Lex Luger On His Surprise WCW Nitro Debut, Why Lex Express Tanked

In the late 1990s, the Monday Night Wars between WCW and WWF changed professional wrestling, and Lex Luger was part of one of the iconic moments in the opening of that heated competition between the two promotions. Luger made a surprise appearance at the end of the first episode of WCW Monday Nitro, which aired live from the Mall of America in Minneapolis, MN, and did so on a Monday when Raw had been pre-empted.

During an interview with Hannibal TV, Luger shared that very few people knew about his surprise WCW debut. Luger had been with the WWF up until just a few days before his appearance on Nitro, leaving the promotion when his contract expired after Summerslam of that year.

Luger told Hannibal TV that "very few" people knew of his return to WCW before it happened. 

"I think Sting and Eric Bischoff. Maybe one other," he recalled.

Luger went on to describe his appearance on the debut episode of Nitro as one of the highlights of his second WCW run.

"The Mall Of America, the first show of the Monday Night Wars, was awesome," he said.

Luger also noted his WCW World Title win over Hulk Hogan in August of 1997 as another highlight.

"Just to be a part of that whole era was so much fun to be a part of," Luger said.

Luger spent the bulk of his career in WCW, first joining the promotion in 1987 when it was owned by Jim Crockett Promotions. After the ownership change to Ted Turner, he remained with the promotion until early 1992, when his contract expired. The next year, Luger debuted in the WWF as a vainglorious heel dubbed "The Narcissist" but, that summer, he turned face and started using a patriotic gimmick that involved touring the country in a red, white and blue bus dubbed "The Lex Express" to help promote his match with WWF Champion Yokozuna at Summerslam of that year. The gimmick never really resonated, however, as Luger noted in the interview.

"I had a great time," Luger said of the Lex Express run. "I don't know about the fans, I had a great time with The Lex Express. That'd be a question for the fans. I don't know. I had a good time with it. That wouldn't be a question to ask me, that'd be fans or Vince McMahon or whatever."

Click here to check out Luger's full interview with Hannibal TV.