and together they formed a tag team, dubbed The Twin Towers. Their first match as a team was on February 3, 1988 at a TV taping at WTBS Studios in Atlanta. On March 27, 1988 at '' Clash of the Champions I'' they defeated Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Only a few weeks after the title win, Windham suddenly turned on Luger during a title defense (against Blanchard and Anderson, who regained the title as a result) and joining Luger's 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 Sting (whose partner Ronnie Garvin had been kayfabe injured) and the impromptu team won the entire tournament, defeating Blanchard and Anderson in the finals.

Luger continued his feud with the Four Horsemen and Windham. At the June 8 '' Clash of the Champions II: Miami Mayhem'', it was announced that Luger would challenge Horsemen leader Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash on July 10 in Baltimore. 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. 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". In November 1988, Jim Crockett Jr. sold JCP to Turner Broadcasting System, ultimately the promotion was renamed to World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The feud with Flair came to an end after December's Starrcade 1988: True Gritt where Flair pinned Luger in a rematch main event for the NWA title by illegally using the ropes.

United States Heavyweight Champion (1989–1990)

He was then matched up against old foe Barry Windham at Chi-Town Rumble winning his second NWA United States Heavyweight Championship from him. He teamed up with Michael P.S. Hayes against Barry and Kendall Windham in a match, televised on March 18, 1989, which saw Hayes turn on Luger, setting himself as a contender to the U.S. Title. Hayes defeated Luger for the US title at WrestleWar 1989: Music City Showdown when a surprise appearance by Hayes's ex- Freebird teammate Terry Gordy helped cost Luger the match. Luger regained the U.S. Title from Hayes in a rematch a couple of weeks later when he broke the rules by pulling Hayes's tights while pinning Hayes to win the match. On the June 14 '' Clash of the Champions VII: Guts and Glory'', Luger attacked the popular Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat after Steamboat had defeated Terry Funk by disqualification. Luger and Steamboat faced each other at The Great American Bash in July with Luger winning by disqualification after Luger refused to wrestle Steamboat until the match's no-disqualification clause had been waived.

Flyin' Brian Pillman challenged Luger at Halloween Havoc 1989: Settling the Score for the US Title, which Luger won. He also defeated Pillman in a rematch on the November 15 '' Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knockout'' to retain the title and end the feud. After the main event of the card, which saw Ric Flair and Terry Funk in an "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.

Though Sting eventually won the tournament, Luger was the only participant to go undefeated (Sting got pinfall victories over Muta and Flair, giving him the most points to win the tournament). This elevated Sting to the status of No.1 contender for Flair's world title. With Sting and Flair set to square off at WrestleWar in February, Luger was booked to defend the U.S. Title against "Dr. Death" Steve Williams on the card. A legitimate injury to Sting, however, caused the entire booking of the card to get changed. Luger was elevated to face Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. 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" who had "gained self-respect" by saving Sting. In the final match of the feud, a few months later at the Capital Combat event in Washington, DC, 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.

Luger eventually dropped the title to Stan Hansen at Halloween Havoc, though he won it back at Starrcade 1990: Collision Course beginning his fourth NWA United States Heavyweight Championship reign. Luger's third title reign lasted a total of 523 days, making him the longest reigning United States Champion in history. During this reign, WCW rebranded the championships they owned and controlled, and the title was renamed the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. Luger started a feud with Dan Spivey, whom he defeated at WrestleWar to retain the U.S. Title. Following their match, Nikita Koloff was due to present a new championship belt to Luger, but during the ceremony he suddenly attacked the champion, reigniting their feud from 1987. It did not last long, however, as Koloff found himself being pushed into an angle with Sting instead of Luger, which began at SuperBrawl I: Return of the Rising Sun when Sting and Luger challenged The Steiner Brothers for the WCW World Tag Team Championship. During the match, Koloff interfered and hit Sting with a chain, which was intended for Luger.

World Heavyweight Champion (1991–1992)

Luger again began to challenge Ric Flair for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after becoming No.1 contender by defeating The Great Muta on the June 14, 1991 '' Clash of the Champions XV: Knocksville USA''. Luger's title match against Flair was set to be contested at The Great American Bash in a steel cage match with the added stipulation that, should Flair get disqualified he would lose the title. The match never occurred, however, as Flair began to have disagreements with Jim Herd, the head of WCW, over his future and salary. He eventually quit the company (being "stripped" of the title in the process) and took the world title belt with him.

With the WCW World Heavyweight Championship now vacant, Barry Windham was declared the No. 2 contender and was set to face Luger in the cage match at The Great American Bash. During the match, Harley Race and Mr. Hughes came to ringside. While Hughes kept Windham's attention, Race told Luger that "now is the time" to perform a piledriver on the distracted Windham. Luger did so and won the match, thereby winning his first WCW World Heavyweight Championship. As Flair still had the original championship belt and the new belt was not ready in time, Luger initially wore the NWA Western States Heritage Championship, which had been altered to resemble the world title.

After Luger won the world title, his first major challenge came from Ron Simmons. At a signing ceremony for their title match at Halloween Havoc in a two out of three falls match, there was a controversial angle where Luger invited Simmons, once his challenge had been turned back, to join his entourage, but as a chauffeur. Luger went on to retain the championship in the match by two falls to one. 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. After ending his feud with Simmons, Luger had a brief feud with Rick Steiner, defeating him on the November 19 '' Clash of the Champions XVII''. Luger's contract only required him to work a specific number of dates, and having fulfilled them he "sat out" the end of 1991 and beginning of 1992. Aside from one title defense against Masahiro Chono at WCW/New Japan Supershow II (Starrcade in Tokyo Dome), Luger did not wrestle a match until SuperBrawl II, where he lost his WCW title to Sting.

World Bodybuilding Federation (1992)

After losing to Sting at SuperBrawl, Luger negotiated a departure from WCW and joined Vince McMahon's World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF), appearing regularly as a co-host on its Saturday morning program, ''WBF BodyStars''. He also made an appearance at WrestleMania VIII, taking part in an on-air interview with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon. Heenan and Luger formed an alliance in the WBF (similar to Heenan's alliance with Ric Flair in the WWF). 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 (1993–1995)

The Narcissist (1993)

After his accident and the closure of the WBF, Luger joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Bobby "The Brain" Heenan unveiled him with the persona of "Narcissus" at Royal Rumble 1993. Shortly thereafter, his name was altered slightly to "The Narcissist". Luger posed before full-length mirrors before every match. In his debut, he defeated jobber Larry Lunden on January 25 on WWF Superstars of Wrestling (aired February 13). 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 said to cause more damage when it struck an opponent, often allowing Luger to pin them with only his little finger placed on their chest. This caused a number of his opponents to demand that he wear a cover over it during matches when he had a streak of knocking people out. This eventually led to WWF officials demanding that Luger wear an elbow pad, though he would often remove it. The Narcissist's one major feud was with Mr. Perfect. The feud was based on Heenan, his advisor, referring to him as being "Beyond Perfection", in a slight at Mr. Perfect, his former managerial client. The rivalry ended at WrestleMania IX when Luger defeated Perfect.

The All-American (1993–1994)

In mid-1993, after Hulk Hogan's departure from the company, Luger was transformed into a fan-favorite character with the nicknames "Made in the USA" and "The All-American" also "American Original". On July 4, he took part in an event where he arrived by helicopter on the deck of the '' USS Intrepid'' and body slammed the near 600 pound (270 kg) WWF World Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna after a number of other athletes, both inside the WWF and out, attempted and failed. Following this, he began the "Lex Express" tour, traveling the country in a red, white, and blue painted bus to greet fans in preparation for his shot at the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam 1993. The match had the stipulation that this would be Luger's only shot at the title. Luger, with the use of the metal plate in his forearm, eventually won the match, but the countout victory meant that Yokozuna retained the title. According to Bruce Prichard, Vince McMahon didn't give the title to Luger despite his push because Luger wasn't getting over with audiences as expected.

In late 1993, Luger began a feud with Ludvig Borga, another anti-American foreigner from Finland. At Survivor Series 1993, Luger captained a team dubbed "All-Americans" (Luger, The Undertaker, and The Steiner Brothers) against Yokozuna's team "Foreign Fanatics" ( Crush, Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, and Quebecer Jacques) in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match. Luger's team won the match after he pinned Borga. At the Royal Rumble, Luger participated in the Royal Rumble match where he and Bret Hart were declared co-winners after both men went over the top rope and had their feet hit the ground simultaneously. As such, both received shots at the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania X. Luger was disqualified in his title match against Yokozuna, becoming the first man to win the Rumble but not win their title match, and later that night Hart won the title from Yokozuna. After WrestleMania X, Luger was to start another feud with Mr. Perfect, but Hennig was injured, so Luger instead feuded with Crush.

Luger then began feuding with his friend Tatanka due to a lack of trust between them, and a match between the two took place at SummerSlam. At the event, Tatanka defeated Luger and joined Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation. At Survivor Series, he was in a Survivor Series team "Guts & Glory" (himself, Mabel, Adam Bomb, and The Smoking Gunns) losing to the Corporate team of Tatanka, King Kong Bundy, Bam Bam Bigelow, and The Heavenly Bodies – with only King Kong Bundy and Bam Bam Bigelow surviving.

The Allied Powers (1995)

In the beginning of 1995, Luger formed a tag team with Davey Boy Smith, dubbed The Allied Powers. They made their pay-per-view debut as a tag team at WrestleMania XI, defeating the Blu Brothers. They defeated jobbers on '' Raw'' and, after a victory over Men on a Mission ( King Mabel and Sir Mo) in June 1995, earned a shot at the WWF Tag Team Championship against Owen Hart and Yokozuna at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks, but failed to win the titles. Shortly after SummerSlam, Luger, whose contract had expired, left the WWF without letting McMahon know beforehand. Luger's last official WWF match was on September 3 in Saint John, New Brunswick at a house show teaming with Shawn Michaels defeating Owen Hart and Yokozuna by disqualification.

Return to WCW (1995–2001)

Alliance to End Hulkamania (1995–1996)

In late August 1995, after expressing to Sting that he wanted to leave the WWF, Luger got a call from WCW Vice-President Eric Bischoff to set up a meeting about a contract and Luger possibly "jumping ship". Bischoff was initially reluctant to make the offer, as he did not care for Luger personally or professionally, but relented due to both Sting's urging, and the idea that his appearance would make a big splash. Bischoff offered Luger only $150,000 a year, 20% of what he was making when he left WCW three years earlier, in a deliberate attempt to have him turn down the offer (and, according to Bischoff, "at least tell Sting that I tried"), only to be surprised to see that Luger accepted the offer.

Eight days after his appearance at SummerSlam and only one night after competing at a WWF house show in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Luger made his return to WCW on the premiere of ''Nitro'', coming out during the match for the United States Heavyweight Championship between champion Sting and Ric Flair. After Luger's return, he did not make his allegiances known acting as a tweener, except for that he still did have a long-time friendship with Sting. He merely claimed that he wanted to stake his claim at Hogan's WCW World Heavyweight Title, facing him on the September 11, 1995 episode of ''Nitro'', which Hogan won by disqualification. At Halloween Havoc, Luger attacked Hogan after his match with The Giant and joined Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom stable.

At Starrcade, Luger participated in a WCW vs NJPW World Cup of Wrestling where he represented WCW in a winning effort against NJPW representative Masa Chono. Later that night, he participated in a triangle match with Sting and Ric Flair, with the winner to face Randy Savage for the WCW World Championship; Flair won after both Sting and Luger were counted out. The two men teamed up to defeat Harlem Heat for their first World Tag Team Championship on the January 22, 1996 episode of ''Nitro'', with Luger constantly threatening dissent due to his allegiance to the Dungeon of Doom, but always seeming to stay on the same path as his friend. He lost to Eddie Guerrero by disqualification on the February 3 episode of '' Saturday Night''. Luger also defeated Johnny B. Badd for the WCW World Television Championship on February 17, losing it back to him the next night. He regained the television title from Badd by beating him on March 6.

The Dungeon of Doom aligned with the Four Horsemen to form the Alliance to End Hulkamania, which feuded with Hulk Hogan and Luger's former WWF ally, Randy Savage. At Uncensored, nine members from the Alliance participated in a " Tower of Doom Steel Cage match", but were unsuccessful in defeating the team of Hogan and Savage. Luger was blamed for the loss because he accidentally punched teammate Ric Flair and was kicked out of the stable.

Feud with the New World Order (1996–1999)

During the summer, Luger began a feud with The Giant for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, unsuccessfully challenging him at The Great American Bash. During this time, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, both former WWF superstars, began appearing on WCW television and claimed they were "taking over" the company. Randy Savage spearheaded the WCW wrestlers against them, with Luger and Sting by his side. Luger, along with Savage and Sting, took on Nash and Hall (who called themselves The Outsiders) and a third, mystery, partner that they claimed was an "insider" at Bash at the Beach. In the first few minutes of the match Luger went down to a kayfabe injury, leaving Sting and Savage on their own when the mystery partner revealed himself to be Hulk Hogan. With Luger no longer around, Savage and Sting were "easy prey" for the three who announced themselves as the New World Order (nWo).

Luger continued to be one of the leaders for the WCW's siege against the nWo, wrestling and feuding with a number of their members. At SuperBrawl VII

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