WWE Hall of Famer Lex Luger was notably absent during the Hall of Fame recognition segment at Night One of WrestleMania 41, and he’s now opened up about the reason why.
Luger was the only member of the 2025 WWE Hall of Fame class not present on stage at Lincoln Financial Field. The class featured the likes of Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Michelle McCool, Bret Hart, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Tugboat, and the family of the late John Tenta. While many fans noticed Luger’s absence, he explained the situation during a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show.
According to Luger, the trouble began the day before the Hall of Fame ceremony when he took a fall at the airport while attempting to transfer into his wheelchair. Although he made it to Friday’s induction event—where he stood unassisted to deliver his speech—he was physically drained by Saturday.
“Saturday morning, I could barely get out of bed,” Luger recalled. “I contacted the guys and they were incredibly understanding. They said, ‘We’d love to have you there—see how you feel later on.’ But by the afternoon, it was clear I wasn’t going to be able to make it.”
Despite missing the WrestleMania appearance, Luger did show up for his scheduled WrestleCon appearance earlier that same day.
When asked whether he was disappointed about not being able to join his fellow inductees on the WrestleMania stage, Luger admitted he had hoped to be there, but he’s still cherishing the honor of being inducted.
“Would Saturday have been awesome? Absolutely,” he said. “But it just wasn’t in the cards. If I was able, I would have done it.”
Diamond Dallas Page, who has been instrumental in helping Luger improve his mobility in recent years, was the one to induct him into the Hall of Fame. In a powerful moment, Luger stood up from his wheelchair without assistance during the ceremony, earning a standing ovation from the crowd.
(H/T to Joseph Currier and F4WOnline.com for transcribing the above quotes.)
