10 Wrestlers Who Suffered From The Curse Of Comparison

In his early WWE run, Lex Luger showed promise as a narcissistic heel feuding with Mr. Perfect. It all started to fall apart when he was groomed to be the next Hulk Hogan. In 1993, ‘The Hulkster’ left wrestling behind to star in TV flop Thunder in Paradise. His last pay-per-view match with the company at King of the Ring saw him demolished by Yokozuna.

Luger was swiftly transformed from a narcissist to a hero, with his American pedigree pushed to the forefront. He picked up Hogan’s feud with Yokozuna and was booked to topple the monster, albeit via count out. The gimmick was Hogan-lite despite the company splashing out on the Lex Express campaign bus, and a helicopter entrance to Yokozuna’s Bodyslam Challenge aboard the USS Intrepid. The latter was essentially Hogan slamming Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III – now with 50% less pizzazz.

Costly publicity stunts increased the Hulkamania that haunted the new star, and only served to tie Luger to a bygone era. Even Hogan would soon evolve into his ‘Hollywood’ persona, damning Lex to being a dated parody at best.