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WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon was responsible for deciding the company's world title changes between 1982 and 2022. Lex Luger, one of wrestling's biggest names in the 1980s and 1990s, recently explained why McMahon did not make him world champion.
Luger looked set to dethrone Yokozuna at SummerSlam 1993 after being heavily promoted as WWE's top babyface ahead of the show. In an unexpected twist, The Total Package won the match via count-out, meaning Yokozuna retained the WWE Championship.
On his new Lex Expressed podcast, Luger said McMahon never intended for him to leave SummerSlam with the title:
"He never made me feel like I was gonna be the [main] babyface. Contrary to popular opinion, he never promised me the title or said I was gonna be the champion. That wasn't part of the [agreement], so I wasn't shocked that I didn't get it at SummerSlam, although it would have been helpful if I won it and lost it, obviously, with that big a build-up." [0:00 – 0:19]
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Throughout the summer of 1993, Vince McMahon marketed Luger as WWE's new American hero to fill the void left by Hulk Hogan. The former bodybuilder even traveled around the United States in a bus, known as the "Lex Express," to interact with fans.
When Vince McMahon considered making Lex Luger world champion
Bret Hart and Lex Luger co-won the 1994 Royal Rumble match after their feet landed on the ringside floor at the same time. While Luger unsuccessfully challenged Yokozuna for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 10, Hart defeated Yoko at the same event to capture the title.
According to Luger, Vince McMahon would like to have booked him to win the title at WrestleMania 10 due to the event's location:
"He always felt that if I was gonna win the title, he'd rather do it, make it special, The Garden [Madison Square Garden] was always a very special place for Vince (…) If he put the title on me, he wanted to do it at WrestleMania 10 at The Garden. So, really, SummerSlam was never really in the mix for me to win the title." [0:21 – 0:40]
Looking back, Luger added that it would have been a good idea for him to win the title at SummerSlam 1993 before immediately losing it again.
Do you think Vince McMahon should have made Lex Luger a world champion? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Lex Expressed and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
