Yeah, I never thought Lucas would ever make anymore Star Wars after the OT. I started to hear rumours as early as late '92, that went on through right before the Special Edition release in early '97. When TPM was first announced)I was watching MTV at the time) I was in shock as I saw "Duel of the Fates" for the very first time!
of course you understand that luke couldve easily been as strong with the lightsaber as the anakin that we see in the new trilogy, its just that he grew up in a universe where his only teachers were physically unable to perform at the level that was once common for a jedi knight... OB1 was simply too old, Yoda was old as well (or should i say even older than what we see now, not to mention weakened by the stress of the last twenty years) and his only saber-capable opponent (Darth Vader) was limited by his mechanical body