While the Lex Express completely missed out on the Invasion angle in 2001 after WCW went out of business, that bus sputtered into the TNA parking lot for one night in 2003. Luger was a big name during the Monday Night War, but it felt sleazy for TNA to bring him in. Earlier that year, Luger made headlines after his girlfriend, the wrestling manager Miss Elizabeth, overdosed in his home and died in his arms. He was subsequently arrested and charged with 14 counts of drug possession. For a company trying to gain an identity, this was the wrong way to go about it. The match Luger took part in was teaming up with Jeff Jarrett to take on A.J. Styles and his old friend Sting. While Lugers physique was still impressive, his wrestling skills had greatly deteriorated. And they had been pretty lousy since the 80s anyway. He basically posed and threw punches, while Styles bumped around like crazy to get something out of him. In the end, Luger was rolled up, which didn't really put over Styles. Luger eventually showed back up in the company in 2006 as a potential partner for Sting. He wasnt chosen. He later inducted Sting into the companys hall of fame, and that was the last we saw of him. For all the money and fame he earned in WCW and WWE, Luger had one pretty embarrassing match in TNA before disappearing from the national scene.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
