35 Current WWE Stars And Their '90s Counterparts

2. Roman Reigns/Lex Luger

Roman Reigns and Lex Luger
WWE.com/WWE

The reaction to Roman Reigns over the last 6 months or so is hugely similar to what happened to Lex Luger way back in 1994.

With Hulk Hogan having departed the WWF, Vince McMahon was looking for his next “guy”. What about that Bret Hart guy, the one who is a surgeon in the ring and who the fans adore? No, no, don’t be stupid. Let’s push Lex Luger as an all-American musclebound hero who can rule the company for the next decade. Sound familiar?

The problem with Luger’s failed top tier push of the mid-‘90s isn’t that Lex wasn’t a decent worker, it was more that his ascension felt forced, manufactured and at the expense of who the fans really wanted to see: Bret Hart.

It goes without saying, this is the exact same pickle that Roman Reigns now finds himself in. His push was rushed, forced and delivered at the expense of the person who fans were clamouring to see: Daniel Bryan.

It seems inevitable that Roman will indeed become the face of the company at some point in the next year or two, whether fans like it or not, but here’s hoping that the powers that be have at least learnt something from the doomed Lex Express experiment.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.