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Lex Luger

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Larry Pfohl
BornJune 2, 1958
Buffalo, New York
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Lex Luger,
The Rebel
The Renegade
The Narcissist,
The Total Package [1]
Billed height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Billed weight285 lb (135 kg)
Billed fromChicago, Illinois
Trained byBob Roop,
Hiro Matsuda
DebutSeptember 1985

Lawrence Wendell ("Larry") Pfohl (born June 2, 1958, in Buffalo, New York), better known by his ring name, Lex Luger, is an American professional wrestler and former professional American football player.

Football career

Pfohl was a student at Pennsylvania State University, where he played football before transferring to the University of Miami in 1978. After graduating, Pfohl set out to play football at a professional level. He spent 1982 on the injured reserve list of the Green Bay Packers and was waived the following year, and never again played in the National Football League. He later played football for the Memphis Showboats and Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League, as well as the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

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.

Wrestling career

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 later won the Southern title from Wahoo McDaniel. 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 (1987-1992)

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In 1987, Luger went to work for Jim Crockett's World Championship Wrestling. His nickname in the NWA/WCW was "The Total Package" and his finisher was "The Human Torture Rack", an Argentine backbreaker. He joined Ric Flair's "Four Horsemen" stable. His first big feud was against Nikita Koloff, whom he eventually defeated for the NWA United States Championship. He also began wrestling Sting, who later became his close friend. Luger lost the US Championship to Dusty Rhodes in November of 1987 at Starrcade'87 in a steel cage. This loss set the tone for Luger leaving the Four Horsemen as manager JJ Dillon's interference had cost Luger the match.

In 1988, Luger finally left the Four Horsemen after Luger and Horsemen mates Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, and JJ Dillon were the sole wrestlers left in a Bunkhouse Stampede battle royal. Dillon wanted to win the match and asked the others to give themselves up over the top rope. Blanchard and Anderson complied but Luger did not. He eliminated Dillon and left the Four Horsemen leaving them with an open slot. Luger then befriended Barry Windham who was a big part of Luger's career as both an ally and common rival. Luger and Windham teamed at the first Clash of The Champions event in March of 1988 to defeated 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 the Four Horsemen having an open spot with Luger's departure, it would end up being Barry Windham who would take Luger's spot. As Luger and Windham defended the titles against Blanchard and Anderson in a rematch from the Clash, Luger was hurt outside of the ring and was not there for the tag when Windham went to their corner. A frustrated Windham turned on Luger and caused him to lose the match for their team, giving the titles back to Blanchard and Anderson. Days later, the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup tag team tournament was held with its first night in Greenville, South Carolina. With Windham's turn, Luger was left without a partner. Sting was also inadvertently left without a partner when his scheduled partner Ronnie Garvin was "injured" during an altercation with Kevin Sullivan that night. So Luger and Sting were put together as a team and they won the tournament, defeating Blanchard and Anderson in the finals held in Greensboro, North Carolina on the tournament's second night.

At the second Clash of the Champions event held a couple of months later, it was announced that Luger would challenge Ric Flair for the NWA World Title at the Great American Bash on July 10, 1988 in Baltimore. The contract was signed on a yacht and Flair gave the now famous words "You gotta make it to Baltimore..." to Luger. As Luger arrived in a limousine for his appearance at the Clash, the Four Horsemen attacked Luger leaving Luger injured and bleeding in front of live television cameras out in the parking lot of the arena. This helped build up the big match between Flair and Luger on July 10 and when they met in Baltimore, Luger lost the match in one of the biggest controversies ever. Luger had Flair in the "Torture Rack" and Flair was about to submit to give Luger the title win. However, during the match a cut had opened up on Luger's forehead and the match was "stopped" at this point by the "Maryland State Athletic Commission" because of Luger's excessive bleeding. Luger faced Flair in many rematches across the country and could never win the title - he frequently won matches by disqualification but never the championship. The Luger-Flair feud came to a rest after Starrcade'88 in December when Flair pinned Luger in the main event using the ropes.

1989 would be another bizzare year of twists and turns for Luger. Although the direct feud with Flair was over, Luger regrouped and was matched up against old foe Barry Windham at Chi-Town Rumble in February and won the NWA United States Championship in that match. Luger then defended the US Championship regularly and still remained one of the top draws in the NWA. He teamed up with Michael Hayes in a match against Barry and Kendall Windham. The popular Hayes eventually turned on Luger during the match and this set up Hayes as Luger's challenger for the US Title at Wrestle War '89 in Nashville, TN. 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 cost Luger the match. Luger would go on to regain the US Title from Hayes in a rematch only a couple of weeks later and this would be the start of a "heel" (bad guy) turn for Luger as he broke the rules pulling Hayes's tights to win the match. The turn bad became final shortly after at a Clash of the Champions event in North Carolina when Luger attacked the popular Ricky Steamboat after Steamboat defeated Terry Funk by disqualification. Luger yelled out frustration about Steamboat continuing to be the number one 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 coming out on top in all of them. Eventually, Luger and Steamboat faced each other at the Great American Bash event on July 23 with Luger winning by disqualification and Steamboat departed the NWA shortly afterward.

In the fall of 1989, Luger's US Championship began taking a major back seat to the main event feuds occurring between Flair, Sting, Terry Funk, and The Great Muta. Luger was stuck defending the US Title against subpar opponents such as Tommy Rich. In November of 1989, things picked up for Luger again as the late Brian Pillman challenged Luger at a Clash of the Champions event in Troy, NY called the New York Knockout. Luger won the match after hitting Pillman with a chair, giving him a push back into the spotlight. The main event of the card pitted Ric Flair against Terry Funk in the famous "I Quit" match. Funk quit to give Flair the win, but the The Great Muta came in for a post-match attack on Flair. Sting then hit the ring saving Flair but Luger made a surprise run to the ring attacking both Flair and Sting leaving them injured at the end of the night.

In December of 1989, Starrcade'89 was held in Atlanta's Omni and featured an "Ironman" tournament between Flair, Sting, Luger, and Muta. It featured 15 minute time limit matches among all four men with no titles on the line and points were awarded for victories. Luger pinned Sting using the ropes, Luger and Flair wrestled to a time limit draw, and Luger also got a disqualification win over The Great Muta when Muta blew mist in Luger's face. Despite Luger not winning the tournament, he was the only pariticpant of the four to go undefeated that night. Sting would get pinfall victories over Muta and Flair which gave him the most points to win the tournament. This elevated Sting to be the number one contender for Flair's world title.

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 Steve "Dr. Death" Williams on the card, but an injury to Sting caused the entire booking of the card to get changed. Luger was then elevated to face Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship which although would provide a good match on paper, the hype was not there for it since the two faced each other so many times in 1988 with screwjob finishes. An injured Sting appeared in Luger's corner during the match and eventually he was attached by Ole and Arn Anderson. Luger left the ring to save the attack on Sting but got counted out which gave the win to Flair after over 30 minutes of action. The idea here was to build Luger up as a "changed man" and that he 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 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 where 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 as Sting's injury healed.

In mid-1990, the focus on Luger went back to him defending the US Championship. He defeated "Mean" Mark Callous at the Great American Bash in July, who would later move on to the WWF as the famous Undertaker character. For the rest of 1990, the focus in the NWA was on Sting and his reign as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Luger's US Title defenses were a side show and it was even difficult coming up with opponents to feud with him. Eventually, the famous Stan Hansen came into the NWA and feuded with Luger for a couple of months. At Halloween Havoc in October, Luger lost the US Championship to Stan Hansen. But Luger would regain the title from Hansen in December as part of Starrcade'90. Many also speculated that the mysterious unknown Black Scorpion opponent that was feuding with Sting at the time would turn out to be Lex Luger, but in the end they used Ric Flair fill that role.

Luger began 1991 in another phase where the NWA did not know what to do with him. It was one of the worst years of the company's history and at the same time was changing itself to be known as World Championship Wrestling - WCW. The WCW began the year with feuds for Luger with subpar opponents like Big Cat (later known as Mr. Hughes). Danny Spivey eventually became Luger's top challenger and Luger defeated him at Wrestle War'91 in possibly Spivey's best match ever. But finally making things more exciting for Luger was the return of former rival Nikita Koloff to the WCW. Luger was attacked by Koloff following his win against Danny Spivey and this started a hot feud between the two for several months. Eventually, Koloff was pushed to feud more with Sting instead so it would free up Luger for another run at Ric Flair's NWA World Heavyweight Championship. At a Clash of the Champions event, Luger defeated The Great Muta with a clean pinfall and the winner of this match would face Flair at the Great American Bash for the title. Given the chaos and screwjob finishes in matches between Flair and Luger during prior years, the NWA added stipulations to the match making it in a steel cage and that the title could be lost on a disqualification.

As the build up for Flair-Luger started, issues occurred between Flair and WCW. Dusty Rhodes was the main booker and was rumored to have booked Flair for some embarrassing plans in the remainder of the year. Among this was losing the title to Luger, in possibly a very fast match. Flair wanted no part of it and he threatened to walk out of WCW without losing his title in the ring. The booking team then cooked up the idea of Flair losing the title to Barry Windham in the ring at a TV taping prior to the Bash and then having Windham face Luger. But Flair was fired July 1 and even took the title belt with him leaving an already dismal situation for WCW to be even worse. The title was declared vacant, and suddenly Barry Windham was considered the number 2 contender to it. So Luger and Windham faced off in the cage match for the vacant title. It was not even a marketable match because Luger and Windham had faced each other many times before and Windham went into the match without much of a push at all. Adding to the confusion of this was that they wanted to turn Luger bad and Windham good during the course of this match. Harley Race and Mr. Hughes hit ringside during the match telling Luger to piledrive Windham. He did and won the title - but the WCW World Championship was considered very watered down at this point. After chasing the belt for years, Luger did not even have respect as WCW's champion when finally winning the title.

The rest of 1991 was spent trying to get Luger over as the champion and top bad guy. This included a controversial racial angle with Ron Simmons where he wanted Ron Simmons to join his entourage as a chaffeur. Although Simmons always had great wrestling potential, people failed to take him seriously as a top contender. Luger defeated Simmons at Halloween Havoc in October of that year. Eventually, Luger had his own issues with WCW as champion and the contract he had seemed to have him wrestling less and less but still collecting money. The fall of 1991 finally gave WCW some spark with an outstanding Clash of the Champions event in November. In the main event, Luger defeated Rick Steiner ending a brief feud the two had. At that point the only opponent left that could draw a big match with Luger was Sting. Unfortunately, another bad move by WCW slowed momentum after interest was starting to happen again. Starrcade'91 had an odd BattleBowl format with tag team matches based on partners and opponents picked at a random draw. Teams winning their matches advanced to a battle royal at the end of the night. The event was eventually won by Sting and this set him up as the number one contender against Luger.

It became obvious that Luger was not in WCW's plans for 1992 and having fulfilled more than enough dates in his contract, Luger sat out from action while Sting was built up again with the fans. Aside of one title defense Luger made in Japan against Masa Chono in January, Luger did not wrestle at all until a scheduled match with Sting for the title at SuperBrawl II. Sting defeated Luger at that event, and at that point Luger left WCW.

World Wrestling Federation (1993-1995)

Luger negotiated a departure from WCW, but the terms of that agreement precluded him from wrestling for the rest of 1992. He planned to join the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF), which was owned by Vince McMahon, 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 Luger recovered, the WBF was out of business.

A metal plate was inserted into Luger's forearm after his accident, and Luger later used this misfortune to his advantage by making the metal plate a gimmick in the ring (it was claimed that when he hit opponents with his forearm, he did extra damage).

His initial appearances in the WWF were as The Narcissist, in which he posed before a full-length mirror before matches. After Hulk Hogan left in mid-1993, Vince McMahon needed a new "Real American" hero, and Lex Luger got the job. In a memorable event, then-WWF champion Yokozuna challenged any American athlete to bodyslam him on the deck of the USS Intrepid in an event on July 4, 1993. After a series of professional athletes and wrestlers tried and failed to lift him, Luger arrived on the scene and successfully hip-tossed the big man.

Luger was booked to win the then-WWF World championship at WrestleMania X in the first match of a planned double main event involving Luger, Yokozuna, and Bret Hart, and lose the second match to Hart. However, he became heavily intoxicated at a bar just before WrestleMania and told several people (including a local reporter) about the planned outcome. This information spread rapidly, and the WWF opted to change the booking of WrestleMania, with Luger losing to Yokozuna by disqualification, and Hart beating Yokozuna instead. Luger was never given any run with the WWF title.

Luger remained in the WWF for another year. He put over Tatanka at SummerSlam and formed a tag team with Davey Boy Smith dubbed the "Allied Powers." Then in late August 1995, Luger got a call from Eric Bischoff asking him if he'd like to jump ship back to the WCW (as a favor to Sting). In an interview with Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Luger claimed he was wrestling without a contract and could, therefore, leave unannounced. Lex Luger's last match for the WWF was on September 1, 1995 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Vince McMahon was very unhappy with this abrupt departure because Luger reportedly gave McMahon his "word" about staying. In recent years, Vince has taken literal pot shots at Luger, even going as far as outright denouncing his talent and blaming him somewhat for the death of Miss Elizabeth on an episode of WWE Confidential.

Years later, Eric Bischoff would admit that he was never a fan of Lex Luger's on a personal or professional level. Bischoff only made the decision to talk to Luger at the behest of Luger's longtime friend Sting (Sting and Luger were close friends, at one point operating a gym together in Atlanta, Georgia). Bischoff then offered Luger 20% less money than he was making in the WWF. Bischoff at first believed that Luger was going to turn the contract down anyway but at the very least, Bischoff could go back to Sting and tell him that he "tried."

World Championship Wrestling (1995-2001)

Luger's first appearance in WCW upon his return was his shocking entrance at the first WCW Monday Nitro on September 4, 1995. The shocking thing was that Luger had just taped matches for the WWF a few weeks prior to joining WCW and had been featured in matches for the WWF for over two months after he returned to WCW. Luger first showed up during the very first match on Nitro between Sting and Ric Flair, walking out in the aisle to briefly observe, which prompted the surprised crowd to begin a "Luger" chant. Later that night, Luger appeared from the crowd and assisted Hulk Hogan during a group brawl at the end of Hogan's match with Big Bubba Rogers. A week later, he wrestled Hogan for the WCW World Title but the match ended in a no contest when Kevin Sullivan's "Faces of Fear" interfered. For the next several months, Luger played a tweener character who seemed to side with various wrestlers and feuded with others. Sting, who was a face, continued to stay on Luger's side due to their friendship.

Luger's status as a tweener unofficially ended early in 1996 when he began a feud with The Giant for the WCW Heavyweight Championship. He unsuccessfully took on The Giant at The Great American Bash of 1996, but Luger's popularity continued to rise when the New World Order arrived on the scene in World Championship Wrestling. When Scott Hall and Kevin Nash began what was known as a "hostile takeover", Luger spearheaded the siege against the alleged takeover along with his friend Sting. Luger, along with "The Macho Man" Randy Savage and Sting, took on Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and a third mystery partner at a July pay per view extravaganza known as Bash at the Beach. To the dismay and shock of the WCW, the mystery partner of Hall and Nash was none other than Hulk Hogan. That night marked the beginning of not only the nWo, but of Luger's run as one of the top babyfaces in the WCW.

Luger continued to lead the WCW's siege against the New World Order, wrestling and feuding with many members of the nWo into early 1998. He repeatedly wrestled Hulk Hogan at pay per views in 1997, and was successful in winning the title from Hogan on the Monday Nitro, six days before a pay per view in August of that year known as "Road Wild". Luger lost the title at said pay per view, but his victory marked the first time in a year that the WCW had snatched its world title back from the New World Order. Luger would go on to win 1997's PWI's Wrestler Of The Year Award

Luger also feuded with Scott Hall and Buff Bagwell until finally parting ways with the WCW faction in 1998 in favor of a new sector of the nWo known as the nWo Wolfpac. The Wolfpac, lead by Kevin Nash, formed in response to Hollywood Hogan's maniacal and selfish behavior, became one of the most popular stables in wrestling history. On an episode of Nitro in Spring 1998, Luger (still a member of WCW) ran to the ring with Nash, Konnan and Randy Savage to attack several nWo Hollywood members. In response to his actions, Konnan tossed Luger his red and black nWo t-shirt to Luger who put it on after strong cheering from the crowd. Luger played a central role in the group's war with Hogan's original nWo, getting involved in "hits" backstage and teaming with other Wolfpac members in tag matches. Luger remained with the group through the nWo's reconciliation in 1999, and turned heel in the process by attacking Bill Goldberg with a chair.

At the time WCW was purchased by the WWF, Luger was a member of Ric Flair's heel group, The Magnificent Seven with his "Totally Buff" tag team partner, Buff Bagwell. The other members were Jeff Jarrett, Road Warrior Animal, Rick and Scott Steiner. At that time, he had dropped his ring name, claiming Lex Luger was 'dead' (going as so far as to have a "funeral"), and only began to refer to himself as The Total Package. Luger's WCW contract was not a part of the WWF's purchase of WCW's assets, and 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

File:Stinglugerbagwell-impact042706.jpg
Lex Luger (left) appearing with Sting and Buff Bagwell for TNA on April 27, 2006.

In late 2002, Luger joined the European tour of the World Wrestling All-Stars promotion. He debuted on November 28, 2002 in Dublin, Ireland, teaming with Sting to defeat Buff Bagwell and Malice. On December 6, 2002 at the WWA Retribution pay-per-view in Glasgow, Scotland, Luger defeated Sting to win the vacant WWA World Heavyweight Championship following interference on his behalf from Jeff Jarrett. In Manchester, England on December 7, 2002, 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. Neither title changed hands, as Sting pinned Bagwell to win the bout. Luger made his final appearance with WWA on December 13, 2002 in Zürich, Switzerland, when he lost the WWA World Heavyweight Championship to Sting in a three way dance that also featured Malice on the final WWA show of the year. [2]

Luger debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on November 12, 2003, teaming with 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 enabling Abyss to defeat Styles.

Throughout 2004 and 2005, Luger made sporadic appearances on the independent circuit. He returned to TNA on the April 27, 2006 episode of TNA iMPACT! as the second of Sting's potential tag team partners for TNA Sacrifice 2006 on May 14, 2006.

Controversy

File:Lexlugermug.jpg
Lex Luger's mug shots in 2003 and 2005

On May 1, 2003, Luger's girlfriend, former wrestling 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 Xanax. He was charged with 14 drug possession counts, 13 of them felonies, and was released the following day on a bail of $27,500 USD. Hulette's death was ruled accidental. Luger pled guilty to the charges on February 3, 2005, and 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 and 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]

Wrestling facts

Finishing and signature moves

Managers

Championships and accomplishments

  • PWI ranked him # 20 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
  • PWI ranked him # 52 of the best tag teams of the PWI Years (with Sting)
  • PWI ranked him # 90 of the best tag teams of the PWI Years (with Barry Windham)
  • PWI Rookie of the Year Award (1986)
  • PWI Comeback of the Year Award (1993)
  • PWI Most Popular Wrestler Award (1993)
  • PWI Wrestler of the Year Award (1997)
  • PWI Match of the Year Award, with Sting, versus Rick and Scott Steiner (1991)
  • PWI Feud of the Year Award, as one of the Four Horsemen, versus the Road Warriors and the Super Powers (1987)
  • PWI Feud of the Year Award, versus Ric Flair (1988)
  • PWI Feud of the Year Award (1990)
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • 1989 Most Improved Wrestler

References

  1. ^ The results of the September 27, 1999 episode of Nitro
  2. ^ The WWA World Heavyweight Championship at Solie.org
  3. ^ Lex Luger discusses Miss Elizabeth's death in emotional interview
  4. ^ Lex Luger at ObsessedWithWrestling.com
  5. ^ Lex Luger talks about his recent trip to jail, drug testing, Sting, TNA and more
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