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160-643: The main event of the show was a steel cage match with Ric Flair defending the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Lex Luger . On the undercard, The Steiner Brothers ( Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner ) defended the NWA World Tag Team Championship against Doom ( Ron Simmons and Butch Reed ) while Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk defended the NWA United States Tag Team Championship against

320-428: A Mortal Kombat -style cinematic match that saw The Karate Man "kill" Page in what would be Page's last appearance with Impact before leaving for AEW. Some matches have a container stationed in or near the ring, with the object of the match being to trap the opposing wrestler in it. All of these matches are fought under hardcore rules, and many of these matches take the name of the container, such as Ambulance match and

480-468: A Heart Punch , followed by the 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) Callous climbing the turnbuckles, then walking across the top rope to land an elbow drop on Ace to win the match. In the third match of the night the Samoan Swat Team (Fatu and Samoan Savage ) defeated the team of Tommy Rich and Mike Rotunda in 17 minutes and 55 seconds. The fourth match of the night carried a special stipulation,

640-425: A Winner Takes All match , but in some cases each superstars' title is not contested in the match or only one title is on the line. During WWE's second brand extension , this type of match was frequently used at Survivor Series , with both titles not defended, up until 2021, with the champion vs. champion matches being replaced by WarGames . This type of match has now been used at Crown Jewel since 2024 , with both

800-542: A chauffeur . Luger went on to retain the championship in the match by two falls to one. Eventually, Luger began to have his own issues with WCW, and the contract he had seemed to have him wrestling less and less while still collecting money. After ending his feud with Simmons, Luger had a brief feud with Rick Steiner , defeating him on the November 19 Clash of the Champions XVII . Luger's contract only required him to work

960-595: A triangle match with Sting and Ric Flair, with the winner to face Randy Savage for the WCW World Championship; Flair won after both Sting and Luger were counted out . The two men teamed up to defeat Harlem Heat for their first World Tag Team Championship on the January 22, 1996, episode of Nitro , with Luger constantly threatening dissent due to his allegiance to the Dungeon of Doom, but always seeming to stay on

1120-474: A " Boiler Room Brawl " that was largely pre-taped, incorporating props and unorthodox camera angles. In 2016, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling) held a match entitled the "Final Deletion" between brothers Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy for the July 5 episode of Impact Wrestling , which was filmed at Matt Hardy's compound. It was a hardcore wrestling match with falls count anywhere. The sequel

1280-500: A 60-minute draw. As a result, Flair retained the title. Towards the end of his run in Florida, Luger was involved in angles with Kevin Sullivan and Bad News Allen . He was also in a steel cage match with Bruiser Brody , where Brody stopped cooperating , leading to Luger climbing over the cage and leaving the match. In 1987, Luger went to work for Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), which

1440-667: A House of Horrors match between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. Similar to the "Final Deletion" match in TNA, this one was held at an abandoned house, but instead of falls count anywhere, this match had to end in the ring in the arena that the event was held in (the House of Horrors scenes were pre-taped, while the in-ring portion was live). The next cinematic match would occur on the March 19, 2018 episode of Raw , which featured Matt Hardy, who had returned to WWE and became "Woken" Matt Hardy, against Bray Wyatt and

1600-619: A WWF house show in Saint John, New Brunswick , Luger made his return to WCW on the premiere of Nitro , coming out during the match for the United States Heavyweight Championship between champion Sting and Ric Flair . After Luger's return, he did not make his allegiances known acting as a tweener , except for that he still did have a long-time friendship with Sting. He merely claimed that he wanted to stake his claim at Hogan's WCW World Heavyweight Title, facing him on

1760-441: A call from WCW Vice-President Eric Bischoff to set up a meeting about a contract and Luger possibly "jumping ship". Bischoff was initially reluctant to make the offer, as he did not care for Luger personally or professionally, but relented due to both Sting's urging, and the idea that his appearance would make a big splash. Bischoff offered Luger only $ 150,000 a year, 20% of what he was making when he left WCW three years earlier, in

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1920-633: A chair over the top of the cage while the referee, Earl Hebner , was down. Luger knocked Koloff unconscious with it and then lifted up Koloff in the Torture Rack. A revived Hebner then dropped Koloff's arm three times with no response and awarded Luger a submission victory. It was during this time that the Horsemen debuted the WarGames match . He held the title until JCP's first pay-per-view event Starrcade in November, when he dropped it to Dusty Rhodes in

2080-554: A cinematically produced singles match between Edge and Randy Orton at Backlash (billed as "The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever") also in June, and a Wyatt Swamp Fight between Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules in July. Following the introduction of the WWE ThunderDome and Capitol Wrestling Center (CWC) staging arenas in August and October, respectively,

2240-508: A co-host on its Saturday morning program, WBF BodyStars . He also made an appearance at WrestleMania VIII , taking part in an on-air interview with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon . Heenan and Luger formed an alliance in the WBF (similar to Heenan's alliance with Ric Flair in the WWF). He was slated to guest pose at a WBF pay-per-view event, but was injured in a motorcycle accident . By

2400-409: A daughter, Lauren Ashley (born September 24, 1990). His then family was featured in a 30 second video clip shown at the beginning of Survivor Series 1993 . Luger is a reformed Christian , even after his below noted matters (which mention alcohol use and drug use). Luger is a fan of Scottish football club Rangers F.C and also English football club Manchester United F.C. . On April 19, 2003, Luger

2560-512: A deliberate attempt to have him turn down the offer (and, according to Bischoff, "at least tell Sting that I tried"), only to be surprised to see that Luger accepted the offer. Luger himself would later state that he had planned on re-signing with the WWF on a two to three-year extension but saw it as an opportunity to prove doubters wrong about his ability to be a top star. Eight days after his appearance at SummerSlam and only one night after competing at

2720-431: A double-deep, double-wide casket, sometimes specially designed for specific opponents The Undertaker takes on), ambulances , dumpsters , hearses (known as a "Last Ride match", also connected to The Undertaker gimmick), and stretchers . An Ambulance match is fought under hardcore rules, no pinfalls, no submissions, no disqualifications, no countouts and the only way to win is for one wrestler to force their opponent into

2880-505: A football scholarship , but transferred to the University of Miami after his freshman year when the Penn State coaches thought he should move to linebacker or defensive end . Luger was an avid basketball player in his youth, and though he rarely played soccer, is a fan of English soccer club Manchester United . He eventually decided his skills would be better suited to football. He sat out

3040-664: A heel in the process, while Barry Windham became a Babyface. The PPV was the last televised match in North America for Johnny Ace. Ace later worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling and, after retiring from in-ring competition, end up working behind the scenes and on-screen in WWE under his real name, John Laurinaitis. The Road Warriors left WCW after this PPV, moving on to the WWF and calling themselves by their alternate name "The Legion of Doom" but not bring their longtime manager Paul Ellering with them for their initial WWF run, and soon feuded with

3200-619: A later time, typically for a pay-per-view event. They are also usually filmed on-location or at a custom built set. While not considered a cinematic match at the time, the Hollywood Backlot Brawl between Roddy Piper and Goldust at WrestleMania XII in 1996 is considered an early cinematic match by the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE ), as it used techniques now featured in cinematic matches. Unlike future cinematic matches (which typically air during one segment),

3360-403: A long war with the nWo, Luger joined nWo Wolfpac on May 25, 1998. Luger played a central role in the group's war with Hogan's nWo Hollywood , and even convinced the long-standing anti-nWo Sting to join. On the August 10, 1998, episode of Nitro , he defeated Bret Hart to win his record-tying fifth, and final, United States Heavyweight Championship in an impromptu title match, before dropping

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3520-489: A match with Elizabeth eventually turning on Sting. Luger continued his Total Package angle with Elizabeth through January 2000. He began a storyline where he would break the arms of his opponents by placing the arm inside a closed steel chair and stomping on it. In February 2000, he formed an alliance with Ric Flair to take out Hulk Hogan . They later formed a tag team under the name Team Package . The team feuded with Sting and Hogan until April 2000 when Vince Russo formed

3680-468: A nerve impingement in his neck that led to temporary paralysis. In an unconfirmed report it was stated that he underwent an intravenous antibiotic treatment and was expected to make a full recovery, though that was never an official prognosis. Nearly a month after his spinal stroke, Luger was still in a quadriplegic state, having no movement in either his arms or legs. In June 2008, Luger was said to be able to stand on his own for short periods and walk using

3840-526: A new championship belt to Luger, but during the ceremony he suddenly attacked the champion, reigniting their feud from 1987. It did not last long, however, as Koloff found himself being pushed into an angle with Sting instead of Luger, which began at SuperBrawl I: Return of the Rising Sun when Sting and Luger challenged The Steiner Brothers for the WCW World Tag Team Championship . During

4000-481: A one-ring, over-the-top-rope elimination. A typical battle royale, except this one features tables covered with barbed wire, thumbtacks, and light bulbs on the outside of the ring, which may catch wrestlers as they are thrown out of the ring. The National Wrestling Alliance 's (NWA) Bunkhouse Stampede involved wrestlers wearing what was described as "bunkhouse gear"—cowboy boots, jeans , T-shirts—instead of their normal wrestling tights and not only allowed but encouraged

4160-501: A predecessor to Extreme Championship Wrestling . Generally used in TNA / Impact Wrestling , a reverse battle royale begins with wrestlers surrounding the ring instead of inside it. At the start of the match they battle for half of them to get into the ring, at which point a standard last person standing wins the battle royale. The Cage Reverse Battle Royale is another TNA variation of this match type. This actually has three stages; It begins

4320-745: A pro wrestler." In 1984, Luger finished his football career playing in the United States Football League for the Tampa Bay Bandits , Memphis Showboats and Jacksonville Bulls . He was a teammate of future WCW rival Ron Simmons while playing for the Tampa Bay Bandits. In 1985, Luger walked into the Championship Wrestling From Florida office where he met Hiro Matsuda , who had previously trained Hulk Hogan and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff . Luger adopted

4480-447: A rematch main event for the NWA title by illegally using the ropes. He was then matched up against old foe Barry Windham at Chi-Town Rumble winning his second NWA United States Heavyweight Championship from him. He teamed up with Michael P.S. Hayes against Barry and Kendall Windham in a match, televised on March 18, 1989, which saw Hayes turn on Luger, setting himself as a contender to

4640-441: A short feud with Buff Bagwell in the fall of 1997, culminating in a match at Starrcade , which Bagwell won. In the first half of 1998, Luger feuded with Savage and defeated him at Souled Out and SuperBrawl VIII . His final feud with the nWo was against Scott Steiner , whom Luger defeated at Uncensored . At Spring Stampede , he teamed with Scott's brother and former tag team partner Rick to defeat Scott and Bagwell. After

4800-532: A specific number of dates, and having fulfilled them he "sat out" the end of 1991 and beginning of 1992. Aside from one title defense against Masahiro Chono at WCW/New Japan Supershow II (Starrcade in Tokyo Dome) , Luger did not wrestle a match until SuperBrawl II , where he lost his WCW title to Sting. After losing to Sting at SuperBrawl, Luger negotiated a departure from WCW and joined Vince McMahon 's World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF), appearing regularly as

4960-581: A steel cage. This loss set the stage for Luger leaving the Four Horsemen, as manager Dillon's interference cost Luger the match. A steel chair thrown in by Dillon was dropped by Luger and Rhodes DDT'd Luger on it prior to pinning him for the win. Luger left the Four Horsemen on December 2, 1987, at the Knight Centre in Miami, Florida, after he and his stablemates ( Tully Blanchard , Arn Anderson , and Dillon) were

Capital Combat - Misplaced Pages Continue

5120-547: A style that mimics the early days of MMA and catch wrestling . It is common for Bloodsport competitors to have some knowledge in other combat sports and/or MMA, as well as professional wrestling, as these one on one matches often appear stiff and have a feel of classic Shoot-style wrestling fights. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic wrestling promotions were forced to hold events behind closed doors from March 2020 onwards. WWE introduced Raw Underground in August that year. It

5280-471: A team dubbed "All-Americans" (Luger, The Undertaker , and The Steiner Brothers ) against Yokozuna's team "Foreign Fanatics" ( Crush , Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, and Quebecer Jacques ) in a 4-on-4 Survivor Series match . Luger's team won the match after he pinned Borga. At the Royal Rumble , Luger participated in the Royal Rumble match where he and Bret Hart were declared co-winners after both men went over

5440-551: A team was on February 3, 1988, at a TV taping at WTBS Studios in Atlanta. On March 27, 1988, at Clash of the Champions I they defeated Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson for the NWA World Tag Team Championship . Only a few weeks after the title win, Windham suddenly turned on Luger during a title defense (against Blanchard and Anderson, who regained the title as a result) and joining Luger's former stable, The Four Horsemen. Days later,

5600-486: A total of 523 days , making him the longest reigning United States Champion in history. During this reign, WCW rebranded the championships they owned and controlled, and the title was renamed the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship . Luger started a feud with Dan Spivey , whom he defeated at WrestleWar to retain the U.S. Title. Following their match, Nikita Koloff was due to present

5760-487: A victory for Doom in 19 minutes and 13 seconds after Simmons hit Rick Steiner in the back, allowing Reed to pin Steiner for the victory and the championship. The steel cage used for the main event was not the traditional type of cage that was attached to the actual ring itself, but was oversized and stood on the floor around the ring without a door to ensure no one could get in or out once the cage had been lowered in place. Flair

5920-427: Is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until only one is left. Typical battle royales begin with 20 or more participants all in the ring at the same time, who are then eliminated by being thrown over the top rope and having both feet touch the venue floor. The Battlebowl is a two-ring variation on a battle royale. In these matches, the wrestlers start in one ring and try to throw wrestlers into

6080-555: Is a singles match in which both competitors can stay outside of the ring without being counted out. A well-known example is at Vengeance (2003) between Stephanie McMahon and Sable , which Sable won. A pure wrestling rules match originally appeared in Ring of Honor (ROH), and still exists as the "official rules" for the ROH Pure Championship . Under the rules, each wrestler is allowed only three rope breaks; once they are all used,

6240-498: Is by forcing your opponent into a dumpster and closing the lid. The first match occurred was at WrestleMania XIV , pitting The New Age Outlaws against Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie . Lex Luger Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger , is an American retired professional wrestler , bodybuilder , and football player. He is best known for his work with Jim Crockett Promotions , World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and

6400-511: Is obtained by pinfall , submission , knockout , countout , or disqualification . One of the most common variations on the singles match is to restrict the possible means for victory. In a blindfold match, the two participants must wear a blindfold over their eyes for the entire duration of the match. A well-known example of this match is the WrestleMania VII match between Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Rick Martel . A no count-out match

6560-535: Is one in which the object is for one wrestler to throw his opponent into a grave dug out of a large mound of soil placed outside the ring. Once in the grave, the wrestler must bury his opponent in dirt and soil to the referee's discretion. Equipment ranging from shovels and wheelbarrows to bulldozers are often made available to completely bury the opponent. The Buried Alive match is one of three of The Undertaker 's signature matches (the Casket and Last Ride matches being

Capital Combat - Misplaced Pages Continue

6720-491: Is reduced to two, and there is a subsequent episode where the final two compete, in this case, "AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring". In New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), the 2021 New Japan Rumble at Wrestle Kingdom 15 was conducted as a semi-final battle royale. Chase Owens , Bad Luck Fale , Tetsuya Bushi , and Toru Yano were the final four that competed in a championship match the next day. The tag team battle royale consist of designated tag teams of wrestlers with two members on

6880-719: The Bound for Glory pay-per-view. Throughout 2004 and 2005, Luger made sporadic appearances on the independent circuit . Luger's final match took place on August 26, 2006, in the main event of a United Wrestling Federation event in Oklahoma, in which Luger teamed with Buff Bagwell to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner . On September 22, 2007, Luger was inducted into the XWF (later Legend's Pro Wrestling)'s Hall of Fame. In 2011, Luger began working again with WWE on their Wellness Policy . In regards to this role he stated: I actually work behind

7040-516: The Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament was held with its first night in Greenville , South Carolina. A partner-less Luger was teamed with Sting (whose partner Ronnie Garvin had been kayfabe injured) and the impromptu team won the entire tournament, defeating Blanchard and Anderson in the finals. Luger continued his feud with the Four Horsemen and Windham. At the June 8 Clash of

7200-533: The National Football League , but never played in a game and thus is not listed on their all-time roster, though he did spend the entire 1982 season on the team's injured reserve list with a groin problem incurred during training camp. He returned to the Packers training camp in 1983, but he was released before the regular season began. Luger wore number 66 for the Packers, the last player to do so before it

7360-661: The Samoan Swat Team ( Fatu and Samu ) wrestle for the NWA United States Tag Team Championship , facing champions Flyin' Brian Pillman and "Z-Man" Tom Zenk at the show. When the Samoan Swat Team did not show up for the television taping on April 9, where they were supposed to film the beginnings of the storyline that would lead to the match, WCW replaced them with The Midnight Express ( Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane ) instead. The event featured wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines . Wrestlers portrayed villains , heroes , or less distinguishable characters in

7520-544: The Southern Heavyweight Championship from Wahoo McDaniel the next month. For a short time, he feuded with Barry Windham before they began teaming up against Sir Oliver Humperdink and his team of Ed "The Bull" Gantner , Kareem Muhammed , and The White Ninja . On September 1, 1986, he fought NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair for the title at a show Battle of the Belts III , which resulted in

7680-491: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Luger is a two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and one-time WWA World Heavyweight Champion . He is also a five-time NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Champion who holds the records for consecutive days and total days as champion. He is the second WCW Triple Crown Champion . Although he never won a championship in the WWF, he challenged for every title in

7840-459: The jargon of the business , are performed in professional wrestling . Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline . Throughout professional wrestling's decades-long history , some gimmick matches have spawned many variations of the core concept. The singles match is the most common of all professional wrestling matches, which involves only two competitors competing for one fall . A victory

8000-616: The "Road Warrior Clones" Demolition. The Rock and Roll Express were no longer a team after Robert Gibson injured his ACL in a house show match against Doom in September and Ricky Morton began a solo career, eventually turning heel to join The York Foundation as "Richard Morton". Steel cage match Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Many types of wrestling matches , sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in

8160-503: The "Torture Rack" and Flair was about to submit, the match was abruptly stopped by the referee who cited (kayfabe) "Maryland State Athletic Commission" rules about a cut that had opened up on Luger's forehead "bleeding excessively". In November 1988, Jim Crockett Jr. sold JCP to Turner Broadcasting System , ultimately the promotion was renamed to World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The feud with Flair came to an end after December's Starrcade 1988: True Gritt where Flair pinned Luger in

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8320-445: The "footage looked awfully familiar"; in reality, repurposed footage of Simpson's infamous Bronco chase was actually used as part of the match.) The match eventually ended in the ring live, when Piper stripped Goldust down to women's lingerie and kissed him as part of "making him a man". WrestleMania XII featured a second cinematic match between " The Huckster " and " Nacho Man ". At SummerSlam 1996 , The Undertaker faced Mankind in

8480-699: The 1970s fought between Dusty Rhodes and Ivan Koloff . The coffin match was revived as one of The Undertaker 's signature matches and first appeared on television at the Survivor Series as the coffin match against Kamala . Prior to that, at a house show on July 14, 1991, the Ultimate Warrior defeated the Undertaker in a casket match in St. Louis, Missouri at Busch Stadium. There have been 17 casket matches, 11 of which have been won by The Undertaker. The 20th edition

8640-519: The 1977 season as a redshirt transfer student in Coral Gables. In 1978, Luger played for the Miami Hurricanes , which featured future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly , Jim Burt , Mitch Guittar, Fred Marion , and Mark Richt . He was kicked off the team for what Luger referred to as "off-the-field incidents". On the team's road trip to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech, Luger, who

8800-732: The Alliance participated in a " Tower of Doom Steel Cage match ", but were unsuccessful in defeating the team of Hogan and Savage. Luger was blamed for the loss because he accidentally punched teammate Ric Flair and was kicked out of the stable. During the summer, Luger began a feud with The Giant for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship , unsuccessfully challenging him at The Great American Bash . During this time, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash , both former WWF superstars, began appearing on WCW television and claimed they were "taking over"

8960-563: The April 27 Impact! as the second of Sting's potential tag team partners for Sacrifice . Throughout September and October, he appeared on Impact! as one of the people (along with Buff Bagwell) helping Sting to "prepare" for his upcoming match against Jeff Jarrett at Bound for Glory . On October 13, 2012, Luger inducted Sting to the TNA Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in Phoenix, Arizona , prior to

9120-456: The Casket match. A similar type of match aims to restrain opposing wrestlers somehow, and the match often takes the name of the restraining device – for example, the Stretcher. None of these matches can end in a pinfall, submission, countout, or disqualification. Common containers used for these matches are caskets (connected to The Undertaker 's Deadman persona, either using a typical coffin or

9280-521: The Champions II: Miami Mayhem , it was announced that Luger would challenge Horsemen leader Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash on July 10 in Baltimore. As Luger arrived at The Clash in a limousine he was attacked by The Four Horsemen, leaving him (kayfabe) injured and bleeding in the parking lot on live television. While Luger had Flair in

9440-457: The Corporate team of Tatanka, King Kong Bundy , Bam Bam Bigelow , and The Heavenly Bodies – with only King Kong Bundy and Bam Bam Bigelow surviving. In the beginning of 1995, Luger took part in Royal Rumble 1995 main event. He eliminated Mabel , Bob Backlund , Mantaur , and Henry Godwinn and became one of the final four remaining participants in the contest. However, he was pushed out of

9600-576: The Firefly Inferno match between Orton and The Fiend at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December, where Orton set The Fiend's entire body on fire, and an intergender match between Orton and Bliss at Fastlane in March 2021, where Bliss used supernatural powers. Since the resumption of live touring in July 2021, WWE ceased producing cinematic matches. AEW also incorporated cinematic matches during pandemic restrictions in 2020 and 2021, most notably

9760-520: The Grave Consequences (subsequently Graver Consequences) match. Another toned-down version of the Casket Match is when a victory is not obtained by placing the opponent in the coffin but by pinfall or submission. However, the defeated wrestler is then placed into the coffin. The Last Rites match is a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling variation where a casket is lowered into the center of the ring, and

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9920-466: The Horsemen because he accepted an NWA World Heavyweight Championship match against Ric Flair. In the ensuing fight Sting suffered a knee injury which required surgery. Due to the injury, the plans for WCW's 1990 WrestleWar PPV had to be changed drastically, with NWA United States Champion Lex Luger , a former friend of Sting's, receiving the championship match instead. During the main event, Luger had Flair locked in his submission hold, looking like he

10080-445: The July 4, 2023 episode of NXT between Eddy Thorpe and Damon Kemp , for which Thorpe sought the help of Gable Steveson (Kemp's real life brother) to train him. Thorpe won the match. On the December 26, 2023 episode of NXT, Thorpe defeated Dijak in the second NXT Underground match. The first women's NXT Underground match took place on week 2 of NXT Spring Breakin' (2024) , where Lola Vice defeated Natalya . The battle royale

10240-450: The Marietta townhouse she shared with Luger after mixing pills of hydrocodone and Alprazolam (Xanax) with vodka . Luger was arrested after a search of the residence revealed a number of illicit controlled substances, including anabolic steroids, oxycodone , synthetic growth hormone, testosterone, and alprazolam . He was charged with 13 felony counts of drug possession. He was released

10400-610: The Midnight Express ( Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane ). The show included five additional matches. In 1989, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) held their first pay-per-view (PPV) in May when they held the first WrestleWar event. In 1990, WrestleWar was held in February, with WCW instead opting to hold a different event in May. This PPV event, held at the D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C. ,

10560-531: The NBA and NFL attempted and failed. Following this, he began the "Lex Express" tour, traveling the country in a red, white, and blue painted bus to greet fans in preparation for his shot at the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam 1993 . The match had the stipulation that this would be Luger's only shot at the title. Luger, with the use of the metal plate in his forearm, eventually won

10720-485: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Capital Combat, this time in a steel cage match to prevent the Four Horsemen from interfering. In the weeks leading up to Capital Combat, the Horsemen introduced both Barry Windham and Sid Vicious as part of their group, with Ole Anderson acting more as a manager from that point on. Jim Ross and Bob Caudle served as the announcers for

10880-624: The New Blood causing Luger to join the Millionaires Club . He faced Booker T on the November 20, 2000, episode of Nitro for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and Goldberg at Mayhem and again at Starrcade 2000 with Goldberg's career on the line. He also formed a tag team with Buff Bagwell named "Totally Buff". They defeated Goldberg and DeWayne Bruce in a tag team match at Sin in January 2001. Luger stayed with

11040-726: The Score for the US Title, which Luger won. He also defeated Pillman in a rematch on the November 15 Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knockout to retain the title and end the feud. After the main event of the card, which saw Ric Flair and Terry Funk in an "I Quit" match , Luger made a surprise run in , attacking both Flair and Sting , who had come out to save Flair from a post match attack by The Great Muta. December's Starrcade featured an " Ironman " tournament between Flair, Sting, Luger, and Muta. Though Sting eventually won

11200-418: The September 11, 1995, episode of Nitro , which Hogan won by disqualification. At Halloween Havoc , Luger attacked Hogan after his match with The Giant and joined Kevin Sullivan 's Dungeon of Doom stable. At Starrcade , Luger participated in a WCW vs NJPW World Cup of Wrestling where he represented WCW in a winning effort against NJPW representative Masa Chono . Later that night, he participated in

11360-459: The Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing 2020 , which was a 5v5 empty arena match in the TIAA Bank Field stadium. During that period, AEW featured at least one cinematic match at each of their PPVs: a "Tooth and Nail match" at All Out 2020 between Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Big Swole at Baker's real-life dental office, a match entitled "The Elite Deletion" at Full Gear 2020 , featuring Matt Hardy against Sammy Guevara and similar to

11520-553: The U.S. Title. Hayes defeated Luger for the US title at WrestleWar 1989: Music City Showdown when a surprise appearance by Hayes's ex- Freebird teammate Terry Gordy helped cost Luger the match. Luger regained the U.S. Title from Hayes in a rematch a couple of weeks later when he broke the rules by pulling Hayes's tights while pinning Hayes to win the match. On the June 14 Clash of the Champions VII: Guts and Glory , Luger attacked

11680-515: The WWA World Heavyweight Championship to Sting in a three-way dance that also featured Malice. In late 2003, Luger began working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA); he teamed with TNA co-founder Jeff Jarrett on November 12 in a loss to A.J. Styles and Sting. He returned on February 25, 2004, putting AJ Styles through a table during a tables match against Abyss . Luger returned to TNA in 2006, first appearing during

11840-503: The WWF shortly thereafter he had short hair. Ric Flair also took the WCW World Championship with him to the WWF, proclaiming himself the “Real World Heavyweight Champion”. The reason he did this was when a champion held a title belt, they had to put a cash deposit down on the belt while champion, and when Jim Herd did not renew Flair’s contract, he never repaid him the deposit Flair put down on the WCW World Championship. Therefore, since Flair never received his deposit back, he technically owned

12000-649: The World Title at Fall Brawl in September 1999. After Fall Brawl, Luger claimed that Lex Luger was now "dead" and he was going by the name "The Total Package". He debuted this gimmick on the September 27, 1999, episode of Nitro with a Terminator -style entrance symbolizing his "rebirth" and by bringing back Miss Elizabeth as his manager. During late November and into December 1999, The Total Package began to have some disagreements with Sting. He also began treating Elizabeth badly that prompted Sting to intervene. At Starrcade in December 1999, Sting and The Total Package had

12160-411: The added stipulation that, should Flair get disqualified he would lose the title. The match never occurred, however, as Flair began to have disagreements with Jim Herd , the head of WCW, over his future and salary. He eventually quit the company (being "stripped" of the title in the process) and took the world title belt with him. With the WCW World Heavyweight Championship now vacant, Barry Windham

12320-423: The adjacent Daily's Place . The audience in attendance watched the first half of the match on video screens before the action spilled into the amphitheater. This would be AEW's final cinematic match produced before the company resumed live touring in July that year. Impact Wrestling would also return to producing cinematic matches in 2021 when Ethan Page wrestled his alter ego "The Karate Man" at Hard to Kill in

12480-468: The arena moments later. During the segment the Four Horsemen came to ringside to attack Sting, locking him in the steel cage that Jim Cornette had been confined to earlier in the night. Moments later RoboCop ran off the Horsemen and then pulled the door off the steel cage to release Sting. The sixth match of the night, a tag team match between The Rock 'n' Roll Express ( Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson ) and The Freebirds ( Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin )

12640-407: The back of an ambulance and close the door. The first ambulance match took place at Survivor Series 2003 where Kane defeated Shane McMahon . The second one took place at Elimination Chamber (2012) which also involved Kane as one of the competitors. His opponent was John Cena, who won the match, where an additional rule was added in that the ambulance has to leave to win. The third Ambulance match

12800-424: The belt, and took it with him to the WWF in the fall of 1991. Because of this, Jim Herd declared the WCW World Championship vacant, and held a match at The Great American Bash between the two top contenders for the now vacant World Title between the current United States Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger and Barry Windham, resulting in a double turn where Luger won the WCW World Championship under nefarious means, becoming

12960-560: The bringing of weapons . In 1988 the NWA named a pay-per-view after the Bunkhouse Stampede , headlined by a Bunkhouse Stampede match held inside a cage . Recently, the match has been revitalized by Ricky Morton of the Rock n' Roll Express at his wrestling academy in Chuckey, Tennessee. A battle royale with hardcore rules (no disqualifications and no count-outs) involving several competitors in

13120-513: The company, Luger was transformed into a fan-favorite character with the nicknames "Made in the USA" and "The All-American" also "American Original". On July 4 , he took part in an event where he arrived by helicopter on the deck of the USS Intrepid and body slammed the near 600 pound (270 kg) WWF World Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna after a number of WWF wrestlers as well as other athletes from

13280-505: The company. Randy Savage spearheaded the WCW wrestlers against them, with Luger and Sting by his side. Luger, along with Savage and Sting, took on Nash and Hall (who called themselves The Outsiders ) and a third, mystery, partner that they claimed was an " insider " at Bash at the Beach . In the first few minutes of the match, Luger went down to a kayfabe injury, leaving Sting and Savage on their own when

13440-478: The entire booking of the card to get changed. Luger was elevated to face Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. An injured Sting appeared in Luger's corner during the match, eventually being attacked by Ole and Arn Anderson. When Luger left the ring to help Sting he was counted out, giving the match to Flair. The idea here was to build Luger up as a "changed man" who had "gained self-respect " by saving Sting. In

13600-491: The fact that he had a "metal plate" inserted into his forearm which was said to cause more damage when it struck an opponent, often allowing Luger to pin them with only his little finger placed on their chest. This caused a number of his opponents to demand that he wear a cover over it during matches when he had a streak of knocking people out . This eventually led to WWF officials demanding that Luger wear an elbow pad, though he would often remove it. The Narcissist's one major feud

13760-428: The feud with the Four Horsemen over the next year, ending in 1991 when the Four Horsemen disbanded as Ric Flair (at the time the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion) and Sid Vicious left WCW. Ric Flair left due to a contract dispute with Jim Herd (Booker at the time), along with the fact that Herd wanted Flair to cut his hair, wear a diamond earring, and call himself Spartacus. This was the reason when Flair showed up in

13920-545: The final match of the feud, a few months later at the Capital Combat event in Washington, D.C. , Luger won by disqualification against Flair in a steel cage match when the cage rose up from the ground and outside interference marred the match. Luger eventually dropped the title to Stan Hansen at Halloween Havoc , though he won it back at Starrcade 1990: Collision Course beginning his fourth NWA United States Heavyweight Championship reign. Luger's third title reign lasted

14080-440: The first stage as an inside-out battle royale with 15 or more wrestlers involved. The first seven to enter the ring over the top cage will advance to the second stage which is a gauntlet match. When it gets down to the final stage, only two wrestlers will battle in a singles match which is decided by pinfall or submission. A semi-final battle royale consists of a battle royale where when a specific number of wrestlers are remaining,

14240-406: The following day on $ 27,500 bail . Hulette's death was eventually ruled accidental. Luger pleaded guilty to the charges and was fined $ 1,000, sentenced to five years probation, and ordered to undergo periodic drug tests . In December 2005, Luger and fellow wrestlers Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell were removed from a flight to Winnipeg, Manitoba , after committing acts of disturbance on board

14400-408: The glove away from Long, then hit Long with his own glove to knock him out. Three seconds later and Theodore R. Long was forced to have his hair shaved off by hairstylist Jay Tapper who was at ringside. Manager Jim Cornette was forced to be confined in a steel cage located at ringside while his team, the Midnight Express, wrestled against Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk. With Cornette locked in the cage, he

14560-422: The loser of the match would be shaved bald as a result. Managers Theodore R. Long and Paul Ellering faced off in the special attraction match. Long came to the ring wearing boxing gloves, boxing headgear and was announced as "Sugar Ray" Long. During the opening moments of the match, Long hit Ellering with one of his gloves, with Ellering selling the impact like the glove was loaded. Moments later Ellering took

14720-458: The match aired during several segments in between matches inside the ring, and featured both pre-taped segments outside the Arrowhead Pond of the two fighting as well as Piper "chasing" Goldust's solid gold Cadillac in a white Ford Bronco in an obvious reference to the then-ongoing O. J. Simpson murder case . ( Vince McMahon mentioned on commentary without completely breaking kayfabe that

14880-568: The match and the official champion. The most famous example is the Hardcore Title Battle Royal from WWF's WrestleMania 2000 . A last blood battle royale is essentially a multi-competitor First Blood match . All competitors start at the same time and wrestlers are eliminated when they start bleeding. The winner is the last wrestler in the match not bleeding. This match was held in the Tri-State Wrestling Association,

15040-480: The match by knocking out Yokozuna, who failed to return to the ring by the count of 10. As WWF titles could only change hands by submission or pinning, Yokozuna kept the belt. According to Bruce Prichard, Vince McMahon didn't give the title to Luger despite his push because Luger wasn't getting over with audiences as expected. In late 1993, Luger began a feud with Ludvig Borga , another anti-American foreigner from Finland . At Survivor Series 1993 , Luger captained

15200-402: The match ends, and those that remain are placed in a standard wrestling match for the prize at stake. An example of this occurred on a January 2024 episode of NXT , where 20 women competed in a battle royal that became a Fatal 4-Way once there were four competitors remaining. In All Elite Wrestling (AEW), it is known as a Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale , as twelve competitors compete until it

15360-509: The match while Tony Schiavone (who just returned to the NWA from the WWE ) and Gordon Solie providing additional on screen announcing, either from backstage or in the ring. For the first match of the night, both members of the Road Warriors ( Animal and Hawk ) were driven to the ring on the back of Harley Davidson motorcycles while their tag team partner Norman came out on a Kick scooter to

15520-489: The match, Koloff interfered and hit Sting with a chain, which was intended for Luger. Luger again began to challenge Ric Flair for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after becoming No.1 contender by defeating The Great Muta on the June 14, 1991 Clash of the Champions XV: Knocksville USA . Luger's title match against Flair was set to be contested at The Great American Bash in a steel cage match with

15680-429: The match, the cage was raised up enough for Barry Windham to enter the ring and attack Luger to cause a disqualification, allowing Flair to remain champion. Moments later Sting came back to the arena to help fight off the Four Horsemen, soon joined by the 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m)tall El Gigante who was making his first appearance on a WCW show. The segment with RoboCop saving Sting has often been cited as one of

15840-505: The match. When Theodore Long returned to the arena after his earlier loss he had his head covered by a bandana to hide the fact that he had all his hair shaved off. Long played a very minor role in the match as his team of Doom ( Ron Simmons and Butch Reed ) wrestled the NWA World Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers ( Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner ) for the championship. The match ended with

16000-399: The men's and women's world title holders facing each other for a commemorative Crown Jewel Championship. This event consists of a unique ruleset compared to a traditional pro wrestling event, in that every match must end in either a knockout or submission. The traditional wrestling ring is replaced by a ring canvas with no ropes or turnbuckles. This event features worked shoot matches in

16160-527: The middle of the ring for the victory. This was one of The Undertaker ’s early gimmick matches; he had one of these matches in 1992 against The Ultimate Warrior at the Madison Square Garden . The casket match (also known as the Coffin match ) has a casket near the ring, with the objective of the match being to trap the opposing wrestler inside. The casket match began its life as a one-off coffin match in

16320-618: The mystery partner revealed himself to be Hulk Hogan. With Luger no longer around, Savage and Sting were "easy prey" for the three who announced themselves as the New World Order (nWo). Luger continued to be one of the leaders for the WCW's siege against the nWo, wrestling and feuding with a number of their members. At SuperBrawl VII , Luger and The Giant defeated the Outsiders to win the World Tag Team Championship. The title

16480-407: The objective is to get your opponent into the casket, which is raised to the ceiling following the match. The first Last Rites match was done between Sting and Abyss . Vince Russo came up with this match; it was perceived to be a disaster because neither wrestler could work properly due to the placement of the casket in the center of the ring, which limited and obstructed their workspace. The match

16640-647: The organization, including WWF World Heavyweight Championship matches at SummerSlam in 1993, which he also main evented alongside Yokozuna , and WrestleMania X in 1994. He also was notably the 1994 Royal Rumble co-winner with Bret Hart . Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers voted Luger the Most Popular Wrestler of the Year in 1993. Luger attended high school and played football in Orchard Park, New York . He then attended Pennsylvania State University on

16800-594: The original championship belt and the new belt was not ready in time, Luger initially wore the NWA Western States Heritage Championship , which had been altered to resemble the world title. After Luger won the world title, 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 , there was a controversial angle where Luger invited Simmons, once his challenge had been turned back, to join his entourage, but as

16960-523: The other "Deletion" matches involving Hardy, and a tag team street fight pitting Darby Allin and Sting against Team Taz ( Brian Cage and Ricky Starks ) at Revolution 2021 , which was held at an abandoned warehouse somewhere in Atlanta , Georgia. At Double or Nothing 2021 the Stadium Stampede match was a hybrid cinematic match with the first half recorded at TIAA Bank Field, then concluding live at

17120-416: The others). A cinematic Buried Alive match was held between The Undertaker and AJ Styles for WrestleMania 36 , referred to as a "Boneyard match" . The match took place outdoors in a cemetery-like setting near an abandoned warehouse rather than in a traditional ring. A Body Bag match is a no-disqualification match where the objective is for a wrestler to put an opposing wrestler in a body bag situated in

17280-594: The plane, and were detained for several hours. Although Steiner and Bagwell were freed to resume their trip, Luger was charged with violating his probation by failing to obtain permission to leave the country. Luger was initially detained 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 . On October 19, 2007, Luger suffered

17440-400: The popular Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat after Steamboat had defeated Terry Funk by disqualification. Luger and Steamboat faced each other at The Great American Bash in July with Luger winning by disqualification after Luger refused to wrestle Steamboat until the match's no-disqualification clause had been waived. Flyin' Brian Pillman challenged Luger at Halloween Havoc 1989: Settling

17600-410: The ring at the same time. The match could last for either 15 or 20 minutes. All participants are not eliminated by being thrown out of the ring and both feet touching the floor. Pinning or forcing to submit whoever was current Hardcore champion would result in the victorious participant becoming the interim champion. Whoever the person held the title at end of the time limit would be declared the winner of

17760-690: The ring by Shawn Michaels from behind while attacking Crush . Luger then formed a tag team with British Bulldog dubbed the Allied Powers . They made their pay-per-view debut as a tag team at WrestleMania XI , defeating the Blu Brothers . They defeated jobbers on Raw and, after a victory over Men on a Mission ( King Mabel and Sir Mo ) in June 1995, earned a shot at the WWF Tag Team Championship against Owen Hart and Yokozuna at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks , but failed to win

17920-509: The ring name "Lex Luger", being a fan of the comic book villain Lex Luthor , which helped cast himself as a typical wrestling heel which he would continue to be throughout most of his early years in wrestling. Luger made his in-ring debut in September 1985. He was featured alongside other notorious heels, Percy Pringle and Rick Rude . Luger began wrestling for CWF, gaining his first victory on October 31, 1985, against Cocoa Samoa and later won

18080-506: The ring. The six-man tag team match against Kevin Sullivan , Cactus Jack and Bam Bam Bigelow ended when Road Warrior Hawk leaped off the top rope, striking Kevin Sullivan with a flying clothesline , resulting in a pinfall victory for the team. Teddy Long accompanied "Mean" Mark Callous to the ring for the second match, despite being scheduled to wrestle himself later in the night. The match against Johnny Ace ended after just over 10 minutes of wrestling when Callous hit Johnny Ace with

18240-664: The same path as his friend. He lost to Eddie Guerrero by disqualification on the February 3 episode of Saturday Night . Luger also defeated Johnny B. Badd for the WCW World Television Championship on February 17, losing it back to him the next night. He regained the television title from Badd by beating him on March 6. The Dungeon of Doom aligned with the Four Horsemen to form the Alliance to End Hulkamania, which feuded with Hulk Hogan and Luger's former WWF ally, Randy Savage. At Uncensored , nine members from

18400-414: The same path as we did back in the '80s and '90s. On March 3, 2024, Luger was in attendance for Sting's retirement match at AEW's Revolution alongside Magnum T.A. , Scotty Riggs , and Nikita Koloff , however was not shown or acknowledged during the broadcast. Luger is of German and Scottish heritage. Luger is divorced from Peggy and has two children, a son, Brian (born January 1, 1986), and

18560-471: The scenes with them now again and with their wellness club. I counsel a lot of their athletes on nutrition, wellness, exercise, and taking care of their bodies. That's another thing that WWE is being very proactive now with the Wellness Department and really train these guys with health and nutrition and drug prevention. We're trying to prevent the young guys, this young generation of guys from going down

18720-513: The scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. The main storyline leading up to Capital Combat, and the main storyline in WCW at the time revolved around Four Horsemen stable and the Faces (those that portray the "good guys") of WCW. At Clash of the Champions X on February 6, 1990, the Four Horsemen ( Ric Flair , Arn Anderson , and Ole Anderson ) turned on Sting , attacking him and kicking him out of

18880-497: The seats were blocked by the sets and ring ramp. The first three matches on the show were not included when Turner Home Entertainment later released the show on VHS cassette, editing the show down to fit a two-hour format. The first three matches were not made available to the general public until the WWE Network was launched in 2014 and the full Capital Combat show became available to subscribers. WCW had originally intended to have

19040-540: The second ring, after which they can be eliminated by being thrown out of that ring. The last remaining wrestler in the first ring can rest until only one wrestler is left in the second ring, after which they fight in both rings until one is eliminated and a winner is declared, in similar fashion to a double elimination tournament . This was held by World Championship Wrestling at the 1991 Starrcade event, but future Battlebowl matches were contested under normal battle royale rules. The battle zone features any number of men in

19200-462: The sole wrestlers left in a Bunkhouse Stampede battle royal and Dillon asked the other wrestlers to eliminate themselves so he could win. Although Blanchard and Anderson complied, Luger refused and eliminated Dillon, leaving the Horsemen in the process. Luger then befriended Barry Windham , his former Florida ally, and together they formed a tag team , dubbed The Twin Towers . Their first match as

19360-569: The team until the WWF purchased WCW in March 2001. After WCW closed down, Bagwell went to the WWF although the company was not interested in Luger. He took a hiatus from wrestling. In November 2002, Luger returned to wrestling for the first time since the closure of WCW. He joined the European tour of World Wrestling All-Stars and debuted in Dublin , Ireland, teaming with Sting to defeat Buff Bagwell and Malice . At Retribution , Luger defeated Sting to win

19520-414: The team. This match uses the normal battle royale rules, teams may be eliminated when either one or both partners are thrown over the top rope with both feet touching the floor. This match is conducted similarly to a battle royale but in these cases, both wrestlers are considered active at the same time and there are no tags using the tornado tag team stipulation. This variation of the tag team battle royale

19680-584: The time he recovered, the WBF was out of business. After his accident and the closure of the WBF, Luger joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Bobby "The Brain" Heenan unveiled him with the persona of " Narcissus " at Royal Rumble 1993 . Shortly thereafter, his name was altered slightly to "The Narcissist". Luger posed before full-length mirrors before every match. In his debut, he defeated jobber Larry Lunden on January 25 on WWF Superstars of Wrestling (aired February 13). The WWF also incorporated his motorcycle accident into his gimmick , capitalizing on

19840-491: The title back to Hart just one day later on Thunder . He also took part in the incident in which both nWo factions united against the dominant Bill Goldberg in early 1999. He remained a member of the new nWo until he was sidelined with a (legitimate) biceps injury. In August 1999, Luger returned to Nitro during a Sting/Hogan angle for the World Heavyweight Championship. He eventually helped Sting win

20000-430: The title back to Hogan just five days later at Road Wild . His victory, however, marked the first time in a year that WCW had "won their world title back" from the nWo. Luger began a program with Hall after both men pinned each other in tag team matches (Luger's partner was Diamond Dallas Page and Hall's partner was Randy Savage) before facing each other in a 1-on-1 match at Halloween Havoc which Luger won. He had

20160-464: The title, so the title doesn't change hands if the champion loses the match. It can be announced by name, as a non-title match or as a singles match. It was also used in a tag team format. World TV Champion Arn Anderson vs. Paul Orndorff at Clash of the Champions XI was one example. Though Orndorff won the match, Anderson remained champion. A champion vs. champion match can also be referenced to

20320-408: The titles. Shortly after SummerSlam , Luger, whose contract had expired, left the WWF without letting McMahon know beforehand. Luger's last official WWF match was on September 3 in Saint John, New Brunswick , at a house show teaming with Shawn Michaels defeating Owen Hart and Yokozuna by disqualification. In late August 1995, after expressing to Sting that he wanted to leave the WWF, Luger got

20480-556: The top rope and had their feet hit the ground simultaneously. As such, both received shots at the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania X . Luger was disqualified in his title match against Yokozuna, becoming the first man to win the Rumble but not win their title match, and later that night Hart won the title from Yokozuna. After WrestleMania X, Luger was to start another feud with Mr. Perfect, but Hennig

20640-451: The tournament, Luger was the only participant to go undefeated (Sting got pinfall victories over Muta and Flair, giving him the most points to win the tournament). This elevated Sting to the status of No. 1 contender for Flair's world title. With Sting and Flair set to square off at WrestleWar in February, Luger was booked to defend the U.S. Title against "Dr. Death" Steve Williams on the card. A legitimate injury to Sting, however, caused

20800-486: The two that occurred at WrestleMania 36 ; a Boneyard match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles , which was a Buried Alive match held at a custom built cemetery set in the Orlando area, and a Firefly Fun House match between John Cena and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt. (Although the match ended with The Fiend pinning Cena in a ring, the match itself was a dream-like sequence of Cena's career, showing his perceived character flaws;

20960-569: The use of cinematic matches was greatly reduced, as these new staging arenas allowed fans to attend the events virtually. To go with the Halloween -theme at NXT : Halloween Havoc in October, a Haunted House of Terrors match was held between Dexter Lumis and Cameron Grimes , which was similar to the House of Horrors match from Payback 2017. Matches involving Randy Orton, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, and Alexa Bliss have also used cinematic techniques, such as

21120-520: The vacant WWA World Heavyweight Championship after Jeff Jarrett interfered on his behalf. In Manchester , England on December 7, Luger and Sting faced Bagwell and Jarrett in a match in which both Luger's WWA World Heavyweight Championship and Jarrett's NWA World Heavyweight Championship were on the line, though neither title changed hands, as Sting pinned Bagwell. Luger made his final appearance with WWA on December 13, in Zürich, Switzerland , when he lost

21280-501: The various segments were filmed at WWE's Titan Towers headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut ). Following this, cinematic matches occurred at Money in the Bank in May, which was the event's eponymous ladder matches that occurred at WWE's headquarters, a Backlot Brawl between Adam Cole and Velveteen Dream in the parking lot of Full Sail University at NXT TakeOver: In Your House in June,

21440-492: The worst moments in WCW's history and one of the events that inspired the creation of the website WrestleCrap . Later reviews of the event covered the Turner Home Video version that did not include the first three matches, something Scott Keith described as leaving "two hours of good matches". In a 2008 review J.D. Dunn rated the event as 8.5 out of 10, stating "Most people remember this for the laughable Robocop segments, but

21600-485: The wrestler cannot use the ropes to escape pins or submissions. Closed fists are illegal, and the first offense (if seen by the official) results in a warning. A second offense results in disqualification. The wrestlers must shake hands before and after the match. A special challenge match was often used in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to refer to a singles match in which the champion is not defending

21760-411: The wrestling was stellar on this show". The main event match was later included in WWE's "The Greatest Cage Matches of All Time" DVD that was released in 2011. After recovering from his knee injury Sting received his championship match against Ric Flair at the 1990 Great American Bash where Sting won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Sting, Luger, El Gigante and others continued

21920-404: Was a brawl between The Broken Hardys and Decay titled "Delete or Decay". The Broken Hardys and Decay continued their feud at Bound for Glory , where Decay lost their TNA World Tag Team Championship to The Hardys in "The Great War". The Hardys issued an open tag team invitational at their compound on the December 15 episode of Impact Wrestling , titled Total Nonstop Deletion . The main event

22080-486: Was about to win the match and the championship. At that point the Andersons cornered Sting, who was on crutches after his surgery, threatening to injure him even further. At that point Luger abandoned the match, opting to save his long time friend instead even though it cost him the match and the championship. In the weeks following WrestleWar WCW officials announced that Lex Luger would receive another opportunity to wrestle for

22240-425: Was accompanied by the Horsemen's manager Woman who was allowed inside the cage. During the referee's pre-match check he discovered that Woman had an illegal object hidden in her glove, which he proceeded to confiscate prior to the match starting and ejected her from the cage. Late in the match, Luger had Flair in a vulnerable position as he had the champion locked in his Torture Rack submission hold. At that point of

22400-496: Was arrested for driving under the influence after rear-ending another car. According to the police report, Luger had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes , and could not locate his driver's license. Hulette was a passenger in the vehicle and was sent home in a taxi. Luger was also driving with a suspended license for not appearing in court on March 5, 2003, for a hearing on a previous offense of driving with expired tags and having no proof of insurance. On May 1, 2003, Hulette died in

22560-405: Was billed as a "Corporal Punishment" match. The "Corporal Punishment" stipulation meant that each team was given a three-foot-long leather strap they were allowed to use during the match. The straps themselves were not widely used during the match as both teams opted to wrestle the match as a straight match with only a few moments of actual whipping. In the end, Morton rolled up Michael Hayes to win

22720-464: Was called the "Ultimate Deletion;" this was just like the "Final Deletion," including being held at Matt's compound. Cinematic matches became more frequent in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic ; the pandemic began affecting the professional wrestling industry in March that year, forcing promotions to hold events behind closed doors . WWE would hold several cinematic matches at their pay-per-views between March and August, being highly praised for

22880-464: Was declared the No. 2 contender and was set to face Luger in the cage match at The Great American Bash . During the match, Harley Race and Mr. Hughes came to ringside. While Hughes kept Windham's attention, Race told Luger that "now is the time" to perform a piledriver on the distracted Windham. Luger did so and won the match, thereby winning his first WCW World Heavyweight Championship. As Flair still had

23040-616: Was held at Halloween Havoc and the first following the retirement of The Undertaker involving Grayson Waller vs. Apollo Crews in which Crews won. WWE held its first women's casket match on the October 29, 2024 episode of NXT involving Tatum Paxley and Wendy Choo in which the Paxley won. In addition to WWE, the casket match has been adopted for use in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , All Elite Wrestling , and Lucha Underground , with Lucha Underground denominating it as

23200-466: Was hosted and commentated by Shane McMahon in Raw's third hour and didn't take place in the arena, but rather in a warehouse environment, with only wrestlers and dancers present. The matches were short work shoot style and could end by knockout, submission or McMahon's call. Raw Underground segments aired from August 3 to September 21, 2020 in 8 episodes of Raw. The first NXT Underground match took place on

23360-436: Was injured, so Luger instead feuded with Crush. Luger then began feuding with his friend Tatanka due to a lack of trust between them, and a match between the two took place at SummerSlam . At the event, Tatanka defeated Luger and joined Ted DiBiase 's Million Dollar Corporation . At Survivor Series , he was in a Survivor Series team "Guts & Glory" (himself, Mabel , Adam Bomb , and The Smoking Gunns ) losing to

23520-472: Was involved in a domestic dispute with Miss Elizabeth (Elizabeth Hulette), then his live-in girlfriend, in the garage of their townhouse in Marietta, Georgia , during which Luger allegedly struck her. Cobb County police found Hulette with two bruised eyes, a bump on her head, and a cut lip. Luger was charged with a misdemeanor count of battery and released on $ 2,500 bond . Two days later on April 21, Luger

23680-601: Was left standing. A cinematic match is not technically a match type itself, but rather, it is a term used to refer to matches that are produced with various cinematic techniques . The rules vary from match to match, but generally have a basis in hardcore wrestling. Unlike a normal wrestling match, which is done in one take and typically in front of a live audience, cinematic matches are shot over several hours with various scenes filmed, similar to filmmaking, with higher-budget production involved. The final product (the complete match) generally lasts from 20 to 40 minutes and airs at

23840-461: Was named "Capital Combat" in light of it being held in the United States capital city . Due to a printing error on the tickets, the starting time for the show was listed as 8 PM instead of 7 PM, leading to the first couple of matches taking place in front of a half-full arena. The event ended up drawing 7,500 paid spectators, not quite filling the 10,000 seat arena but close to capacity since part of

24000-557: Was part of Three Stages of Hell match at WWE Payback on June 16, 2013, in Rosemont, Illinois between John Cena and Ryback for the WWE Championship . The most recent was at NXT Halloween Havoc in October 2024, between Ridge Holland and Andre Chase . The famous 2017 Lucha Underground "Hell of War" bout between Dante Fox ( A.R. Fox ) and Killshot ( Swerve Strickland ) was that promotion's only ambulance match. A buried alive match

24160-588: Was retired for Ray Nitschke . Luger said in a 2018 interview with the Green Bay Press-Gazette his wrestling career might have never happened had it worked out with the Packers. "I would have loved to have had a long-term career with the Packers; are you kidding me?" Pfohl said. "If I did, I probably wouldn't have become a wrestler. So, in the big picture, it worked out for me in that regard ... Had it worked out in Green Bay, I seriously doubt I would have become

24320-456: Was returned to the Outsiders by nWo member and WCW President Eric Bischoff . Luger won a Four Corners match to become the No.1 contender for Hogan's WCW Title at Spring Stampede , and teamed with his new ally, The Giant, to defeat Hogan and basketball star Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach . On the August 4, 1997, episode of Nitro , Luger defeated Hogan to win his second World Heavyweight Championship in an impromptu match, before dropping

24480-459: Was such a failure that during the match, the enraged crowd screamed "Fire Russo!" so loudly that the commentators had to yell into their microphones to be heard. In 2023, TNA Wrestling brought back the Last Rites match, but modified it to be more of a basic casket match. A dumpster match is a no-disqualification, no-submission, no-countout, no-fall hardcore match in which the only objective to win

24640-644: Was suffering from cabin fever and disappointed at not being named a starter by coach Lou Saban by the 5th game of the season, snapped and trashed his hotel room. Upon leaving Miami, he played professional football for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League where he played in the 67th Grey Cup against the Edmonton Eskimos . He then signed with the Green Bay Packers of

24800-505: Was the "Tag Team Apocalypto" where The Hardys last defeated Decay. Although not contested as a match, WWE followed this up shortly after and filmed a cinematic-style brawl between The New Day ( Big E , Kofi Kingston , and Xavier Woods ) and The Wyatt Family ( Bray Wyatt , Erick Rowan , and Braun Strowman ) that was held at The Wyatt Family Compound and shown on the July 11, 2016 episode of WWE Raw . WWE then taped their own cinematic match for their 2017 pay-per-view Payback , called

24960-523: Was unable to help his team or get physically involved like he normally would. The over 20 minute long match ended after Stan Lane kicked Zenk in the back of the head, sending him into an inside cradle pinning hold by Bobby Eaton to secure the victory and the championship. After the United States Tag Team Championship match Gordon Solie reported from backstage that RoboCop had arrived at the building, followed by RoboCop and Sting entering

25120-573: Was under the NWA banner, with the nickname "The Total Package" and began using " The Human Torture Rack ", an Argentine backbreaker rack , as his finisher. He was first booked as an associate to Ric Flair 's "Four Horsemen" stable until Ole Anderson was kicked out and he became an official member of the group. His first big feud was with Nikita Koloff , whom he defeated for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship on July 11, 1987. Manager J. J. Dillon threw

25280-552: Was used at the WrestleMania XV as well. Created by WCW in 1995, the World War 3 battle royale involved a three-ring setup and 60 competitors; 20 wrestlers started in each of the three rings, in which they would wrestle under regular battle royale rules. Once there were 30 competitors remaining (except in 1997, where the number was 20), all competitors would enter the center ring and continue under regular rules until only one wrestler

25440-425: Was used during the 2011 WWE Draft on April 25, 2011; where the wrestler's team has to eliminate all members of the opposing team, much like an elimination tag team match where the losing wrestler of a team, who just got thrown over the ring ropes with both feet touching the floor, must return to their locker room. The team winner receives a #1 draft pick for their respective brand. Another notable version of this match

25600-415: Was with Mr. Perfect . The feud was based on Heenan, his advisor, referring to him as being "Beyond Perfection", in a slight at Mr. Perfect, his former managerial client. The rivalry ended at WrestleMania IX when Luger defeated Perfect and then after the match Perfect ran backstage and then was attacked by Luger and Shawn Michaels outside a storage garage. In mid-1993, after Hulk Hogan 's departure from

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