Lex Luger reveals that he was never promised the WWE World Heavyweight Title during his time in the company.
In the summer of 1993, Luger went from narcissistic heel to conquering babyface when he slammed Yokozuna aboard the USS Intrepid. The slam led to Luger being repackaged as the All-American, complete with a Lex Express tour bus. Luger would go on to challenge Yokozuna for the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam 1993. Luger won the bout by count out, but did not walk away with the title.
Many believed WWE should have put the title on Luger in order to capitalize on his newfound popularity following the bodyslam.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Luger revealed that, at the time, he didn't feel as WWE missed the boat by not putting the belt on him.
"I didn't feel that way at the time because I didn't know where they were going to go from there. I felt like the SS Intrepid set up was fabulous. The tour was very successful as far as the bus tour meeting fans all over the country, doing signings, there were lines. They did that very well," said Luger. "As far as the actual SummerSlam, I didn't know where they were going to go with that. They said I'd probably have a rematch at WrestleMania the following year if they ever were. there was never a promise, contrary to what people ask me all the time, there was never a promise for the title."
Luger would eventually get a rematch at WrestleMania 10 after a controversial ending to the 1994 Royal Rumble that saw Luger and Bret Hart, the final two men in the Rumble, hit the floor at the same time. Luger would lose his rematch against Yokozuna by disqualification.
Luger went on to say, "I never thought at the time, 'Oh wow, they blew that.' It didn't cross my mind. It might have crossed other peoples minds, but not mine. "
While Luger never won the World Heavyweight Title in WWE, he is a former two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion. His August 4, 1997 victory over Hulk Hogan on Nitro drew a 4.4 rating, which was the highest rated episode of the show at the time.
