Lex Luger

At 66 years old, Lex Luger has this physical status:

Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired professional wrestler, television producer, and footballer currently working with WWE on their wellness initiatives.

Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Luger is a two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time WWA World Heavyweight Champion.

He is also a five-time NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Champion who holds the world record for consecutive days and total days as champion.

Despite winning no titles in the WWF, he challenged for every trophy in the group (including WWF World Heavyweight Championships in 1993 and 1994) and was the 1994 Royal Rumble co-winner with Bret Hart.

In 1993, Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers voted Luger as the Most Popular Wrestler of the Year.

Luger is the second WCW Triple Crown Champion.

Personal life

Luger is of German and Scottish origins. Luger is divorced from Peggy, has two children, Brian (born January 1, 1986), and Lauren Ashley (born September 24, 1990). Luger is a Christian.

Luger was charged with domestic violence with Miss Elizabeth (Elizabeth Hulette), then his live-in girlfriend, in the garage of their townhouse in Marietta, Georgia, when Luger allegedly struck her on April 19, 2003. Hulette was discovered with two bruised eyes, a bump on her head, and a cut lip, according to Cobb County police. Luger was charged with a misdemeanor battery count and released on a $2,500 bond. Luger was arrested on April 21, two days later, for operating under the influence after rear-ending another vehicle. Luger had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes, and he couldn't find his driver's license, according to the police report. Hulette was a passenger in the car and was taken home in a taxi. Luger was also driving without a valid license on March 5, 2003, for a previous charge of driving without expired tags and having no proof of insurance.

Hulette died in the Maritta townhouse she shared with Luger after mixing hydrocodone and Alprazolam (Xanax) tablets with vodka on May 1, 2003. After a thorough search of the house revealed a number of illicit controlled products, including anabolic steroids, oxycodone, synthetic growth hormone, testosterone, and alprazolam, Luger was arrested. He was charged with 13 criminal convictions for unlawful drug use. On the following day, he was released on $27,500 bail. Miss Elizabeth's death was eventually declared accidental. Luger pleaded guilty to the charges, was sentenced to five years in prison, and ordered to perform periodic drug testing.

Luger and fellow wrestlers Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell were both escorted from a flight to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in December 2005, and were detained for several hours. Although Steiner and Bagwell were allowed to return to their trip, Luger was charged with breaching his probation by failing to obtain visa permission to leave the country. Luger was first arrested in the Hennepin County jail. He was tried in Georgia and sentenced to four months in Cobb County Jail with a one-month credit for time served.

Luger suffered a nerve blockage in his neck that resulted in temporary paralysis on October 19, 2007. In an unconfirmed article, it was reported that he underwent an intravenous antibiotic therapy and was supposed to recover fully, but that was never an official prognosis. Luger was still in a quadriplegic state a month after his spinal injury, with no movement in either his arms or legs. Luger was expected to stand on his own for short stretches and walk using a walker in June 2008. In an interview, Luger said he was able to walk more safely and that he was now able to drive. Luger was still able to walk short distances by 2014 but by 2021, he was entirely dependent on a wheelchair for mobility.

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Football career

Luger went to high school and played football in Orchard Park, New York. He enrolled in Pennsylvania State University on a football scholarship but then migrated to the University of Miami after his freshman year, where Penn State coaches believed he should return to linebacker or defensive end. Luger played basketball in his youth, and although he never played soccer, he is a fan of English soccer team Manchester United. He eventually decided that his abilities would be more suited to football. In Coral Gables, he missed the 1977 season as a redshirt transfer student.

Luger, Jim Burke, Jim Burt, Mitch Guittar, Fred Marion, and Mark Richt appeared in 1978 for the Miami Hurricanes, which featured future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, Jim Burt, Mitch Guittar, Fred Marion, and Mark Richt. Luger dismissed him from the team for "off-the-field incidents." Luger, who was sick of not being named a starter by coach Lou Saban by the 5th game of the season, was rushed and trashed his hotel room on the team's road trip to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech.

He played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, where he competed against the Edmonton Eskimos in the 67th Grey Cup after leaving Miami. He then signed with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League, but he never played in a game and therefore is not on the team's all-time roster, though he did spend the entire 1982 season on the team's injured reserve list due to a groin injury suffered during training camp. In 1983, he returned to the Packers' training camp, but he was suspended before the regular season began. Luger wore number 66 for the Packers, becoming the first player to do so before Ray Nitschke was fired from office. Luger said in a 2018 interview with the Green Bay Press-Gazette that his wrestling career may not have happened if it wasn't with the Packers. Pfohl said, "I would have loved to have spent a long time with the Packers; are you kidding me?" "I certainly wouldn't have become a wrestler if I did." So, in the big picture, it turned out for me in this regard:... I have a suspicion that I would not have made it to Green Bay if it hadn't. I have no idea why I became a pro wrestler."

Luger played in the United States Football League for the Tampa Bay Bandits, Memphis Showboats, and Jacksonville Bulls in 1984. When playing for the Tampa Bay Bandits, he was a teammate of former WCW competitor Ron Simmons.

Professional wrestling career

Luger stepped into the Championship Wrestling Florida office in 1985, where he met Hiro Matsuda, who had previously worked on Hulk Hogan and "Mr." Paul Orndorff is a natural performer. Luger took the ring name "Lex Lugger" after being a fan of the comic book villain Lex Luthor, which helped him to portray himself as a typical wrestling heel from the start of his career. Luger made his in-ring debut in September 1985. Percy Pringle and Rick Rude were two of Percy Pringle and Rick Rude's most popular heels.

Luger began wrestling for CWF on October 31, 1985 against Cocoa Samoa, and later won the Southern Heavyweight Championship from Wahoo McDaniel the next month. For a short time, he feuded with Barry Windham before he and his teammates, Ed "The Bull" Gantner, and The White Ninja got together against Sir Oliver Humperdink and his team. At a show Battle of the Belts III, he defeated NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair for the title, resulting in a 60-minute draw. Flair retained the name as a result. Luger was involved in a variety of ways with Kevin Sullivan and Bad News Allen towards the end of his Florida tenure. He was also competing in a steel cage match with Brody Brody, where Brody stopped cooperating, resulting in Luger's climb over the cage and leaving the match.

Luger, who was under the NWA banner, started working for Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in 1987 and began to use "The Human Torture Rack," an Argentina backbreaker rack, as his finisher. Ole Anderson was first hired as an associate of Ric Flair's "Four Horsemen" stable until he was kicked out and made a member of the organization. Nikita Koloff, whom he defeated for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship in 1987, was his first big rivalry. J. Dillon, the boss of the cage, threw a chair over the top of the cage when the referee, Earl Hebner, was incapacitated. With it, Luger knocked Koloff unconscious and then lifted up Koloff in the Torture Rack, then lifted up Koloff. Koloff's arm was dropped three times with no reply, and Luger was crowned with a submission win.

The Horsemen first appeared in a WarGames match during this period.

He held the title until JCP's first pay-per-view show Starrcade in November, when he dropped it to Dusty Rhodes in a steel cage. Luger left the Four Horsemen due to manager Dillon's interference, who cost Luger the match. Luger and Rhodes DDT'd Luger dropped a steel chair before pinning him for the victory. After Luger and his trusted allies (Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, and Dillon) were the sole wrestlers in a Bunkhouse Stampede match royal and Dillon ordered the other wrestlers to remove themselves in order to win, he beat the Four Horsemen at the Knight Centre in Miami, Florida, Dillon. Although Blanchard and Anderson cooperated, Luger refused and suspended Dillon, effectively ending the Horsemen in the process.

Luger befriended Barry Windham, his longtime Florida colleague, and the two of them formed a tag team dubbed The Twin Towers. On February 3, 1988, the team's first match as a team was played at WTBS Studios in Atlanta. They defeated Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson for the NWA World Tag Team Championship on March 27, 1988 at Clash of the Champions. Windham then turned on Luger during a title defense (against Blanchard and Anderson, who regained the title as a result) and joined Luger's former stable, the Four Horsemen, just a few weeks after winning the championship and joined the Four Horsemen. The Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament was held in Greenville, South Carolina, just days later. Luger, a partner-less Luger, was teamed with Sting (whose Ronnie Garvin had been injured) and the impromptu team secured the entire tournament, beating Blanchard and Anderson in the finals.

Luger continued his rivalry with the Four Horsemen and Windham. It was revealed that Luger would face Horsemen Ric Flair in the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash on July 10 in Baltimore, on June 8 battle of the Champions II: Miami Mayhem. As Luger arrived in a limousine, he was assaulted by the Four Horsemen, leaving him (kayfabe) injured and bleeding in the parking lot on live television. Though Luger had Flair in the "Torture Rack" and Flair was set to submit, the match was abruptly stopped by the referee who cited (kayfabe) "Maryland State Athletic Commission" for a cut that had opened up on Luger's forehead "bleeds excessively." Jim Crockett Jr. sold JCP to Turner Broadcasting System in November 1988, and the tournament was renamed to World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The feud with Flair came to an end after 1998's Starrcade, where Flair pinned Luger in a rematch main event for the NWA title illegally using the ropes.

He was then matched up against old foe Barry Windham at Chi-Town Rumble, winning his second NWA Heavyweight Championship from him. He and Michael P.S. teamed up. Hayes faces Barry and Kendall Windham in a game that televised on March 18, 1989, when Hayes' turn on Luger made him a candidate for the United States. Title. At WrestleWar 1989: The Battle of Britain 1989: Hayes defeated Luger for the United States championship, as Terry Gordy, Hayes' ex-Freebird teammate, cost Luger the match. Luger regained the United States. Hayes regained their title in a rematch a few weeks later when he broke the rules by pulling Hayes' tights while pinning Hayes to victory the match. Luger was shot and killed by the steamboat on June 14 during Battle of the Champions VII: Guts and Glory, after the Steamboat had disqualified Terry Funk. In July, Luger and Steamboat clashed at The Great American Bash, with Luger disqualified after Luger refused to wrestle Steamboat until the match's no-disqualification provision was waived.

Brian Pillman of Flying challenged Luger at Halloween Havoc in 1989: Settling the Score for the US Championship, which Luger won. In a rematch on the November 15 Battle of the Champions IX, he defeated Pillman to keep the title and end the feud. Luger made a surprise appearance in an "I Quit" match, involving Ric Flair and Terry Funk, who had been called out to save Flair from a post match attack by The Great Muta. The Starrcade in December hosted a "Ironman" tournament involving Flair, Sting, Luger, and Muta.

Despite the fact that Sting eventually defeated the tournament, Luger was the only one to win (Sting won by pinfall over Muta and Flair, giving him the most points to win the tournament). This elevated Sting to the No. 1 contender for the Flair's world championship. Luger was scheduled to protect the United States, with Sting and Flair slated to clash at WrestleWar in February. Steve Williams' "Dr. Death" title is up for auction. However, the card's entire booking of the card was changed due to a legitimate injury to Sting. Luger was dubbed to face Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. During the game, an injured Sting appeared in Luger's corner, before being confronted by Ole and Arn Anderson. When Luger left the ring to assist Sting, he was counted out, giving the match to Flair. The intention was to build Luger up as a "changed man" who had "earned self-respect" by saving Sting. Luger gained disqualification against Flair in a steel cage match a few months later, but outside interference marred the match.

Luger lost the title to Stan Hansen at Halloween Havoc, but he did win it back in 1990: The Collision Course began his fourth NWA Heavyweight Championship career. Luger's third title reign lasted for 523 days, making him the longest-serving United States Champion in history. WCW rebranded the championships they owned and controlled during this period, and the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship was renamed the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. Luger and Dan Spencey, whom he defeated at WrestleWar to keep the United States, got off to a war. Title. Following their match, Nikita Koloff was supposed to bring a new championship belt to Luger, but during the ceremony, he immediately attacked the champion, reigniting the feud dating back to 1987. Koloff found himself being thrust into a position with Sting rather than Luger, which started at SuperBrawl I: Return of the Sun When Sting and Luger defeated the Steiner Brothers for the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Koloff interfered and struck Sting with a chain that was supposed for Luger during the game.

Since losing to Ric Flair in the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on June 14, 1991, Luger returned to challenge Ric Flair in the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Knocksville, USA. Luger's title match against Flair was supposed to be fought at The Great American Bash in a steel cage match with the added stipulation that if Flair is disqualified, he will forfeit the title. The match never took place, however, as Flair began to have differences with Jim Herd, the WCW's chief, over his future and pay. He eventually left the business (being "stripped" of the company) and took the world championship belt with him, and was able to capture the world championship belt with him.

Barry Windham was named the No. 1 in the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship now vacant. In the cage match at The Great American Bash, a 2 contender and Luger were supposed to face Luger. Mr. Hughes and Harley Race were ringside during the game. Although Hughes waited for Windham's, Race told Luger that "now is the time" to do a piledriver on the tangled Windham. Luger did so and won the tournament, thereby winning his first WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Luger first wore the NWA Western States Heritage Championship, which had been redesigned to look like the world championship belt, although Flair's new belt was not ready in time.

Luger defeated the world championship in his first major challenge came from Ron Simmons. At a signing ceremony for their title match at Halloween Havoc in a two out of three falls match, Luger invited Simmons, but as a chauffeur. Luger won the championship by two falls to one in the match. Luger began to have his own issues with WCW, and the deal he had made him wrestling less often as he was still receiving funds. Luger had a brief feud with Rick Steiner after he came to an end, defeating him on the November 19 Battle of the Champions XVII. Luger's job only required him to work a limited number of dates, and after doing so, he "sat out" the end of 1991 and 1992. Luger did not wrestle at WCW/New Japan Supershow II (Starrcade in Tokyo Dome), where he lost his WCW title to Sting in his first fight.

Luger negotiated a release from WCW and joined Vince McMahon's World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF), hosting WBF BodyStars, a Saturday morning show. He appeared at WrestleMania VIII, as part of an on-air interview with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon. Heenan and Luger formed a WBF team (similar to Heenan's WBF friendship with Ric Flair). He had intended to appear at a WBF pay-per-view function, but he was injured in a motorcycle crash. By the time he recovered, the WBF was out of money.

Luger joined the World Wrestling Federation after his injury and the WBF's cancellation. At Royal Rumble 1993, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan introduced him with the persona of "Narcissus." His name was changed slightly to "The Narcissist" shortly after. Before every match, Luger posed in front of full length mirrors. On WWF Superstars of Wrestling, his debut made him beat jobber Larry Lunden on January 25 (aired February 13). The WWF turned his motorcycle accident into his gimmick, capitalizing on the fact that it had a "metal plate" embedded into his forearm, which was likely to cause more harm when it struck an enemy, often allowing Luger to pin them with just his little finger pointed on their chest. As he had a streak of knocking people out, a number of his opponents threatened to request that he wear a mask during games. This led to WWF officials insisting that Luger wear an elbow pad, though he would often ignore it. Mr. Argus was the subject of the Narcissist's one big rivalry. The result was flawless. In a small attack on Mr., the feud was based on Heenan, his advisor, who referred to him as "Beyond Perfection." His former boss, Joe, is just right. When Luger defeated Perfect, the feud came to an end.

Luger was turned into a fan-favorite character after Hulk Hogan's departure from the company in mid-1993, and "The American Original" was also "American Original." He arrived by helicopter on the deck of the US Intrepid and body of the WWF World Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna on July 4 after a number of other athletes, both within and outside the WWF, attempted and failed. Following this, he started the "Lex Express" tour, visiting the country in a red, white, and blue painted bus to welcome supporters in anticipation of his participation in the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam 1993. Luger's first shot at the title was stipulated in the match. Luger won the match with the use of the metal plate in his forearm, but Yokozuna retained the title despite the countout victory. Vince McMahon didn't give the accolade to Luger despite his effort because Luger wasn't as keen as expected, according to Bruce Prichard.

Luger, another anti-American foreigner from Finland, started a feud with Ludvig Borga in late 1993. Luger captained a team named "All-Americans" (Luger, The Undertaker, and The Steiner Brothers) against Yokozuna's "Foreign Fanatics" (Crush, Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, and Quebecer Jacques) in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match, 1993. After Luger's crew pinned Borga, the match was decided to be decided by the player. Luger was involved in the Royal Rumble match in which he and Bret Hart were proclaimed co-winners after both men went over the top rope and had their feet strike the ground simultaneously, at the Royal Rumble. As such, Luger was disqualified in his championship match against Yokozuna, becoming the first man to win the Rumble but not win their title match, while Hart won the Yokozuna title later that night. Luger was going to start another feud with Mr. X after WrestleMania X. Hennig was hurt, so Luger instead feuded with Crush.

Luger then began feuding with his buddy Tatanka due to a lack of confidence, and a match between the two teams took place at SummerSlam. Tatanka defeated Luger and joined Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation at the festival. He was in a Survivor Series team called "Guts & Glory" (himself, Mabel, Adam Bomb, and The Smoking Gunns), losing to Tatanka, King Kong Bundy, Bam Bam Bigelow, and The Heavenly Bodies, with only King Kong Bundy and Bam Bam Bigelow surviving.

Luger formed The Allied Powers in 1995, along with Davey Boy Smith. At WrestleMania XI, they made their pay-per-view debut as a tag team, defeating the Blu Brothers. On Raw, they defeated jobbers on Raw, and after a triumph over Men on a Mission (King Mabel and Sir Mo) in June 1995, they received a chance against Owen Hart and Yokozuna, but they were unable to win the championships. Shortly after SummerSlam, Luger, whose deal had ended, there was no one in the WWF to alert McMahon. Luger's last official WWF match took place in Saint John, New Brunswick, on September 3rd, with Shawn Michaels defeating Owen Hart and Yokozuna by disqualification.

Luger received a call from WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff in late August 1995, shortly after advising Sting that he wanted to leave the WWF, and Luger may have been "jumping ship" in late August. Bischoff was initially reluctant to accept the bid because he did not care about Luger personally or professionally, but he relinquished due to both Sting's counsel and the belief that his appearance would make a lot of news. Only to find that Luger accepted the bid, Bischoff's only offer to him was $150,000 per year, 20% of what he was earning when he first joined WCW three years ago, according to Bischoff (and, indeed, "at least tell Sting that I tried"), only to be shocked to learn that Luger accepted the bid.

Luger returned to WCW on the premiere of Nitro, eight days after his appearance at SummerSlam and just one night after competing at a WWF house show in Sydney, Nova Scotia, only one night after competing on the United States Heavyweight Championship between champion Sting and Ric Flair. Luger did not make his allegiances known as a tweener, but he did have a long-time friendship with Sting after his return to the island, but not for the fact that he did not have a long-time friendship with the Sting. He only stated that he wanted to stake his WCW World Heavyweight Championship, beating him on the September 11, 1995 edition of Nitro, which Hogan defeated by disqualification. Luger attacked Hogan after his match with The Giant and Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom stable at Halloween Havoc.

Luger participated in a WCW vs. NJPW World Cup of Wrestling, where he represented WCW in a victory over NJPW rep Masa Chono. He competed in a triangle match with Sting and Ric Flair on Friday night, with the winner facing Randy Savage for the WCW World Championship; Flair won after both Sting and Luger were counted out. On the 1996 episode of Nitro, the two guys teamed up to defeat Harlem Heat for their first World Tag Team Championship, with Luger still threatening opposition due to his link to the Dungeon of Doom but always seemsing to be on the same page as his friend. On the February 3 episode of Saturday Night, he lost by disqualification to Eddie Guerrero. Luger defeated Johnny B. Badd for the WCW World Television Championship on February 17, denying it to him the next night. By defeating him on March 6, he regained the television show from Badd.

Doom's former WWF ally, Randy Savage, joined the Four Horsemen to form Alliance to End Hulkamania, which rivals with Hulk Hogan and Luger's former WWF ally, Randy Savage. Nine members of the Alliance were involved in a "Tower of Doom Steel Cage match" at Uncensored, but they were dissatisfied with the team's tactics against Hogan and Savage. Luger was blamed for the failure because he mistakenly punched teammate Ric Flair and was booted out of the stable.

Luger launched a feud with The Giant over the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in the summer, unsuccessfully challenging him at The Great American Bash. During this period, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, two former WWF stars, began to appear on television and said they were "taking over" the organization. Randy Savage was a spearhead of the WCW wrestling against them, with Luger and Sting on their side. Luger, Savage and Sting, took on Nash and Hall (who went by The Outsiders) and a new, unknown, friend who said they were an "insider" at Bash at the Beach. Luger suffered a kayfabe injury in the first few minutes of the match, leaving Sting and Savage on their own when the mystery partner revealed himself to be Hulk Hogan. Savage and Sting were "quick prep" for the three who declared themselves as the New World Order (nWo).

Luger, who was once one of the WCW's crucible against the nWo, was still one of the main figures, battling and feuding with a number of their members. Luger and The Giant triumphed the World Tag Team Championship at SuperBrawl VII. By nWo member and WCW President Eric Bischoff, the title was returned to the Outsiders. Luger won a Four Corners match to win Hogan's WCW Championship at Spring Stampede, and he teamed with his new ally, The Giant, to defeat Hogan and basketball star Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach. Luger won his second World Heavyweight Championship in an impromptu match on August 4, 1997, before losing the title to Hogan just five days later at Road Wild. His victory was the first time in a year that WCW had "won their world championship back" from the nWo.

After both men pinned each other in tag team matches (Luger's partner was Diamond Dallas Page and Hall's Sam Savage) before facing each other in a 1-on-1 match at Halloween Havoc, which Luger won. In the fall of 1997, he had a brief rivalry with Buff Bagwell, which culminated in a match at Starrcade, which Bagwell defeated. Luger feuded with Savage in the first half of 1998 and defeated him at Souled Out and SuperBrawl VIII. Scott Steiner, who Luger defeated at Uncensored, was his final rivalry with the nWo. At Spring Stampede, he teamed with Scott's brother and former tag team partner Rick to defeat Scott and Bagwell.

Luger joined nWo Wolfpac on May 25, 1998, after a long war with the nWo. Luger was instrumental in the company's war against Hogan's nWo Hollywood, as well as persuading the long-serving anti-nWo Sting to join. He defeated Bret Hart to win his record-tying fifth and final United States Heavyweight Championship in an impromptu title match before losing the trophy to Hart just one day later. He was also involved in the incident in which both nWo groups united against the tense Bill Goldberg in early 1999. He was still a member of the new nWo until he was discredited with a (legitimate) biceps injury.

Luger returned to Nitro in August 1999 as part of the World Heavyweight Championship's Sting/Hogan campaign. In September 1999, he helped Sting win the World Championship at Fall Brawl. Luger said Lex Luger was now "dead" and that he was going by the name "The Complete Package" after Fall Brawl. On the September 27, 1999 episode of Nitro, he premiered this gimmick, symbolizing his "rebirth" and bringing back Miss Elizabeth as his boss. The Total Package began to have some issues with Sting during late November and December 1999. He began treating Elizabeth so badly that Sting had to intervene. Sting and The Total Package were involved in a match in December 1999, with Elizabeth eventually turning on Sting.

Luger retained his Total Package deal with Elizabeth until January 2000. He began a storyline in which he would break his opponents' arms by inserting the arm into a closed steel chair and stomping on it. He formed an alliance with Ric Flair in February 2000 to take down Hulk Hogan. They later established a tag team under the name Team Package. The team competed with Sting and Hogan until April 2000, when Vince Russo introduced the New Blood, causing Luger to join the Millionaires Club. On the November 20, 2000 episode of Nitro for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and Goldberg at Mayhem and then again at Starrcade 2000 with Goldberg's career on the line. "Buff Bagwell" was also a member of Buff Bagwell's tag team. In a tag team match at Sin in January 2001, they defeated Goldberg and DeWayne Bruce. Luger remained with the team until the WWF acquired WCW in March 2001. Bagwell went to the WWF after WCW's demise, but the corporation was not involved in Luger. He took a break from wrestling due to a hiatus.

Luger returned to wrestling in November 2002 after WCW's WCW came to a stop. He played for the European Wrestling All-Stars and made his debut in Dublin, Ireland, teaming with Sting to defeat Buff Bagwell and Malice. Luger won the vacant WWA World Heavyweight Championship after Jeff Jarrett intervened on his behalf at Retribution. On December 7, Luger and Sting met Bagwell and Jarrett in a match in which both Luger's WWA World Heavyweight Championship and Jarrett's NWA World Heavyweight Championship and Jarrett's NWA World Heavyweight Championship were on the line, though neither title changed hands as Sting pinned Bagwell. Luger lost the WWA World Heavyweight Championship to Sting in a three-way dance that also included Malice in Zürich, Switzerland, on December 13, his last appearance with WWA.

Luger joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in late 2003; he partnered with TNA co-founder Jeff Jarrett on November 12 in a loss to A.J. Stings and styling. During a tables match against Abyss on February 25, 2004, he returned a table, putting AJ Styles through a table.

Luger first appeared during the TNA in 2006, and he was back in TNA in 2006. Sacrifice's second best friend. He appeared on Impact in both September and October. Having been one of the many individuals (along with Buff Bagwell) helping Sting to "prepare" for his upcoming match against Jeff Jartt at Bound for Glory, he is one of the team's heroes.

Luger inducted Sting to the TNA Hall of Fame in Phoenix, Arizona, on October 13, 2012, just days before the Bound for Glory pay-per-view.

Luger made occasional appearances on the independent circuit in 2004 and 2005. Luger's last match took place in Oklahoma on August 26, 2006, when Luger teamed with Buff Bagwell to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner in the main event of a United Wrestling Federation tournament in Oklahoma. Luger was inducted into the XWF's (later Legend's Pro Wrestling) Hall of Fame on September 22, 2007.

In regards to this role he stated:

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