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RIP "Macho Man" Randy Savage

BeachSkin

By BeachSkin
in The Tailgate

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capcrunch98

capcrunch98

Posted
Posted

RIP Macho Man. So sad how these guys end up, most of them financially broke and physically crippled. I was a casual wrestling fan, but I have friends who really follow it closely. They say that if you ever wonder what happened to your favorite wrestlers from the 80s and 90s, watch The Wrestler and there is a 90% chance that their current life mirrors that of Mickey Rourke's character.

Jake the Snake (somehow not dead) versus Andre (dead)

Jake Roberts has hit the snooze button on his death clock so many times, it's unreal. I watched a Heroes of Wrestling PPV 10 years ago, which featured old stars like Jake the Snake, George the Animal Steele, King Kong Bundy, etc. Jake Roberts was visibly drunk during his match, lost one of his boots halfway through and was barefoot the rest of the way, and used his snake as a simulated pen*is when interacting with the crowd (including kids!). Just a dozen years prior, I was wearing his t-shirt and cheering him on at the Capital Centre. His descent into a broken addict was truly of one the saddest things I had ever seen.

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addicted

addicted

Posted
Posted
I saw this on another board' date=' but if someone were to say "define the perfect pro wrestler," you might actually just end up describing Randy Savage[/quote']

Excluding Chris Benoit he is the best to ever grace the mat. This post was amazing. Thanks for posting it

Could he work in the ring? Hell yea. He could brawl. He could mat wrestle. He could do high flying stuff.

The matches at Wrestlemania 3 against Steamboat' date=' the tournament at Wrestlemania 4, the feud with Bad News Brown, Jake Robers, and Hulk Hogan, his territory days in Memphis against Jerry Lawler, all of these are favorites of mine. He could do it all in the ring and outside it.

Could he sell? Like a champ.

Absolutely he could sell and put over guys. He single handily reinvented Hulk Hogan after the wrestling world was board with him with the Mega Powers split. His comedic matches against George the Animal Steele showed he could get anyone over. His work against Ricky Steamboat are considered the best wrestling matches ever in a USA ring. He was one of the best

Could he work the stick? Better than almost anyone. He probably invented the concept of a wrestling catch phrase.

Macho was the same no matter where he worked. He could get interest in a match against anyone. In the 1980's in the world of cartoon characters he was the same then as he was 5 years earlier. Wrestling came so easy to this man because he was the same everywhere he went. He could sell seats to see him go against anyone.

Was he colorful? Between the tights' date=' jackets, hats, and Elizabeth? Yea. just a little bit.[/quote']

Hell yea he was. Wearing every single print design of the time period imaginable, marrying his manager at Summerslam, he was so colorful he made a grown man wearing purple cool

How did he look? Big enough to be believable with Hogan. Small enough to be believable with Steamboat.

He looked larger then life and when he walked in an arena you knew you were watching one of the greatest of all time. He could work with anyone' date=' big or small. He looked, acted, sounded the part of any decade.

Could he crossover? Snap into a Slim Jim.

Randy was a known secluded person. He was incredibly private the last years of his life. He could have crossed over much more then he did but he lived his life his way, preferring to be out of the spotlight. It's a damn shame that he never wanted to expose himself more to the general public. He knew to always leave us wanting more

I used to read the Apter mags as a kid. I could get WWF' date=' Georgia, and Mid Atlantic Wrestling on tv, but was obsessed with Memphis and Florida. I wanted to see Kevin Sullivan's devil act. And I was fascinated with what I read about Memphis. They kept talking about this young Randy Savage like he was going to reinvent the sport. And then he showed up in New York...and did.[/quote']

Who knocked Hulkamania off the mountain? Randy Savage did.

I have footage of all of his work, in ICW, Memphis, WWF as I started collecting wrestling TV many years ago. Without Savage the 1980's doesn't happen imo. He was a one of a kind special performer from the very beginning.

You can probably make the argument that Savage was the third bullet that McMahon had that could take down the old territory system. He had Hogan to hideline the big shows. And Piper was the perfect foil to Hogan. But Savage was the guy who could tear down the house as the headliner on the B shows. A WWF show headlined by Savage was better than anything the local yokels had to offer. So Savage could headline New Orleans the same night Hogan was headlining in Philly. And then' date=' of course, he gave them a storyline for three years after the Hogan-Andre stuff was over.[/quote']

Macho was carrying the business for years. Fans might not have understood when Hulk Hogan was running wild that his time was short but without guys like Macho Man, Curt Henning, Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid, the business would not survive today. There is no question in my mind that had he been more in the spotlight over the past 10 years fans would argue that he was much more important to the business then he's given credit for today

---------- Post added May-20th-2011 at 01:44 PM ----------

Wait, why was he blacklisted by the WWE?

He slept with Stephanie McMahon and Vince never forgave him. That's why he's been out of the WWE for the past 17 years and isn't yet in the Hall of Fame. Vince took that very personal

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DM72

DM72

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ESPN has the news about Savage on the BottomLine. That should tell you about him right there.

That's good, but I'll like to see ESPN's Outside The Lines investigate Steroids/painkillers and pro wrestling.

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praise_gibbs

praise_gibbs

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This news sucks to hear.

Hopefully Scott Hall pulls through or he could easily be the next wrestler to pass.

---------- Post added May-20th-2011 at 03:09 PM ----------

"I'm too hot to handle, too cold to hold!"

"The tower of power, too sweet to be sour. Funky like a monkey.. Ooooh yeeeah!"

His quotes are right up there with the greats in the wrestling world.

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addicted

addicted

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In fairness' date=' that's an urban legend. It's in the "How did David Von Erich die?" category of unknown wrestling stories.[/quote']

When the locker room believes it then you have to give it some pause. I've heard too many workers say the same thing to not believe it's the reason why he's not in the Hall of Fame. Is it a fact? No one knows not named McMahon at this point. What is known is that there are two notable wrestlers whom both were alive until today that by all rights should be in the Hall of Fame - Bruno Sammartino (Wore the title from 1963-1971) and Randy Savage. Bruno's not in because of how outspoken he's been about the wrestling business

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StBfbaxvCYY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kM8_xVyPZU

Great interview for the conspiracy crowd involving Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon on Larry King Live from 1992. Bruno's been outspoken about the business for years. What dirt did Macho Man do to McMahon to not get into the HOF? His career speaks for itself. Here is Jim Ross answer when asked why he isn't in the Hall of Fame:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV7aXEG3s-c

Nice answer

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Lombardi's_kid_brother

Lombardi's_kid_brother

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When the locker room believes it then you have to give it some pause. I've heard too many workers say the same thing to not believe it's the reason why he's not in the Hall of Fame. Is it a fact? No one knows not named McMahon at this point. What is known is that there are two notable wrestlers whom both were alive until today that by all rights should be in the Hall of Fame - Bruno Sammartino (Wore the title from 1963-1971) and Randy Savage. Bruno's not in because of how outspoken he's been about the wrestling business

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StBfbaxvCYY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kM8_xVyPZU

Great interview for the conspiracy crowd involving Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon on Larry King Live from 1992. Bruno's been outspoken about the business for years. What dirt did Macho Man do to McMahon to not get into the HOF? His career speaks for itself. Here is Jim Ross answer when asked why he isn't in the Hall of Fame:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV7aXEG3s-c

Nice answer

I feel bad for Bruno, because he seems like such a bitter old man. That is the one broken relationship where I don't think that McMahon is all that much to blame. Granted, the WWE Hall of Fame is really just a Hall of good wrestlers who were famous in the city where Wrestlemania is taking place and who Vince McMahon is not mad at in the moment. But I think he would put Bruno in tomorrow if Bruno ever extended an olive branch.

Bruno's mad for a bunch of reasons. The primary one seems to be that McMahon promised to give David a push if Bruno stayed on the payroll and popped a big house in the Northeast very few months. That didn't work out - in part because David sucked - and Bruno and David are now estranged because of it.

The other issue seems to be a matter of taste. Bruno is about the last old timer still clinging to kayfabe. Once a year, he gives an interview in a Pittsburgh paper where he claims that wrestling was real when he did it, but that he can't speak about it now. It's really kind of sad. From what I can tell, Bruno doesn't do much of anything in wrestling. At the very very least, he should make the occasional appearance in ROH, because those fans would adore him.

---------- Post added May-20th-2011 at 04:03 PM ----------

While we are talking about Savage and Memphis Wrestling, the one thing that has always annoyed me is that Jerry Lawler is now known to an international audience as a horny, goofball announcer and comedy wrester, instead of one of the biggest badasses ever.

Savage is one of the few guys who ever came from Memphis, World Class, or Mid South and actually maintained his style.

Out of the three, I prefer Mid South. Memphis has some awesome stuff, but there is too much stupid **** around it for my tastes. What I do like about Memphis is the minimalist nature of it, and Savage was great at that. He could make a body slam look like a devastating move and look "violent" while doing the simplest stuff. Lawler - though - was the best ever at that style. Lawler could make a punch look as devastating as being choke slammed through the Hell in the Cell cage.

I do wish that some of the Southern style could have had a bigger impact in New York, because it's really a lot safer in the long run. About the least dangerous thing you can do in wrestling is blading. Dusty Rhodes' forehead may look like a topographical map, but he doesn't have any trouble getting out of bed in the morning. I doubt Edge can say that.

Here is one of my favorite matches ever. It's ten minutes long. I don't think either guy ever leaves their feet. I'm not sure there is a single wrestling moved used. But it's dramatic as hell. Tells a great story. And makes the crowd delirous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PXTFqWVfQc

I feel like Duggan is the other great lost wrester of the 80s and 90s. He was a monster with Watts and Vince turned him into a teddy bear. I'm sure it was financially better for Duggan, but - God - he was fun with those insane Cajuns cheering for him.

By the way, if you want to know what it means to be "over," watch the Von Erichs make their entrance in this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1ldJ17-6Vw

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Mr. Sinister

Mr. Sinister

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Didn't see this thread until a few minutes ag. Although I can't remember watching him wrestle for the WWF, I was however up to my head in Macho Man merchandise, back then it was either Macho Man or The Ultimate Warrior for me. After being somewhat absent from the goings-on in the wrestling world for the past seven years, like many have stated, it really is amazing, and sad, when you look at how many wrestlers like Bossman, Test, Latino Heat, Benoit, Crash Holly, etc etc have passed away during that time frame, and how many who probably don''t have a lot of time left, like Mick Foley.

It's really going to be bad in about 6-7 years time, when guys like Jeff Hardy are really going to start physically paying ( not saying that he isn't now) for the hell that they put their bodies through in the era where wrestlers pretty much became stuntmen. I almost feel guilty in a way, knowing how memorable and fun all of those hardcore TLC/Hell In A Cell/Boiler Room Brawl type matches were, while at the same time knowing that those guys probably took 2-3 years off of their lives in that one match alone, to fulfill our bloodlust.

RIP

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