[1997-08-04-WCW-Nitro] Hulk Hogan vs Lex Luger

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I always thought this match was in some ways the peak of the Nitro era. At this point, they set a record high rating on the 100th episode with Hogan dropping the title to the guy whose debut was what made Nitro must-watch TV for wrestling fans. Hogan put on an excellent performance in this match and the crowd came unglued when he submitted to the torture rack when Luger won the title. Say what you want about what happened in WCW after this. The PPV became a moot point. Luger was just going to be Tommy Rich. Hogan doing jobs when Sting was waiting at the end of the year may not have been the best idea either. But for one night, they did everything right. Great post-match celebration too, especially in taking the NWO paint off of the belt. I can't think of any title change that could happen now that would have this shared babyface camaraderie, but that's what happens when you let a top heel run with the ball for a year. One of the better Nitro moments.

[Kevin Ridge]

I don't like the Title change itself because Hogan won it back days later at the PPV and bigger things were ahead with Sting. Hogan needed to go into Starccade holding the belt for a very long time. I thought Hollywood was great here just mugging for the camera after every move he did. He carried the whole match. This finish reminded me off all those Hulk Hogan matches where he would be getting beat up and then Hulk up at the finish and put his opponent away after a couple moves. Always enjoyed Randy Anderson's reaction to Hogan's submission where he's completely shocked but ecstatic that Hogan gave up and Luger won. WCW guys rush the ring after which makes me wonder why they didn't do that during match to cut off the NWO. But it all leads to a big celebration in the lockeroom which is cool with me as they put over how big it was to win the WCW Title.

[Childs]

I don't know that it was smart in the big picture, but this was a hugely memorable moment from the initial NWO run. The release of emotion when Luger fended off Hogan's cronies was incredible. I remember being legitimately bummed when I heard that Hogan won the belt back at Road Wild. And it's not like I was a big Luger fan. They just had me sucked into the WCW-NWO rivalry, and I hated Hogan. It still comes off as a great moment in the yearbook context though it feels like more of a tangent given that we know the whole picture. It's noteworthy that when Luger and Sting have had parallel big moments on the yearbooks, Luger's have generally clicked better.

[soup23]

Wow what a segment. Hogan probably puts in his most unselfish performance of all time really being a complete dick and dominating the match. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand and really had his working boots on using his heel offense but in a more vicious way like the repeated elbows to the throat out on the floor. He even lets Luger kick out clean of the legdrop. Second legdrop misses and we know how that spells doom. Luger's comeback is super taking out the main principles of the NWO and getting Hogan to submit clean to nuclear crowd heat. The celebration is the best feel good moment of 1997 so far and the removal of the spraypaint on the belt is a nice touch. I am starting to feel like Sting is now shoe horned. They have played up his return well up to this point and showed some restraint, but Luger having a great two month title run and then getting screwed at Havoc instead of age in a cage leading to Luger vs. new NWO member and Hogan vs. Sting would have been more appropriate. I actually don't even know if STing vs. Hogan needed to be for the belt now.

[El-P]

The peak of Nitro. Anyone wanting to argue that Hogan wasn't still WCW's MVP at this point ? Amazing moment, with Luger not only beating Hogan clean for the belt, but punking out the OUtsiders and Savage in the process too. You can feel the heat building to the final release from the crowd. Great pro-wrestling moment. I still wonder why the fuck Glacier was one of the first guys jumping the ring. Anyway, great post-match celebration, exactly what the Starrcade match should have been. Gotta love the fact Hogan (and his bitch Savage) almost gets nervous in the face of Hall & Nash who are looking down like they are thinking about doing something about it…

In the grand scheme of things, yeah, maybe they should have let Luger keep the belt for awhile and not drop it back immediately and have the focus go back to Sting when he was losing some momentum with the idiotic contract signing segments. But as a pure moment, it was the peak of the Nitro era.

[PeteF3]

It may have just been a happy coincidence, but there's something cool about the 100th Nitro main event being a re-match of the bout that instantly put Nitro on the map. Hogan completely carries this--Luger is competent, but for most of this he's just a warm body as Hogan sets the pace, works the crowd, and completely controls this match. The clinching Torture Rack is pretty electrifying--this time period feels like the peak for *both* companies. There's good stuff to come, but now Austin will never be the same, Shawn's a heel and is already starting to overshadow Bret, and WCW will be entering a holding pattern until Starrcade and we know how that goes.

[Jingus]

Anyone know why this title change got booked in the first place? It's a huge feel-good moment for the crowd that night, but it went absolutely nowhere. They could've given Lex a nontitle win on Nitro and then have Hogan win the championship match on PPV and achieved the exact same results. The minifeud did Luger no favors; he consistently fell further and further down the card for the rest of the year, finally ending up in a feud with fuckin' Bagwell. Hogan acted like it never happened; in fact, he didn't even wrestle another match for over two months after this. And it certainly served to water down Sting's eventual win over the NWO. So why even bother? Was this just yet another symptom of WCW's "it seemed like a good idea at the time" tendency to book everything on a cocktail napkin in the hotel bar, right before showtime?

[PeteF3]

Just think they wanted something big for the 100th and first 3-hour Nitro. Luger winning a non-title match over Hogan had already happened, so that wouldn't have added much, either.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Weird that the first Nitro I ever saw was the apex of the promotion that I loved more than any other promotion.

 

I still remember vividly the finish with Luger fending off the Outsiders and Macho Man, racking Hogan with a huge pop and how Randy Anderson did the double ring the bell. Such a great moment!

 

I'm a huge Luger mark BUT Hogan definitely carried the match especially after the commercial break with hard chops and lots of good trash talk. Popped huge for the kick out out of the leg drop because I just remember the missed leg drop.

 

Great feel good moment, so much childhood nostalgia, one of my fondest memories.

[Zenjo]

The biggest match in the history of Monday Nitro to this point. Obviously. The commentators put over how hard hitting Hogan's offence is, rather at odds with the visual evidence. He just looks old and past it. The crowd reactions show that he was still viewed as the top dog however. The title is in jeopardy at the end so the NWO runs in for the standard BS finish. Hey wait a sec... Luger wins! A feelgood moment as WCW reclaims its World Title, complete with babyface locker room celebrations. I love when they do that. Lex's 3rd and final title reign begins.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Totally disagree, thought Hogan was on fire here. Some of the best looking offense from him and I thought the chops were hard and everything looked good!