This next chapter is something that was derived from another series I’m writing “Retro RawView: Summerslam”. I received so many messages after my article dropped for Summerslam ’93, including one fan @SMSportsGuy who was at the show and said “Huge letdown that Luger won by count out”. Also in my article I found myself rooting for Luger and as a kid I remember Luger being a big deal to me. So why not give him the title, give him a run with it to see what he had? Don’t get me wrong Yokozuna was an absolute monster during this time and certainly deserved the title however the build and the payoff was such a letdown that I wanted to do this article almost immediately after watching this show. So let’s go to the upside-down as they would say in Stranger Things and see what would have happened IF Leg Luger won the title at Summerslam ’93.
I think you already know how this starts based off the title and also the first paragraph written above Lex Luger would go to challenge Yokozuna at Summerslam ’93. Instead of winning by count out after hitting the forearm instead he would slam Yokozuna, then the managers of Yoko would get involved leading to Yokozuna getting back up however getting hit for the forearm and Luger winning the title. We still get the huge celebration at the end of the night and the confetti would fly. Also I believe the crowd would have gone WILD for this, thus propping Luger up a little who was wavering a bit with the crowd. After this Luger would go from city to city with the championship being the all American hero that conquered Yokozuna. Of course we wouldn’t get another match until Survivor Series and the build-up would be week after week Cornette would come out saying that Luger is non deserving and scared to face Yokozuna again.
Survivor Series would begin its build and we could get the “All Americans” vs. “The Foreign Fanatics”, yes the same teams that actually squared off would square off again. The difference being Yokozuna and Lex Luger would be the final two competitors in this match. However Crush who would be the last person eliminated by Luger would interfere and cost Luger the match allowing a Yokozuna banzai drop and victory. So of course this would give Jim Cornette everything he needs to promote Yokozuna as the number one contender for the title at Royal Rumble. Luger being the all American baby face certainly would not back down whatsoever and would accept the challenge of Yokozuna.
Royal Rumble ’94 would come around and Lex Luger and Yokozuna would be in the co main event. Lex Luger would have no fight off not only Mr. Fuji but also Jim Cornette in this match. While fighting them off after almost the same finish as Summerslam, Crush would come down to the ring hitting Luger in the back of the head with a lead pipe. This would allow Yokozuna to drop the banzai drop and win back the WWF title from Lex Luger. Later in the night Bret Hart would go on to eliminate Owen Hart in the Royal Rumble. So coming out of this we would have set for Wrestlemania Crush vs. Lex Luger and Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna. Also in the background we would have Owen Hart against Randy Savage.
So comes Wrestlemania and Owen Hart defeats Randy Savage early in the night. Bret Hart would defeat Yokozuna and the crowd would be absolutely on fire for this. Also Lex Luger would defeat Crush pretty handily to get revenge on the man who cost him the title. So coming out of Wrestlemania Lex Luger would be placed in the King of the Ring tournament and Owen Hart would get a title shot against Bret Hart. Owen having been eliminated last in the rumble by Bret and also defeating a main event talent in Randy Savage would be the perfect opponent for Hart at King of the Ring. To lead up to King of the Ring we would get Tatanka claiming that Lex Luger had aligned himself with Ted Dibiase. This is obviously a storyline that would lead in actual time to Summerslam however we are speeding it up a bit. The brackets would be set for King of the Ring and we would see Luger and Tatanka in the finals of the tournament.
This would actually be a very good back and forth match and would lead to Tatanka setting up for the victory hitting his finisher on Luger. The referee would begin to count only to stop at two and a half. This would lead Tatanka to get up off Luger and look at the referee. Looking around to a crowd who is upset and intrigued all at the same time. He would grab the referee by the collar and shake him and money would fall out of the official’s pockets. Tatanka would grab the money looking around an realizing the referee had been paid off, he would turn around right into a forearm from Luger and Lex Luger would become the King of the Ring and align himself with Ted Dibiase. Also in this night Bret Hart would defeat Owen Hart in an absolute classic of a match.
We would now be on the road to Summerslam and Ted Dibiase would be the man who had all the main event talent going into the event. He would not only be “bringing back” the Undertaker but he would also now be the manager of the “King of Flex” Lex Luger. Luger’s new gimmick would be a cross between a “king” and his “narcissist” gimmick. We would now get a match that most would be looking forward to with Bret Hart defending his title against Lex Luger. Luger could spin that he joined Dibiase because the fans turned on him and started cheering for Bret. That he should have gotten the title match at Wrestlemania because he was screwed and at King of the Ring it should have been him and not Bret’s brother.
Chapter 1 – Bret Hart | Chapter 2 – Owen Hart | Chapter 3 – Brian Pillman | Chapter 4 – Daniel Bryan | Chapter 5 – Cody Rhodes | Chapter 6 – Kenny Omega | Chapter 7 – Zack Ryder | Chapter 8 – CM Punk
Much like what happened in the real world here Luger and Hart would not main event, they would take a backseat to Undertaker vs. Undertaker. Luger now with his new gimmick and new manager would be taking on the beloved Bret Hart and this would give Hart a new big heel to overcome. I think the dynamic and the visual between these two would be great. As Hart is one of the best sellers of all time and Luger looks like a god among men. The turn here could actually do a lot for Luger long term as he may be willing to stay with this new gimmick. Although it’s not likely as I know officials backstage were getting tired of him and Sting was rallying to bring him back in ’95 when Nitro launches. Who knows though as if he stays in the main event a bit longer with the heel turn he possibly could have been easier to work with and with Diesel getting a push the next year Luger could have been a great opponent for him. So to get to the finish we would have Hart defeat Luger with the sharpshooter and the crowd goes wild. So that’s all Luger likely finishes out his contract with WWF and leaves for WCW leading to a whole mess of character changes for him. Always send me your comments, your feedback and your ideas for what you believe would have happened. As always reach out to me @awesomephinatic and let me know who you would like to see next. Until next time be awesome.