Former WWE Royal Rumble winner wishes he did not walk out on Vince McMahon
Lex Luger has admitted he felt “really bad” about the way he handled his departure from Vince McMahon’s WWE.
On September 4, 1995, Luger made a surprise appearance on the first episode of WCW Nitro. At the time, he was still in negotiations to extend his contract with WWE. However, as part of the deal he was offered by WCW, Luger had to abruptly leave WWE without informing them where he was going.
Speaking on Sean Waltman’s Pro Wrestling 4 Life podcast, Luger said WCW executive Eric Bischoff did not want anyone to spoil his Nitro appearance. As a result, he did not give Vince McMahon any indication that he was joining WWE’s biggest rivals.
“It was hard to keep a secret, so Eric wanted to be totally secret to leave. I was still negotiating on a handshake to stay in WWE, and for me to walk out there and not give any notice to Vince, looking back now, I wish I hadn’t done that. I did what I thought was best at the time for my career. Me, myself, and I. Hopefully if I’d have done it again, I wouldn’t have done that to Vince. I felt, even back then, felt really bad about that.”
A documentary about Lex Luger is due to air in the next few months as part of the WWE Icons series on the WWE Network. The first two episodes of the series focused on Beth Phoenix and Yokozuna. Luger, The British Bulldog and Rob Van Dam will be the subjects of future episodes.
Lex Luger’s final appearances for Vince McMahon
Despite uncertainty over his contract, Lex Luger competed for Vince McMahon’s WWE in the days leading up to his WCW Nitro debut.
One day before joining WCW, The Total Package teamed up with Shawn Michaels to defeat Owen Hart and Yokozuna at a WWE live event.
The likes of Bruno Sammartino and The Ultimate Warrior have received WWE Hall of Fame inductions despite previously having disagreements with Vince McMahon. Lex Luger was a prominent performer for both WWE and WCW throughout the 1990s. However, he has still never been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
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