10 WWE Wrestlers Whose Patriotism Limited Their Potential
9. Lex Luger
Admittedly, Lex Luger was never the greatest wrestler between the ropes, but there was no denying that he was one of the most popular stars on the roster when he arrived on the WWE scene in 1993. As "The Narcissist", his stint started out shaky, but he had no trouble filling the void Hulk Hogan left behind when he departed the company that summer.
WWE desperately needed a new face to represent the United States the same way Hogan did, and Luger surely looked the part. Once he adopted the Lex Express and body slammed Yokozuna on the USS Intrepid, it was a seamless transition for him into the main event role.
The massive wave of momentum he was riding at the time should have led to him to unseating Yokozuna as WWE champion at SummerSlam, but officials still had their doubts. Thus, they had him win the match albeit via count-out, meaning the title didn't change hands.
The idea was that he would go on to capture the gold at WrestleMania X, but Bret Hart became immensely popular in that period, so Luger's days on top were short-lived. Vince went back and forth on the two but ultimately settled on The Hitman.
It is very likely that Luger could have experienced more singles success that year had he not been a one-dimensional patriot character. Once fans had seen enough of his shtick, they jumped off the bandwagon and he was never featured toward the top of the card again.