10 Wrestlers Too Big To Fail (That Failed Anyway)
3. Lex Luger (WWE: 1993-1995)
Lex Luger tripped over so that Roman Reigns could plummet.
One of WWE's first notable failures as a Hulk Hogan replacement, Luger's legacy has been unfairly tainted by his inability to replace the figurehead of Vince McMahon's campaign to move wrestling out of the territories and onto an international stage. He was supposed to be a like-for-like replacement. Vince wanted the aesthetic of another big, blonde muscleman coming through the main event door as another one departed. If it worked in the '80s, it'll work in the '90s, pal.
WWE went all-in on a wrestler who emerged as one of the sport's most promising rookies in the late '80s. The Lex Express took him around the States after his original Narcissist run but couldn't get Luger over at a main-event level, and certainly not to Hogan's level. Thus, Vince McMahon dialled back on plans to give him the World Heavyweight Championship, Lex flopped, but found a new way to send shockwaves through wrestling two years later: by jumping ship to WCW on the first episode of Nitro.
Had he come around 10 years prior, perhaps Luger would have stood a better chance in Vinceland.