Lex Luger Recalls Being In A 'Very Dark Place' As Wrestling Career Went South

The wrestling business isn't always kind to the men and women who've chosen to pursue it. Even the few who've managed to reach superstar status, like Lex Luger, have experienced great personal tragedies along the way. Once considered one of the industry's top stars, Luger's battles with demons have been well documented, most recently in an episode of A&E's Biography: WWE Legends series. Despite past addictions and a freak spinal cord injury that's left him frail and in a wheelchair, Luger has become a textbook example of redemption, despite losing much of the physique that made him a star in the first place. 

During a recent appearance on the "Busted Open" podcast, Luger credited the support of friends like Diamond Dallas Page with helping him through that dark period.

"[I] could only move my head," Luger recalled. "Dallas would come down, work with me ... Dallas was like, "Bro, bro, that's good! You're moving something! You're moving something!"

Most wrestling fans and insiders feel it's only a matter of time before Luger gets the call for the WWE Hall of Fame. Luger said his dream is to be able to ditch the wheelchair and make that walk to the podium on his own power, and says he's working tirelessly with DDP to make that happen.

"I can stand for short periods of time, but I haven't walked in a long time," Lugar said. "We're gonna work on that."

Should Luger eventually receive the call for induction, he said it would only be fitting for Sting to be the one to induct him. After all, it was Luger who inducted Sting into the TNA Hall of Fame back in 2012m, and Luger was recently in attendance at Sting's last match at AEW Revolution.