Ranking All 30 WWE SummerSlam Main Events

With the departure of Hulk Hogan in 1993, Vince McMahon needed a new all-American hero to combat the evil forces in the WWF.

He decided to flip Lex Luger from a self-absorbed heel to a Made in the USA babyface. Luger turned and kicked off his feud with then-champ Yokozuna by boarding the USS Intrepid on Independence Day and bodyslamming the behemoth. After campaigning cross-country on the Lex Express, Luger got his title shot at SummerSlam.

The two carried on a perfectly serviceable match, except for one notable problem: it lacked a finish. After slamming Yokozuna and knocking him out of the ring with a forearm smash, Luger won the match – by count-out. Per the match stipulation, Luger would not get a rematch, thus having to wait until the Royal Rumble to earn another shot, which wouldn’t go so well for him.

For WWE, it was a lost opportunity to turn Luger into a “made man,” and his next world title reign would come four years later in WCW.