When Lex Luger first stepped into the wrestling ring in the mid-1980s, he was still learning the ropes, and one of his earliest challenges was a non-televised ‘Broadway’ match against the legendary Ric Flair. This bout, which lasted a full hour and ended in a time-limit draw, put the seasoned veteran Flair in the driver’s seat with the inexperienced Luger hanging on. In a recent chat with ‘Going Ringside,’ Luger opened up about how Flair, a WWE Hall of Famer, literally guided him through that marathon encounter. ‘I’d only been wrestling for a few months and they told me I had to wrestle for an hour. I go, ‘How am I going to do that?’ Ric called a Sunset Flip, a basic move, and I said, ‘What’s that?’ Rick went, ‘Oh my gosh.’ But he got me through an hour,’ Luger recalled. He emphasized that for a guy who didn’t know how to wrestle yet, an hour match was immense, and only someone as skilled as Flair could have carried him through. This early clash was just the beginning; the duo went on to deliver several instant classics, including their iconic battles at NWA Starrcade 1988 and WrestleWar 1990 for the World Heavyweight Title, as well as a legendary time-limit draw at NWA Battle of the Belts in 1986. Luger’s gratitude for Flair’s mentorship in those formative moments highlights the deep respect between the two legends.
