Lex Luger Reveals Who Came Up With His Nickname And Finisher

WWE legend Lex Luger appeared on Insight With Chris Van Vliet, where he talked about a number of topics including being paralyzed in 2007.

Luger said, “I turned my head back to the front, and I had this burning stabbing pain between my shoulder blades. But you know; football, wrestling, we get aches and pains, little pinched nerves all the time. So…I go ‘Man, that didn’t feel good…that didn’t feel right.’ I got to the hotel. I checked in. And I woke up…I’m not sure what time it was. It was just pre-dawn. And I had the worst burning stabbing pain in my lower neck/shoulder blade area. Unbelievable. And it was so bad…I’m a side sleeper. I was on my side towards the night stand. And I was trying to get to a phone. And so I figured ‘Maybe I get to the phone like a seal. Hit it with my nose.’ I was in so much pain. I fell off the bed and down to the floor.”

On how he got through the night:

“I thought I was going to suffocate. So now I’m up against the nightstand, can’t move, feel like I’m being pulled by magnets through the floor now, and I’m suffocating. I thought that was it. And I tell people this…the Lord came into that room man. Proverbs 3, 5 and 6. I was a brand new believer. I didn’t even know I had a verse memorized in the Bible, but Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not upon your own understanding. Acknowledge Me in all your ways, and I’ll make your path straight.’ It was so calming, when I felt like God was actually almost speaking to me. I didn’t hear a voice or anything. But that resonated so much with me that my breathing calmed down and my heart rate.”

On DDP coming to see him the next morning:

“DDP comes into the room. And he convinces me…I wanted the medics, they had picked me up off the floor and sat me in a chair in the hotel room. I’m like…’I’m okay. I think I’m dehydrated maybe.’ And D looks at me and goes ‘Look, you’ve got to go with these guys man. This ain’t dehydration bro. This ain’t effing hydration. You need to go with these guys.’”

On who came up with his “Total Package” nickname and Torture Rack finisher:

“That was a heck of a nickname Dusty Rhodes gave me. I was in the back and he goes… ‘I want you to be the brains and the brawn and the beauty.’ He goes, ‘I want you to be the total package, baby.’ He came up with that nickname and he came up with the finish, the Torture Rack, because he thought it showed off my body and my abs.”

You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.