Lex Luger on Being Introduced as WWF Champion at TV Taping, Why Vince McMahon Didn't Bring Him Back in 2001, Why He Didn't Win the Title at SummerSlam 1993

"Lex Expressed," the debut podcast featuring WWE Hall of Famer Lex Luger, is now up on AdFreeShows.com. The show is hosted by Conrad Thompson. Luger answered many questions about his career on the debut episode. Here are just a few transcribed highlights:

Lex Luger talking about the first time he wrestled Bret Hart in WWF:

"The first time I wrestled Bret was in a house show when I first went to WWE from WCW. We ended up having a good match, but Bret was getting ready for WrestleMania. Razor Ramon, Scott Hall was injured so I substituted for him Calgary, in Canada, Bret's hometown. Well, maybe it was Winnipeg, but it was in Canada and Bret was over huge. The second spot we did, I messed up and I busted his nose. He was bleeding everywhere. I go, 'Bret, I'm sorry. What do you want to do?' He shouted at me, 'Just get the heat.' So I said, 'Boy, I'm off to a great start. My very first house show match, I'm watching Bret Hart, the world champion and I busted his nose', so all his pictures for WrestleMania and all the lead up to it, Bret had a busted nose and two black eyes thanks to me."

On the famous segment with him and Vince McMahon where he is parading around with the Winged Eagle WWF Championship belt:

"It was never fully explained to me. Vince just came up to me. He's at that position where you go out. I think I already wrestled twice that night. It was a TV taping. I think it was in Glen Falls, New York, maybe. We did a lot of tapings there. He handed me the belt and he said, 'I want to get you on camera with the belt.' I just felt kind of like, that's kind of uncomfortable. I'm not the champion and you want me to go out in front of the crowd with music and holding the belt? He said, 'Yeah, we just want to get it on camera.' I was always told by Matsuda who broke me in and trained me, 'Just be a good foot soldier. Don't ask too many questions.' I go, 'Alright, I'll do it.' So I marched out with the belt. I got in the ring like he told me. I circled it around a couple times over my head in front of the crowd and came back to the back and they got their camera shot. I think Vince wasn't decided what he wanted to do."

On the rumor why WWE never hired him back after jumping back to WCW:

"I can't substantiate this, but I heard, and we all know Vince McMahon no matter what happens, usually somehow if it's business will bring guys back no matter what happened maybe in the past. I guess you could say grace or forgiveness or we can make some money with this, but I heard from some inside sources that Linda and Vince were watching the show together, and when I walked out, because Vince and I, I mean, we worked out together and he was always good to me when I was there and I was very uncomfortable leaving there without giving notice, but that was part of stipulation to Eric. I was like, Oh, man. So when I walked out, because my close relation I always had with Vince, I guess Vince was very hurt, which if I could do over nowadays, I probably wouldn't have done it that way, I would think, but I heard that Linda talked to him and said, 'If you ever bring him back in here', because she loves her husband. It was like a protective moment. Like, 'Don't you ever bring that man back in', because Vince, I guess it was jaw dropping that as close as we were that I just showed up on Nitro without even talking to him. It is kind of a regretful moment for me. I don't live with regrets these days, but definitely not a moment that I'm proud of, for sure, in relationship to Vince."

On why he left WWF to go back to WCW:

"There was a lot involved. At that time, business overall was down. We were working a lot of overseas trips and away from family a lot. The money was down. Bret was operating as a champion and he would operate at a lower pay scale than a lot of champions might have tolerated, but Bret's the ultimate professional, and kind of the world champion kind of set the pay scale. I always wanted to make progress in my career, including financially. I thought I was taking a couple steps down, maybe selfishly, so I gave my 90-day notice, but I said, 'Look, I know business isn't the best right now, but if you let me do some outside things with fitness and nutrition, I can make some endorsement money or something. That's all I'm asking for.'"

"That's why him and I operated on a handshake for close to March through September when I showed up on Nitro, on a handshake, which is, I mean, mind boggling. That's how good a relationship we had. We were legitimately trying to work it out and I wanted to stay at WWE. I wanted to really make it there and prove that I could make it there and really show my talents there."

"There was just a moment a couple of weeks before I had a phone call with Sting and he mentioned they were doing a show. I said, 'Oh, you guys are doing a Monday night show?' He goes, 'Yeah', and somehow it came up that I wasn't under contract anymore to WWE. Steve said, 'Timeout. You're not under contract with WWE and you're out on their TV and working the house shows?' I said, 'Yea. We're trying to work it out. I want to stay here.' He spoke to Eric. They brought me in for the secret meeting at Sting's house and the rest is history."

"Up until the last moment, about two weeks before Nitro, I was still trying to work out a deal with WWE. Vince told me on the phone, 'Now tell me what it is you want.' The lawyers are all involved, the fine print. I thought we had a deal for just a regular contract, but just an addendum that I could do outside stuff with fitness and nutrition. Vince goes, 'How do you want that again?' Then Vince said, 'You know, my lawyers are telling me that if I let you do that, I'd have to let Shawn Michaels do that', and he started naming a bunch of other top guys. It just hit me on the phone. I was laying in a bed, I think it was in New Brunswick and I go, 'He's not going to do it. He's not gonna let me sign to do outside stuff', so I guess that in a moment, I had a sort of epiphany that I'm either going to have to stay here at WWE and ride it out and hope things improve with the company and with the pay scale for the guys, or make a move. I met with Eric and Sting and of course, like I said, the rest is history and I ended up back in WCW. That turned out to be an incredibly good move for me and for the business. It turned out to be a really good move, but I did have regrets about how I did it."

On why he feels he didn’t get the WWF Title at SummerSlam 1993:

"He never promised me the title or said I was gonna be the champion. That wasn't part of that, so I wasn't shocked I didn't get it at SummerSlam although that would have been helpful even if I won it and lost it, obviously with that big a build up. He always felt that if I was gonna win the title, he'd rather do it and make it special. The Garden was always a very special place for Vince which I could get into. 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 really in the mix for me to win the title.”

If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit AdFreeShows.com with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.