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WWE has pulled all trailers for the planned 7/4 debut of Icons: Lex Luger and all signs are the documentary will not be premiering this weekend. As PWInsider.com has reported, there has been a hold on all forthcoming WWE documentaries and all planned premieres and even production work on WWE Docs was halted this past week. Even though the Luger documentary was announced and promoted this past week, it appears that even that doc has fallen under the recent edict.
The release date was timed for the anniversary of the biggest WWF angle of Luger's career in 1993, when he flew in on a helicopter at the end of a WWF event on the deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid in New York City to "save the day" by bodyslamming then-WWF Champion Yokozuna to prevent him, playing the foreign menace villain heel, from embarrassing the United States on Independence Day. This led to Luger chasing Yokozuna from that event through Summerslam 1993 and Wrestlemana X.
Prior to that run, Luger was predestined to become a star from the moment he debuted after being trained by Hiro Matsuda in Florida, soon becoming a member of the Four Horsemen for Jim Crockett Promotions. When that promotion graduated to PPV, Luger was one of the main event stars of that era, chasing then-NWA World Champion Ric Flair for several years, during which WCW always seemed set on replacing Flair with either Luger or Sting, but failed to get either competitor over to the point where they overshadowed Flair in either performance or importance in the eyes of the audience. When Flair was fired the promotion in 1991, Luger was immediately ascended to the top position, but quit a year later to pursue working for the WWF.
Luger's most shocking involvement in the pantheon of professional wrestling was probably his decision to secretly jump back to WCW from the WWF, walking out on the first episode of Monday Nitro on TNT, legitimately shocking the entire world. That jump set the stage for anything truly happening during the Monday Night Wars with Luger eventually even getting another short run with the WCW World title during a program with Hulk Hogan.
Later in life, after WCW shut down, Luger would be forever linked to the death of Miss Elizabeth, who he had been dating when she died of an accidental overdose. He would return to wrestling on independent events and short appearances for TNA, but later dealt with health issues that left him partially paralyzed. Luger has remained a regular at convention events and has fought to regain his mobility. He published an autobiography several years ago.
Previous WWE Icons documentary subjects have been WWE Hall of Famers Yokozuna, Beth Phoenix and Rob Van Dam. Unless there is a last minute change in decision-making, the Luger edition won't debut this weekend and there's no clear cut indicator currently as to when it will.
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