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Sting joined NWA in July 87, the match you refer to in the OP with the worked leg injury was at Bash 88 a year later.
And anyway the point wasn't that Sting should have been in that spot, the point is that Luger would have never boosted business in a comparable way to Hogan if Sting couldn't do it a year later.
Luger was getting title shots less than a year into the biz based off his look. He was green as grass and not ready to be the world champ at that point.
You are saying this like the NWA did not have a disconnect in a number of ways to why they had not established a boom.
The NWA had a disconnect as to why the wwf hit and the NWA did not.
Plus the NWA knew they were the higher quality product but they never learned about why exactly hogun popped and the nwa did not.
They lacked the market research and hordes of guys say that.
If wcw could have covered up berg's green-ness, the same could have been done to luger in a more talented time in the NWA roster wise as well.
if luger got the duke he could have been protected in squashes for a long ass time given the time period of the times.
A great match was not required and hogun caught on more.
All because hogun was booked strong against rocky in rocky III singlehandidly. that is why he had a draw and all the NWA had to do was get a better similar golden boy guy with the same type of win over flair.
Just like hogun got over sheik.
With luger as the champ they could have moved from a late pm slot to a more accessible am slot.
Just off the principal of luger and then did the exact same thing.
the wwf did when hogun first won the title.
Keep showing the title match over and over again every week, damn near on loop.
Sometimes the whole match or just the counter out the clutch to just the boot and legdrop for the title.
followed by a quick hogun squash of a heel like John stud with a manager..ramp up luger and then have flair carry him to a three star match to take back the title via cheating.
then cheat in the re-match, cut the you will never get another rematch promo.
Which would usher luger into the us title picture. To have him ramp and provide the chase of tully and pull the whole get to the big boss chase by running down the horsemen.
As, the horsemen kept you from the title cause typically they had all the gold.
Plus, tully never challenged ric and no one back then was beating arn in fifteen minutes generally in a tv title match.
Instead the NWA failed because flair had obscene grips on the booking and would not waver.
Plus flair did not understand the payoff of the bf win.
To turn starrcade into the same type of ideal as mania. as it should have naturally been changed to.
after hogun went over sheik, and was strongly booked to kick rocky's ass in rocky III.
Which soon lead into mania I.
As every kid back then knew hogun from rocky and real talk wwf did not even come on tv, at all.
till after rocky III and the boom of eye of the tiger, rocky III and Mr t.
So, all the NWA needed was a golden boy and if luger as the golden boy beat the other heel golden boy and the best villain in a weekly series ever in flair.
That was all that was needed was luger going over on flair on loop like they oversaturated the hogun beats sheik title change for months on the wwf Saturday morning show.
After over saturation of the hogun win it built up to watch him in a taped to possible live match.
To which, Hogun would only have a squash and all kids back then loved squashes and that was all luger needed at that time, as well.
Plus that is all luger did was have kid mark out squashes.
As wrasslin was reset from the rocky III appearance and NWA caught steam with duhtay as champion.
When it first debuted on late pm programming.
That a guy opposite hogun's look was marketed as the guy.
To the point as kid, kids loved duhtay.
Kids cried watching duhtay catch the beats and kids cried when magnum has the injury put out angle, too.
So, NWA had their principals.
the nwa just needed that guy after magnum's accident as magnum was the real hogun by perception to wrasslin fans back then and then after that.
luger showed up and was indoctrinated as the next hogun immediately, by fan perception
That even Nikita koloff in NWA was known as the real Nikita koloff and the phoney wack one was on wwf.
NWA had more convincablity and its late pm start gave them more edge.
That if luger won, they could have covered the gap and went to Saturday am programming with a rocket.
even in that pm show, duhtay did not wrassle every week.
For weeks they would show how duhtay acquired the title and duhtay never even had squash matches.
That is how much better programmed the NWA show was and all they had to do.
Was simply add the golden boy champ that luger was in every possible way.
As back then luger, just like magnum Ta before injury was thought of as the better hogun.
Which is why to this day nikkaz will gouge your eyes out about lex cause lex was the better alternative to hogun, back then.
After hogun was the person who ushered in why the word phoney caught on in the hood and later the world.
Nwa had the rubrick in how to transfer bf to heels and have great feuds and they had smarter bookers.
That knew how to protect talent.
Luger was not green like warlord in the sense.
Where luger could not be hid with the proper principals in ring to guide him like warlord
luger also had the ability to ramp and be carried mid match at that time.
before his spirit was broke.
Exactly like Nikita did to ramp as well.
Also,.... again I ask were you cognitive to see this shyt.
As you keep talking about sting when again sting was not even on tv with the uwf at this exact time luger first was never beating flair when he should have.
Sting was not even a baby face in uwf at this time.
Sting at that time was opposite Eddie Gilbert and, being one of the scariest heels visually and in action in the industry at the time.
Art Barr
