His name is Lex Luger and this is his amazing life story. He started out with a simple life then found fame; first as an American footballer, then as a professional wrestler. It’s a story that is typical in a sense, in that many famous people fall into certain trappings that come along with that lifestyle. Lex was adored by the public and his path led him to fame, fortune, and a lot of money. But the road also led to an unhappy family life, as well as drugs and alcohol. However, there was a silver lining at the end and Lex' tale has an unexpected and ultimately happy ending. This is a story of a celebrity who loses himself, then finds himself again.

Lex was a more conventional sort of sportsman

Luger played football prior to embarking on a career in wrestling. It’s a sport he enjoyed and he never saw himself as any other kind of sportsman. But life can make some interesting changes we just can’t see coming. In football, his teams were both University of Miami and Pennsylvania State University. From here he moved to playing for Montreal Alouettes, who are a part of Canada's Football League; as well as Tampa Bay Bandits, Memphis Showboats and Jackson Bulls, all under the US Football League.

When friends are potential enemies

In the year 1984, Luger came to the end of his football profession competing in the US Football League on the teams Memphis Showboats, the Tampa Bay Bandits and the Jacksonville Bulls. He and a future opponent in the WCW played together for Tampa Bay Bandits. That person was Ron Simmons. In ‘85, Lex met a man named Bob Roop while attending a VIP golf function in sunny Florida. The man was very amazed by Lex’s strong muscleman body and his level of fitness, and suggested to him that he try wrestling on a professional level.

He needed something else to do

Roop organized for Hiro Matsuda to coach Lex, and include bodybuilding in his training regimen. He had coached Paul Orndorff, aka “Mr. Wonderful”, and Hulk Hogan. Since Luger was hugely fanatical about the outlaw Lex Luthor of comic books fame, he took the name “Lex Luger” for the fight ring. This assisted in him being typecast as a real fighting villain, a role he played for the majority of his career year. In 1985, Lex had his first ring fight. He was billed along with well-known cads, Rick Rude and Percy Pringle.

When you are a natural sportsman, everything comes easy

Lex started fighting as a part of the Champion Wrestling from Florida (CWF) area of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).  His fitness regimen was harsh but led to his initial win the month after he started fighting. His match opponent was Cocoa Samoa. The month after this his win against Wahoo McDaniel earned him the Southern Heavyweight Championship. He had feuds with Barry Windham for a brief time, then they were paired up to fight Sir Oliver Humperdink with his gang comprising Kareem Muhammed, The White Ninja, and Ed “The Bull” Gantner.

It’s a strange sounding group, but in this business everything is strange

When ‘87 came around Lex signed up with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) that fell under NWA. He used the alias “The Total Package”, and enlisted a backbreaker from Argentina called “The Human Torture Rack” to finish for him. His initial booking was as an affiliate of Ric Flair’s stable of “Four Horsemen. But when Ole Anderson was axed he was made a bonafide member of the team. Lex’s initial major feud was against Nikita Koloff, whom he won against to take the NWA US Heavyweight Championship in July ’87. He continued to spend time in the gym while preparing for fights.

It’s double the trouble and double the fun!

Lex then made a friend of Barry Windham, a previous Florida associate, and his clothes began to seriously reflect his new career. Together the duo became the tag team called The Twin Towers. They went on to beat Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard the following month in Clash of the Champions. They took the NWA World Tag Team Championship. But then several weeks later, Windham turned against Lex out of the blue while defending their title playing Anderson and Blanchard. He then teamed up with The Four Horsemen, Lex’s previous group.

Things start to get a little choppy

It is known that the majority of bleeding takes place through blading. This is when a hidden bit of a razor blade is slid along a person’s forehead to produce blood. Conrad orchestrated how Lex’s initial blade job would be carried out when he said if the villains are dressed in black and the hero in white, that means a bleeding will take place. It happened like that. The Four Horsemen got to the fight venue in a stretch car and attacked Lugar. Situations like these are why they have doctors on standby.

The successes keep rolling in

Lex was next pit to fight his old enemy, Barry Windham in Chi-Town Rumble and captured the NWA US Heavyweight Championship. It was a time of all smiles for Lex, as he joined Michael P.S. Hayes to play opposing Kendall and Barry Windham in a game aired on television in March ’89. In it Hayes double crossed Lex, announcing himself a competitor for the US Title. Hayes beat Lex for the title during WrestleWar ’89: Music City Showdown, when a past Freebird member of Hayes' team named Terry Gordon, suddenly appeared to help him and caused Lex to lose.

Riding high on fame and fan love

In’93, the magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated gave him the title, Most Popular Wrestler of the Year. This honor is given to the person most representing, or the most courageous non-amateur wrestler of the year. Lex once more started to dispute with Ric Flair concerning the World Heavyweight Championship of the WCW, once he became the top ranking contender after beating The Great Muta in June ’91 at Clash of the Champions, in part thanks to his hardcore workout schedule.

Another title sweetens the deal

Lex’s title fight with opponent, Flair, was scheduled to take place at The Great American Bash in a steel cage. An additional condition was that if Flair was disqualified, his title would be lost. However, the fight never took place because Flair started having arguments with Jim Herd, who was the leader of WCV, about his career future, and about his earnings. He went on the leave the organization, and his title was taken away, but he took the world title belt through the exit door with him.

Moving on from old friends to new ones

Following his loss to Sting at SuperBrawl, Lex arranged his exit from WCW, and signed up with World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF). He worked as a co-host for the Saturday a.m. show called WBF BodyStars. Lex appeared at WrestleMania VIII and was interviewed on-air with Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. The latter and Lex created an association in the WBF. He was set to guest appear at a pay-per-view function hosted by WBF, however, he sustained injuries in a motorbike accident. When he finally recuperated, the WBF no longer existed.

He finds a name that embodies who he has become

Following his mishap and the shutting down of WBF, Lex signed up with World Wrestling Federation (WWF). During Royal Rumble ’93,"The Brain" Heenan introduced him as "Narcissus", which changed to "The Narcissist" soon after. The WWF included his motorbike mishap into his publicity strategy, stressing that he had a “metal plate’ in his forearm, said to worsen injuries inflicted on contenders. Lex really started loving the cameras after that point.

Pulling out the big guns for the bigger targets

During the summer, Lex surprised fans on Independence Day. Many career sportspersons and WWF superstars, hadn’t been able to slam the WWF World Heavyweight Champion named Yokozuna. As celebrity news had it, Lex flew in by helicopter and landed on the USS Intrepid’s deck, raised and slammed the sumo wrestler, who weighed at least six-hundred pounds. As his fans cheered, “The Narcissist” left. The WWF “All-American” had come.

Torn between family and career

Lex and his wife Peggy started out happily. They had an amazing wedding, and the couple seemed like a match made in heaven. But unfortunately things took a downward turn with the demands of a career and life, and they are no longer married. But they created a beautiful family that was featured at the start of the Survivor ’93 series. The union produced two kids   - a boy Brian, now 32 years old, and a girl Lauren Ashley, now 27 years old.

It’s living for the fans

We’re not sure if depression set in, but after these developments, Lex started the “Lex Express” excursion, journeying around the country in a blue, white and red bus, greeting fans ahead of his attempt to take the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam ’93. It was stated that this matchup was Lex’s sole chance for it. By using the arm with the metal plate, Lex won. However, a count out win saw Yokozuna keeping his title.

Looking for a win in the power of two

At the start of ’95, Lex and Davey Boy Smith created a tag team called The Allied Powers. The two first appeared as a pay-per-view tag team at WrestleMania XI, and beat Blu Brothers. They beat jobbers on Raw, and beat Men on a Mission in June ’95, they then had the chance to play for at the WWF Tag Team Championship and more money. Their opponent was Owen Hart and Yokozuna, and the match was at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks. They didn’t take the titles.

He rejoins old friends

In the latter parts of August ’95, following him telling Sting that he wanted out of the WWF, Lex received a phone call from Eric Bischoff, the Vice-President of the WCW, to arrange a discussion about a written agreement concerning Lex changing teams. Bischoff at first didn’t want to do it, because he didn’t like Lex on any level whatsoever. However, he went ahead because Sting wanted him to, and he liked the idea that Lex showing up on his team, out create big waves. He was offered a salary of only $150K, a fraction of what he was accustomed to.

Things get a little hairy

In the summertime, Lex started a feud with The Giant, targeting the World Heavyweight Championship under the WCW. His challenge didn’t engage him during The Great American Bash. In the midst of all this, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, two previous WWF star started going on WCW TV, saying that they were taking possession of the organization. We’re sure the company lawyers had a lot to say about this. Randy Savage led the WCW champions in fighting them, with Lex and Sting supporting him.

The battle heats up

Naming themselves The Outsiders, Hall and Nash, along with another person, that they said was a part of the WCW, said they were the New World Order (now). Following a prolonged battle with the nWo, Lex became a member of nWo Wolfpac in May, ’98. It’s situations like these that require good life insurance. Lex was at the heart of the gang’s battle with Hogans’s nWo Hollywood. They also got anti-nWo Sting to become a part of them. He stayed a member ‘til he was put aside due to an injury on his biceps.

It’s another name change

During August ’99 Lex went back to Nitro in the middle of a Hogan/Sting angle, underway as part of World Heavyweight Championship. He helped Sting take the World Title at Fall Brawl that September. Afterward, Lex announced that he had a new name – “The Total Package”.  He introduced his new name in a September ’99 Nitro show, entering in a way reminiscent of Terminator, to imply he was reborn. He also reinstated Elizabeth in the role of personal manager.

Things are starting to slow down

During the latter months of ’02, Lex became a part of the European tour that the WWA undertook. Lex buffed up his travel insurance and started in Dublin in Ireland, where he joined up with Sting to beat Malice and Buff Bagwell. Then in Retribution, Lex beat Sting to take the empty World Heavyweight Championship of the WWA. Jeff Jarrett helped him by interfering. Lex was made a member of the XWF – eventually changed to Legend’s Pro Wrestling - Hall of Fame.

Home becomes a battle zone

April ’03 saw a home dispute coming from Lex’s townhouse in Marietta in Georgia. The local police who got to the spot found Lex’s sweetheart, Elizabeth Hulette with a cut over one eye, plus a puffy right eye, a lump on the head and an injured lip. Elizabeth blamed all the injuries on the dog who played too enthusiastically. Lex was still handcuffed and taken to the police station for misdemeanor battery, eventually to be let go after a $2,500 bond was paid. This didn’t bode well for his mental well-being.

Trouble comes in twos

Only a couple of days after this, Lex was apprehended for operating a vehicle under the influence (DUI), when his Porsche ran into the back of another close to home. The police reported bloodshot eyes, unclear speech, and didn’t know where the driver’s license was. A gun was also discovered in the vehicle. His sweetheart was put in a cab and sent home by the police. Lex was operating the vehicle with a suspended sentence for non-appearance in court during ’03, with past-the-date tags, and no insurance.

Make that trouble comes in threes

Then May 1, ‘03, Hulette lost her life at the home she shared with Lex. He told the police that she downed a couple of glasses of Vodka, took medicine for discomfort in her back, then sat down and began struggling to breathe. He desperately removed the food from the mouth using napkins and tried to clear her airway. Her color changed to purple. Lex called 911. When they got there, Hulette was unconscious and was pronounced dead at WellStar Kennestone Hospital.

The whole sordid truth becomes public

The local police searched Lex’s house right after Hulette died. They found 1,700 pills, which included Xanax, testosterone, anabolic steroids, and hydrocodone. Lex was charged with 14 counts of drug possession. He was detained following the search, but let go with a bail of $25K. He admitted his guilt of all charges and was fined $1K, and a sentence of 5 years of probation. He had to have occasional drug tests.

His body breaks down

October ’07 saw Lex develop a nerve impingement in the neck, which caused him to be temporarily paralyzed. He received medical treatment with intravenous antibiotics and was told he’d recover one-hundred percent. But a month later he still hadn’t recovered. He was a quadriplegic and couldn’t move any of his limbs. In June ’08 he could stand by himself for short stretches of time and use a walker for getting around. By 2010, he could walk even better and could drive.

If we could do it all over again …

In a WWE.com interview in ’09, Lex said he made a number of terrible decisions that he regretted. He said however that God had pardoned him, and he was grateful for this. He attributed his ability to forgive himself and keep moving ahead each day, to God’s pardon. He explained that he found redemption because of a prison chaplain he encountered. It was a coincidental encounter, and it changed the two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion’s take on life totally. He got out reformed, with good mental health, and better quality of life.

Trying to prevent past mistakes

So in ’11, Lex had employment once more with WWE, but with their Wellness Policy. Concerning his function he says he works in the background of WWE in the wellness club, advising the sportspersons about nutrition, exercise, wellness, drug prevention and taking care of themselves physically. The WWE has taken a proactive stance on the matter to prevent young athletes from making the same mistakes that the sportspersons did during the 1980s and 1990s.

When God comes knocking

The reformed Luger is a reformed Christian, who enthusiastically talks about his experiences in life. He calls it the “admissions of a substance abuser.” He speaks out about the problems surrounding abusing drugs, taking the tablets, using steroids, and using dangerous materials for fun. Lex mainly encourages the ones with the problem to admit it and get cleaned up. He’s made himself a cautionary tale, with his frightening slide from celeb status and a $1 million each year salary from wrestling, to living in a pastor’s extra bedroom temporarily.

Life is so different now

Today Luger has a simple existence, in Buffalo in New York. He resides with his mom and mainly helps out at schools in his area and in churches. He told WWE.com that he preaches and talks about his story in a manner that uses his faith as its basis. He shares his life experiences of how faith can turn someone’s life around and calm their anxieties. The last few years have been challenging for Luger, and he has to use a wheelchair to get around, but despite everything, he still draws strength from his fanatical supporters from his wrestling days.