Nobody can take away Lex Luger’s amazing 17-month reign as United States Champion, which started in 1989 and came to an end in late 1990. His reign of August 1998, however, is a completely different story, as it only lasted three days. Luger won the title on an edition of Monday Nitro. He then turned around and lost it back to the man he beat for the title, Bret Hart, on Thunder.