World Championship Wrestling (WCW) could do no wrong in 1997. The New World Order (nWo) was the hottest act in years, a stable of super cool heels that pro wrestling fans couldn't get enough of, even if every episode of Monday Nitro seemed to end the same way. The nWo would run in on the main event, beat down all of WCW's top babyfaces (save for Sting every now and again making the save) and stand tall to end the show.

Except for this date in history (Aug. 4, 1997) when Lex Luger submitted Hulk Hogan with the Torture Rack to win the world heavyweight championship in a legitimately shocking result.

In the absence of Sting, Luger was probably the most recognizable babyface on the WCW roster who actively opposed the nWo. In fact, he didn't join the group until 1998, one week before Sting did, so he was essentially number one in the pecking order, seeing as Sting wasn't working any matches at this time.

At Bash at the Beach in July, Luger and The Giant teamed up to defeat Hogan and Dennis Rodman. Luger ended up getting a title shot out of the deal but instead of waiting for Road Wild, he had a match with Hogan on Nitro on the go-home show to the pay-per-view (PPV). Really, this was just a way to hot shot the title to Luger in a ratings ploy before Lex dropped the belt back to Hogan at Road Wild less than a week later.

Still, this was a legitimately major occurrence, if only because Hogan had held the title since Hog Wild the previous year. WCW had scored a few victories in the meanwhile but never as big as a world heavyweight championship win.

Watch it all go down after the jump.

Editors note: The referee's actions and expression when he signals that Hogan submitted are the best. The absolute best.