Luger beating Hoegan for the belt in 97 seemed so epic at the time

[Dusty Bake Activate]

This was at the height of Nitro’s popularity. Crowd pop was crazy. The whole locker room came out.

Then he lost it back to Hoegan like 5 days later.

One of the most anticlimactic reigns ever.

 

[Amare's Right Hook]

The music matches surprisingly well.

 

[mcellas]

This was at the height of Nitro’s popularity. Crowd pop was crazy. The whole locker room came out.

Then he lost it back to Hoegan like 5 days later.

One of the most anticlimactic reigns ever.

shyt was crazy Hoegan ws voted most hated wrestler during that time it was big

 

[OmegaK2099]

Appropriate music, that's what it felt like


It came out of nowhere and surprised everyone unlike the goldberg match where if Hoegan were to win the crowd would tear the place down.

 

[HipHopStan]

I remember after the match, they cut to Hoegan in the locker room tossing over tables and telling Nash, Hall, and Macho that Luger was gonna pay and then it cut back to the announce booth where Bobby Heenan remarked, "I think Hogan needs a nap. "

They were also in Detroit that night which was prime WWF territory at the time.

 

[Hey_zeus]

Took shine from Sting beating hulkkk at Starrcade tho

 

[puppetmaster]

Luger was over like a muthafukka while Sting was working some things out in 1997

Didn’t hate it at the time because that pop still stands up in 2021 when he racked Hoegan


but looking back Hulk needed to remain unbeaten until Sting could beat him for the first of MANY PPV victories without ever losing one on one to him

 

[DanielAlfredsson]

Amazing how over Luger was during that run with really no gimmick. They basically just always had him win on TV. One of my most distinct memories of any Nitro from 1996 or 1997 was Luger beating someone lower card or even jobber with a name type (Mike Enos, Greg Valentine, Jim Powers, Ray Traylor, Barbarian, etc) and always winning with his finisher.

Pretty simple formula. Have a guy look like a winner constantly and fans seem him as such.

 

[Reality Check]

Luger was over like a muthafukka while Sting was working some things out in 1997

Didn’t hate it at the time because that pop still stands up in 2021 when he racked Hoegan


but looking back Hulk needed to remain unbeaten until Sting could beat him for the first of MANY PPV victories without ever losing one on one to him

In hindsight, it's pretty wild how they botched the Starrcade ending and the following 3-4 months with the break-up of the nWo. Definitely opened the door for WWE to start pulling ahead in ratings.

 

[CM_Burns]

This moment was so epic and mad eme feel like anything was possible.

Either Hall or Nash has said in an interview that they lobbied for Luger to get the win, and Hogan was OK with it, but Sting didn't like it. I can see why, but ultimately it didn't hurt his angle with Hogan judging by their buyrate.

 

[Dusty Bake Activate]

Amazing how over Luger was during that run with really no gimmick. They basically just always had him win on TV. One of my most distinct memories of any Nitro from 1996 or 1997 was Luger beating someone lower card or even jobber with a name type (Mike Enos, Greg Valentine, Jim Powers, Ray Traylor, Barbarian, etc) and always winning with his finisher.

Pretty simple formula. Have a guy look like a winner constantly and fans seem him as such.

Yeah the rack was super over as a finisher. Used to have the crowd on their feet. If Luger had someone in the rack you know they were either tapping or their would be outside interference. Nobody was bearing it like any of the leglock submissions.

People seem to say Luger was an underachiever, but he had a damn good career. They just remember his WWE face push that didn’t really connect the way they wanted.

 

[DaylitoJames]

Crazy I was listening to The Lapsed Fan podcast a few weeks ago about Luger vs Hogan at Road Wild and they broke down why Luger won the belt from Hoegan on Nitro only for him to lose it 5 days later. After listening it made some sense why they pulled the trigger on Lex when they did but ultimately WCW dropped the ball when it was time for Hoegan to drop it to Sting later on.

 

[OmegaK2099]

So the reason the Starrcade outcome happened like it did was because sting had become out of shape, unmotivated and possibly pilled up?

 

[Playaz Eyez]

Epic moment. I vividly remember this and it was amazing in real time. I was 9 or 10 when this happened, but I really don’t remember the follow up

 

[Ill-Yaz]

The Lex Express angle seemed so force and you could tell Luger's heart was not into it which is why it was a failure.

But the WCW version of Luger?
The Total Package/Sexy Lexy shyt?

He was over like a motherfuker

A big part of my wrestling childhood and in my top 10 for sure.