Was Luger the worst wrestler to get consistent push?

KONG-D'SNT-TAP said:
Yeah he was like a madman just screaming. I’d say he was better on the mic than Luger.
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Sid was briefly a better character than Luger, but that's pretty much 96-97, and not a full year on either side. He wasn't great before he was Psycho Sid, and by the time he got back to WCW his character was stale, even with the big push.

Better look than Luger, better character at peak, still had similar limitations.
 
drstrangelov said:
Sid was briefly a better character than Luger, but that's pretty much 96-97, and not a full year on either side. He wasn't great before he was Psycho Sid, and by the time he got back to WCW his character was stale, even with the big push.

Better look than Luger, better character at peak, still had similar limitations.
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Problem is Sid was an awful in ring worker. He was a typical stiff big man. But not in a good way like Vader or Hansen
 
Great as a heel in 89. After growing up on the NWA, that year was fantastic for the company.

Luger had too many face-heel turns, plus he blew his shot with the WWF in 93.
 
Remember When The Kliq politicked to have Luger go over Hogan on Nitro four or five months prior to the pay-per-view where Sting was to dethrone Hogan, thus taking a little bit of shine away from Sting before Hogan outright cancelled it that night on starrcade 1997?

Luger was mad over at that time though, seeing as he was the only WCW guy not living in the rafters that felt like a threat to the NWO, which demonstrates even more the missed opportunity that WCW had to get more and more people over at that time rather than just Lex Luger and Diamond Dallas Page.
 
KONG-D'SNT-TAP said:
He survived solely off his look and his body.

He had no charisma, no mic skills, and was a boring worker.

Same goes for Sid. Who was an even worse in ring worker.
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I disagree with this. Sid was a great presence in the ring through his facial expressions and his mannerisms. He looked the part. He wasn’t the best wrestler, but he was serviceable for a seven foot monster. He was also extremely over.

I don’t remember much about Lex Luger, but the Narcissist gimmick seemed to be a perfect fit for him. Trying to make him the next Hulk Hogan was a huge, stupid mistake.

I remember Kevin Nash taking the mick out of Sid because Vince wanted him to be the next Hulk Hogan, and Sid responded by saying that he “wanted to be a big, vicious heel”.

There is nothing wrong with playing to your strengths.

As far as the question goes, based of what I know, I’d go with the All American Lex Luger gimmick. I cannot think of anything more mediocre and cringeworthy then that.

What about Khali? He was at the top of the card for quite a while, or Kozlov, who had a great look but really should have been better...
 
Good Ole Stannis's BBQ said:
I don't think Luger was a bad wrestler. I can think of dozens of guys less over than him that got huge pushes.

While I don't think any are bad wrestlers Swagger, Seamus or Del Rio(US only) might be the best examples of what you're looking for though.
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Luger was never a great wrestler, never a great promo, was average in the ring and average at best on the mic. What he had was a superb look, body, and he certainly walked and carried himself like he was a star.

The difference between guys like Swagger, Sheamus, Del Rio (WWE pushed him but alot of it had to do with trying to build the Mexican/American market), and Luger is the fact that Luger was pushed as a top start for a legit 13 years. From about 1987-2000, Luger was always near or at the top of the card, feuding with all of the top stars. He never truly understood psychology and regardless of how much he was pushed, he never developed into a better wrestler in any aspect of pro wrestling. He was as polished in '89-90 as he was in '99-'00. Add to the fact that he was pushed as a top level talent everywhere he went as well, under different ownerships and booking committees is astounding to me.

PS, I wouldn't compare Sid to Luger. They had about the same ability but Sid was an absolute monster in terms of sheer size and look. Sid, being a giant, didn't need much really for me to buy that he could kill anyone especially in my younger years.
 
Luger was simply a good hand who always played along with management and got more than his abilities could ever have achieved. He first got over because Flair was on top and Crockett needed an 80's style babyface to battle. He played his part and was quite over as a whitemeat babyface. When Flair was fired/quit it was a disaster, made worse by the fact that Lex never got him and now needed to wrestle Windham for the belt. Turning him heel at that point elevated Lex's position as a loyal company guy even though it killed his character. It would be like Bryan coming back, winning the Rumble, going after Brock, only to face the Miz at Mania and only win by cheating.

He was upset to the point he wanted out, especially as the WBF had a job he could do much better, but still stayed on to job to uber-babyface Sting (unlike Flair). After Ferrigno couldn't come to a deal the WBF collapsed and Luger could have just collected cash but stayed in the Vince machine eventually becoming the Narcissus. With Hogan being a poison pill this endeared Luger to everyone so much they tried to, with no build, make him the new Hulk. Even worse, they scheduled a Summerslam match for him to get the belt and then delayed his win. His celebration of a count out win killed him further, as the fans got no conclusion in the main event and were expected to be happy.

He was never going to make it as a main eventer anyway, so doing what he was told seemed like the only way. If he had complained they could've buried him by the fall, and converted into a genie or some shit. When finally pushed where he belonged, a midcard face in a tag team, he went back to WCW (for no money) and once again got people behind him. Wrestling was a game to him, and he always played it well.
 
Just refreshed my childhood memory of The Narcissist Lex Luger.

Man, as The Narcissist, he was entertaining to watch. Had that arrogant attitude in spades, looked great and his presentation was top notch.

He wasn’t bad in the ring either. He had a great running clothesline, his running forearm looked devastating (especially with the metal plate storyline) and I liked the fact that he made a lot of noise in the ring, as it added to his intensity in his delivery.

The American gimmick was stupid but I could have absolutely bought Lex Luger as a main event era as The Narcissist.
 
GSPSAKU said:
Luger was never a great wrestler, never a great promo, was average in the ring and average at best on the mic. What he had was a superb look, body, and he certainly walked and carried himself like he was a star.

The difference between guys like Swagger, Sheamus, Del Rio (WWE pushed him but alot of it had to do with trying to build the Mexican/American market), and Luger is the fact that Luger was pushed as a top start for a legit 13 years. From about 1987-2000, Luger was always near or at the top of the card, feuding with all of the top stars. He never truly understood psychology and regardless of how much he was pushed, he never developed into a better wrestler in any aspect of pro wrestling. He was as polished in '89-90 as he was in '99-'00. Add to the fact that he was pushed as a top level talent everywhere he went as well, under different ownerships and booking committees is astounding to me.

PS, I wouldn't compare Sid to Luger. They had about the same ability but Sid was an absolute monster in terms of sheer size and look. Sid, being a giant, didn't need much really for me to buy that he could kill anyone especially in my younger years.
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Great no, average in the ring was all he needed to be, he wouldn't stand out as a weak promo today and everything else would be even more of an advantage for him.

This might take swagger out of it but he was still a pushed longer than khali and kozlov combined who have been mentioned. 6 years of a hard push for Seamus is still a long time for a floundering singles star before he was transitioned. I actually understand Del Rio initially a bit more than the other two, the difference in Mexico is something else. But after that I feel the way you do about Luger, Tna might be a huge step down but two different managements have had him in prominent positions. I even suspect that if it wasn't for his problem with hhh he would probably get another chance at a big run in wwe.

I'm a big Sid fan, Luger not so much, I just find a lot of his criticism OTT.
 
You people are well aware that it's fake and scripted, right? I don't understand how you can argue about events/people that could have only gone one way (according to script)
 
ScriptReadsMe said:
You people are well aware that it's fake and scripted, right? I don't understand how you can argue about events/people that could have only gone one way (according to script)
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yes most of us view it as a television show. It could have gone multiples ways depending on the whims of the people in charge.
 
ScriptReadsMe said:
You people are well aware that it's fake and scripted, right? I don't understand how you can argue about events/people that could have only gone one way (according to script)
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You still believe that its fake?
LOL are you learning disabled?
 
Should say Luger was worst actor, not wrestler. Ain't no wrasslin going on there.
 
Darth Nevets said:
Luger was simply a good hand who always played along with management
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Wasn't the feeling backstage when he left wwe that he was a pain in the ass and let wcw deal with him from almost everyone bar Vince? Bischoff couldn't stand him either.
 
ScriptReadsMe said:
You people are well aware that it's fake and scripted, right? I don't understand how you can argue about events/people that could have only gone one way (according to script)
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Wrestling is a rather unique medium where it’s basically a stage show, but people have opinions on what individual wrestlers do and do not deserve.

You don’t really see that in film or even in soap operas. Some people may want to see more out of a certain character but nothing as passionate about individuals as wrestling fans can be.
 
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