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THE FINAL BELL - Out of the Spotlight: The downward spiral of Lex Luger's life after his national wrestling career
Dec 30, 2007 - 1:56:22 PM |
By Scott O'Drowsky, PWTorch Specialist
When you hear the name Lex Luger, any of the following should come to mind: The Total Package, Lex Express, The Narcissist, etc., but lately he’s become the subject of drug use and its consequences. Although he wasn't your thinking man's wrestler and mainly relied on his physique rather than any actual wrestling ability, he still managed to have several championship reigns over the course of his career and a stack of magazine covers early in his career touting his potential. But despite all that, he may have endured the most problematic downward spiral than any other wrestler in recent memory.
Lex Luger, real name Larry Pfohl, started off as a professional football player, but got into wrestling after any hopes of a football career fizzled. He was introduced to Hiro Matsuda in 1985, whose other famous trainees consisted of Hulk Hogan and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. After winning several championships in the National Wrestling Alliance's Florida territory, Luger would go on to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he became a member of the legendary Four Horsemen, and would capture the Tag Team, United States and NWA Heavyweight Championships.
After leaving WCW in 1993 to be a part of Vince McMahon’s World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF), Luger was involved in a motorcycle accident, which resulted in numerous injuries. By the time he recovered, the WBF had shut down, but Vince decided to bring him in as a heel wrestler dubbing him The Narcissist. He would have one stellar feud as this character with Curt “Mr. Perfect” Hennig leading to their epic encounter at WrestleMania IX. Later that same year, he became the WWE’s new American hero after body slamming the 500-pound WWE Champion, Yokozuna, which led to their WWE Championship match at SummerSlam. He later formed a tag team with The British Bulldog dubbed the Allied Powers, but his run in WWE would officially end in September 1995 when he jumped back over to WCW. This latest run saw him once again feud with Sting, but also have matches with other former WWE household names like Hogan, and Macho Man Randy Savage. He would later become part of the New World Order’s spin-off, the NWO Wolfpac, and eventually the new NWO when both groups merged together. He would go on another singles run; this time dubbing himself “The Total Package” and having Elizabeth Hulette (Ms. Elizabeth) as his manager, and later having Marcus “Buff” Bagwell as a tag team partner calling themselves, Totally Buff. Sad, I know.
When WCW was bought by WWE in 2001, Luger was not brought in for the Invasion, but instead wrestled in Europe and made appearances at numerous indy events. All seemed well for Luger, but a lifetime of steroid use and painkillers started to take their toll on his body and would later have tragic consequences. On May 1, 2003, Elizabeth Hulette was found dead in the Atlanta townhouse her & Luger shared after mixing several painkillers with vodka. Although her death was ruled accidental, Luger was arrested and charged with fourteen counts of illegal drug possession, but was later released on bail. He would plead guilty to these charges, received a $1,000 fine, was sentenced to five years probation and would have to submit to periodic drug testing. Now whenever somebody says: “It can’t get any worse” it normally does, and Lex Luger was no exception to this.
After several more run-ins with the law, including being detained at a Minnesota airport for his felony drug charges in the state of Georgia, Luger began to realize his life was spinning out of control and needed help. In 2006, he sought help from an old friend... Steve Borden, alias Sting. According to an article on espn.com, Luger stated that Borden was one of the few who stood by him in his darkest moments. A born-again Christian himself, Borden took it upon himself to help Luger through these troubled times by having him open up about such touchy subjects as: his problems with drugs and the death of Ms. Elizabeth. Luger also credits Steve Baskin, the pastor of Western Hills Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Georgia, whom he met in 2006 while serving a nine-month prison term for a parole violation, for saving him from any further turmoil.
So where is Lex Luger now? He became a born-again Christian and started reaching out to others with substance abuse problems by discussing the downfalls of drug use and urges abusers to get clean and seek help. He currently resides in a spare bedroom in Steve Baskin’s apartment, wondering which direction his life is heading. Recently, however, he had been hospitalized after collapsing from what was feared as a stroke or heart attack. But recent reports say that he suffered a nerve impingement in his neck, which led to temporary paralysis. He is expected to make a full recovery. In a statement released by Luger, he thanks the fans for their support and realizes that life is fragile and it can’t be taken for granted.
Hopefully he understands he needs to do more with his life while he still can, and continues to get his life back
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