7 WWE Good Guys The Fans Hated

Luger had been acquired by Titan Sports in 1992, coming straight from the main event scene in WCW. McMahon knew Lex, as WCW Heavyweight Champion when he left, wouldn’t be able to compete for him as a wrestler due to a no-compete clause. That didn’t stop McMahon, who wanted Luger to be the face of his newest venture; the World Bodybuilding Federation.

Luger’s scheduled appearance, at the WBF Championship in 1992, was cancelled after Lex crashed his motorcycle, badly injuring his arm. The WBF lasted about two years before Vince gave up. The shows are hilariously camp; McMahon commentating on two hours of oiled-up musclemen posing while yelling his support. At least one person enjoyed the WBF.

By the time Luger was fit to compete the WBF had folded, Vince using their TV slot to shill his supplements under the ICOPRO banner, and Lex’s no-compete clause had expired. To begin with McMahon utilised Luger as a narcissistic heel who vainly stared into mirrors. The gimmick wasn’t a particularly good idea and Luger was terribly wooden in the role but at least Lex was given something different to play with. When Hulk Hogan left, McMahon switched gears on Luger. No sooner had the Hulkster headed out of the exit, Lex was turned face and became an All-American hero, body-slamming evil foreigner Yokozuna on the USS Intrepid on American Independence Day 1993.

After that turn Luger was carted around the United States on a tour bus dubbed the “Lex Express”, culminating in a championship match at Summerslam ’93. Here is where things got a bit bizarre as the crowd didn’t turn on Lex first but rather Vince McMahon decided to wait until WrestleMania to put the title on Lex. Luger’s failure to capture the belt at the right time, when he had all the momentum, cooled him off. By the time the Royal Rumble came around McMahon’s grand plan was in ruins. The fans had become indifferent toward Luger and instead were rooting for Bret Hart. An everyman Canadian grappler who’d captured the hearts of the audience with his gutsy performances and strong in-ring abilities.

The ending of the 1994 Royal Rumble saw Luger and Hart declared co-winners. The crowd’s reaction is what was most interesting. Both on that event and on future WWF shows the crowd favoured Hart. If you watch the pause between the finish of the Rumble match and the announcement of who won the crowd are chanting “Bret”. It changed McMahon’s mind and it was Bret who was anointed WWF Champion at WrestleMania X while Luger came up short in his title match. From there Lex was supposed to feud with Mr Perfect, who’d had a hand in his ‘Mania failure disqualifying Luger as a guest referee. However Perfect was injured and Luger was left in limbo. A victim of Vince McMahon’s obsession with recreating the Hogan character.

Luger hopped back over to WCW in 1995, appearing on the first Nitro and firing a big opening shot in the Monday Night War. The WWF’s audience had told Vince McMahon they didn’t want to see Luger as champion and, for once, McMahon listened and changed his plans. The following year he’d go back to behaving normally.