RIP Macho Man. I can’t state it highly enough pick up the Randy Savage DVD set that WWE put out a couple of years ago. While it’s not perfect, it’s still really good.
Bruno Sammartino brought in George “the Animal” Steele in the late 60’s. George was always “crazy” (eating turnbuckles, etc) and Vince McMahon wanted George not to talk. I don’t believe George “The Animal” Steele won too many matches. Also George was a teacher (I believe he taught High School Students).
The DDP vs. Macho Man match is on the Macho Man DVD.
I think Macho Man appealed to all ages. His moves and outfits appealed to young kids and his non cartoon like character appealed to older fans. I do not think he would have been as big a star as he was without his manager the late Ms. Elizabeth.
In WCW Randy Savage did continue his feud with Ric Flair along with all the other big stars in WCW, but I agree that he really did not have any great feuds in WCW except for DDP. He was still a really good wrestler, he just didn’t stand out like he did back in the late 80’s WWF.
Good info on Steele. I was never a huge fan even as a kid. I think his hair freaked me out.
I agree about Elizabeth. Their dynamic was incredible. It’s hard to say for sure how much exactly she influenced his popularity. It’s almost like a yin/yang thing…they just really needed each other to create the whole package.
Very few stood out in WCW back then…even Hall or Nash started to blur into the background towards the end. Goldberg was the biggest, Hogan was always Hogan, Sting had his great 97 run, but parity booking really started at this point and no one else really stuck out.
You’re right, GT is the big Atlanta school.
Kimchi is seemingly everywhere – showed up on some food show I was watching this afternoon.
I found out about the passing of Randy Savage when I logged into Facebook on Fri., and saw where a friend of mine had posted about this. Immediately, my heart just sank, and my first thought was, “shit..”. I hate this. Not to be dramatic, but I feel like this was part of my childhood dying.. and it was.
I am a lifelong Randy Savage fan, and you know, it seems like all of us old school fans were huge fans of his. I remember as little kid watching him come down on Steamboat’s throat with that bell. I loved everything he did. All the way to his time in WCW to the rap song he did a few years ago (Be A Man). It was hilarious, btw.
A true legend has died. Thank you guys for honoring him.
Thanks for the tribute, guys. This was a shocker. News wise it even made the Swedish news, with both the instant report of the accident, and then a very nice tribute with pictures and clips on Sweden’s biggest news site. Savage was my all-time favourite and even though wrestlers I really liked have passed on before him, this was the first time it struck a personal nerve. And Dre, your summary in the end was beautiful. I loved it.
Savage was really one of a kind. For me it doesn’t matter that he scripted his matches thoughrougly. He delivered incredible drama and that’s all that counts. And like Ric Flair I think he is one of those guys who was fantastic in the ring, and still their work outside of the matches could be even more entertaining. I agree that Elizabeth played a big part in the incredible rise to the stars Savage went on. My sister always thought wrestling was the most stupid thing ever, but she always wanted to know what was going on with Elizabeth, and sometimes watched full episodes of Superstars with me just to see if Elizabeth would show up.
The Macho Man was the type of wrestler you could always bring up as an example if someone tried to make fun of our beloved wrestling. Everybody could see he was something special. The soundbyte you had in the end showcased that fact perfectly.
So I raise the index finger once again, wave it around and raise my glass to a true legend, and my favourite wrestler – The incomparable Macho Man Randy Savage. Ohhh Yeeeahh!!
When I first started watching WWF George Steele was still around, but back then I thought of him more as someone who actually “was” an animal in a circus way, rather than a simpleton. Didn’t quite get the appeal though. But even though he was a face I remember the 2nd most terrifying thing in wrestling (after Kamala’s entrance) was Steele’s crazy “dance attack”.
I hated watching George Steele so much. Acting like an “animal” was a funny enough gimmick, but he NEVER wrestled. Id love for him to have been powerbombed through a fiery table or something.
Anyone see the article on Yahoo News? Savages death seems to have brought to light that 25% of the performers at WMVII are now deceased (Andre, Savage, Elizabeth, Dino Bravo, Hercules, Kerry Von Erich, etc.). I did some looking.. and sadly, WM3 has about the same number of casualties, although some of them are due to old age. 13 performers from WM3 are now gone.
Oddly, only 4 performers from Starrcade 87 are dead (Gilbert, Dr. Death, Big Bubba, and Hawk.
Sad to watch old WWF events older I get sometimes.
I found out about his death listening to sports talk radio in my office at work. I immediately walked out to my employees at work and told them. Everyone knew who he was and was sad.
If Hulk Hogan was the Babe Ruth of pro wrestling, then Macho was Mickey Mantle. Top flight performer, in and out of the ring. I don’t think there is a single fan who ever saw him perform at the arena who walked away disappointed. He worked the crowd as good as anyone. I remember when he was the most sought after free agent in wrestling, his first match at the Garden, with all the hype invovled. The experts were saying he was going to be something special. Boy were they right.
People say Flair is the only man who can carry a broom stick through a five star match. They must have never seen the Macho Man perform.
Who else crowned the King of the Ring carried the title more charasmatic then the Macho King.
Night after night, no one was a better worker the the Macho Man. To quote the “Body”, “You had wake up pretty early to outsmart the Macho Man”.
I was really quite surprised by the massive response to his death.
I honestly would’ve thought only Hogan would get that type of crossover response to the general public, but he really was a unique character with an explosive personality, so I really shouldn’t be that surprised.
Kim Chee, the Korean dish, sucks. Dre I thought you were like me and only liked the BBQ?
Little Hardcore would also prefer the Wrestlemania III match over the SNME match.
I also fell for the free t-shirt with a credit card application in college. It was an Austin 3:16 shirt and it ripped within a day.
I too was at Great American Bash ’97 in the Quad Cities with Zero and a couple other dudes. We didn’t know what a Lights Out match was and we were worried they were going to do the match in the dark…seriously.
I HATE Michael Buffer too. People ask me if I ring announce like Michael Buffer. That’s a good way to irritate me.
Dre your explanation of how DDP was the only guy who could get a leg up on the NWO embodies why I loved him back then.
I also had a hard time with seeing DDP vs. Savage at GAB ’97. We took turns with a pair of binoculars looking at Kimberly in the mean time.
I love Dre’s Dusty impression.
Savage’s piledriver deserves praise.
You tease a great bratwurst secret and then you don’t deliver??? Not cool!
Loved the Arsenio interview at the end. “Stay in school, say no to drugs.” I’m guessing when they came back from commercial he was telling the kids to drink 3 glasses of milk a day and get 8 hours of sleep too.
Savage = my 2nd favorite of all time….and its a CLOSE second.
I encourage all of you to get the Macho Man soundboard for your phone as I did last year. So many ringtone and text msg alerts to choose from. And if you work in a shared office like me, your coworkers will laugh cause they’ll assume you made that ringtone decision ironically. You won’t correct them……. but you’ll know the truth.
Black Cat, first of all…shocked (and somewhat appauled) that you missed the Savage years circa 91-94. My opinion: my FAVORITE Savage years. Savage/Roberts, Savage/Flair, Savage/Warrior were phenominal fueds because even though you knew wrestling was fake, Randy was fucking crazy enough to make you believe. IRS and Tugboat and the Mountie could all eat it. But Savage? I suspended disbelief and thought Macho Man was going to MURDER Jake The Snake.
George Steeles promos still make more sense then Ricky Steamboats.
RIP Savage. If they ever make a Mt. Rushmore of wrestling, you’d be Lincoln (cause the other 3 don’t have beards)
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RIP Macho Man. I can’t state it highly enough pick up the Randy Savage DVD set that WWE put out a couple of years ago. While it’s not perfect, it’s still really good.
I picked it up a couple months ago and need to get around to finishing it. The first disc is awesome.
Bruno Sammartino brought in George “the Animal” Steele in the late 60’s. George was always “crazy” (eating turnbuckles, etc) and Vince McMahon wanted George not to talk. I don’t believe George “The Animal” Steele won too many matches. Also George was a teacher (I believe he taught High School Students).
The DDP vs. Macho Man match is on the Macho Man DVD.
Here is the match listing for the Macho Man DVD:
http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/dvd09.htm
I think Macho Man appealed to all ages. His moves and outfits appealed to young kids and his non cartoon like character appealed to older fans. I do not think he would have been as big a star as he was without his manager the late Ms. Elizabeth.
In WCW Randy Savage did continue his feud with Ric Flair along with all the other big stars in WCW, but I agree that he really did not have any great feuds in WCW except for DDP. He was still a really good wrestler, he just didn’t stand out like he did back in the late 80’s WWF.
A list of College’s in Atlanta:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_metropolitan_Atlanta
Georgia Tech would probably be the big university in Atlanta.
Oh and thanks for mentioning one of my favorite Korean dishes kimchi. By the way Steve Lombardi was Kim Chee, Kamala’s manager in the WWF.
Good info on Steele. I was never a huge fan even as a kid. I think his hair freaked me out.
I agree about Elizabeth. Their dynamic was incredible. It’s hard to say for sure how much exactly she influenced his popularity. It’s almost like a yin/yang thing…they just really needed each other to create the whole package.
Very few stood out in WCW back then…even Hall or Nash started to blur into the background towards the end. Goldberg was the biggest, Hogan was always Hogan, Sting had his great 97 run, but parity booking really started at this point and no one else really stuck out.
You’re right, GT is the big Atlanta school.
Kimchi is seemingly everywhere – showed up on some food show I was watching this afternoon.
I found out about the passing of Randy Savage when I logged into Facebook on Fri., and saw where a friend of mine had posted about this. Immediately, my heart just sank, and my first thought was, “shit..”. I hate this. Not to be dramatic, but I feel like this was part of my childhood dying.. and it was.
I am a lifelong Randy Savage fan, and you know, it seems like all of us old school fans were huge fans of his. I remember as little kid watching him come down on Steamboat’s throat with that bell. I loved everything he did. All the way to his time in WCW to the rap song he did a few years ago (Be A Man). It was hilarious, btw.
A true legend has died. Thank you guys for honoring him.
OHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHH
Lots of “Macho Sadness” in the world this weekend.
Vintage LBJ
Thanks for the tribute, guys. This was a shocker. News wise it even made the Swedish news, with both the instant report of the accident, and then a very nice tribute with pictures and clips on Sweden’s biggest news site. Savage was my all-time favourite and even though wrestlers I really liked have passed on before him, this was the first time it struck a personal nerve. And Dre, your summary in the end was beautiful. I loved it.
Savage was really one of a kind. For me it doesn’t matter that he scripted his matches thoughrougly. He delivered incredible drama and that’s all that counts. And like Ric Flair I think he is one of those guys who was fantastic in the ring, and still their work outside of the matches could be even more entertaining. I agree that Elizabeth played a big part in the incredible rise to the stars Savage went on. My sister always thought wrestling was the most stupid thing ever, but she always wanted to know what was going on with Elizabeth, and sometimes watched full episodes of Superstars with me just to see if Elizabeth would show up.
The Macho Man was the type of wrestler you could always bring up as an example if someone tried to make fun of our beloved wrestling. Everybody could see he was something special. The soundbyte you had in the end showcased that fact perfectly.
So I raise the index finger once again, wave it around and raise my glass to a true legend, and my favourite wrestler – The incomparable Macho Man Randy Savage. Ohhh Yeeeahh!!
When I first started watching WWF George Steele was still around, but back then I thought of him more as someone who actually “was” an animal in a circus way, rather than a simpleton. Didn’t quite get the appeal though. But even though he was a face I remember the 2nd most terrifying thing in wrestling (after Kamala’s entrance) was Steele’s crazy “dance attack”.
I hated watching George Steele so much. Acting like an “animal” was a funny enough gimmick, but he NEVER wrestled. Id love for him to have been powerbombed through a fiery table or something.
Anyone see the article on Yahoo News? Savages death seems to have brought to light that 25% of the performers at WMVII are now deceased (Andre, Savage, Elizabeth, Dino Bravo, Hercules, Kerry Von Erich, etc.). I did some looking.. and sadly, WM3 has about the same number of casualties, although some of them are due to old age. 13 performers from WM3 are now gone.
Oddly, only 4 performers from Starrcade 87 are dead (Gilbert, Dr. Death, Big Bubba, and Hawk.
Sad to watch old WWF events older I get sometimes.
I found out about his death listening to sports talk radio in my office at work. I immediately walked out to my employees at work and told them. Everyone knew who he was and was sad.
If Hulk Hogan was the Babe Ruth of pro wrestling, then Macho was Mickey Mantle. Top flight performer, in and out of the ring. I don’t think there is a single fan who ever saw him perform at the arena who walked away disappointed. He worked the crowd as good as anyone. I remember when he was the most sought after free agent in wrestling, his first match at the Garden, with all the hype invovled. The experts were saying he was going to be something special. Boy were they right.
People say Flair is the only man who can carry a broom stick through a five star match. They must have never seen the Macho Man perform.
Who else crowned the King of the Ring carried the title more charasmatic then the Macho King.
Night after night, no one was a better worker the the Macho Man. To quote the “Body”, “You had wake up pretty early to outsmart the Macho Man”.
There will never be another, OOOOOOHH YEAHHHH!!!
I was really quite surprised by the massive response to his death.
I honestly would’ve thought only Hogan would get that type of crossover response to the general public, but he really was a unique character with an explosive personality, so I really shouldn’t be that surprised.
I’ve seen those stats. Unfortunate and bizarre. It’s quite sobering being a pro wrestling fan if you allow yourself to contemplate the tragedies.
Kim Chee, the Korean dish, sucks. Dre I thought you were like me and only liked the BBQ?
Little Hardcore would also prefer the Wrestlemania III match over the SNME match.
I also fell for the free t-shirt with a credit card application in college. It was an Austin 3:16 shirt and it ripped within a day.
I too was at Great American Bash ’97 in the Quad Cities with Zero and a couple other dudes. We didn’t know what a Lights Out match was and we were worried they were going to do the match in the dark…seriously.
I HATE Michael Buffer too. People ask me if I ring announce like Michael Buffer. That’s a good way to irritate me.
Dre your explanation of how DDP was the only guy who could get a leg up on the NWO embodies why I loved him back then.
I also had a hard time with seeing DDP vs. Savage at GAB ’97. We took turns with a pair of binoculars looking at Kimberly in the mean time.
I love Dre’s Dusty impression.
Savage’s piledriver deserves praise.
You tease a great bratwurst secret and then you don’t deliver??? Not cool!
Loved the Arsenio interview at the end. “Stay in school, say no to drugs.” I’m guessing when they came back from commercial he was telling the kids to drink 3 glasses of milk a day and get 8 hours of sleep too.
Someday I will make you one of my famous Dre style bratwurst
Savage = my 2nd favorite of all time….and its a CLOSE second.
I encourage all of you to get the Macho Man soundboard for your phone as I did last year. So many ringtone and text msg alerts to choose from. And if you work in a shared office like me, your coworkers will laugh cause they’ll assume you made that ringtone decision ironically. You won’t correct them……. but you’ll know the truth.
Black Cat, first of all…shocked (and somewhat appauled) that you missed the Savage years circa 91-94. My opinion: my FAVORITE Savage years. Savage/Roberts, Savage/Flair, Savage/Warrior were phenominal fueds because even though you knew wrestling was fake, Randy was fucking crazy enough to make you believe. IRS and Tugboat and the Mountie could all eat it. But Savage? I suspended disbelief and thought Macho Man was going to MURDER Jake The Snake.
George Steeles promos still make more sense then Ricky Steamboats.
RIP Savage. If they ever make a Mt. Rushmore of wrestling, you’d be Lincoln (cause the other 3 don’t have beards)