Lex Luger

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{{Infobox Wrestler |name=Larry Pfohl |image= |names=Lex Luger,
The Narcissist |height=6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |weight=265 lb (120 kg) |birth_date =June 2, 1958 |death_date = |birth_place =Buffalo, New York |resides=Atlanta, Georgia |billed=Chicago, Illinois |trainer=Bob Roop,
Hiro Matsuda |debut=September 1985 |retired= |}}

Lawrence Wendell ("Larry") Pfohl, better known by his ring name, Lex Luger, is an American professional wrestler and former professional American football player.

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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 began playing American football at a professional level. He spent 1982 on the injured reserve list of the Green Bay Packers and was waived the following year, never having played a single down 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" and made his in-ring debut in September 1985.

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Wrestling career

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NWA Florida

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. Some sources claim that Brody was annoyed with the exiting Luger's boasts about how much money Luger would be making when he left Florida, and decided to teach the youngster a lesson in respect.

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World Championship Wrestling

In 1987, Luger went to work for Jim Crockett's World Championship Wrestling, and joined Flair's "Four Horsemen" group. He also began wrestling Sting, who later became his close friend; the two once owned a gym together in Atlanta. Luger went from heel to face many times, whenever the circumstances were best for him. He won multiple NWA/WCW U.S. Titles, multiple NWA/WCW tag team belts, and, near the end of his WCW run, was the heavyweight champion. He would eventually be a two-time WCW World Champion. His nickname in the WCW was "The Total Package." His finisher was called "The Human Torture Rack."

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World Wrestling Federation

By early 1992, Luger was tired of wrestling in WCW. He sat out for several months before losing to Sting at SuperBrawl II in February. 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 slammed 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 the late 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 favour 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.

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. 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."

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World Championship Wrestling

Luger's first appearance in WCW upon his return was his shocking entrance at the first WCW Monday Nitro on September 4, 1995. 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 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 Wolfpack". The Wolfpack, unlike the original nWo, was a babyface faction meant to be trendy and attract young fans; the group's entrance music was even a hip-hop theme at the time. The angle was relatively unsuccessful, however, and Luger eventually broke away from the group in 1999.

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. 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 Time-Warner that had been set up to handle outstanding debts and business from WCW.

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Semi-retirement

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. Template:Ref

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 posession 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.

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Controversy

On May 1, 2003, Luger's girlfriend, former wrestling valet Elizabeth Hulette, passed away in the townhouse they shared in Marietta, Georgia after choking on a meal. 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 plead 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. Template:Ref

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. Template:Ref

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. Template:Ref

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Wrestling facts

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Finishing and signature moves

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Managers

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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
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References

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External links

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