What is Lex Luger's Net Worth?
Lex Luger is a retired American professional wrestler, bodybuilder and football player who has a net worth of $400 thousand. Lex Luger is best known for his associations with World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and Jim Crockett Promotions. Having won the title of WWA World Heavyweight Champion once, WCW World Heavyweight Champion twice, and United States Heavyweight Champion five times, he holds a record for the number of total days as a championship title holder.
Early Years
Lawrence Wendell Pfohl, professionally known as Lex Luger, was born on June 2, 1958, in Buffalo, New York. He enrolled at Pennsylvania State University on a football scholarship and transferred to the University of Miami after his freshman year, where he played for the Miami Hurricanes. During the team's trip to Atlanta to square off against Georgia Tech, Luger became irate when he was not chosen as a starter and destroyed the hotel room. He was dropped from the team.
Professional Football
Lex Luger went on to play football for the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes. In 1982, he signed with the National Football League's Green Bay Packers. While training for the Packers, he suffered an injury to his groin and spent the entire season he was a member of the team on the injured reserve list. The following year, he was dropped before he could take part in a single game.
In 1984, he played for two United States Football League teams in Florida: the Tampa Bay Bandits and the Memphis Showboats. In 1985, he played for the Jacksonville Bulls.
Professional Wrestling
Inspired by the DC Comics villain Lex Luther, Luger took on the stage name Lex Luger and signed with Florida Championship Wrestling. He made his professional wrestling debut in the ring during the autumn of 1985. One month later, he scored his first win against an opponent – American Samoan wrestler Cocoa Samoa. The month after that, he took the National Wrestling Alliance's Southern Heavyweight Championship title away from American professional wrestler Wahoo McDaniel.
In 1987, Lex signed with Jim Crockett Promotions, a family-owned professional wrestling promotion company. That July, he defeated American wrestler Nikita Koloff for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship – a title he hung onto until that November when he lost it to American wrestler Dusty Rhodes during the pay-per-view event known as Starrcade.
In 1988, Lex banded with American wrestler Barry Windham to form a tag team they called The Twin Towers. On March 27 of that year, they defeated The Brain Busters – the tag team of wrestlers Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson – for the NWA World Tag Team Championship title. A few weeks later, Windham turned against Lex and cost him the title. Soon after, at the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament, Lex paired with American wrestler Sting and won the tournament.
At the Chi-Town Rumble pay-per-view event in 1989, Lex won his second NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. That March, American wrestler Michael P.S. Hayes defeated Lex for the title at the WrestleWar 1989: Music City Showdown pay-per-view event. A couple of weeks later, Lex reclaimed the title. In October, Luger defeated American wrestler Flyin' Brian Pillman at the Halloween Havoc 1989: Settling the Score pay-per-view event and defended the title in another match against Pillman in the November television special Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knockout. In 1990, Lex lost the title to American wrestler Stan Hanson at the Halloween Havoc pay-per-view event and won it back a short time later at the Starrcade 1990: Collision Course pay-per-view event. Lex's reign lasted 523 days, ranking him as the longest-reigning United States Champion in history. He defended the title against American wrestler Dan Spivey at Wrestle War '91. Later that year, he won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in a match with Barry Windham. In November, he defeated American wrestler Rick Steiner at The Clash of the Champions XVII television special. Lex finally lost the title to Sting during the SuperBrawl II pay-per-view event in 1992.
Getty
Bodybuilding
After leaving professional wrestling in 1992, Lex Luger contracted with the World Bodybuilding Federation to co-host its television program WBF Body Stars on Saturday mornings.
A motorcycle accident, which necessitated the implantation of a metal plate in his forearm, put Lex on the sidelines as the World Bodybuilding Federation closed its doors due to declining success – the 1992 WBF Championship pay-per-view event had drawn only 3,000 viewers.
Return to Wrestling
In 1993, Lex Luger joined the World Wrestling Federation using the names Narcissus and The Narcissist. He debuted at that year's WWF Superstars of Wrestling, where he defeated Larry Lunden. His own defeat came at the hands of American wrestler Tatanka at the 1994 Summer Slam. At Royal Rumble 1995, he was bested by American wrestler Shawn Michaels. Later that year, he paired with English wrestler British Bulldog to form a tag team they called the Allied Powers. The duo debuted at WrestleMania XI and defeated the team of Donald and Ronald Harris – twin brothers who called themselves the Blu Brothers. Lex's last official match with the WWF was on September 3, 1995 where he teamed up with Shawn Michaels to defeat the tag team of Owen Hart and Agatupu "Yokozuna" Anoa'i.
During the summer of 1995, Lex accepted a contract offer from the WCW, although the amount of $150,000 per year was only 20% of what he had been making when he'd been with the organization years before. On February 17, he won the World Television Championship title in a match against American wrestler Johnny B. Badd. Badd reclaimed the title the next night, then lost it to Lex again on March 6.
On August 4, 1997, on an episode of the television wrestling program Nitro, Lex defeated wrestler Hulk Hogan to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Five days later, at the Road Wild pay-per-view event, Hogan took the title back. The next day, Lex defeated Canadian wrestler Bret Hart to win his fifth United States Heavyweight Championship.
In 1999, Lex began going by the name The Total Package. When the WWF bought out the WCW, he decided to take a break from professional wrestling, returning to the ring in 2002 when he began touring with the World Wrestling All-Stars. The following year, he joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and began making appearances on the independent circuit. His final match happened on August 26, 2006, when he and wrestler Buff Bagwell defeated Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner.
Health
On October 19, 2007, Lex Luger suffered a nerve impingement in his neck – a spinal injury that resulted in temporary paralysis of his arms and legs. He eventually began to walk short distances but was confined to a wheelchair by 2021.
Accolades
On October 13, 2012, Lex Luger was inducted into the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Hall of Fame. On September 7, 2017, he was inducted into the XWF Hall of Fame.
Personal Life
In 1979, Lex Luger married Peggy Fulbright and had two children – a son and a daughter. He and Peggy were divorced in 2003.
