10 Times Vince McMahon Had To Swallow His Pride

4. The Lex Express

Shortly after Hulk Hogan left WWE in June 1993, Vince McMahon was so obsessed with the indifferent numbers Bret Hart had posted that he believed finding the next 'Hulkster' was the only way to go. Then a heel, Lex Luger didn't really want to be like Hulk Hogan, but Vince's erection pulsed too hard to see that.

He threw more money at the push than any wrestler had ever seen in the entire history of the business, with the Luger Bus the cherry on this particularly misguided cake. Amazingly, it didn't work, and by the Royal Rumble some mere months later, fans were beginning to reject the idea. With WrestleMania hanging in the balance a co-winners gimmick was called for the Rumble with Vince needing to see which way the fans would go.

Unanimously they wanted Hart over Luger and in less than one year the entire project had fallen flat. Not convinced he could push Luger through regardless (how times change...) Bret Hart was given the main event against Yokozuna, with Luger facing the same man earlier in the night. A convoluted solution, but one Vince was forced into.