Lex Luger Reveals Vince McMahon’s Reaction To Him Showing Up At WCW Nitro

In an interview with Terri Runnels’ Cigars, Scars and Superstars podcast (via Wrestling Inc), Lex Luger spoke about his surprise appearance on the first episode of WCW Nitro and what Vince McMahon’s reaction was. Here are highlights:

On not being allowed to tell Vince McMahon he was leaving WWF: “I was in a tag match with Davey Boy Smith taking on Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon at a house show the previous day. I would have handled the situation a lot differently today, but my contract was up so legally. Sting and Eric Bischoff had talked to me and decided to bring me in, but under one condition was that I couldn’t tell Vince McMahon. I had a great relationship with Vince McMahon. We were friends, so I was very uncomfortable with it even back then, but I decided that it was a good opportunity, and was a way to feed my family. To make a long story short, I left and Vince and Linda [McMahon] were watching at home and were both like, ‘you have got to be kidding me!’ They were shocked just as much as the fans. They had to pull me out of their TV shows that they already taped, because WWF had pre-taped their shows. So, they had to pull me out of their TV shows and they had no ideas I was going to walk out there at the Mall of America. That was a shock to everybody; for sure.”

On being happy to sign with WCW: “I felt that at the time, I had so many friends in WCW, with Sting and the other wrestlers, so I really felt at home there. After talking with Eric Bischoff, at the time I thought it was going to be a better opportunity for me. I didn’t know for sure, but timing was, going back, we are at the beginning of the Monday Night Wars so it turned out to be a good decision for me.”

On how it affected his relationship with Vince McMahon: “He did not speak to me until we bumped into each other several years later at an airport. He walked up like he always does, like a gentleman, he shook my hand, smiled and said that he was glad I was doing good.”