10 Wrestling Shock Signings You NEVER Saw Coming

7. Lex Luger To WCW

The Undertaker Starrcast
WWE.com

The maiden shot in the Monday Night Wars, Lex Luger's debut appearance on Monday Nitro's debut edition carried with it all the weight of The Undertaker's image being splashed across Starrcast's relatively small Twitter page.

Though not the star he'd briefly been back in 1993, Luger was still a feature performer on a WWE roster otherwise barren. Though not exactly surplus to requirements, the former 'Total Package's contract talks hadn't been properly prioritised by Vince McMahon's freewheeling Federation in the summer of 1995, and a relationship with Sting was all Luger needed to get the conversation he wanted with a largely disinterested Eric Bischoff.

'Easy E' was surprised to get a yes from a lowball offer, but got double what he paid for when he trotted his returning star out ahead of a Sting/Ric Flair encounter on the explosive first Nitro. Audiences that hadn't watched on Night One had to the following week, and Bischoff's first strike inspired several others than helped give WCW all the necessary momentum ahead of their most propserous period.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett