Years ago I was in line at a Barnes and Noble, turned around and there was Lex behind me. we spoke for a few minutes and he could not have been more kind. He is a very nice guy.
nobody can determine a person's character based on a short conversation. People have beeb living with someone for years before they realized said person is actually a pos
The stuff Luger did just on the football field takes a level of athleticism and intelligence that should have given anybody in the wrestling business a hint of his greatness. To go from linebacker to defensive end to offensive lineman all on the college/professional level is amazing. Anybody who played higher level football would understand. I would have hired him based off that alone.
I haven’t seen this doc but IIRC the only reason he wasn’t a big deal at Miami was because he got bad cabin fever one night and destroyed a motel room. And they had to let him go.
I met Lex and Liz together when they were 'wrestling' together.in WCW, People said bad things about Lex in the those days, but I have to say even back then he was the nicest wrestler I have ever met (tied with Jimmy Hart). When the whole thing happened i felt bad and then he got health issues I felt even worse. He was a great guy to me.
I was meh on Luger as a kid. Watching his stuff as an adult gives me a new appreciation for him and what he did! I now consider myself a fan! All aboard the Lex Express!
I couldn't stand Lex in WWF I did go on to like him in WCW because he was with Sting the Steiners Vader Simmons Flair Savage Higan Stan Hansen and others and he wasn't a bootleg Hulk Hogan
He was a better version of Ultimate Warrior in WWF without all the obnoxious weird off-putting crap and horrible make-up and ribbons. In his post WWF WCW run, he improved his wrestling and was pretty solid in the ring consistently. he had more potential if they could have written better storylines for him.
Kurt Angle and Lex Luger documentaries are the best so far that they produce from A&E I mean it's always refreshing to see a wrestler be 100% transparent with their career and their faults as human beings.I never thought Luger was as bad as people made him out to be he was clearly a guy who was gonna get pushed based upon his looks he had one of the best bodies ever in professional wrestling.
I cant knock Lex for knowing his worth as a rookie. $300 a week is a great struggle to reflect on in hindsight once you make it but getting that for taking any kind of bump is crazy. I dont blame Lex for getting guaranteed money. It was a business and a job to him…just being a mark for wrestling with no real objective is why the indies look the way they do.
Slightly different, but in ways, that reminds me a little bit of HHH'S story. He wasn't a rookie exactly. He was in the business a good year and half already when he had his shot to join WCW. Bischoff offered him 2yrs, 52K. HHH said, "That's it? So with paying all my expenses and travel, basically, I'm gonna starve. Fine, just give me the 1yr. In a year's time, you're gonna find out either I'm not worth your time, or I'm worth a whole hell of lot more than that." Fast forward a year after Bischoff low-balled him, and his contract is up. Bischoff offers him a new deal: $225K Guranteed and a tag title push with Regal. HHH turns it down. He already had his mind made up that he was going to the WWF. Bischoff scoffed at him and said, "I'm offering you guaranteed money and less dates. You'll be at home more, and you're going to New York with no guarantee?" HHH goes, "You can't offer me what I really want. It's not just about the money. I didn't get in the business to be rich. I got in the business to become great. I can't do that here with just TV and very little tours. I want to wrestle everyday, work with the best talent, move up the card, and become one of the best. New York can give me that opportunity." HHH knew his worth too, had balls, and took a massive bet on himself.
And he's not even knocking those that did it. He came from a successful background as a college & pro football player. That's like me being raised on homemade Italian spaghetti dinners for 25 years then being told someone else had to eat convenience store Ramen noodles in the same time frame. I wouldn't eat it but others had to, same with Lex personally not wanting to starve himself working territories while others did
Right around 17:30 you guys indirectly are saying Luger would be a top guy in any era. It's funny to hear that Luger was GOOD in the ring! I've heard nothing but complaints about Lex's style & technique for 30 years, but you're right. He'd be a top star today, he obviously was a top guy in the late 80s & 90s. And Brian asked if Lex had a shot in Florida before '85 with Eddie Graham, and it's agreed, yes, he'd even be a big star in the early 80s and late 70s if he broke in in that era too. Kind of cool to hear Lex Luger get his flowers. I know he wasn't a fan growing up, but he traveled those roads & paid his dues. If not financially, he paid them physically.
Well, it's a fantastic line, also describes what every fan of WWE in 1993 was thinking, I remember Nine at the time and thinking, "why are people celebrating like Luger won the title?"
Lex was over as fuck in that second wcw run. Huge pops every week on nitro and they went fucking nuts when he got hogan in the rack and won the belt, even if it was only for a week
I'm really liking these Bios. It's nice to hear stories and perspectives that haven't been done a million times over. Lex was one of my favorites, growing up. He was my first wrestler crush lol
My wife was like I hate this guy, then after seeing his attitude after his stroke she was like I love this guy. The attitude difference in him is unbelievable.
So many they need to do still. Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Mr. Wrestling, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sting to name just a few. Come on A&E let's get on the ball here. :)
@@gone.golfing Nobody has ever denied that Dusty was a star. But he wasn't underrated. The guy was massively popular. I mean truthfully, maybe not as far as looks wise, but he was probably one of the few guy's in the NWA that could actually rival Hogan's popularity.
But Luger was there and he called 911. The operator tried to get him to perform cpr but Lex said he was too scared to do it. Those valuable minutes before the ambulance arrived might have saved Elizabeth's life. But that's something Lex will have to live with.
@@gopherstate777 Until you’re in that spot, in that moment, you dont know how you would react or whether you could perform. He was panicking bc the woman he loved was dying in front of him and he was scared to death. Not to mention, he was also impaired by his own drug and alcohol abuse.
One of the early issues that contributed heavily to Lex's arrogant attitude was how he first got into the ring. He met Bob Roop at some celebrity golf tournament in Florida, Bob was impressed by Lex's size and amazing physique and convinced him to give wrestling a try. He introduced Lex (Lawrence Pfohl at the time) to Eddie Graham who then introduced him to Hiro Matsuda for training. Now, when Eddie Graham first saw Lex he saw Dollar Signs, at the time Florida was starting to peter out, most of his top stars were heading to Crockett or the WWF, and Eddie was desperate to get a new and exciting headliner, and the moment he saw Lex he was going "MY BOY!! We are going to make you SO rich! You are going to be the next Hulk Hogan. You are going to be so great!" So of course he got a big head, that happens when important people tell you that you're going to be a God.
I wasn't a big Lex Luger fan as a kid but as I've gotten to hear more stories and just see how humble he's become, I'm a fan. I still think he should've won against Yokozuna at Summerslam 93 even if it was a short title reign. I hope he gets a WWE hall of fame induction down the road
This was definitely a great doc. Lex was to me one of the most misunderstood wrestlers of my childhood. It was kinda cathartic to see this. It definitely sets the story straight for everybody else.
I'm 42 as of this writing and I currently have a large illustrated framed poster of Lex and Yoko having a stare-down on the deck of the USS Intrepid. It is one of my favorite moments from being a fan in 1993.
People often forget how over he was in 95-98 wcw. Even when he joined Wolfpack midway 98 people went bat shit crazy over him. It is unfortunate Cornette really didn't watch wcw at that time, because it was such an important period in wrestling
I've been a luger fan since I was a kid, and I'm still a fan now. It's unbelievable to see the difference in him but he seems happy and that's all that matters. Luger landing on the USS intrepid and slamming Yoko is still one of the best moments in wrestling history 👍👍
Yep that's an early memory of mine....me and my brother were like wait isnt he a bad guy ???!?? Then we were like oh well this is awesome just like that lol ....Great moment indeed everyone still talks about it and remembers it
@@mage1439 Exactly, look back 4 years ago and see who you were as a person, whether for better of for worse you are almost certainly not the same. Different experiences, beliefs , people have the capacity to change at any moment in life
Lex as a face isn't believable at all. When he played a heel I appreciated him much more. Lex is a natural heel. The dying days of WCW when he was just called Total Package with Liz was good stuff.
You need The Undertaker or Yokozuna..Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels can whip his ass too if you their speed moves and spam a couple throws..I STILL play WWF WrestleMania the arcade game to this day (2022)
One thing that's always surprised me about Lex's look, is that no promoter (Vinnie Mac especially) never tried a He Man (the 80s toy action figure) angle with him! I mean, he flipping looked just like He Man!
Considering how things have turned out so far, if someone told me that Lex made a deal with a demon where he’d get money, women and fame, but had to pay a price, I’d believe it.
In Lex’s defense…he was in the ring with Ric Flair at one peak and in competition with Bret Hart at another. I venture to say 90% of guys would look more like The Shits than they actually are tryna hang with 2 supreme workers like that. Ric made him look like a million bucks but to a critical wrestling eye,Flair is obviously leading. And Bret was just THE WWF guy for that time. Lex was in a tough spot.
Luger's Biography was really good, there is so much I didn't know about him. He was an asshole but it made for a great character. They should have never tried to make him the new Hogan, the Narcissist really was the perfect gimmick for him. It is what happened to him and Ms. Elizabeth, It's heartbreaking to know how badly they both fell. Even more, to see what Luger has become, the saving grace is he finally has made peace with his past and improved. While he'll never be the Total Package again, I love that he's passing on his knowledge to others. I also hope both he and Liz will get that long over-due Hall of Fame induction.
Was watching the bio with my wife and when the SummerSlam stuff started I said to her that Jim said Lex would look like a plate full of piss if he didn't win and then they had it in 😂😂😂🤣 Saw a shoot with Lex and like Jim said you can tell he's in a good place.
If lex is actually happy and content in life after having one of the best physiques in history to being confined to a wheelchair then he's more amazing. I'd have put a gun in my mouth I'd that happened to me.
@@natebaxter9551 ... Kevin Nash as world champion never drew a dime .. He had too go to WCW with Scott Hall and team with the other 5 hold man Hulk Hogan to start making money.. Lex Luger never got over and had to go back to WCW to make a little money...
I'm inclined to believe that people like Lex Luger and Molly Holly have genuine faith as opposed to Shawn Michaels and Jake Roberts "finding religion". So many people fail to grasp that faith and religion are two separate things.
Jim was talking about Hiro Matsuda's training. Ron Simmons & a friend of my dad named Dewey Forte started together as a team under Matsuda. Dewey sad he would put them through hell every day.
I wish you would talk more about Luger being WCW champion in the early 90s (regardless how much it was discussed in the actual docu). That period of WCW still seems like a blind spot, eventhough they had an amazing roster, seen Dangerous Alliance etc.
I remember his start in Florida. He seemed like a star at the time. When I first heard his name though, I must admit that I thought they were saying "Lex Luthor"
This documentary really made me like and appreciate Lex Luger. Always thought of him as a guy who was all body and nothing else…until I watched his matches in his first nwa/Wcw run and watched this doc. I was wrong.
Don't know why the WWF (at the time) didn't just have Luger's family join him on the Lex Express. He probably would've been much happier & stayed with the company down the line.
I watch these biographies with my mom and she enjoys them. But similar to the Bellas one, she said "This is boring, every clip of him is him flexing" and that was true lol
It was so weird that when i was a kid watching Smackdown they played Lex Luger's 911 call and made it seem like he was responsible for Elizabeth's death.
@@alainchristian 🤣Noooo. You've gotta put more into describing the tiny piano player, less on finding the Genie. Little Billy Preston singing "Nothing from Nothing", or a virtuoso, bringing the house down. People tipping the little guy a lot of money and everything. So when the bartender asks about the little musician, and the guy tells him about the Genie, it's possible that he _might_ have wished for the little guy. But since the man got his one wish, and the Genie lamp is useless to him now, he unbelievably offers to let the bartender try and make a wish himself. THEN it's set up for the punchline. Bartender wishes for something like a million bucks, million ducks show up bursting through the bar. Bartender in shock asks what the hell happened, THEN we get the punchline of the hard of hearing Genie, and along with referring to the little guy as a "12 inch pianist" for the very first time in the joke, during the explanation. "Yeah that's the problem. The Genie is hard of hearing. DID YOU REALLY THINK I WISHED FOR A 12-INCH _PIANIST?"_ Bing, Bam, you get your groans and begrudging chuckles.
@@THE_Dodge_Morningstar And he did it. He told a talking dog joke. It was perfect for the podcast. We're not at the pub where he's really gonna drag you on. You think he doesn't have it in him? But it was perfect length for what this is. You don't tell that joke the same every time. You gotta read the room. And I think he executed it perfectly.
@@alainchristian I think we might be getting in the weeds here, debating the best way to way to walk across an empty street. You liked the joke, it still made me chuckle, I guess the rest doesn't matter.
Lex Luger's career had a pattern. Flair-Luger made big money. But Luger never got belt. But then Steamboat got the belt, and Flair-Steamboat was a financial flop. (Yes, it was, the numbers don't lie.) We got another round of Flair-Luger which did better business than Flair-Steamboat. But then Sting swooped in and got the belt. But Sting flopped as Champion. In the WWF, Yokozuna-Luger did good money, but Luger never got the belt. Instead, Bret Hart swooped in and got the belt. And business fell apart with Bret on top. Back in WCW, Hogan-Luger did record business and ratings, and Luger hot s short run as Champion. But WCW went to World Champion Sting, who was a flop as Champion. Even in 2000, WCW was doing crummy ratings. Luger came back and got a World Title shot. It popped the biggest rating in a very long time. Today, Steamboat, Sting and Hart are considered "legends", while Luger isn't. By the marks. Luger was the guy who got business up, only for Some Other Guy to jump into the feud at the last second and get the belt. And then business went down...
Well you should know that Ric Flair refused to job Luger because Luger was a bodybuilder but liked Sting because he shared a good rapport with Sting who was also a good Babyface. In WWF Luger was supposed to win the WWF title at Summerslam but Bret hart cried so much backstage and got the support of many wrestlers and Patterson and Brisco. Then he again cried and Lex and Bret became the co winners at the Rumble and Vince was forced or blackmailed to put the belt on Bret because he worked hard and deserved it. Luger was truly unlucky because guys who didn't deserve the belts won it due to biased decisions.
I’ve been a big Flexy Lexy fan since I was a little kid and saw him as the NWA US champ. It was amazing to follow his career up until the fall of WCW. Once I went to college in the 2000s, I lost track and didn’t know much until Ms Elizabeth passed. Great documentary; it’s amazing to see the positivity he lives his life with today.
After what happened to Vader and him telling everyone he had two years to live in Vince still didn’t put him in, they need to go ahead and put Lex Luger in the Hall of Fame for crying out loud. Lex Luger, Jim Cornett and the midnight express, The Rock, and any other major star from the 80s or 90s they need to put in while they’re still around.
I love Lex Lugar. I know he gets a lot of slack now from marks because they can’t think for themselves. Lex have been buried for years by fans favorite wrestlers over things shouldn’t even be fans business like his passion for wrestling or him not growing up a fan. But marks will be marks. Who cares! As long as he’s entertaining us once he gets in front of that camera. That Lex Express, Lex Nitro debut and Lex 96-98 run was amazing and was my childhood. Hell I even enjoyed his 99 run with the Wolfpack when him, Nash and Liz would do their promos every Monday. Before Sting decided to start attacking the NWO Lex was the one who held that WCW flag. So I will always be a fan of his.
I remember the Nitro episode when he beat Hogan for the belt. Everyone was into it and my friends in school were talking about it for days. Then Hogan won it back a week later and it was such a deflating moment….looking back, it made sense to do for the Starrcade match with Sting (unfortunately that match was squandered by WCW)
I don't follow Lex on Twitter (nothing personal because I do like him, I just don't follow any actual wrestlers, just Jim and a few wrestling YTers and AEW Trollers) but he keeps showing up in my feed often just saying Thank You for another day with a picture of some paradise like scenery. Just seems happy to still be living and wants to be as positive as possible. My hope is he gets a Hall of Fame induction and not posthumously.
Didn't see the documentary, but back in the day when I was a kid, I saw Larry Pfohl play for the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL when they came to Ottawa. True story.
I wonder about that $150k story from Lugar. Because he made $443,993 in 1996. The $150k may have been for just part of a year (1995) because of when he joined. The $443k number is from the WCW contracts database. From 1996-2001, Lex was the 7th highest overall paid wrestler in WCW.
I think Lex just knows that he got lucky because just about everybody he's worked with are no longer living. So I'll never knock that guy for finding Christianity whatever makes him happy and stable.
You know, it's easy to talk about things in hindsight, but I remember the Lex Express angle being really over at the time. A friend of mine went to the Intrepid for the bodyslam contest and the crowd ate it up. When Vince got the boneheaded idea to not have Luger win the championship, it not only took the wind out of Luger's sails, I think it also turned a lot of longtime fans away from wrestling entirely. I was 20 when that match happened and was no longer able to accept things that I did when I was a kid or teenager.
What killed Luger in WWE was Vince. Why on earth would you put this guy over as a major babyface only to to drop the ball and give him a countout victory at Summerslam? The plate full of piss comment sums it up perfectly. At least his WCW run was more successful albeit his short reign of the title. After that though, he still seemed to legitimately enjoy the business up until the end when he got derailed by the drugs, and unfortunately took Liz for the ride.
The no sell on the 12 inch pianist joke had me dying 😂
Sandbag the shit out of it
I know I would have given at least a pity laugh
@@angelaposton7665Can’t win em all lol
Years ago I was in line at a Barnes and Noble, turned around and there was Lex behind me. we spoke for a few minutes and he could not have been more kind. He is a very nice guy.
Lol…I was standing there too. 🙄😂
nobody can determine a person's character based on a short conversation.
People have beeb living with someone for years before they realized said person is actually a pos
I was there also
I was the cashier.
Luger was STANDING behind you all??
The silence after Jim's Pianist joke made me laugh too much 🤣
A bouquet of beautiful peonies for Jim!
That's an old but a goody - lol
Yeah I lost it as well when Brian no sold it 😂
The silence had me in tears…
The timing of the silence was perfect. I just about died 🤣
Lex Luger has lived long enough to see the error of his ways and reflect on them and changed. Life is amazing!
I loved this one. Lex"s story is uplifting and shows you are never too old or too gone to change.
The humility Luger has shown is very genuine, def a great story of a man who has learned from his mistakes and a changed person
He dont have a choice hes not a big dude to bully people , he’s weak he’s got to be a nice guy now
@@rustykuntz94 tragic though that it had to come to this point
@@el-youtub3r402 he killed Elizabeth
@@BobbyM7847 Why are you replying that to me? Drunk or what
that pause after the joke just made this so much better. Thank you Brian
The stuff Luger did just on the football field takes a level of athleticism and intelligence that should have given anybody in the wrestling business a hint of his greatness.
To go from linebacker to defensive end to offensive lineman all on the college/professional level is amazing. Anybody who played higher level football would understand.
I would have hired him based off that alone.
I haven’t seen this doc but IIRC the only reason he wasn’t a big deal at Miami was because he got bad cabin fever one night and destroyed a motel room. And they had to let him go.
Major Lazor…You would have hired him based on football abilities rather than ability to draw money? That is bad business
@@jorndoff2002 dude guys got hired like that all the time before wrestling was something everybody wanted to get into.
@@jorndoff2002 You could look at Luger and knew he'd draw, if used well. But yeah people are hired all the time not knowing if they'd draw or not.
@jorndoff2002 How do you think Ron Simmons and Dr Death got in the buisness.
I met Lex and Liz together when they were 'wrestling' together.in WCW, People said bad things about Lex in the those days, but I have to say even back then he was the nicest wrestler I have ever met (tied with Jimmy Hart). When the whole thing happened i felt bad and then he got health issues I felt even worse. He was a great guy to me.
He beat his gf wake up
I was meh on Luger as a kid. Watching his stuff as an adult gives me a new appreciation for him and what he did! I now consider myself a fan! All aboard the Lex Express!
I feel the exact same way.. he was also corny to me back then!
Same here. Nice point of view.
You must've been 10 or 11. I was around 13 when he was in NWO and I totally felt like Luger was out of place, so I understand the "meh" feeling. :D
I couldn't stand Lex in WWF I did go on to like him in WCW because he was with Sting the Steiners Vader Simmons Flair Savage Higan Stan Hansen and others and he wasn't a bootleg Hulk Hogan
He was a better version of Ultimate Warrior in WWF without all the obnoxious weird off-putting crap and horrible make-up and ribbons. In his post WWF WCW run, he improved his wrestling and was pretty solid in the ring consistently. he had more potential if they could have written better storylines for him.
Kurt Angle and Lex Luger documentaries are the best so far that they produce from A&E I mean it's always refreshing to see a wrestler be 100% transparent with their career and their faults as human beings.I never thought Luger was as bad as people made him out to be he was clearly a guy who was gonna get pushed based upon his looks he had one of the best bodies ever in professional wrestling.
Yeah because a lot of wrestlers would either straight up Lie (ex: Hulk Hogan) or pretend they forget their shitty behavior (ex: HBK).
@@BXMarathoner26 I think the worst is the forget their shitty behavior it's like come on dude.
Warrior’s was literally whitewashed
The pop when luger made hogan tap was amazing
Not sure how Cornette doesn’t remember it. Even though they had Hogan win it back in 6 days.
I cant knock Lex for knowing his worth as a rookie. $300 a week is a great struggle to reflect on in hindsight once you make it but getting that for taking any kind of bump is crazy. I dont blame Lex for getting guaranteed money. It was a business and a job to him…just being a mark for wrestling with no real objective is why the indies look the way they do.
@10:57 🤯 Cornette just told a joke that's almost the same as a joke I've been saying for years!!!! My version is a bit better for the setup though lol
Slightly different, but in ways, that reminds me a little bit of HHH'S story. He wasn't a rookie exactly. He was in the business a good year and half already when he had his shot to join WCW. Bischoff offered him 2yrs, 52K. HHH said, "That's it? So with paying all my expenses and travel, basically, I'm gonna starve. Fine, just give me the 1yr. In a year's time, you're gonna find out either I'm not worth your time, or I'm worth a whole hell of lot more than that."
Fast forward a year after Bischoff low-balled him, and his contract is up. Bischoff offers him a new deal: $225K Guranteed and a tag title push with Regal. HHH turns it down. He already had his mind made up that he was going to the WWF. Bischoff scoffed at him and said, "I'm offering you guaranteed money and less dates. You'll be at home more, and you're going to New York with no guarantee?"
HHH goes, "You can't offer me what I really want. It's not just about the money. I didn't get in the business to be rich. I got in the business to become great. I can't do that here with just TV and very little tours. I want to wrestle everyday, work with the best talent, move up the card, and become one of the best. New York can give me that opportunity."
HHH knew his worth too, had balls, and took a massive bet on himself.
And he's not even knocking those that did it. He came from a successful background as a college & pro football player. That's like me being raised on homemade Italian spaghetti dinners for 25 years then being told someone else had to eat convenience store Ramen noodles in the same time frame. I wouldn't eat it but others had to, same with Lex personally not wanting to starve himself working territories while others did
@@Speedyreedy1218 - Lex is no HHH.
@@ELPRES1DENTE45 He isn't, hence me saying "slightly different, " the same scenario; but the elements of knowing your worth was something they shared.
Right around 17:30 you guys indirectly are saying Luger would be a top guy in any era. It's funny to hear that Luger was GOOD in the ring! I've heard nothing but complaints about Lex's style & technique for 30 years, but you're right. He'd be a top star today, he obviously was a top guy in the late 80s & 90s. And Brian asked if Lex had a shot in Florida before '85 with Eddie Graham, and it's agreed, yes, he'd even be a big star in the early 80s and late 70s if he broke in in that era too.
Kind of cool to hear Lex Luger get his flowers. I know he wasn't a fan growing up, but he traveled those roads & paid his dues. If not financially, he paid them physically.
Omg the Pianist joke killed me.. I was wording where this is going all the time and than the silence after this 🤣🤣😭
I love that they left the "Plate full of piss" line in the biography.
Well, it's a fantastic line, also describes what every fan of WWE in 1993 was thinking, I remember Nine at the time and thinking, "why are people celebrating like Luger won the title?"
@@WSK9002 Same here and same age, and also wondering why the shit Bret wasn't in the main event.
The lex documentary was one of the best wrestling documentaries I’ve seen.
Kurt Angle's was top quality too
Lex was over as fuck in that second wcw run. Huge pops every week on nitro and they went fucking nuts when he got hogan in the rack and won the belt, even if it was only for a week
I loved Luger's entrance theme before he went to the WWE.
Its called "Overdrive" by DeWolfe
@@TheEnzyme94 I heard it on Creepshow 2 and when I did I went "Lex Luger!!"
Same for The Steiner's pre WWE theme to be honest. Their WWE entrance music was shit. LOL
I'm really liking these Bios. It's nice to hear stories and perspectives that haven't been done a million times over. Lex was one of my favorites, growing up. He was my first wrestler crush lol
My wife was like I hate this guy, then after seeing his attitude after his stroke she was like I love this guy. The attitude difference in him is unbelievable.
I went out of my way to watch this and was NOT disappointed! What a great story! I am happy that he found peace/happiness!
What a story!
Lex Luger is a wcw legend and hall of famer
Lex Luger's biography was the best one to date. WWE should do a biography on Barry Windham💯💯💯
So underrated...
Barry Windham? Wtf? How about Dusty Rhodes? Now that’s a star!
The outside the ring stories surrounding the Windhams could even be a Dark Side of the Ring
So many they need to do still. Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Mr. Wrestling, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sting to name just a few. Come on A&E let's get on the ball here. :)
@@gone.golfing Nobody has ever denied that Dusty was a star. But he wasn't underrated. The guy was massively popular. I mean truthfully, maybe not as far as looks wise, but he was probably one of the few guy's in the NWA that could actually rival Hogan's popularity.
I never blamed Lex Luger for Miss Elizabeth's death, if he wasn't there, like if he was at The 7 Eleven for example, nothing could have saved her.
My wife passed the same way as Elizabeth when I was out of town, I Really feel for Lex! Glad he's on the right path
But Luger was there and he called 911.
The operator tried to get him to perform cpr but Lex said he was too scared to do it.
Those valuable minutes before the ambulance arrived might have saved
Elizabeth's life.
But that's something Lex will have to live with.
I always liked lex luger as a kid. Just not very good on the mic. But he was over with the crowd. His finishing move was really cool
@Joe Schmo Exactly, from what I read Liz wasn't struggling for Air when she dying, it's like she had slipped in a coma and died.
@@gopherstate777 Until you’re in that spot, in that moment, you dont know how you would react or whether you could perform. He was panicking bc the woman he loved was dying in front of him and he was scared to death. Not to mention, he was also impaired by his own drug and alcohol abuse.
One of the early issues that contributed heavily to Lex's arrogant attitude was how he first got into the ring. He met Bob Roop at some celebrity golf tournament in Florida, Bob was impressed by Lex's size and amazing physique and convinced him to give wrestling a try. He introduced Lex (Lawrence Pfohl at the time) to Eddie Graham who then introduced him to Hiro Matsuda for training. Now, when Eddie Graham first saw Lex he saw Dollar Signs, at the time Florida was starting to peter out, most of his top stars were heading to Crockett or the WWF, and Eddie was desperate to get a new and exciting headliner, and the moment he saw Lex he was going "MY BOY!! We are going to make you SO rich! You are going to be the next Hulk Hogan. You are going to be so great!" So of course he got a big head, that happens when important people tell you that you're going to be a God.
He was still Lawrence lol.
Brian no selling Jim's jokes is one of the best things ever
I wasn't a big Lex Luger fan as a kid but as I've gotten to hear more stories and just see how humble he's become, I'm a fan. I still think he should've won against Yokozuna at Summerslam 93 even if it was a short title reign. I hope he gets a WWE hall of fame induction down the road
Agree. Lex shudda won at SS and dropped it bk.to Yoko in December then at RR 94 have the same finish goin into WM X
For what it's worth, Lex DID win the match at 'Slam 93. He just didn't win the title.
They are 100% getting it set up for lex to be in the HOF a feel good redemption story
Man, I hope so!
This was definitely a great doc. Lex was to me one of the most misunderstood wrestlers of my childhood. It was kinda cathartic to see this. It definitely sets the story straight for everybody else.
I’m just glad that Lex is getting his long overdue flowers while he’s still with us
He gave Elizabeth her flowers once she was buried.
I'm 42 as of this writing and I currently have a large illustrated framed poster of Lex and Yoko having a stare-down on the deck of the USS Intrepid. It is one of my favorite moments from being a fan in 1993.
People often forget how over he was in 95-98 wcw. Even when he joined Wolfpack midway 98 people went bat shit crazy over him. It is unfortunate Cornette really didn't watch wcw at that time, because it was such an important period in wrestling
He had two five-day title runs after the fans went crazy for his win both times.
I'm rewatching the NWO Nitros and I was taken back by how over he was. While Sting was in the rafters him and DDP were basically the WCW superheros.
Sting and luger were wcw at that time
Luger was over huge in '97. Loved seeing him throw all the big guys up in The Rack. 💪
Agreed, no one can question how over he was in 97, when he won the belt from Hogan on Nitro 100 the place exploded.
@@DLRX still my favorite title win to this day
@@madddoggnogood1491 It was awesome, it's what Sting's title win should have been at Starrcade.
I've been a luger fan since I was a kid, and I'm still a fan now. It's unbelievable to see the difference in him but he seems happy and that's all that matters. Luger landing on the USS intrepid and slamming Yoko is still one of the best moments in wrestling history 👍👍
The crowd went apeshit when he slammed yokozuna , what a great sight that was
Yep that's an early memory of mine....me and my brother were like wait isnt he a bad guy ???!?? Then we were like oh well this is awesome just like that lol ....Great moment indeed everyone still talks about it and remembers it
Lex is proof that if anybody tells you "people don't change" don't listen.
@@Kalbuir66 No. People are constantly changing over a lifetime, and no amount of cynical bullshit will change that.
@@mage1439 Exactly, look back 4 years ago and see who you were as a person, whether for better of for worse you are almost certainly not the same. Different experiences, beliefs , people have the capacity to change at any moment in life
Some change for the worse too tho
Lex as a face isn't believable at all. When he played a heel I appreciated him much more. Lex is a natural heel. The dying days of WCW when he was just called Total Package with Liz was good stuff.
I liked Lex in NWA/WCW more than his WWF run but I'll say one thing: he was tough to beat in WrestleMania: The Arcade Game
You need The Undertaker or Yokozuna..Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels can whip his ass too if you their speed moves and spam a couple throws..I STILL play WWF WrestleMania the arcade game to this day (2022)
Luger and sting was my favorite tag team at wcw
I saw them wrestle the Steiners at a live event and oh man what an incredible match it was, indeed!
I want even a super-villainesque Lex Luger in the motorized stephen hawkins wheel chair as council for Powerhouse Hobbs in AEW
That's actually not bad. Professor Lex.
The pianist joke falling flat is funnier than the actual joke 🤣
One thing that's always surprised me about Lex's look, is that no promoter (Vinnie Mac especially) never tried a He Man (the 80s toy action figure) angle with him! I mean, he flipping looked just like He Man!
Probably figured Mattel would sue...
His Narcisst look borrowed some He-Man attributes, kind of.
@@jayryan2103
I never caught anything of him doing that persona. I'm imagining it worked pretty well for him
Considering how things have turned out so far, if someone told me that Lex made a deal with a demon where he’d get money, women and fame, but had to pay a price, I’d believe it.
@@Bale4Bond not religious at all lol
@Bale4Bond actually religious cringe would be if I criticized the relationship you have with your boyfriend. But who am I to judge?
@Bale4Bond that’s probably what your parents said when you came out.
I got the opportunity to meet him and he is a very humble and amazing man.
In Lex’s defense…he was in the ring with Ric Flair at one peak and in competition with Bret Hart at another. I venture to say 90% of guys would look more like The Shits than they actually are tryna hang with 2 supreme workers like that. Ric made him look like a million bucks but to a critical wrestling eye,Flair is obviously leading. And Bret was just THE WWF guy for that time. Lex was in a tough spot.
I never thought about that, but you’re 💯 right.
He beat Hogan clean for the World title on live TV too. Anybody else ever do that?
Flair a great worker 😭😭😭
Got a screen with the words “no stream tap to retry”.
I was a kid when he body slammed Yokozuna and I lost my mind when I saw that lol
Luger's Biography was really good, there is so much I didn't know about him. He was an asshole but it made for a great character. They should have never tried to make him the new Hogan, the Narcissist really was the perfect gimmick for him. It is what happened to him and Ms. Elizabeth, It's heartbreaking to know how badly they both fell. Even more, to see what Luger has become, the saving grace is he finally has made peace with his past and improved. While he'll never be the Total Package again, I love that he's passing on his knowledge to others. I also hope both he and Liz will get that long over-due Hall of Fame induction.
He wasnt an asshole.
they did try to make him the new hogan lmao vince just backed out halfway and luger didnt really connect with the fans like hogan
@@SSGourmet702 yeah hilarious.
If u ever watched WCW nitro he was over with the crowd. Just wasn't good on the mic. He was a pretty good wrestler.
are we gonna turn our eyes to Luger's steroid physique? Did he really get that physique without using any steroids?! doubtful....
Love the thumbnail. They got Lex Luger look when he showed up on the first Nitro on spot. 💯
Happy Luger has made a great change in Attitude!
I actually love that he probably drew 10 times more than Tully and Arn in his first year without even trying 😂
Was watching the bio with my wife and when the SummerSlam stuff started I said to her that Jim said Lex would look like a plate full of piss if he didn't win and then they had it in 😂😂😂🤣
Saw a shoot with Lex and like Jim said you can tell he's in a good place.
If lex is actually happy and content in life after having one of the best physiques in history to being confined to a wheelchair then he's more amazing. I'd have put a gun in my mouth I'd that happened to me.
Lex Luger is very Underrated in my opinion
Put him right up there with 'Big Sexy' Kevin Nash .... all 5 moves they knew
@@rockybalboa1847 5 moves drew money while the man of 1000 holds drew jack shit.
@@natebaxter9551 ... Kevin Nash as world champion never drew a dime .. He had too go to WCW with Scott Hall and team with the other 5 hold man Hulk Hogan to start making money.. Lex Luger never got over and had to go back to WCW to make a little money...
@@natebaxter9551... and like most athletes who screw up their lives with drugs and alcohol.... turn too religion
@@rockybalboa1847 but they made money. And they did draw. Also mentioning Hogan, another 5 move guy, doesn't help your argument.
Package was something else in his early days in NWA especially when he beat Nikita Koloff for US title.
Haha, I used to tell that penis joke back in the 80's in Junior High all the time! A timeless classic!
Brian: Do you think Luger can get a good night's sleep?
Me: CLICK!!! 😁
I'm inclined to believe that people like Lex Luger and Molly Holly have genuine faith as opposed to Shawn Michaels and Jake Roberts "finding religion". So many people fail to grasp that faith and religion are two separate things.
Jim was talking about Hiro Matsuda's training. Ron Simmons & a friend of my dad named Dewey Forte started together as a team under Matsuda. Dewey sad he would put them through hell every day.
Dewey was bigger than Simmons.
I thought for sure he was going to be a big star!
@@gopherstate777me too. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago
@@gopherstate777 but didn't get it
I wish you would talk more about Luger being WCW champion in the early 90s (regardless how much it was discussed in the actual docu). That period of WCW still seems like a blind spot, eventhough they had an amazing roster, seen Dangerous Alliance etc.
Lost in 97-98 was how crazy Austin one. Lex Luger had an all time great year during that time as well as almost unbeatable
I remember his start in Florida. He seemed like a star at the time. When I first heard his name though, I must admit that I thought they were saying "Lex Luthor"
This documentary really made me like and appreciate Lex Luger. Always thought of him as a guy who was all body and nothing else…until I watched his matches in his first nwa/Wcw run and watched this doc. I was wrong.
I remember luger in florida wrestling in early 90s , in sebring, fl his match was like 5 minutes ,I still have his autograph.
Don't know why the WWF (at the time) didn't just have Luger's family join him on the Lex Express. He probably would've been much happier & stayed with the company down the line.
Meet him at Lenox mall and airport a few times. One of the nicest people I've met.
Love these stories and I really have enjoyed all of them.
Awesome Shoot Today Jim!!😎🐐🐐
I watch these biographies with my mom and she enjoys them. But similar to the Bellas one, she said "This is boring, every clip of him is him flexing" and that was true lol
This one was really for the less casual fan. I'm not sure who the Bellas one was for.
Was wondering about the deal with the artwork. I was not disappointed when I found out.
The illustrations on these videos are always on point.
👍🏿👍🏿 to whoever makes them!
It was so weird that when i was a kid watching Smackdown they played Lex Luger's 911 call and made it seem like he was responsible for Elizabeth's death.
I always thought Lex Luger was one of those guys that either arrived 10 years too late or 10 years too early
😂😂 Cornette butchered my favorite awful joke, but I still got a kick out of it.
Hey there, johnny morningstar!
No he didn’t he told it perfectly. But Brian no sold it. Hilarious 😂
@@alainchristian 🤣Noooo. You've gotta put more into describing the tiny piano player, less on finding the Genie. Little Billy Preston singing "Nothing from Nothing", or a virtuoso, bringing the house down. People tipping the little guy a lot of money and everything. So when the bartender asks about the little musician, and the guy tells him about the Genie, it's possible that he _might_ have wished for the little guy. But since the man got his one wish, and the Genie lamp is useless to him now, he unbelievably offers to let the bartender try and make a wish himself. THEN it's set up for the punchline. Bartender wishes for something like a million bucks, million ducks show up bursting through the bar. Bartender in shock asks what the hell happened, THEN we get the punchline of the hard of hearing Genie, and along with referring to the little guy as a "12 inch pianist" for the very first time in the joke, during the explanation.
"Yeah that's the problem. The Genie is hard of hearing. DID YOU REALLY THINK I WISHED FOR A 12-INCH _PIANIST?"_
Bing, Bam, you get your groans and begrudging chuckles.
@@THE_Dodge_Morningstar And he did it. He told a talking dog joke. It was perfect for the podcast. We're not at the pub where he's really gonna drag you on. You think he doesn't have it in him? But it was perfect length for what this is.
You don't tell that joke the same every time. You gotta read the room. And I think he executed it perfectly.
@@alainchristian I think we might be getting in the weeds here, debating the best way to way to walk across an empty street. You liked the joke, it still made me chuckle, I guess the rest doesn't matter.
Where they messed up in the WWF was not leaving Lex as a heel. He would have been fine had Vince not wrapped him in the American flag.
Luger before his 1991 motorcycle accident was quite possibly the BEST muscleman worker besides the British Bulldog. He was that good.
Lex Luger's career had a pattern.
Flair-Luger made big money. But Luger never got belt. But then Steamboat got the belt, and Flair-Steamboat was a financial flop. (Yes, it was, the numbers don't lie.)
We got another round of Flair-Luger which did better business than Flair-Steamboat. But then Sting swooped in and got the belt. But Sting flopped as Champion.
In the WWF, Yokozuna-Luger did good money, but Luger never got the belt. Instead, Bret Hart swooped in and got the belt. And business fell apart with Bret on top.
Back in WCW, Hogan-Luger did record business and ratings, and Luger hot s short run as Champion. But WCW went to World Champion Sting, who was a flop as Champion.
Even in 2000, WCW was doing crummy ratings. Luger came back and got a World Title shot. It popped the biggest rating in a very long time.
Today, Steamboat, Sting and Hart are considered "legends", while Luger isn't. By the marks.
Luger was the guy who got business up, only for Some Other Guy to jump into the feud at the last second and get the belt. And then business went down...
Well you should know that Ric Flair refused to job Luger because Luger was a bodybuilder but liked Sting because he shared a good rapport with Sting who was also a good Babyface.
In WWF Luger was supposed to win the WWF title at Summerslam but Bret hart cried so much backstage and got the support of many wrestlers and Patterson and Brisco. Then he again cried and Lex and Bret became the co winners at the Rumble and Vince was forced or blackmailed to put the belt on Bret because he worked hard and deserved it.
Luger was truly unlucky because guys who didn't deserve the belts won it due to biased decisions.
Such an underrated (and truthful) comment.
I’ve been a big Flexy Lexy fan since I was a little kid and saw him as the NWA US champ. It was amazing to follow his career up until the fall of WCW.
Once I went to college in the 2000s, I lost track and didn’t know much until Ms Elizabeth passed.
Great documentary; it’s amazing to see the positivity he lives his life with today.
After what happened to Vader and him telling everyone he had two years to live in Vince still didn’t put him in, they need to go ahead and put Lex Luger in the Hall of Fame for crying out loud. Lex Luger, Jim Cornett and the midnight express, The Rock, and any other major star from the 80s or 90s they need to put in while they’re still around.
I thought about Jim during the entire Chaplin conversion segment 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Jim be like, in every ad, he puts over the product more than wrestlers put themselves over these days.
Weird I don't have any audio and it's only on this video
I love Lex Lugar. I know he gets a lot of slack now from marks because they can’t think for themselves. Lex have been buried for years by fans favorite wrestlers over things shouldn’t even be fans business like his passion for wrestling or him not growing up a fan. But marks will be marks. Who cares! As long as he’s entertaining us once he gets in front of that camera. That Lex Express, Lex Nitro debut and Lex 96-98 run was amazing and was my childhood. Hell I even enjoyed his 99 run with the Wolfpack when him, Nash and Liz would do their promos every Monday. Before Sting decided to start attacking the NWO Lex was the one who held that WCW flag. So I will always be a fan of his.
I thought Lex with the Horsemen was awesome. I certainly hated them the most during that period.
Shut up mark
He gets a lot of FLACK from the marks you mean, I wish they would cut him some slack! Lex is so underrated
I remember the Nitro episode when he beat Hogan for the belt. Everyone was into it and my friends in school were talking about it for days. Then Hogan won it back a week later and it was such a deflating moment….looking back, it made sense to do for the Starrcade match with Sting (unfortunately that match was squandered by WCW)
Yeah I’m my opinion his 96-99 run really made his a hall of famer… good comment and props to Lex
I always wished Lex had come back to WWF during the Invasion angle.
He was never giving away that guaranteed Time Warner money. Plus Vince still hated him for all showing up on Nitro like that.
In a perfect world he should have, but it wouldn't have worked. He was too messed up at that point and probably wouldn't have lasted even a year.
Sleeping 14 to 16 hours a night. I've LMAO 🤣
I don't follow Lex on Twitter (nothing personal because I do like him, I just don't follow any actual wrestlers, just Jim and a few wrestling YTers and AEW Trollers) but he keeps showing up in my feed often just saying Thank You for another day with a picture of some paradise like scenery. Just seems happy to still be living and wants to be as positive as possible. My hope is he gets a Hall of Fame induction and not posthumously.
Didn't see the documentary, but back in the day when I was a kid, I saw Larry Pfohl play for the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL when they came to Ottawa. True story.
I wonder about that $150k story from Lugar. Because he made $443,993 in 1996. The $150k may have been for just part of a year (1995) because of when he joined. The $443k number is from the WCW contracts database.
From 1996-2001, Lex was the 7th highest overall paid wrestler in WCW.
I think Lex just knows that he got lucky because just about everybody he's worked with are no longer living. So I'll never knock that guy for finding Christianity whatever makes him happy and stable.
No audio?
This outdrew Kurt Angle by 44%
Great breakdown and thank you for the promo masterclass! Every modern day “influencer” should learn from cornette!
Except for his wacky political views.
@@mywifesboyfriend5558He refuses to support fascists. How undemocratic, am I right?
You know, it's easy to talk about things in hindsight, but I remember the Lex Express angle being really over at the time. A friend of mine went to the Intrepid for the bodyslam contest and the crowd ate it up. When Vince got the boneheaded idea to not have Luger win the championship, it not only took the wind out of Luger's sails, I think it also turned a lot of longtime fans away from wrestling entirely. I was 20 when that match happened and was no longer able to accept things that I did when I was a kid or teenager.
That pianist story is pure gold. That's why I love this dude. He's got a million of em.
I think I have some of this Leg Luger “don’t realize I’m being a douche” syndrome 😕
Brian’s defeated “I guess” was hilarious
Luger and Brian Pillman are the biggest snubs for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame to date!
What killed Luger in WWE was Vince. Why on earth would you put this guy over as a major babyface only to to drop the ball and give him a countout victory at Summerslam? The plate full of piss comment sums it up perfectly. At least his WCW run was more successful albeit his short reign of the title. After that though, he still seemed to legitimately enjoy the business up until the end when he got derailed by the drugs, and unfortunately took Liz for the ride.
"If you can't work. You need somebody" - Kevin Nash
Lex Luger was awesome as a heel. I think he did way better in WCW then he did in WWF/WWE.
True both stints WWF wasn’t him
The narcissist character was 🔥 he should’ve stayed there
"He looked like a fucking halfway a putz."
Jim talking about Hogan will never get old.