Lex Luger Says He Was Never Promised The WWE Championship

In his attempts to replace Hulk Hogan, Vince McMahon thought he discovered the next big babyface for WWE in the early 1990s and Lex Luger was propelled to the top of the card as a patriotic babyface, clad in the red, white, and blue of the USA flag as he travelled around America on the Lex Express. 

The touring looked to be building to a WWE Championship win for Luger at SummerSlam 1993 but The Total Package ended up defeating Yokozuna by count-out, failing to win the WWE Title in the process. Luger would then receive another shot at WrestleMania 10 but Yokozuna ended up retaining the title before he dropped the belt to Bret Hart later in the evening. 

Luger was seemingly briefly considered to win at WrestleMania 10, though, as Luger was announced as WWE Champion and made his way to the ring with the belt during a taping of Superstars of Wrestling. 

While Luger looked destined for the title, he ultimately never won it and the man himself has claimed on his Lex Expressed podcast that Vince McMahon never promised him the WWE Championship.

"[Vince McMahon] didn't make me feel like I was going to be the [top] babyface, and contrary to popular belief, he never promised me the title or said that I was going to be the champion. That wasn't part of it. So I wasn't shocked when I didn't get it at SummerSlam, although it would have been helpful, even if I won it and lost it, obviously, with that big of a build-up," Luger stated.

"He always felt that if I was going to win the title, he'd rather do it, and make it special. The Garden was always a very special place for events, most people know that. If he put the title on me, he wanted to do it at WrestleMania 10 at the Garden. So really, SummerSlam was never in the mix for me to win the title. Although, in retrospect, looking back now I'd probably would have been a good idea even if they took it right back off of me, it probably would have been good to come through for the fans."

While he failed to capture the WWE Championship, Luger ended his career as a two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion. 

H/T to Fightful