Lex Luger Showed Up at Sting's Final Match in a Wheelchair
"The way I had turned my neck while sitting on the plane had basically cut off my blood flow. It was just a freak accident."
Published March 5 2024, 3:53 p.m. ET
Wrestling legend Lex Luger made an appearance at wrestling legend Sting's last match on March 3, 2024. If you haven’t seen The Total Package since his WCW and WWE heyday, you may be wondering if it’s the same Lex Luger.
Lex, real name Lawrence Wendell Pfohl, is a two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion. He was voted Most Popular Wrestler of the Year in 1993 while with WWF. However, he has been mostly absent from pro wrestling programming since WCW closed in 2001. He looked like almost every other healthy, 30-something wrestler in the early 2000s, but now he's in a wheelchair. Keep reading for all of the details.
Why is Lex Luger in a wheelchair?
Lex nearly died in a motorcycle accident in 1992. Six months later he was back in a wrestling ring and made his WWF debut. This near-fatal accident isn't why Lex is currently in a wheelchair.
Lex talked about the experience that led to needing a wheelchair in an Oct. 21, 2009, piece on WWE.com. "I injured my neck on an airplane from Atlanta to San Francisco," Lex explained about the flight that changed his life in 2007. "The way I had turned my neck while sitting on the plane had basically cut off my blood flow. It was just a freak accident, but it caused massive swelling from my C6 [vertebra], at the base of my neck, to my D5 in my chest. It paralyzed me from the neck down."
The Total Package has a new lease on life.
While Lex may be unrecognizable if you only remember him as The Total Package, he’s still mentally sharp and appears in the occasional WWE video. There was even a Biography: Legends episode on Lex in 2022 on A&E/Peacock.
In an Aug. 4, 2022, interview with Sports Illustrated, Lex was asked about his current health status. “It’s mind-boggling. I’m in phenomenal health,” Lex states. “Other than my mobility issues from my spinal cord issue, I’m very healthy, and that’s a miracle of God after what I put my body through. I usually use a wheelchair or a walker, but I can walk some."
"I have great mobility, I drive," Lex continued. "But you know how your power will go out for a moment during a storm? That can happen to me, and I’m on the floor before I know it. So I take a lot of precautions. I live totally independently, which wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t look the same because I don’t hit the weights like I used to, but I’m healthy."
In an Oct. 30, 2023, episode of Under The Ring: Pro Wrestling Conversations, Lex gave an update on his day-to-day. "I was never supposed to be partially paralyzed," Lex says. "I’m what they call a ‘high-functioning quadriplegic.’ I can live independently and feed and bathe myself. I was not supposed to be able to do any of that. I can live independently. It’s really a miracle of God that I can do what I do.”
If you're a fan of Psalm 118:24, you'll want to give Lex a follow.
Lex is a born again Christian due to his friendship with the aforementioned Sting. You can hear him somewhat regularly on the Lex Expressed podcast and see him regularly Tweet, "Another day. Thank you Lord!!! Psalm 118:24" most everyday at @GenuineLexLuger.
