How Vince McMahon Destroyed Typecasting In WWE
McMahon was still looking for "the next" Hulk Hogan before he realised the first Steve Austin was the real answer to his problems. En route to 'The Rattlesnake' he took one of his most expensive wrong terms on a f*cking massive bus. The Lex Express' translucent windows couldn't hide the transparency of the gimmick himself. Lex Luger looked like the United States had vomited on him, which was ironically as close as the gimmick came to representing the true feelings of the audience.
Frustratingly, he'd got Luger right on Day One. Signed for his World Bodybuilding Federation ahead of a transition to the wrestling when that collapsed (because of course it did), 'The Narcissist' was allegedly not that hard a role for Lex to do the method work on. That his body was every bit a 'Total Package' during a crackdown on steroids sold the persona too. He wasn't a patriotic babyface, but - distracted by his struggling empire and an incoming federal trial - McMahon was desperate for a quick fix, and size was a safety net.
Sound familiar?