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The wrestling world never saw a babyface turn quite like Lex Luger's in 1993. Seemingly out of nowhere, WWE transformed the villainous "Narcissist" Lex Luger into a patriotic, All-American hero, with the drama unfolding aboard one of the U.S.'s most historic war vessels. Luger took to X to mark the 31st anniversary of this memorable, albeit somewhat unusual, moment in wrestling history. "31 years ago today. It never gets old!!! Happy 4th to all who celebrate our nation's birthday," Luger's post said.
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31 years ago today. It never gets old!!! Happy 4th to all who celebrate our nations birthday🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/yg7n8woYEm
— Lex Luger (@GenuineLexLuger) July 4, 2024
The "Stars and Stripes Challenge" was a WWE exhibition/publicity stunt that took place in New York City on the U.S.S. Intrepid, a WWII-era aircraft carrier, on July 4, 1993. It was intended as a kayfabe championship celebration for Yokozuna, who had just won his second WWE Championship from Hulk Hogan in June. With Hogan out of the picture, McMahon needed a new top babyface to be a credible threat to the 500-lb. Samoan-turned-Japanese character. Several members of the WWE roster, as well as professional athletes from other sports, took their turn attempting to lift Yokozuna. Just as the task appeared impossible, in flew Luger via helicopter to save America. Luger was able to slam the massive WWE Hall of Famer, bringing the fans aboard the boiling-hot warship to their feet. WWE's newest top babyface was born.
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The turn worked, at least for a while. Luger enjoyed a semi-successful run near the top of the card, main-eventing SummerSlam 1993 and co-winning the 1994 Royal Rumble. Ultimately Vince McMahon was unconvinced of his own experiment, and hesitated to give Luger the belt. The "All-American" gimmick would eventually grow stale, and Luger made his very infamous jump to WCW in late summer 1995 — much to the shock of his former employer.
