8 Times WWE Tried (And Failed) To Recreate Their Past Success
7. The Lex Express Runs On An Empty Tank
One of the more nakedly obvious examples of WWE trying to recreate something, Lex Luger’s main event push in 1993 is a perfect example of Vince McMahon thinking he can just slap a new name on an old idea and hoping nobody notices. After Hulk Hogan left the company in the summer, Vince quickly pegged blonde, tall, and musclebound Luger to be his replacement.
An abrupt face turn occurred on the 4th of July, completely changing Luger’s narcissist persona into that of an all-American patriot, and what ensued was the Lex Express: essentially a goodwill tour designed to boost Lex’s popularity heading into his WWF Championship match against Yokozuna at SummerSlam. This included what is arguably the worst and best video ever.
Unfortunately, Vince evidently decided that a whopping month wasn’t enough of a build for the top babyface (no, really?), and rather than have Luger win the title at SummerSlam, he would instead give him a countout victory, instead holding off his coronation until WrestleMania the following year.
However, the countout had the unfortunate side-effect of killing all of Luger’s momentum. He spent the next two years waffling in obscurity while the likes of Bret Hart, The Undertaker, and Diesel dominated the main event scene of the New Generation Era.
It was the first time Vince overtly attempted to recreate a previous top star (though it certainly wouldn’t be the last).