Lex Luger Talks Death Of Elizabeth, Working For Vince, Why He Left WWF, Sting Vs. 'Taker
Joshua Modaberi recently interviewed Lex Luger for Wrestling101. In the interview, Luger discussed getting his name, the death of Miss Elizabeth, working for Vince McMahon and more. Here are some highlights:
Why he left the WWF for WCW: "It was really a last minute thing, I was planning on re-signing, my contract was actually up with the WWE and I actually worked when my contract was up as a free agent for them which nobody knew about and was kept confidential between Vince McMahon and I whilst we were both working out the new long term contract I was going to sign.
"Then I just had a casual conversation with Sting, it came out I was a free agent and I didn't know WCW were planning a Monday night show. It all kind of came together at the last minute and I ended up signing with WCW on the day of the [first Nitro] show."
If it's true that Eric Bischoff didn't want to sign him but Sting persuaded him: "Yeah it pretty much was, Sting was excited at the opportunity of bringing me in and Eric wasn't such a big Lex Luger fan but he ended up giving me the opportunity to come in and it was a great journey after that. He said he couldn't give me a big contract but he would look after me, and he did, he would up my contacts and would renew them months in advance, he treated me very well."
How he would compare Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff: "Eric was very competitive, very creative, obviously he was very successful and when WCW was leading in the rating he was the main driving force behind that. Vince runs things a little bit differently, he's more of an entrepreneur spirit and marketing psychology genius, and obviously WWE is a worldwide conglomerate.
"Both have a lot of talents and abilities, a little bit different styles and Vince is a lot more of a hands on guy in different departments, whereas Eric is best dealing with the talent and storyline stuff."
The death of Miss Elizabeth: "I've definitely made some poor choices throughout my career. Wrestling was always wonderful and I had the great career I've talked about but we have a real life behind the scenes. I had a wonderful wife, my son and daughter; I was living in a mansion on a golf course in Atlanta.
"However I was leading a double life, womanizing, parting, doing drugs and kept it all secret. We reap what we sow, it's universal law and it all came uncovered with the Elizabeth tragedy overdosing in a secret townhouse I had in Atlanta when I had my family on the other side of town. I was definitely leading a very selfish and reckless lifestyle outside of wrestling. I'm very thankful that I met some people and god put some people in my life that showed me there is another way to live."
His current relationship with WWE and working with them on their Wellness Policy: "I have a good relationship with the WWE now, and I take part in one-on-one meetings and help in any way I can with the current Superstars there and even some of the retired wrestlers.Visit Wrestling Inc. Working with a lot of the young guys is a lot of fun and if I can encourage them in any way and steer them in the right direction if they are having any problems, I'm happy to help."
His thoughts on a potential Sting vs. Undertaker match at WrestleMania 30: "Well as a fan of wrestling I would love to see it happen, I think that match would be absolutely off the chain. I know Sting loves his time in TNA but at the same time he's never told me he has refused the idea of ever going to WWE. Man that would be awesome if they ever had a match like that, I would love it."
Source: Wrestling 101