On May 20th I was sitting in a conference room at work and decided to see what was going on the world of Facebook. When I logged in the first thing I saw was a post from someone I went to High school with who wrote RIP Macho Man. I actually thought this was the start of one of those horrible social network rumors that idiots write about celebrities saying they are dead. Not this time as I was saddened and a bit surprised to read “The Macho Man” Randy Savage died of a heart attack/car accident.
The funny thing about a celebrity death that you admired growing up is that it really doesn’t affect a thing that happens in our life today or tomorrow but it does get the memories flowing to think back on why that person is a celebrity.
I did not start watching wrestling until 1990. Although I do remember going to a friends house before my parents allowed me to watch wrestling and seeing the event “the Match/The Movie”. So I watched the Hulk Hogan movie “No Holds Barred” and after the movie the match that was Hulk Hogan and Brutus “the Barber” Beefcake vs. “The Macho King” Randy Savage and Zeus inside a steel cage.
In June of 1985 The Macho Man came into the WWF and was something people had not seen before. He wore bright colors and talked like he was on coke all the time. One of the first things the WWF did to build the Macho Man up as a Superstar was have several of the established heel managers offer their services to him. The big day came when Macho Man was introducing us to his new manager.
In a gimmick that would never work today Macho Man was an egomaniac who would bully and mistreat Miss Elizabeth. He would attack and harm anyone who looked at her. It made her one of the most beloved wrestling personalities of all time.
He won the Intercontinental title from Tito Santana in February 1986 which led to memorable feuds against George the Animal Steele and Ricky the Dragon Steamboat.
His match against The Dragon at Wrestlemania III, not only stole the show of the biggest even in Wrestling history, but was what many argued is one of the greatest matches of all time.
During a match with the Honkey Tonk Man the nucleus of one of the greatest rivalries in wrestling history started. The Honkey Tonk Man was DQed from a match against the Mach Man when the Hart Foundation attacked Macho Man. Miss Elizabeth ran to the back and brought out Hulk Hogan to make the save. The Mega Powers were official formed and at Wrestlemania IV Hulk Hogan was standing in Macho Man’s corner when Randy Savage won his first WWF championship
The Macho Man held the title for a year until his “jealousy” of Hulk Hogan got the better of him and the Mega Powers exploded at Wrestlemania V
After Wrestlemania V The Macho Man took the late Sherrie Martel as his Queen and the two of them feuded with Hulk Hogan for the rest of the year and then the American Dream Dusty Rhodes and his manager Sapphire.
In 1991, one of my favorite moments happened. Savage wanted to be the #1 contender for the WWF Title. Sgt Slaughter said he would get the first title shot if he beat the Ultimate Warrior at the Royal Rumble. The Ultimate Warrior refused to give him the first title shot. This led to Sgt. Slaughter winning the WWF Title thanks to interference from the Macho Man. Savage and the Warrior ended up wrestling at Wrestlemania VII in one of my personal favorite matches of all times. Not only was the match amazing, the post match and the reuniting with Miss. Elizabeth was what is now known as a Wrestlemania moment.
The Macho King went back to being Macho Man and became an announcer for the WWF. During this time the WWF used him in the story line and advanced the relation between the Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth.
At Summer Slam that year the Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth got hitched in a drama free wedding.
The reception, however, was filled with drama
At WrestlemaniaVIII the Macho Man regained the WWF World Championship beating the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair.
He lost the belt back to Flair in September but during this time wrestled the Ultimate Warrior again at Summerslam, and shortly after that joined forces with the Warrior and became the Ultimate Maniacs.
In 1993, the Macho Man transitioned once again to be the color commentator for Monday Night Raw. He would occasionally wrestle but those moments were becoming less and less. He did wrestle in the 1993 Royal Rumble and was the runner up losing to Yokozuna. The Macho Man’s last WWF Pay Per View match was at Wrestlemania X in a falls count anywhere match against Crush. On November 7, 1994 Vince McMahon gave an on air farewell to the Macho Man during Monday Night Raw.
Savage signed with WCW, and his first appearance was on the December 3, 1994 edition of WCW Saturday Night. Savage eventually saved Hogan from an attack by the 3 Faces of Fear, at Starcade. His first WCW feud was against Avalanche. At SuperBrawl V, he teamed up with Sting and took on Avalanche and Big Bubba Rogers in a tag team match, which Sting and Savage won.
He went on and rekindled his feud with Ric Flair.
At World War 3, Savage won his first WCW World Heavyweight Championship by winning the first-ever 60-man three-ring battle royal.
He lost the title to Flair a month later at Starrcade 1995: World Cup of Wrestling; earlier that night, he defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Savage won his second WCW World Heavyweight Championship back from Flair on the January 22, 1996 edition of Nitro but lost the title back to Flair the next month in a steel cage match at SuperBrawl VI
Flair and Savage continued to feud until June 1996. At Bash at the Beach, the nWo was formed when Hulk Hogan turned on Savage, Sting, and Lex Luger and joined "The Outsiders. After their inception, one of their main enemies became Savage himself, who was one of the leaders of the WCW crusaders against the nWo before joining them a year later. At Halloween Havoc, Savage faced Hogan for the WCW title but lost when the Giant interfered and choke slammed him.
Savage joined the nWo at SuperBrawl VII, when he helped Hogan defeat Roddy Piper in a rematch of their Starrcade match the previous year. He began feuding with Diamond Dallas Page and DDP's wife Kimberly. Their feud lasted almost eight months and many people today give this feud as a reason DDP became a star in WCW.
When Hulk Hogan failed to recapture his "nWo" Title from Sting, it was Savage's turn, and he got his shot at Spring Stampede. Hogan tried to make sure that Savage would not win the title because Hogan felt that he was the only nWo member who should be World Champion, since he was the leader of the stable. With the help of Nash, however, Savage beat Sting for his third WCW World Heavyweight Championship, despite tearing the ACL in his knee during the match. The following night on Nitro, Hogan faced Savage for the championship. Savage tried to capitalize on Kevin Nash power bombing Hulk Hogan, but an interfering Bret Hart attacked Savage and preserved the victory for Hogan. Savage then joined with Nash and others to form the nWo Wolfpac, a split from Hogan's group, which became known as nWo Black and Red (Wolfpac) and nWo Black and White (Hollywood). Savage went on to feud with both Hart and Roddy Piper.
After the June 15 edition of Nitro, Savage took a hiatus from the company to recover from at least two major knee surgeries. He made only one more appearance in 1998, helping Ric Flair defeat Eric Bischoff for the Presidency of WCW on the December 28, 1998 edition of Monday Nitro. When Savage returned, he debuted a new look and theme music, sporting a slicked back ponytail, earrings, and a new villainous attitude, as well as introducing his then 22-year-old girlfriend Gorgeous George as his valet. When Kevin Nash won it at Slamboree, Savage went after the title himself. It was around that time that Madusa and Miss Madness joined Macho Man as his other two valets; together they were known as Team Madness.
At The Great American Bash, Sid Vicious returned to WCW and helped Macho Man attack Kevin Nash. This led to a tag team match at Bash at the Beach between Nash and Sting against Savage and Sid Vicious, in which whoever scored the winning fall would win the WCW World Title. Savage won his fourth and final WCW World Heavyweight Championship when he pinned Nash.
Savage's last reign as champion did not last long. The next night on Nitro, he lost the title to a returning Hollywood Hogan, when Nash interfered and power bombed Macho Man.
Savage made his final WCW appearance on Thunder on May 3, 2000, where he participated in the 41-man battle royal for a title shot at The Great American Bash.
Savage made his return to professional wrestling at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Victory Road by confronting Jeff Jarrett. At Turning Point, he teamed up with Jeff Hardy and A.J. Styles to defeat the Kings of Wrestling (Jarrett, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall). The main event of Final Resolution in 2005 was scheduled to be Jarrett and Savage for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Savage's plan was to win the belt and then drop it back to Jarrett at the next pay-per-view. In December 2004, Savage left TNA over a disagreement on the finish of the next scheduled PPV.
In the mid 90’s Slim Jim picked him as their spokesperson and made the phrase “Snap into it” a household saying. Who can forget his Slim Jim commercials.
The Macho Man also became the character “Bonesaw” McGraw in the 2002 hit Spiderman which grossed $403,706, 375 (domestic) and $821,002,176 (worldwide)
On October 7, 2003, Savage released a rap album titled “Be a Man”. It includes a tribute to "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig as well as a track aimed at Hulk Hogan
WWE Intercontinental Title
2/8/86 - beat Tito Santana
WWE Championship
3/27/88 WrestleMania IV - beat Ted DiBiase in the tournament final for the title
4/5/92 WrestleMania VIII - beat Ric Flair
WCW World Title
11/26/95 World War III - won a battle royal for the vacant title
1/22/96 - beat Ric Flair
4/19/98 Spring Stampede - beat Sting
7/11/99 Bash at the Beach - w/Sid Vicious beat Sting and Kevin Nash in a tag team match to win the title
I have seen the Macho Man wrestle several times. He was the Main Event of the 1st ever wrestling show I have gone to. February 8, 1993 the Macho Man was in the Main Event of a house show at the Baltimore Arena. He wrestled and lost to that night Yokozuna. I wish I had a better recollection of that entire card and I am sure I may have photos somewhere but if my memory is right it was more or less the same match they were having on TV at the time, building Yokozuna to be a monster heel. The Macho Man did not win a lot of matches I was at. I saw him wrestle at Superbrawl V (Video is above) where he teamed with Sting. The rest of the shows I saw the Macho Man at he was losing to Kevin Nash by DQ at the Great American Bash. Plus I saw him at the previous Great American Bash lose a tag match (Savage and Piper vs. Hogan and Hart). After he lost the tag match Savage then lost to Piper in a match immediately following the tag match. Macho Man was a legend to us wrestling fans and he will be missed.
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