Lex Luger admits 24-time Champion always had a "special aura" about him (Exclusive)
Soon-to-be WWE Hall of Famer Lex Luger was asked about one of the only opponents he has never faced - a 24-time Champion who just so happens to be one of the most influential men in the wrestling industry today. Luger admitted that there was always a "special aura" about him.
Speaking to Sportskeeda Wrestling's Bill Apter in an exclusive interview, Lex Luger was asked about his thoughts on going into the WWE Hall of Fame alongside the 14-time world champion Triple H.
Lex Luger said that he knew Triple H from his early days and said that there was always a special aura about him. However, he acknowledged that he couldn't have anticipated the long-term impact that Triple H still has today.
"It's really cool to go in [to the WWE Hall of Fame] with him [Triple H]. I saw him back in his Hunter Hearst Helmsley days, and he always had a special aura about him, but who would have thought, right? And now he's the head of creative and the driving force behind a lot of incredible things on a global stage. With the merger with TKO and Endeavor, he's right in the middle of all of that. So, wow. To go in with him, it's kind of a new era of WWE, so to speak." (0:34-1:18)
You can watch the full video below:
Lex Luger opened up on the Hulk Hogan comparisons
History has remembered Lex Luger as the man whom WWE attempted to push as Hulk Hogan's successor. While they tried their luck with The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 6, his run as WWE's top babyface didn't work out. Luger arguably suffered a worse fate as a babyface.
Despite the comparisons, Luger told Bill Apter that he was never viewed as a replacement for Hulk Hogan:
"You know, Bill, I get that all the time, and I always tell people, I mean, my gosh, the Rocky movie, Hulk Hogan had such an incredible run and just really one of the first guys to really transcend wrestling itself as a pop culture phenomenon that we'd never seen in wrestling before. There was never gonna be a replacement for Hulk Hogan. I never thought that. Vince McMahon never thought that or talked about that with me." [3:09 – 3:45]
While there's certainly truth in this statement, as WWE likely knew that Hogan couldn't be "replaced" in terms of the impact he had, they still attempted to make Luger their next top star.
The issue seemingly came with WWE's execution of it and the fact that Bret Hart was the brightest and hottest young star in the company. While Luger received a SummerSlam main event against Yokozuna for the WWE Title in 1993 and won the Royal Rumble alongside Bret Hart in 1994, "The Hitman" proved to be undeniable.
That's perhaps the reason why Luger lost to Yokozuna by disqualification at WrestleMania 10, while Hart defeated Yokozuna in the main event that same night to become the WWE Champion.
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