Original subtitles

Put the camera on my man. Put the camera on Luger!

We recognize Lex Luger, the total package, as the greatest wrestling

to ever come along.

Guy looks like a million dollars. I mean, really, one of the top five

Yeah,

he was full of himself and he had every right to be.

I've won every major title and I've looked better than everyone else doing

every day of my life!

He came off as arrogant sometimes.

The most egotistical, narcissistic man this sport has ever created.

Lex didn't like being around people.

We shouldn't be getting this stuff on camera.

I don't know if this is the guy.

He built his entire career on his presence and his athletic look.

He needs to be in Lex Luger.

And he went through hell.

Self -imposed hell.

Lawrence Fole, better known as Lex Luger, accused of possessing and selling

drugs.

I really wasn't thinking of others. I was thinking more of just myself.

Me, myself, and I.

I'm scared of death.

Deaths. I was in with drugs and alcohol to be...

Sitting here in front of this camera talking to you is just an absolute

of God.

I grew up in Buffalo, New York, blue -collar town, immigrant town.

City of good neighbors.

People that are very genuine, authentic.

I just loved it.

My family was musically orientated, academically and musically orientated.

But I just loved sports.

When I got to high school age, I kind of zeroed in on basketball.

I started lifting weights.

My whole family was like, what happened to Larry?

The way my body developed, that probably if I had a future beyond high school in

a sport, it was definitely going to be football.

My dad didn't really see my vision for where I was going to go in sports

potentially, so he thought it was more of a wasted effort because he was a

virtuoso pianist.

He would not sign my permission slip to play football.

My freshman year in high school is when I started playing football, and I forged

his name.

He didn't even know I was playing football at the time.

He saw himself as a running back. He was tall and lean.

He had great speed, good size.

So I said to him, you know, Larry, you really could be a much better help with

us playing linemen.

And he goes, no, no. He says, I'm a running back. I said, I'll give you a

I said, you could be a running back until you fumble.

Well, he fumbled the first practice.

So I sent him to the line coach.

Jim Burt, who had a couple of Super Bowl rings in his career, and Craig Wolfley,

who played 13 years for Steelers, were teammates of mine.

Wolfley and Burt and myself were able to train with a world champion

powerlifter. His name was Don Reinhardt. World's strongest man, Don Reinhardt.

There is a powerhouse.

It was built like a, you know what, just a phenomenal physique.

And a true athlete.

I was kind of awestruck.

He came across as a bit arrogant, and I guess that's not even surprising.

We're talking about a high school athlete who had this kind of an amazing

was a fantastic athlete.

I always had high expectations for myself. People always said, I never

confidence, that's for sure.

He kind of had that swagger about him, you know? That was his confidence in

himself.

He was an enigma. He was relatively quiet, very hardworking.

But he also was more me than we.

I believe there's no I in the word team, and he sometimes was the I.

Let's go!

I went to Penn State my freshman year

because it was nearby.

I met my ex -wife Peggy freshman year in study hall.

She was, as Larry, very disciplined into the nutrition part of going to the gym

and was a very fine athlete. She used to run track at Penn State.

But after my freshman year and spending the winter in State College, after

growing up in Buffalo, I transferred to Miami after my freshman year to Sunshine

U, we called it back then.

He sat at the bench as a freshman.

He said, either play me or cut me.

So, of course, Paterno cut him.

Larry Pohl was a member of that Penn State team. Now he's a Miami Hurricane

player. The offensive lineman transferred to Miami this summer and is

redshirting this season. He won't be able to play Saturday, but he's provided

the coaching staff and squad members some insights about Penn State.

I played offensive line, Ben. They've asked me how they run some of their

which I pretty much know.

We actually played against each other in college.

He at the University of Miami.

myself at Florida State University.

He had good mobility.

He had the size.

He had the smarts. He had the strength.

You really had to be on your A game when you were playing against them.

I see the confidence.

I see, like, in practice, the atmosphere.

The more you win, the more confidence you get.

I had a great time while I was there.

Went to the beach and got in a couple fights.

We did a little damage to our on -campus apartment when a party got.

Kind of carried away.

Only lasted about a year and a half there.

I got suspended.

I dropped out of school.

I wasn't old enough to play in the NFL. I ended up signing with the Canadian

football.

66, Larry Full.

They say he may be the strongest man in the league. He was a young man.

And so there was a lot of growing and experience that he had to gain.

Having to mature, having to learn to become more coachable. David Green

But it's recovered by Montreal's Larry Poole.

I ended up playing there almost three seasons.

When he was in the midst of a contract negotiation, he asked if I would act as

his agent. He said, Tom, I know what I need. I know what I want. I just need

somebody who I can trust.

He then aged up to become eligible for the NFL, which was kind of the dream.

Ended up coming down and signing with Green Bay.

Offensive line, it's not the type of position where you're looking for

headlines. It's personal satisfaction and knowing that your teammates know

whether you're doing the job or not. And there is an opportunity here, and it

always comes down to how well you play.

Well, when they saw him, they couldn't believe it. I mean, here's a guy that's,

I don't know, roughly 6 '4", 272 pounds, with a 4 '6", 40 at that size, a

32 -inch vertical jump. I mean, he had stats.

that they couldn't believe.

His physical credentials made the coaching staff sit up and take notice.

But Fole spent the season on the injured reserve list with a groin injury.

They were pretty high on me, but I was injury prone when I was there, which

stuff happens sometimes.

And I don't know if my attitude was the best.

He let his ego get in his way. He wasn't ready for the discipline that is

required.

to be successful at that level.

I was definitely looking to make another move.

I actually went to Barchard's office and asked him if I could be relieved.

To be honest with you, I was really looking to leave Green Bay and go to the

USFL because that was down in Tampa.

They had banded balls. Coach Steve Spurrier, the old ball coach, said I

buying a house down there and got the opportunity to play down there.

I never was quite happy where I was at. I always thought there had to be

something more. So that was even kind of manifesting itself and starting back

then.

Well, the USFL was folding.

And in Memphis, when I played football there for the Memphis Showboats, that

a big wrestling town, Jerry, the King Laurel.

Everywhere I went around that town, because of my physique, everybody's

are you a pro wrestler? And I'm like, man, what is it with this town?

I go, I'm a football player.

And some of the guys said, you should do that.

Football played a good financial head start for me, but I was looking for

opportunities. The competitive aspects of professional wrestling were very

appealing to me, the one -on -one aspect.

And being sort of the free spirit personnel that I was, wrestling was very

attractive in that sense also.

I looked into it in the offseason.

played for Tampa, had bought a home there.

I was married at that point, my wife Peggy, and I ended up walking in the

championship wrestling in Florida, and I walked into the office, and they told

me to go talk to Hiro Matsuda.

They came from Japan, a judo champion, and he made it in pole wrestling, and it

did well for his family. He had a real respect for the wrestling business, and

he taught that to me.

He was really dialed in on doing flexibility training and a lot of the

things outside, just going to the gym.

When you are trained by Matsuda, you are trained thoroughly. He trains these

people until they can't walk, until they can't stand up.

Turn the air conditioning off until there's a puddle of sweat, and he did

everything with you.

It was brutal, and I absolutely loved it.

I watched him go through the routine with Matsuda's workouts.

He was a kink -nest guy.

I finished his requirements, as he called them, to get the privilege of

in the ring within about a couple months, which was like almost record

him.

I never even looked into getting back in the NFL or after UCF up older because

my pro wrestling career began in the offseason.

My training, and I ended up making my debut.

This is Championship Wrestling from Florida.

And for the next hour, I'll guarantee you we've got a lot of excitement

upcoming.

Right before my first time out on TV, I was sitting in the wrestling office,

Championship Wrestling of Florida.

They go, well, what's your name? I go, I don't have a wrestling name.

They're thinking, oh my gosh, they're going to send me out to TV in like an

hour. So they all looked at each other, what do we call him? What do we call

him? I kind of like raised my hand, like I got a name.

Favorite TV show was number one on television back then was Tom Selleck and

Magnum P .I.

Everybody just called him Magnum. Well, if he can be called Magnum, I was trying

to be creative.

I should be called Luger, which is a German firearm.

Put the camera on my man. Put the camera on Luger!

My man, Gordon, is here today.

You got a first name? I go, well, yeah, Lex.

Lex Luthor was a villain in the comic book, so I said...

Lex Luger.

Here's Lex Luger.

I was excited about the opportunity in wrestling.

Thought it might be a lot of fun.

And it kind of worked out pretty good.

Now we're going to see Luger for his first time here on Championship

Lex Luger, I managed him in his very first match.

He was horrible.

Horrible.

pretty difficult because he was new and he had his own mind about him.

But I guess most guys were until they learned the trade.

My debut was my first time I'd ever been to a live pro wrestling match.

That's how little I knew about it.

I'm like, holy smoke, that's Larry.

He's the one that kind of led me into trying to start a career in professional

wrestling. And I'm forever grateful to him.

But he came in and kind of changed the stereotype of what people perceive

professional wrestlers to look like.

Lex Luger was one of the most physically impressive guys to get in the wrestling

business in the 80s.

The problem was he had never been a wrestling fan and didn't know anything

it. But he had amazing genetics and incredible physique.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won every physique contest in the world, I don't

think he has anything on the physique of the Luger here.

So he was immediately pushed to the top.

Presently the Southern Heavyweight Champion and the Florida Television

here he is, Lex Luger.

To win the big title down there was, like, pretty incredible.

I only had just a few matches under my belt. I didn't even know enough about

wrestling to appreciate the opportunity.

I just started my wrestling career when we had Brian on January 1st in 1986.

Our family life at home was good, and my career took off like a rocket ship down

there. It was incredible.

Now you see the

NWA champion, Flair, driven up to the front of the Spartan Sports Center.

I'm the traveling world champion.

And as a traveling world champion, I worked different territories.

One of the territories was the Florida Territory.

I flew in so they'd say, we've got a kid here who just started.

We want you to wrestle him for an hour.

Ever from all over the country, I just wanted to see this match between me and

Ric Flair.

It's billed as the present champion, as good champion is, versus the future

champion. First time I laid eyes on Ric, he pulled up with that custom suit and

the sunglasses and the...

gold and the Rolex watch and diamonds. I was real nervous, but man, I was all

in, man. I was, man, I want to be like him. He was styling and profiling. At

that stage of my life, who wouldn't want to be like Rick?

I met him. I was like, wow.

You're a great, great young wrestler.

This guy looks like a million dollars. I mean, one of the top five physiques in

all the time I've been in the business.

60 minutes left. You'll see these men compete.

I said, listen to the champ.

That's all his job was.

Flair was a veteran and Luger was a rookie.

Luger bringing him up, pressing him over his head.

A full slam once again on the champion by the challenger, Lex Luger. And Lex

Luger can feel it.

And Flair made him look like a million dollars.

He's making that to be tossed.

Tremendous strike with Lex Luger.

And, uh...

I was so mad.

It wasn't his fault at all, but an hour when you're green and can't do anything,

it just was a long night.

It is a draw, and Ric Flair retains the World Heavyweight Championship.

Learning on the fly and learning how to work are two different things.

But next time I get to Crockett, which is my home territory, I told Jimmy, I

said, you ought to see this kid in Tampa, man. He's built, phenomenal,

football, legit athlete.

Back in the 80s, Jim Crockett promotions grew to a national

power.

We were bringing in young talent that we thought had yet matched it up with some

of the old guys so that young guys could learn.

Luger, he's got a great body. He's got great potential.

He just needs some experience.

Jimmy said, well, he said, the horseman thing is red hot. We are!

We're talking about the cream of the crop, the most successful group of

wrestlers anywhere in the world.

The four horsemen, Flair, Tully, Arn, Ole, and myself.

If there was one person whose personality didn't seem to fit in with

else's, it probably would have been Ole.

If we were going to spin somebody off, that Ole would have been the one to spin

off. And we basically kicked him out.

We could bring Lex in and protect him by putting him in among a group that's

going to help speed up the process and take some of the pressure off of him.

that's what happened.

Mr. Lex Luger is officially the fourth most.

Oh, here's a fresh guy coming in.

God, he does look good, and he's a new face.

Because you see, this right here is the finest.

physical specimen in professional sports today.

And we could take and we could help bring him along. And he's receptive

he realizes that he's stepping into an enviable situation that other guys would

die for. He was the right place at the right time.

I knew about the Four Horsemen, but I didn't realize how big a group they

What's going on in this sport?

My associations with them and the rub we called, I got off all those guys that

skyrocketed my career and really launched it.

Lex Luger, my kind of man.

He styles, he profiles, and most of all, he likes this.

I wanted to really pattern myself after Nate. I asked him if I could wear one of

those robes.

He let me go to his robe girl. She made me a glittery robe.

There he is.

I was definitely a different lifestyle. Flying in private jets or first class

and staying at nice hotels.

Went to the gym together. We hung out together and socialized and had beers

had fun.

He had a Rolex for two weeks. He was a horse, I think.

And he went and bought the Mercedes.

I blame Rick for my profligate lifestyle when I was wrestling.

But he was a great mentor to me.

Along with Aaron and Tully and JJ, be around those guys.

At that early stage, I was just barely out of my rookie year. It was enormous.

Lex Luger was immediately the main event guy.

I will go down in history as the greatest U .S. champion there ever was.

on, guys!

He got the first guaranteed contract that Crockett had given out.

The total package.

Look at it!

Crockett was saying, okay, Vince McMahon is my only competition.

Lex Luger looks perfect for Vince McMahon, so I've got to get him first.

This did not go over well with anybody else in the locker room because Luger

a totally unproven commodity.

All the other guys, the veterans, they had to work against him. They had to

as his partner. They had to cover up for this so he could go out and flex and

pose.

Larry was tough to work with, and he was so stiff and so uncoordinated.

The company was really babysitting Luger.

They liked the persona that they saw, and they thought that they could market

that different than wrestling.

There was so much jealousy and animosity that went on.

A lot of beers went down over his contract.

I can guarantee you that riding down the road was not pleasant.

When a guy's getting paid double what you are.

They asked me to sign a contract. I didn't understand why it was just

unilateral. We signed you a contract, but there's no money amount. So I said,

there like a money amount in this contract?

And Jim Crockett kind of looked at me like, well, no.

We don't give out guaranteed contracts.

There's not, like, anything in there, like our football contract. So I was

looking, oh, a football contract was structured.

Jim Kroc was like, well, what do you want in that contract?

I gave him a figure, and he agreed to it.

I had a million -plus -dollar guaranteed contract, which I didn't realize was

kind of unheard of at the time.

Mr. Ego himself right there, Jim. He's got an ego as big as his muscles.

Lex was an egomaniac.

That's a good thing, not a bad thing.

In this form of entertainment, if you don't have the drive to do it, you're

going to do it. The bottom line is I'm the best at what I do.

Lex had the ability for the fans to hate him or love him and would draw numbers

and people.

But could have been a lot better if he'd learned to work with people and not

think 100 % of himself.

My first impression of Lex Luger was when I was a C -Squad announcer at Baton

Cleanup for Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone. My name is Eric Bischoff. At the time,

I was like, man, that is one arrogant son of a bitch.

This is perfection each and every time you see it in your arena.

It's really easy to understand how someone develops into that kind of a

personality.

Ever since I stepped foot in the wrestling business, I've had people

telling me that I'm going to be the next big thing.

Because I've got the brain, I've got the look, and the physical tools to take

whatever I want. I think he was perceived as being arrogant.

He's a genuinely good guy.

If I looked like that guy, I might have been really hard to live with, too.

Physically just put together like no one else, had a body like no one else.

And I said, how do you stay in such incredible condition?

I mean, you're Jack.

And he just real casually and nonchalant like with just total disrespect.

He didn't even look at me. He just stood up. He said, yeah, I drink Stoli and I

eat M &Ms.

I went, oh, all right.

But we got close. I mean, he was my age and we had a lot of things in common.

We were a new generation of guys coming up who wanted to have the physique. We

wanted to look the part.

So we ended up traveling up and down the roads together.

Started mainly our relationship with how to train properly and work out because

he loved working out.

Then we just started hanging together all the time.

Families were friends, hung out together.

We were neighbors.

I ended up moving into the same neighborhood that he had moved into.

We opened some gyms together, did really well.

And he loved to train, and he loved to watch his body change and grow and, you

know, get lean.

This baby is for real!

And not only did he try to keep that physique going, but he learned how to

He really did.

He did great, and he looked the part, and the four -horseman thing, it worked

out great with him.

And then working against him was great.

When I finally left the horsemen, be able to do a one -on -one program with

of the greatest wrestlers who's ever lived, Ric Flair.

This is an event with the two best that the NWA has facing one another.

Crowd and the fans were really into it.

We had like sellout crowds everywhere we went.

We're put in a position of drawing money, and we did a lot.

He worked his ass off. He let me knock at none of them.

He did anything that was asked of him, and he worked hard.

It took about five years, but Lex got to be a talented performer in the ring.

That's the same time where Turner Broadcasting took over the company from

Crockett, and all business went in the toilet.

When they sold the company to Turner, I was so miserable with WTW.

My contract was up for renewal.

And they wanted me to lose the title to Luger in Baltimore. And I said, I would

be more than happy to.

I said, the belt's mine.

I own it. And Ole Miss paid me for the deposit from the old days.

You guys owe me 25 in interest for 10 years.

So what am I going to do? Hand them the belt?

Knowing I'll never get paid?

So I went to WWE to work for Vince in 91.

He said, send me the belt.

That's the way it went. That's the history.

Rick had just left.

He had actually taken the big gold belt with him. So I ended up wrestling. I was

supposed to wrestle Rick.

I ended up wrestling Barry Windham in a cage match. I guess Barry was a

substitute.

We didn't even have a real belt made yet.

They made kind of a fake belt.

They made the best of a difficult situation.

He's got him up on the pile driver.

And there he planted him.

Luger, we're the pile driver.

He's hooked the leg.

And Luger wins it.

Lex Luger has won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

It was an honor, obviously, to become world champion for the first time, but

was a little different with it not being the intended match with Rick, and we

had to kind of, we were scrambling kind of to make things work.

Lex was very frustrated. We were all very frustrated because we were always

second -class citizens to WWE.

We'd always hear the stories. Yeah, you got to jump ship.

You got to go.

The grass is greener. Man, what an incredible place.

And Lex was lured into that.

He had to get out.

He was world champ, but he was looking beyond. He was looking at the ultimate.

And at the time, it was WWE.

So I reached out to WWE, and we worked out a deal where I'd be with his

bodybuilding program for a year.

In the early 90s, Vince wanted to create a rival to Joe Weider's Bodybuilding

Federation, and Vince created the WBF, the World Bodybuilding Federation.

And he wanted Lex to be a part of his WBF.

What is the World Bodybuilding Federation?

It's about looking good, feeling great.

It's about sports entertainment.

You left my contract with WCW, and I went to WCW and said I'd like some time

off. Didn't tell them I was planning on signing a bodybuilding contract.

The total package Lex Luger has at all, whether it's arms, shoulders, chest.

There was nothing in Lex's contract with WCW that prevented Lex from going to

work for the WBF, a bodybuilding federation.

So Lex came in as the...

bodybuilding guru or fitness guru, if you will. Nobody knows better than me,

Luger, that it's important not only to look good in the gym, but outside the

as well.

To be a co -host on this television show with Vince that aired on Saturday

mornings. You might want to practice a little ab work yourself there, fella.

I thought that'd be pretty cool, do bodybuilding for a year, stay home and

train, and then break into wrestling the following year with WWE.

You've got to want it.

A lot of people wonder why I didn't actually compete for WF. I was just a

weeks away, was in peak condition. I was so excited I was going to actually be a

guest poser.

And I was so close to the event, but I ended up having a near fatal motorcycle

wreck.

That was a life and death.

Head on by the car, 45 mile an hour.

I'll never forget the nurse at the emergency room when I finally got there.

You better be thanking the Lord, she said. You are a DOA.

I was in so much pain. I had bones sticking out everywhere.

I was like, what's a DOA, George?

She goes, dead on arrival. Dead on arrival, she told me.

I wouldn't sign the permission forms.

They were talking about amputating my arm.

And I walked in.

It was such a mess.

They ended up taking the bandages off, and I looked at his arm. There was bones

literally sticking out of his arm. It was like his whole elbow and arm was

completely open wide.

And I thought, I don't know how this arm can be saved.

And Lex is like, Stinger, don't let him touch me. He goes, can you call Dr.

Andrews?

Dr. Andrews, Jim Andrews out of Birmingham, Alabama.

And it just so happened I had his pager, and I paged him, and he got right back

with me, and I explained what was going on. He said, get him to Birmingham, and

I'll make sure that he's okay.

I don't know how he put his arm back together.

I really don't.

Even Dr. Harris said, I don't know if you're going to have full use of that

again.

But I made my debut with WWE less than six months later after the wreck. It

was... Just a miraculous recovery.

I believe that Vince had high expectations for Lex Luger and felt that

the potential to become this huge star.

I didn't even know what the hell a narcissist was until, you know, we met

Luger and Vince came up with this. He's a narcissist.

Narcissistic personality and someone who really adores themselves.

And is very enamored with the presence of themselves.

And was like, yeah, perfect.

As I've been told back then, my personality could be pretty self

called it very confident. Some people called it arrogant.

So we kind of thought that might be a natural character for me to portray the

narcissist. Like, ooh, that might be kind of neat.

Kind of thought I could sink my teeth in being a narcissistic bad guy.

I was excited about being a narcissist.

pleasure to introduce and to unveil Narcissus Lex

Luger!

Yes.

Yes, he is here.

Excited to be making my debut with Bobby Heenan. One of the greatest ever

introducing me. It was awesome.

I was excited. I was pumped.

I know how you feel about yourself.

Oh, yeah.

Look at that. Look at that. Look at that.

Oh, my God.

We were always looking for some good new talent in those days, somebody that

would be a good dance partner.

When he came onto the scene and they brought him in as the narcissist, not a

very friendly guy, seemed to have a bit of an attitude, even though he never

really did.

He was a kind, good soul, but he was just, yeah, he was full of himself.

He had every right to be.

I truly...

Incredible! He was a total packet.

Lex never met a mirror he didn't like. Just making sure that everything's just

right. I can feel the momentum building for WrestleMania.

I feel, I know, and everyone else will see, I will be the most dominant force

ever.

No, Vince is...

And he's a force of nature, his confidence and his optimism for what he

loves the business.

Vince

was

very happy with the narcissist character and I was enjoying it.

As a heel, as the narcissist, okay, it was a little gimmicky, like all the WWE

gimmicks were at that time.

But that was kind of a pretty good use for Lex. But Vince saw him as the next

Hulk Hogan.

Vince kind of viewed Lex Luger possibly as a replacement for Hulk Hogan and some

of the bigger stars of the Randy Savages, the Ultimate Warriors, and felt

Lex had the potential to become this huge star.

They were actually looking for a top good guy at the time.

Vince called me and said, we're going to switch you to Lex Luger like the All

-American.

I was like, are you kidding? I'm the narcissist.

But he said, no, it'll work.

It wasn't so much that the narcissist wasn't working out. This was like it'd

a newer, better opportunity for everyone involved, including myself.

I think that Vince's vision for Lex came out as an opponent.

for yokozuna the audience

couldn't figure out how and who can possibly defeat this

monster because in a lot of ways he was unbeatable who's gonna take this man off

his feet lex luger was hopefully going to be that red white and blue all

-american hero to upsee this evil international champion in

yokozuna

Nobody could slam this 500 plus pound

behemoth.

And here comes Lex in the helicopter arriving on the Intrepid. And by God,

here's my savior.

The last chance of America was the look of determination in his eyes.

I wasn't sure, as strong as I was back then, I wasn't sure I could really

actually slam him.

He was a load.

So I was nervous.

It was an electrifying moment with the skyline of New York in the background,

the crowd went berserk.

I started thinking, man, this is kind of a defining moment. I'm really making it

at this wrestling thing, man.

This is a pretty big deal.

The big man went down on July 4th, right here.

Oh, yeah!

I was just coming in when they turned Lex into Captain America, basically.

And it got over.

Like, I thought it worked great.

I think Lex Luger is one of the best WWF wrestlers here today.

When no other American athlete could slam Yokozuna, he came in for his

and he helped our country when we needed it the most. For saving America, I

think he definitely deserves a title shot. No question about it. If he can

him, he should be able to get a title shot.

A whistle -stop tour through the southern states on a train named Spirit

America, the presidential wave for the traditional campaign trimmings. George

Bush had done a train campaign where he would stop in small towns and he would

get out on the back of the train and meet everybody, and that was his

The idea was to do something very similar with Lex to campaign across the

States for a championship match at SummerSlam with Yokozuna.

And we got a bus, painted this bus red, white, and blue, deemed it the Lex

Express. Well, here we are, red, white, and blue for Yokozuna.

We did this whole big send -off of Lex leaving from Stanford in the bus.

Mr. Lex Luger!

George M. Cohan should have scored this thing, for God's sake. I'm a Yankee

doodle dandy. America, patriotism, the flag, mother, apple pie, all that stuff.

This is the kickoff for Lex Luthor called action and the world title match.

Hopefully down the line here and let's just crank it up.

Hey, young fella, how you doing?

Good guys with more responsibility, more PR work. I thought, I mean, I can do

this.

Well, X Express, it was a difficult sell.

Do you want to put me on a bus and drive me around the nation?

I had a family at home, and they said I'm going to be on tour all summer.

We had our boy, we had our girl, and we were a team, and we knew that that was

what I was doing and the way we provided for the family.

I used to be on the road, but like all summer in a bus.

Oh, man, you got to go out and see my bus.

Red and blue curtains.

This is my son, Brian. He is a good guy.

Aren't you, Brian?

Flew me home to see my family a couple times for like one or two days.

But I was on the bus.

Lex Luger is here. He's the next big thing in wrestling.

We're talking about the Lex Express this morning. Lex!

All over the country doing appearances from 5 in the morning at a local

affiliates in major cities to the night shows to 11 o 'clock at night.

The bus was supposed to lead to more exposure

for the company and more exposure for Lex.

Go places that you wouldn't ordinarily go.

Coming to you from the Mall of America.

Give the everyday man an opportunity to touch a WWE superstar.

I don't think that Lex shared the same visions that we did. And

Lex wanted to have the bus, but Lex wanted to stay at the Marriott.

I've done everything I possibly could. I asked Mona Lisa if I could have a food

upgrade. It was supposed to be complimentary with my marquee. I

to ask or beg. And she said immediately no. And now the other woman here, who's

the supervisor, says they probably do have one. What do you think of that?

I rode on that bus for the first week with Lex and the crew.

The crew was great.

The crew was awesome.

We can't have these days like this, man. We've got to have time to do this.

Probably by the end of week one.

Like, I don't know if this is the guy.

Smile, smile.

Look at that nice, bony smile.

Lex was like...

I want to do it.

I want to go in. I need a chicken breast.

It's like, oh, God.

I get very cranky when I don't eat. I'm low on energy now. I'm droning when I

talk. And Bruce knows how I am.

And I'm very easy to get along with, but I have to eat.

My concern was that I couldn't eat properly.

We're stuck here, and I'm hungry.

And I did lose about 10 pounds in that four or five weeks.

And it was probably good muscle.

I'm going to the gym now.

Demyte me.

Bye.

I think a lot of athletes say they don't want to be a role model. You know,

today, a lot of the professional athletes, I think you are what you want

or not.

There were a lot of assumptions that Lex was going to be the next big thing and

he was going to be the guy to take the company into the next 10 years as its

conquering hero and the face of the company.

There was one problem with that, and that was it wasn't true to the human

The question is just who is Lex Luger? It's kind of funny you should ask that.

You know, since I've been on tour, I think it's amazing some of the questions

people have already asked me. I mean, they come right up to you and ask you

questions. And I want to say emphatically, I welcome anybody that

asks me a question on tour. Feel free.

I love Lex, and he was a great guy, and you had to be around him to know that he

was a quality guy.

But he wasn't very personable.

He didn't have his heart into being a babyface, and he didn't like that

interaction with the fans.

Okay.

pretending to be a nice guy and pretending to be in a good mood when he

necessarily.

I think he just didn't want anything to do with them. They were outside his

circle of life.

Lex didn't like going out signing autographs and talking to the fan base.

So when he did it, it came across as very disingenuous and came across as

Now look at this. Isn't this wonderful?

The gifts I get.

Because it was.

Thank you. Nice meeting you all.

Oh, my knees from bending down when I was a little kid, man.

It's arthritis.

The baby face, the hero, Hulk Hogan. Say your prayers, take your vitamins,

right? Stone Cold Steve Austin, don't trust anybody. He was one of us. He's

common man.

Lex Luger was not one of them. He wasn't common.

He wasn't really a superhero. He was a statue that you looked at and you

admired, but you didn't really have any personal feelings for.

I was very focused on my training and my working out, and I might not always be

able to hide my displeasure with some of the other things outside of the rings

they wanted me to do.

I want to hear about WCW minor league wrestlers, so keep your mouth shut.

So I could see some people definitely have that impression that I was not

the easiest guy to work with.

I understand that.

I actually got to shake their hands, look them in the eye, and meet those

people. I grew great strength from that.

Oh, Drew.

Oh, Drew.

Damn it, what am I doing?

But Drew would have been fine, too.

I knew I was never going to be Hulk Hogan or a replacement for Hulk Hogan. I

just going to...

I always wanted to be the best Lex Luger I could be and that they wanted me to

be and do my job the very best that I could.

Don't get down on yourself.

You can't get through the first line.

Yes, you can.

You're human.

Okay. They want you to flub up. They don't want you to be perfect.

Start again.

Okay. I'm getting flustered now.

No, you're okay.

Okay. Let's go.

Here we go.

I didn't shy away from trying to be the guy. Who wouldn't want to be the guy?

Well, this is it. The last day in the Lexi Express.

The moment of truth has arrived.

Myself versus Yokozuna for the title.

Will this be the end of a long journey or the start of another?

No human being alive can defeat Yokozuna.

Can Lex Luger do the impossible?

But

you

cannot win this title on a count out.

The rules are such that in order for a championship to change hands, you have

win by a pinfall or a submission.

He may have won the match, Lex Luger, but the championship remains in the

possession of Yokozuna.

So here in the rules, we're in the champion's favor because Lex Luger was

to hit Yokozuna out to the floor and Yoko wasn't able to answer.

The 10 count to get back into the ring. Therefore, Lex was victorious, but Lex

didn't get the championship.

We were just like, huh?

Because, like, the balloons came down. It was like he won the championship, but

he didn't.

What the count -out finish did was it felt forced and fake, the balloons

dropping and all -American, and that's patriotism, right?

For him not to become the champion.

was kind of like, really?

We went all the way to the moon and we just circled and came back? We were

supposed to land?

I said, he is going to end up looking like a plate full of piss out of this.

And that's what happened.

That U .S. gimmick that he had, it was like a curse.

It ruined him.

If Lex Luger had won the title at SummerSlam 93, he would have been over,

would have been an attraction.

Vince McMahon wanted to prolong

the chase until WrestleMania the following spring in 94.

By the time that the next year's WrestleMania came along, Vince had

mind because he had seen that Lex looked great and could talk and work as a

heel, but his baby face was limited.

Once he...

Sort of failed at getting the title in the fans' eyes. They just was like, move

on.

So that meant that Lex was worthless in the WWE from that point because he'd

failed to win the title and then didn't come back and make good on it.

It's just something that I don't know whether he didn't want to carry the

weight. I didn't know whether he didn't connect with the people.

He could be one of the guys. He couldn't be the guy.

The office at that time had basically had enough.

The poor road agents that had to deal with him every day. And, you know, I'm

trying to make Lex sound like anything that he isn't, you know, but I would get

a report after each and every show. And there was never any positive feedback on

Lex's matches or Lex's attitude.

I don't think he was happy. He never really fit in in WWE.

And at the same time, WCW was like home to him.

WCW over the past 12 months, as I said, since the addition of Hulk Hogan and

Randy Savage, is really closing the gap. We're coming on strong. We've got a lot

of momentum.

And all I can say is, you know, September 4th, you'll see the

Lex was always looking to see where the grass was greener. And personally, I did

not see Lex resigning the contract. Lex was all about the bottom line.

And as that date got closer and closer, He continually lied and said, I'm going

to sign it, I'm going to sign it.

After the third time you tell me you're going to sign it, you don't sign it.

You're not signing it.

Vince and I worked with his attorneys and everything, thinking we're probably

going to re -sign and reset my character with WWE, and that's what I intended to

do. On a happen chance, confrontation with Sting, that all changed.

I think that the grass maybe was greener there for a while, and it was kind of

exciting in the beginning.

Eventually, I think he realized, oh, man, this sucks, man.

He was gone more than ever now, at least with WCW. A lot of things that we did

were in and around the mid -Atlantic area.

We could drive to and from and get back home.

He had his kids and his family, and at that particular time, he wanted to get

back.

He asked if I would speak with Eric Bischoff and put a good word in because

was suddenly running the show. He was our boss.

I remember Stan pulling me inside and he said, Eric, can I talk to you? I want

to talk to you about Lex.

I went, oh, I saw this coming. I was afraid I saw it coming.

And I listened to Steve and he was passionate.

You know, he explained to me how I didn't really know Lex Luger and that

Luger. knows that he probably didn't handle himself as well as he could have

should have in WCW. And, you know, Lex really wanted to come back.

And I didn't really want him back.

I just couldn't believe that he had changed that much or was willing to

that much.

I'm vouching for him, of course. You know, he's not going to be the same as

was. He's going to be different.

I made up my mind that I was going to offer Lex a deal, but I was going to

lowball him.

In fact, it was such a lowball offer that I thought, well, I can honestly say

offered to bring him back, and honestly, I thought he would turn it down. I

thought it was an insulting offer, and it really was.

I offered him $150 ,000.

He was a guy that was making $750 ,000 a year when he left, and now he's coming

back after a run in WWE, and I'm offering him $150 ,000.

Keep in mind, there were guys in our developmental system.

that were not far from that number.

And I was thinking, man, there's no way he's going to take this.

Eric Bischoff was not a big Lex Luger fan, and he gave me a lowball offer, but

loved the challenge and wanted to make a change.

I thought it would be cool to be part of the new show and be back with my best

buddy Sting.

And I said, well, I'll prove myself all over again. I'll go back there. From

Minneapolis, Minnesota, the...

WCW Monday Nitro.

It became crystal clear to me early on how I wanted to use Lex and use him as a

surprise because that would set the tone for Nitro. Let me tell you, we've got

some great surprises coming your way. The internet was just starting to come

into the fold and I was trying to get the scoop on what was going to be on a

particular program. So WCW wanted a surprise factor. Now I was raised that

matter what.

you always left the right way and would give a two -week notice. But one of the

stipulations for Eric was, well, yeah, but if you do that, there's no surprise

with you coming in.

And I really felt I couldn't pass up the opportunity for myself and my family to

go back to WCW.

I had just left him on the road, like, two days earlier, up in Nova Scotia or

something, up in the Maritimes, and you never would have known.

He knew he was leaving, but he was a pro up until the very last day.

And they flew me in that same day into Minneapolis and did hire me at a hotel.

And they waited until like 30 minutes before the show started and brought me

with like towels around my head to a back door in a room. It was all like

incredible, the lengths they went to, to protect whether or not I was there.

What a matchup we have got in store in this debut broadcast.

What in the hell is he doing here? I'm in shock.

Lex Luger making an appearance here of all places.

It was a very well -kept secret, and people are freaking out.

Well, you said things were going to happen every Monday night, Bishop, and

happening. He had jumped ship back with WCW, and it really helped set us up for

great success because there was already controversy.

Wait, Luger's in there! What is this?

In the ring!

Vince McMahon, WCW had always been good to me, and that really bothered me

because it wasn't a class act, just...

Being on their TV taping a few days prior than walking out on WCW without

proper notice.

Vince was betrayed and hurt because I do believe that Vince really liked Lex and

really wanted to make that potential reality.

Lex was a challenge, and Vince loves those challenges. I'll show you. I'll

him a star.

And it never happened.

It's in the tunnel package, Lex Luger. Look at him, Tony. This man has been

world champion before. He could very well do it again.

Wow. Look at the strength of this man.

It's the torture rack. He's got him.

Yes, yes, look at him, baby. The next WCW champion.

You're looking at the past, the present, and the future of world championship

wrestling.

One of the things.

That was great for Lex and for WCW is Lex came back as the

tide was really beginning to shift for WCW.

Lex had the opportunity to come back and reestablish himself at a time when

WCW was now riding a wave of success.

Not a seat to be found in the past year's crowd. Thousands turned away

the hottest ticket on pay -per -view of the world championship, Presley. And you

can see why we are number one.

His popularity was like, in an instant, it was back.

It was like, oh, okay, you're home now where you're supposed to be.

When Luger came in, it was a huge benefit for WCW. He was a main event

He was a guy that had...

Been a world champion that had worked against world champions that understood

what it took to draw money and work his character.

Lex Luger was instrumental to the success of Nitro and his attitude was so

I mean, he went out of his way to kind of raise the energy in the locker room.

He really was a part of the team and he made you feel like he was excited to be

a part of that team. And that really won me over.

So at that point, didn't have to do it.

I sat down with him and we started talking about his contract.

I said, okay, Lex, I offered you something that I was hoping you'd get so

off at me over that you wouldn't come back.

You've proven yourself.

Let's talk about what your career looks like going forward here. I renegotiated

as a result of just the way he contributed.

He came in and he was different.

He had perhaps been humbled somewhat and was grateful for the opportunity to be

able to come back, and he was a little bit more helpful for some of the guys.

You know, he realized, you know, I guess this can be kind of like a team effort.

I love Lex Luger personally.

Lex and I always get along great. He was always super kind with me. I didn't

understand a lot of the heat that I was getting from other people that were a

little bit envious of the position that I was in, and Lex helped me deal with

that a lot.

Luger gave me a lot of insight in the business.

Lex Luger was awesome.

He brought an attitude and a work ethic that I've never seen before.

He was a perfectionist, and he helped me out a lot. He was a guy who came from

football, so you could still talk to him on that level without him just giving

you a wrestling perspective.

Lex Luger, one half of the world tag team champion, also television champion.

Lex's success that he was having at the time definitely led to Lex getting an

opportunity to have higher profile matches.

I just had more trust and confidence in Lex as a performer.

And he certainly got more popular, I think, than he ever had been.

And a lot of that was just because his attitude changed.

ended in 1992, but now he will go after the man who has set the standard for

world titles in our sport.

Hogan was the champ, but by the time we got to Auburn Hills, Lex was red hot.

Who has more confidence and momentum on their side than the total package Lex

Luger? They're standing in Detroit!

Yes! He's got him in the rack!

He's got him in the rack! Hogan's the champ!

Hogan's the champ!

Look at him tap out! Luger won the title!

Hogan's the champion!

The night

in Detroit when I won the WCW title against Hulk Hogan, the response

I'll never forget. It was incredible in Detroit that night.

And in the exact same building where I didn't win it back in 93.

That place went nuts when he won, man.

Because I think they were just thinking, it's not really going to happen, is it?

You know, it was really cool.

Look at the show of unity. All in to show their support.

Never with so much emotion and so much camaraderie as we are seeing right

Being the main event spot with Hogan and then winning the world title,

that was a huge deal.

He proved whatever he had to do to get back, it was all worth it.

He reached his own expectations as a performer.

And he won the respect of the people that he worked with and shared a locker

room with. And that has to be important to anybody.

Lex Luger at that time, those Monday Night Wars, was someone that

WCW needed to carry the title.

The fireworks are going off!

For the heavyweight champion of the world, Lex Luger.

The Monday Night Wars was just magical.

It was definitely an amazing time to be a professional wrestler.

Look at the fans standing, cheering the total package Lex Luger.

We were all together. It was great.

All hugs and kisses. Wow, what a great rating on the TV show. We're number one

now.

We had a great camaraderie together on the road.

Wolfpack is most definitely.

We hung out both in the ring, out of the ring afterwards. We'd go out and hang

out.

So a lot of times we could get done with the TV tape and get back to the hotel

bar and watch Nitro on TV together. Everyone would gather and watch the

and put ourselves over.

And the bar was open. The guys were celebrating.

I used to always socialize with the guys a little bit, have a few beers.

Some of the guys who might have a couple pills, they'd try a couple of these.

It was kind of a time of celebration and good times and camaraderie, really.

Over the months and a couple years, it got pretty dark for all of us, you know.

Alcohol, you know, pills caused us to make all the wrong choices.

Giant party!

Towards about the middle or end of 1998 or whenever it was, I started noticing

that Lex was never around.

He went back to his room, and he obviously had a relationship with Miss

Elizabeth. It wasn't a big secret. It was pretty obvious to everybody.

We got to know each other at the tapings. I had respect for her and what

done in the business.

The first lady of wrestling, the lovely Elizabeth.

She'd worked with Brandy for many years.

He had the most charisma of any wrestler in the world. He's the best.

They'd been apart for divorce for many, many years.

The total package, the stunning Elizabeth, come out.

I always thought, well, I would never get involved with someone that I work

with. That wouldn't be very smart.

Sure enough.

Hi.

After Liz and Randy got their divorce, she ended up getting remarried.

She was married. I was married.

Obviously not something either of us should have been doing.

And it just progressed from there.

Everybody was like, this is crazy. What are you doing? You know, you and Liz.

But, you know, there was no getting through.

They were not only in a clandestine relationship, but they were both

participating a little bit too much in the pharmaceutical side of their

recreational activities.

Without me realizing it towards the end of my career, which really was 01, the

last couple years I was definitely starting to drink a little bit more at

more and more gradually, popping a few more pills here and there, like, oh,

take a pain pill to go to the gym, to get a good workout.

I always had a reason.

Even when we were partying, you could party until 4 o 'clock in the morning.

9 o 'clock, your phone would ring.

He'd be in the lobby with two cups of coffee like, let's go.

And you didn't miss your workouts.

Lex, he was going deep. He went deep.

And then I ended up going down that road too.

It got pretty dark for all of us.

But he was still able to function and have his matches.

I've won every major title and I've looked better than everyone else doing

I'm a successful businessman.

I'm good.

I'm great at everything I do.

I never thought of myself because of my discipline and training and eating and

getting to the gym. I never thought I would have any kind of issue with drugs

alcohol and like that.

You know, they're all saying too much time, too much money, too much time, my

hands too much money. That's kind of the devil's workshop.

Well,

it definitely manifests itself in my life.

We are done. We are floored. The very last telecast of WCW Monday Night Throw

on TNT.

WCW just got bought out and swallowed up by WJB after that long -term Monday

Night War.

I figured, well, if TNT and TBS don't have wrestling anymore, I'll go wrestle

Japan or back to potentially WWE.

I didn't dwell on it.

I had a guaranteed contract of a lot of money.

You got all that money coming in, you don't have to go to work, which wasn't

good for me for almost three more years.

It got really bad.

He was a mess.

I cleaned my life up with God's help, and now I was able to try to help him.

There was no, no getting through to him.

At that phase, Elizabeth had moved to Atlanta.

I was seeing her more.

She was on one side of town. My wife and family were on the other side of town

in Atlanta.

My marriage disintegrated.

My wife realized that I had been seeing Elizabeth.

She tried to give me a second chance, a third chance.

I let her down every time.

I was not making good decisions.

I hung out with them, and I was around them a lot, so I knew they were going

hard.

Elizabeth turned into a different person, as drugs will often do to

Things continued in a steady downward spiral. More alcohol, more drugs.

It was tough because Lex got lost in the booze at that time.

I had my first arrest.

I got pulled over, they said, under the influence. I had just a couple beers.

They gave me a breathalyzer. I passed it, but they felt that I was on

else, which I was. I popped a few pills.

Never did I imagine I'd ever be in jail.

First of over, I don't know how many, maybe a dozen or more arrests after

One of the neighbors called the police for domestic disturbance.

Both Liz and I were shocked that I got arrested.

I mean, we had an argument, but I've learned now from law enforcement, when

come to a domestic dispute, they usually end up taking somebody in.

And so I went in, and that, you know, that stuck.

And so I was making a lot of really bad decisions, selfish decisions at that

time in my life.

Things were really...

Still, I wouldn't have admitted it at the time, but really going to a dark

and really getting out of control in a bad way.

We were

watching

some movies and went drinking, popping some pills. I hadn't been there most of

the day. Actually, our cleaning lady was at the townhouse we were at together.

She thought Liz was fine, and I didn't know what she'd been doing, whether

been drinking or doing her day, but she seemed fine.

One minute, we were at the microwave heating up some food, and I brought hers

over to her, went and heated mine up. By the time I got back from the microwave,

10 feet away, she was what I thought was asleep on the couch.

And I thought that was strange and asked her, hey.

I asked her to, hey, Liz, wake up. Your food's going to get cold. And she didn't

respond. So I knew, well, that's strange. So I got up, and she's maybe

feet away, and tried to shake her, and she didn't respond.

And I immediately called 911.

I was panicked.

She's laying on the floor. I've tried to pick her up. I've tried to... Okay,

what I want you to do, I want you to go over and see if she's breathing.

Sal, please send somebody here who knows what they're doing.

Listen to me. You have got to help her.

Lean down. I'm trying. I've been trying to help her. Lean down and check and see

if she's breathing. Look at her chest. See if it's rising.

It doesn't look like it is. I'm scared to death.

When the ambulance gets there and they wheel her out on the gurney and put her

back in the ambulance, you just figure everything's going to be okay.

Police were called here about 5 .30 in the morning. A 911 call said a woman was

unresponsive. A few minutes later, by the time she arrived at Kennetstone

Hospital, the woman was dead.

The moment I found out that she had passed, all I remember was it was just

shock. I remember it was hot.

I was overheated. I was dehydrated. I felt like I was going to pass out.

My feelings at that moment, just total disbelief and shock that she didn't make

it.

He called me freaking out in tears.

Stinger, Stinger.

Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.

She's gone. She's gone. She died. She died.

I don't know what I'm going to do. You know, my life is over.

I knew, because we talked about it, like, he was really in love with her. I

mean, he'd have done anything for her.

And it really took him down when she passed.

It mentally destroyed him for a long time.

I was devastated, and I was angry as hell at Lex, which is really immature on

part, because...

She made her own decisions and choices. She was an adult woman.

I felt that Lex took advantage of her and influenced her, you know, and maybe

took her down that path. I blamed Lex for a long time.

After I found out, sitting out front of my townhouse, that she didn't make it,

they arrested me on drug charges.

Police say his arrest is not connected to Ms. Elizabeth's death, but what

investigators found inside the townhouse.

Fole is charged with violating the Controlled Substance Act.

The charges are spelled out in the new arrest warrant. Lawrence Fole, better

known as Lex Luger, accused of possessing and selling drugs, drugs like

steroids and Sazen, a growth hormone.

Marriage fell apart, divorce, a horrible impact on my children.

My life had become a total train wreck, and I always think I could pull it back

together.

Do one more big run in the ring.

These people come to see Lex Luger, no doubt.

The total package has been making a hot trailblazing path on the independent

scene. My body was starting to break down a little bit. 15 years of high

college pro football and 15 years of wrestling, almost 5 ,000 matches. Luger

the ropes.

Both men trying for a clothesline and stumble.

I think Luger got the better of that one.

Dan arrogance, ignorance.

not realizing that I was in a big -time life -and -death struggle with drugs and

alcohol. And I kept on thinking I could end it any time I wanted.

More pills, more alcohol.

The exact opposite of what you would have thought might have been a wake -up

call.

I actually received a five -year sentence for the drugs and did some jail

got back out, went back to the same lifestyle, but even worse.

Luger, or Fole as he's known, was arrested on DUI charges, open container,

proof of insurance, alteration of a tag, and an expired tag.

Lex was all over the news in Atlanta, and it was just mind -boggling to me how

far he had fallen.

I was living out of a hotel room, so all those mansions and all that stuff

there, I was renting a hotel room to do my community service, and I'd do that

during the day and go back and get high.

I wouldn't answer the phone for anybody, my own family, my best friend.

Really, really dark five -year period.

There was moments I didn't care whether I woke up or not when things got really

dark.

In my cell, in a small jail cell by myself, I actually contemplated climbing

to the top of the partition.

There was a real high ceiling in there.

And standing up on the partition, putting my hands behind my back because

everything was cement in there.

and just falling headfirst, and maybe I can end it.

I was the jail chaplain for 28 years at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center,

and he had been arrested a few times, and he really, in my

opinion, he looked beat down.

And he was kind of scary.

He kept on trying to...

Knocked on the window of my jail cell and come see me. I finally was so bored

gave in.

He told me when I got out that he wanted me to help him get in shape again.

When he was released, I found him at a gym.

At first, he tried to get rid of me.

I'm going to make him so sore tomorrow at the gym that he'll never set foot in

the gym again.

I couldn't get rid of Pastor Steve.

So I began to just slowly win his trust.

And I kept on thinking, how did he ever ask me to come to church? And finally,

he popped a big question. He wanted me to come to a Sunday night service.

And I went to his church service, and there in front of the church, I never

him before in person, but after Marvin J. Frady.

And Lex came to hear Doc.

My husband of 64 beautiful years.

And for the first time ever in his life, he came to our little church and sat on

the back pew. He was scared to death.

Doc preached on, is your house built on the rock or the sand?

And man, did he hit me.

My whole life here.

I'd been just frittering it away on money and stuff, and I was building my

life on sinking sand. I had a vision of all my mansions and money and fame and

stuff being on a beach and being washed away.

My life really had no true purpose or meaning.

I went back to my hotel that night, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. I called

Pastor Steve up and said, man, something happened to me.

He came to my hotel room, April 23, 2006, and shared the plan of salvation

me, the plan that God has for all of us.

And I asked him, what do I got to do? He said, you got to get down on your knees

and pray. I'd never done that in my life.

When I got down on that couch, I was weeping.

And make a full commitment to come clean and ask for forgiveness and ask Jesus

to come into my heart.

I actually saw, when he prayed to Jesus, a physical.

It was almost like he was in pain.

I felt instant peace and serenity. People ask, did you feel anything? I go,

I felt like I kind of got power washed from inside out by the Holy Spirit.

And I felt a peace and serenity that I'd never felt in my entire life, my first

47 years of my life at that moment.

And my life was forever changed from that moment forward in a good way.

different in him.

I was able to literally baptize him and watch his life change.

It was a really powerful moment for Steve and I.

We were like reunited as now, not just friends, but brothers in Christ.

In the book of Proverbs, it talks about how a friend is a friend at all times.

That describes my relationship with Steve.

Lex, who is the real total package?

After a long trip, I found that, praise the Lord God, it's a real total package.

Now I'm an ambassador soldier for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and God.

I'm part of his team.

The first month after I got saved, I had godly remorse for my past, and I knew

what real sorrow was.

I was, like, crying all the time until I talked to Dr. Frady one time. He said,

Lex, you got to let go of the past.

Those bells have been rung. You can't unring them.

I'm not talking about the obvious and negative things that affected other

in my life.

I would never diminish or disrespect that. I understand their feelings.

But I had to forgive myself to move forward.

I look back on devastation with my own children.

The relationship I don't have with them, understandable.

There's consequences for the things we did in the past.

I always hold out hope for that in the future at some point.

Because they don't really know their new dad.

After he had gotten saved and after he had gone through this, I was excited.

To see Lex because we're both going to be at this show in San Francisco.

The promoter called me and he said, can I meet you at Lex's room?

He's had some kind of stroke. I'm like, what?

I had not seen Lex in years.

And after Elizabeth.

The drinking and the driving and arrests, I mean, this is not Lex Luger.

After he had gotten saved and after he'd gone through this, I was excited to see

Lex because we're both going to be, actually there's like 80 guys going to

this show in San Francisco.

He got on the plane and went from Atlanta to San Francisco, five -hour

I did a heavy shoulder trap and neck workout the night before and got in the

airplane with my head turned at an unusual angle.

He was in conversation.

He had his neck craned the whole time, and at the end of the flight, felt

stiffness in his neck.

I woke up the next morning with a stabbing, searing pain in my shoulder

and realized I couldn't move.

He didn't realize. I thought maybe it was dehydrated. I was paralyzed from

down.

I go down and I grab, you know, Lex up and the other EMT grabs him and we put

him in there and didn't really notice that he wasn't really being able to

They're not sure what caused it, but there definitely was massive swelling

my C5 and my cervical area down to T5, which is about mid chest level.

And they can't really explain how it happened or why.

And they don't know whether.

Maybe some of the bone spurs pierced that central cord that we've got to keep

protected.

They saw a little bit of spinal stenosis in there.

The prognosis was he couldn't move hardly anything.

They flew him to the Shepherd Center.

So for like a whole year, he lived in a bed.

It was a scary thing to find out that he was paralyzed like that and the way it

went down.

Then to watch his progress, he came back over time.

Watching him do his therapy, I can remember in the very, very beginning, he

in a chair and they had him tied here.

And they had to untie him for a few moments to, I forget what they were

to do, but I can remember he literally fell uncontrollably like this forward.

And I reached out to catch him and I put him back up like this.

I literally fed him with a fork.

Because he couldn't feed himself.

Unbelievable.

I was stunned by it.

You know, he's got a great physique and must have been such a challenge

to overcome.

I was like, Lord, I don't know how to live this way. So either bring me home

heaven or teach me how to live this way, man.

He showed me the way. He was the light through all that.

And I had really a miraculous recovery. I'm not 100%, obviously.

I can live independently and feed and bathe myself and dress myself.

I'm like their 1 % of people with an injury like mine.

Never got the big muscles back, but still go to the gym a little bit.

I still love going in and mentoring the young guys.

Get 10 if you can.

Lake started training me in the gym.

He started giving me his personal workout plan and what he ate.

A lot of people made me who I was.

I may not have the appreciation back then I should have, but a lot of people

worked with me.

People who I wanted to be in life. I feel now I can work with guys like

and help them get to where they want in life.

Kind of like a life coach, I guess.

Now I was trying to give back.

for everything that he took or stole.

For 30 years, I was all about Lex, me, myself, and I.

God's shown me personally that our true strength comes through him, from the

inside out, not from the outside in.

A guy who took such pride in his physique, and he was such a physical

and now to be the opposite of that.

And then to be around wrestling fans, in my mind, I thought, oh, that must be

hard.

And then I look at him, he's beaming.

He is more cheerful and more friendly than he ever was

when he was making all that money, when he looked like a million dollars.

If I knew now what God's taught me now, I could have been a much better leader

in the locker room. I would have a much better person to be around, much more

positive, much more encouraging.

I think about it all the time.

Here he is, Lex Lugar.

Sometimes you don't realize what we had until it's gone.

This is the finest physical specimen in professional sports today.

Looking back on my career, there's a lot of cool, defining moments in my 15

-year wrestling career for sure.

I think of some of my heroes in the wrestling business, there's very few

are on the same level that Lex was.

I don't talk about him as being a tragedy because I see him now, and I see

guy that is so humbled.

But I wish he hadn't had to go through so much.

Your heart breaks a little bit for somebody that you know and somebody

friend that had to go through what he went through.

But on the other hand, he came out of it stronger than ever.

He staked our careers on never, ever backing away from a challenge.

His enthusiasm for life is remarkable.

I want to be like that.

There's a verse in the Bible that said, I've finished the race, I have fought

the good fight.

This is the total package, Lex Luger.

I guess that's how I'd like to be remembered.