With his bodybuilder physique and natural athletic abilities, Lex Luger was a dominant force in the world of professional wrestling throughout the ’90s. From winning the World Heavyweight Championship and other major titles in World Championship Wrestling as The Total Package to being part of historical feuds with the likes of Yokozuna and Bret Hart in the World Wrestling Federation, it seemed that Luger was unstoppable. But while he was destroying his opponents in the ring, he was heading down more self-destructive paths in his personal life involving indulgences such as drugs, alcohol, women and other recreational excesses that often come with professional success. While much of his rapid downfall has already been publicly documented, we finally get to hear all the dark details directly from Luger in Wrestling with the Devil: The True Story of a World Champion Professional Wrestler – His Reign, Ruin, and Redemption. In this book Luger reveals his recollection of his greatest triumphs and worst tragedies, focusing on his wrestling career, rise to fame and the eventual downward spiral that left him physically and emotionally crippled. Amid a flurry of public appearances and book signings, Luger takes a moment to talk to Wrestling with Pop Culture about his life, career and recovery.
I have to say I was surprisingly impressed with Wrestling with the Devil. You don’t shy away from any touchy subjects, and I’m sure it was difficult to condense so many years of your life into a relatively short book. How did you decide which parts of your life needed be told in this book?
It hits some highlights and lowlights. We just went chronologically and put as much as we could in there. The publisher wanted about 200 pages, so we had to trim it down from there. I’m really pleased with how it turned out. The reason we did the book was Evangelical, so we were very pleased with how they handled the first part of the book and just really laserbeamed it out at the end with the gospel.
Why was it important for you to include more about your faith towards the end of the book rather than start with that?
Well, I didn’t have any faith. I was just retelling my story as it was and bringing you along with me. That was how they wanted to do it, so if somebody who was lost like I was for 47 years of my life – I was basically an atheist who believed in evolution and science – could read the book and come along with the wrestling story and my personal story, then we’d drive them towards the gospel at the end.
It’s also interesting to hear how you came up with the name Lex Luger and the Torture Rack as your finishing move. When you talk about how that came to be your signature maneuver you refer to the guy who suggested it simply as “a technician”. Was there a conscious reason for not providing this wrestler’s name or was it just a detail you were unable to recall?
It was Dusty Rhodes. Well, it was kind of a conglomeration of different guys; they saw I could do it in the ring, they thought I looked great and they thought that should be my finish. It wasn’t one individual, and it wasn’t a unique move that had never been done before.
Yeah, you mention Dusty Rhodes and some of the other people that were involved in coming up with the Torture Rack name, but the person who actually suggested it to the group is simply referred to as “a technician”.
It started out as the back breaker, but I think it was the announcers that actually started calling it the Torture Rack. They embellished upon it, so it kind of evolved. That’s just how things work in wrestling.
The wrestling industry tends to be a fertile breeding ground for dark stories like the ones you tell in this book. Do you think you would have gone down the same paths in life had you stuck with football or gone into some other profession?
I’m sure my life would have been somewhat different. But as far as the paths I was choosing and the seeds I was sowing and being separated from God, which I didn’t realize I was because I was lost, that wouldn’t have been any different whether I had stayed with football or was a Wall Street guy with a lot of money at a young age. The same thing would have happened because I was a lost individual. I’ll never know that because God had me on the path I was on.
You were one of the first big bodybuilder types to get into wrestling, which you also acknowledge in the book. You’re critics have always said you didn’t pay your dues like some of the guys who came before you, but even you point out that the first wrestling show you attended was the first one in which you competed. Given the criticism you’ve received over the years, how did you feel about addressing that topic in the book?
Well, I really don’t feel that I need to address it. Everybody’s welcome to their opinions. I was what I was and I focused on what I was good at, which was looking good in the ring. I always stayed in shape, worked out and kept myself tan, so those were my selling points and my calling card. That’s what I did to the best of my ability and I probably can’t change any of the opinions about my career – it was what it was.
I definitely came in at a great time. They were looking for those types of individuals with the height, the size and the physique. Coming out of football was definitely a great career move at the time because wrestling was phenomenal for 15 years. The things I did outside of the ring, living a double life and not making good decisions, had nothing to do with wrestling, what was done in the ring or the fans. That was phenomenal. I had a great time with that. It’s a fun business.
The wrestling industry has changed a good bit since your career peaked and it has a significantly cleaner image now. What are your thoughts on the way wrestling is presented and perceived now as opposed to when you were still in the business?
It gets better all the time, it’s evolving all the time. It’s a worldwide entertainment industry. It’s global and it’s incredible. When I look at WrestleMania now, it’s incredible how much it’s progressed and grown just in the past ten years. The things the guys do in the ring, it’s always getting better, I think.
Sting has been a big part of your story and wrote the foreword to the book. There’s still always speculation about him finally making the jump to WWE and if he will ever be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He seems to be pretty happy at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at the moment, but what are your thoughts on Sting and how his career has turned out?
He is very happy in TNA and, as a wrestling fan, I’d love to see him finish out his career in WWE. I think a match against the Undertaker or Triple H, or if Shawn Michaels came out of retirement or something like that, would be incredible. No one does it better than WWE – they’re the mack daddy mega wrestling company and he’s never been there. As a wrestling fan, I think it would be very cool. I don’t think he’s against ever doing that – I don’t want to speak for him – but it would be great to see. I’d love to see that.
You inducted Sting into the TNA Hall of Fame last year. If he were to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, what do you think the chances are that he’d ask you to do the induction honors again?
I might be biased, but I’d love to be considered. But that’d be up to Sting. It would definitely be an honor. I’ll throw my hat in the ring for that. I’d love to do that, I really would.
I saw you at a fan fest a few years ago and at that time you had difficulty even signing an autograph. According to your book, you’ve made some significant improvements since then. How are you feeling these days?
Fabulous. I mean, when you’re given the prognosis of being paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of your life, and you need 24-hour care to do the simplest things, I’m very thankful for what I can do. There are still things I can’t do, but I’m always hopeful and my health is great. Thank you for asking.
Any chance we might see you in the ring for one last match?
I sure hope not! I enjoy watching the young guys get in there, but I can’t see me getting back in there. I definitely don’t plan on doing that.
What was your last actual match?
My last official match would have been a tag match with Buff Bagwell in WCW. I did a couple of things after that on the independent circuit, but I very rarely ever got in the ring in any official capacity.
Do you still check out indie wrestling shows at all?
Sometimes. I love to mingle with the fans and watch the shows. I go with Harley Race every once in a while because he does them for charitable causes. I love getting to hang out with Harley. And some of the local ones around Georgia I’ll do just to give something back to the fans and possibly have a few extra fans show up and support the young wrestlers. I don’t do it a lot, but when I do it I enjoy it.
Cru Jones and Shaun Banks, two of Georgia’s top indie talents, were in the commercial you shot for the book. Have you worked with them in any capacity, or have you helped train any other indie wrestlers?
Not them in particular, but I do love to work with the younger guys in the industry and some of the retired guys, as well. I’m definitely looking to help the new guys and help them get off on the right foot, for sure. Scott Hall also lives in the Atlanta area and I have his son Cody come by my condo and we hang out and go to a gym called Hard Knox where we’ve got some young guys starting to work a little bit. We have some fun with that. Why not?
Lex Luger coming August 2013 from Tyndale House Publishers on Vimeo.
It’s great to see the improvements Scott Hall and Jake “The Snake” Roberts have made in their lives since moving to Georgia and working with “Diamond” Dallas Page.
Yeah, he lives right down the street from me! I’m thrilled that he’s in town. He’s a great guy.
Have you tried his DDP Yoga?
I do it every morning!
Now that your book is out, do you have any plans to work on a second book or anything like that?
No plans right now. I’m just basking in the glow of this one being completed. I’m very pleased with the way it turned out. I’ve been doing some book signings and appearance, which you can keep up with at www.lexlugerbook.com.