100 Worst WWE Matches Ever - 71 - Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna
WWE Championship - Wrestlemania X
The Lex Luger WWE push is retrospectively one of the funniest pushes in wrestling history. In 1993, WWE embarked on a super aggressive "please cheer this man" campaign to fill the massive void left by Hulk Hogan, in the hopes of turning him from the flailing Narcissist gimmick to the company’s top babyface hero in just a matter of weeks. Anyone that followed my top 100 WCW matches list on the forum will know I'm a massive Luger fan, both as a face and a heel. However, one thing that he certainly is not, is Hulk Hogan. Wrestling fans are stupid, but they're not that stupid, and for the most part managed to see through the facade of this Lex Luger push in the same way fans saw through the ill attempts with Roman Reigns in 2015.
After turning face the previous month, WWE jumped in with both feet on the Lex Express, vaulting him to the WWE Championship match against Yokozuna after slamming him on the USS Intrepid. He had a massive campaign tour around the country, going from town to town to promote his upcoming championship match. Everything surrounding Summerslam 1993 was seemingly set up for the babyface hero Lex Luger to defeat Yokozuna for Uncle Sam, the troops, and dying American children.
Of course we are not talking about the Summerslam match here, which is pretty good, up until the ending where, for whatever reason, WWE got cold feet and didn't pull the trigger on the Luger title win giving him arguably the bluest balls in wrestling history. Luger won the match via count out (looking quite satisfied to win in that manner too), in an ending so mind numbingly stupid that it's difficult to think of a worse ending to any WWE pay per view ever. Luger won the match, but didn’t claim the title - not that you would know this from watching the over the top celebrations following his victory over Yokozuna. A bizarre outcome when you consider just how much WWE were leaning into Luger as the all American saviour up to and including Summerslam.
Summerslam 1993, and the celebrations of a man who did not win the WWE Championship.
After this, Luger's popularity dipped massively, while Bret Hart's only soared as 1993 went on. WWE once again got cold feet at the 1994 Royal Rumble. Rather than committing to either man they had both win the match leading to Wrestlemania X where Luger would challenge Yokozuna for the WWE Championship. Bret Hart, who would wrestle Owen at Wrestlemania X, would face the winner in the main event of the show.
Fast forward seven months from Summerslam 1993, and now Lex Luger is nowhere near as popular as he was in the summer. Funnily enough, when you have a wrestler with a reputation of being a choker - going all the way back to his WCW days - having him fail to capture the title in the biggest match of his career doesn't help their popularity.
This is the first of two WWE Championship matches at Wrestlemania X. Mr Perfect is your special guest referee, who Luger had defeated at Wrestlemania IX, a fact that may play into this later.
The match is ticking away nicely to start with some fun near falls, including one by Yokozuna that played off the bodyslam on the USS Intrepid. Mr Perfect is calling the match right down the middle so no whacky shenanigans there.
Of course, something has to go wrong to propel the match to the list. This match makes this list, not just off the back of horrendous booking of this whole situation (seriously, how could I have a worst of WWE list without finding a place for American hero, Lex Luger). But also what feels like the longest rest hold in wrestling history. Yokozuna gets in a nerve pinch that goes on…. forever. This is the second match in a row that makes the list based on sheer laziness of the wrestlers involved. The crowd realise this nerve pinch makes up over half of this 14 minute match, and a small portion of the MSG crowd chant boring. By the time Luger makes his comeback there is no heat for it whatsoever as they’re bored out of their minds. I wish I had more to say about the match, but honestly that’s about it. It’s some token early spots, then a never ending resthold, and then the finish.
The match ends as Yokozuna’s managers Jim Cornette and Mr Fuji jump onto the apron. Luger pulls them both into the ring, which annoys Mr Perfect who subsequently disqualifies Luger after an exchange of words. The finish makes little sense because if Mr Perfect wanted to screw Luger out of the match, why not disqualify him when he throws Yokozuna into the exposed turnbuckle earlier in the match?
The crowd chants bullshit to the finish as Yokozuna moves on to the main event. Poor Lex was now out of the world title picture in WWE forever, and wouldn’t truly recover his popularity until WCW came calling 18 months later. To rub salt into the wounds, the Mr Perfect versus Lex Luger feud never g
ot going, as the two never had a match after Wrestlemania X. Luger would spend the rest of his WWE run in various midcard feuds with Ted DiBiase, Tatanka, and dropped so far as to open next year’s Wrestlemania in a tag match against the Harris Brothers.
Ultimately the story of the all conquering Herculean-like American hero to replace Hulk Hogan ended in the most fitting way possible. With a 6 foot tall Canadian lifting the WWE championship. The closest Luger ever got to the WWE Championship again was lifting the victorious Bret Hart in the closing moments of Wrestlemania X. A penny for Lex’s thoughts at this very moment.
Up Next - don’t go too far Yokozuna fans as you’re back up next with a match that may upset a few people by its inclusion.
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