Remembering the Macho Man

drayme

If the mods dont mind I would like to start a thread seperate from news and condolences.

To me Macho was one of the greatest all round Wrestlers ever: in ring, promos, charisma and the ability to portray yourself as a superstar.

Please free to post videos and your memories.

rossie1977

my abiding memory of savage will be his match with warrior at wm7 and the aftermath with liz, the passion and outpouring of emotion at the end of that match is just incredible

savage was mr wrestlemania before shawn michaels made that name popular

Ridley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uERyEZwq_DE

shinzon

simply the match

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv3OBWwxX_0

Ruu_Old

Match with Ricky Steamboat in WM III is my favourite wrestling match of all time, I can't see anything surpassing it.

Jazzy

LOVED him as a kid. one of my favorite wrestlers ever. he had it all. will be drinking in his honour tonight. OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH

drayme

It is amazing how well Savage/Steamboat holds up. Has probably got more current since 1987 if anything.

Rjd2

One of the most iconic moments ever.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xd38a7_wwe-classics-randy-savage-and-eliza_sport

Hygro

He was the greatest wrestler I have ever had the pleasure of watching. First heard of him when I was 10 around the time wwf started showing on sky and a kid in my class was talking about wrestling and before I even saw him he was my wrestling hero...and still is.

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIyeZQahPFE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzovOKFaNdo&feature=related

Angron

I always loved the reuniting of Savage and Elizabeth, touching moment in 'Mania history.

thebostoncrab

Where do we start...I think we need a good laugh, so this interview always makes me smile.

drayme

http://iwantwrestling.com/2011/05/20/macho-man-randy-savage-ripmachoman/

Turtyturd

I remember being glued into every second of this, and lapping it all up, in a way I miss being able to feel like that about wrestling. Two of the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVfUp1SOY-g

Wolfe Tone

Turtyturd wrote: »

I remember being glued into every second of this, and lapping it all up, in a way I miss being able to feel like that about wrestling. Two of the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVfUp1SOY-g

Jake the Snake was a beast!

jaykhunter

It's so sad to hear of his passing. At least he was 58; he got to leave pro-wrestling on his own terms and was happy with his life when he died.

Savage was an integral part of my childhood, and again as an adult, as a lifelong wrestling fan. When I was young, i viewed Savage was the heel that you just couldn't hate because he was so amazing at everything he did; and now as an adult I relive my youth and marvel at his insatiable promos and excellent matches. He's given so much to wrestling; it's promoters, collegues, and fans, a debt that can't be repaid.

Rest in Peace, Macho.

jaykhunter

I know nothing would ever do Randy justice, but here's my efforts. RIP Macho. You brought a little more joy into every wrestling fan's life.

Hygro

I want a Macho Man special edition of your wrestling show jayk!!!

Charisteas

List of Twitter comments from WWE talent and celebrities -

http://www.wwe.com/inside/savage-tribute/macho-man-randy-savage-twitter

Mr.Nice Guy

I think my first proper introduction to the Macho Man was through watching on Sky the classic shows like WWF Prime Time Wrestling. Frequently he would do interview segments on these shows with Mean Gene and his charisma and personality just leapt off the screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53hiHAkK6KA

In later years I came to appreciate what he had to offer as a wrestler. His match with Steamboat was ahead of its time and the guy even got a good match out of the Ultimate Warrior.

He was one of those rare greats that could be equally brilliant as a babyface and a heel. It's just a real shame that he never reconciled with Vince and got to have his career acknowledged by WWE while he was alive. There have been calls for him to go in the Hall of Fame for years. My hope is that he will go in next year and I hope a significant tribute is done on Raw for a true one of a kind wrestler.

I also want to wish his wife all the best too. They only got married in the last year or so and this must be an awful time for her. Just such a sad end for someone who brought so much joy to fans over the years.

CMpunked

Ill repost this here too as it sums it up:

CMpunked wrote: »

"You inspired me more than this world will ever know. Enjoy.


You were a tower of power that was too sweet to be sour,
You were funky like a monkey every minute of every hour.
For you, space was the place and time distortion had to be,
And your fans here on earth wanted the madness for eternity.
You met every challenge with fists clinched and face to face,
You even fought and defeats dragons and snakes.
Flying off the ropes with an elbow drop,
There was no way you could ever be stopped.
Identifiable by your voice alone,
Even being Dubbed the macho king while you sat on your throne.
We hung on your words with interviews memorable and classic,
And we knew it was serious when you took off your glasses.
I promise not to lose you in the sands of time,
For you will always be that all time hero of mine.
--jay lethal--"

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/aj7llu

Entertaining at its best, wether it was comedic and fun filled:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_en2zthlI0

Or even more serious, even dark-like promos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1ERNZg1Lhg

He was definitely captivating, a true legend if ever there was such a thing.

D2D

Soaring with the eagles and slithering with the snakes
I've been everywhere in between
I am your friend, I am the Macho Man Randy Savage
Speaking from the heart, it's the Macho Man talking to you right now
Let's rock, dig it, dig it

Freak out, freak out, oooooh yeah
This is the way it is and I will be there when it happens
The past the present and the future all at one time
We're all gonna climb that mountain together and we are together forever
ooooh yeah

Wherever you go, I will be with you, I'll always be with you, yeah
The moon, the stars, Venus, Pluto, Sat-turn, yeaaaaah, lookin' down.

- Macho Man Randy Savage, 1993

cena

Very very sad news this is. May he live on in all our thoughts and dvds you tubes etc. Remember watching him as a kids.

dlofnep

Do you think he will finally make Hall of Fame?

CMpunked

dlofnep wrote: »

Do you think he will finally make Hall of Fame?

Its a dam shame he wasnt before this. /off topicness

d1975

Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth reunited for last time, I grew up watching and respecting the Macho Man RIP still can't get over it

dlofnep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x__CJ51BreM

Nobody did it better.

ayatollah

http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/world-news/wrestler-macho-man-dies-in-crash-2653614.html

nacho libre

His comedic timing was amazing, most wrestlers, even though who are seen as having good mic skills, could not do it as well. His interviews and promos should be mandatory viewing for all trainee wrestlers. I hope McMahon can let the past go by selecting Macho Man for the Hall of Fame next year.

stiffler123

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGBIZTLR5rk&feature=youtu.be

Bounty Hunter

http://www.justin.tv/wingnut57#/w/1231938064/5

Macho Man Randy Savage Tribute stream

Handsome Bob

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74NjMY5bsnc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHcbIE2GZQo

Fair play to the Warrior. When he wants to he can come across as a guy that is very together. I may not like the guy over some of the stupid things he's said over the years but he seems at peace with himself. It's nice to see that as I don't think the same can be said for many of his peers.

dlofnep

Did anyone think the WWE was a bit stingy in just having a black in memory card for Macho Man? They could of at least dedicated 2 minutes of the show to say a few words about him.

jaykhunter

dlofnep wrote: »

Did anyone think the WWE was a bit stingy in just having a black in memory card for Macho Man? They could of at least dedicated 2 minutes of the show to say a few words about him.

Hold out for tonight's RAW. I imagine they'll a video package on Macho.

stiffler123

http://www.youtube.com/user/Dallapage?blend=7&ob=5

DDP talks about his feud with Randy. He tells a nice little story about him too.

parker kent

jaykhunter wrote: »

Hold out for tonight's RAW. I imagine they'll a video package on Macho.

I really hope so, but with his issues with Vince I'm not sure.

On a wider note, I loved Macho Man and this thread is a real trip down memory lane. I got into wrestling around the time of the early UK and Ireland wrestling boom leading up to Summerslam 92. Macho Man was THE stand out guy for me. Just everything about him stood out to me from the way he spoke, the way he dressed and the flying elbow. I was too young to really appreciate how good he was in the ring, but I always have watched and re-watched his matches as I got older. The Steamboat match has only been matched by HBK/Taker in my eyes.

But probably the best way to highlight Savage are the matches he had with Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. To get such exciting matches out of them is a real achievement, one only matched by Shawn Michaels in the WWE. So my earliest memory of Randy Savage is the Wrestlemania bout for the WWF title with Hulk Hogan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ebNRZagcYg

Daith

I don't think there's enough insane Macho King and Queen Sherri stuff here. I loved Liz, but Sherri was perfect for him too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwiapXMJU0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt79Rkq3N9w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdBk1GB_Djs

2ndcoming

As someone who is the same age as Wrestlemania, it's been emotional going through those great memories posted here lads. Sad to see a true icon of childhood pass away, and sadder still watching that great moment from Wrestlemania 7 and thinking neither of those great characters, or rather the performers who brought them to life, are around anymore.

A true legend whether Vince acknowledges it or not... but that said after his unbelievably ott one off return to give The Rock a blow job last month, I seriously hope he'll have the humility to think back on someone who was a massive part of making his empire what it has gone on to become and come out and say a few words on Raw in person. Maybe I'm hoping for too much, but in any other business or sport it would be a given.

Sadly in Vince's world there's a lot more dollar in sucking off the Rock than showing compassion.

CMpunked

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDvXVP2iSNs

Mr.Nice Guy

That was a terrific tribute. Got goosebumps watching that. Fair play to WWE for acknowledging his death with more than just a graphic.

Handsome Bob

Love the bit where the camera is from the perspective of the laid out opponent about to take the epic elbow drop. :pac:

One thing I've noticed watching his matches over the past few days is just how believable he made the elbow drop as a genuine finisher.

parker kent

So sad that him and Vince didn't bury the hatchet when they had the chance over the last few years. His HOF moment would have been fantastic.

dlofnep

LZ5by5 wrote: »

One thing I've noticed watching his matches over the past few days is just how believable he made the elbow drop as a genuine finisher.

Best in the business, bar none.

parker kent

A Macho Man/HBK feud would have been awesome. Anyway here are my 2 favourite wrestlers in action on the European Rampage Tour. I remember Michaels on The Den with Ray Darcy around that time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MailBejAn9A

2ndcoming

Well think I was a little hasty... that was a fitting tribute to Mach, very well executed.

sky88

that was a great tribute by the wwe i got goosebumps, had lump in my throat and a little smile in remembering macho man just a great tribute

parker kent

I found this really good article on ESPN about Macho Man this morning. It is long for a Boards post, but worth the read.

I love this bit: "Wrestlers usually showed up in the WWF as unfinished products: They would make their mistakes, screw up a gimmick or three, find what worked, and stick with it. Not Savage. From day one, he carried himself like Superstar Graham, worked the crowd like Roddy Piper and used the ring like Ricky Steamboat. He dressed in lavishly ridiculous outfits, custom-made cowboy hats and jackets bathed in pink and lime green."

January 1980. A Saturday morning. I am watching wrestling only because I can't find anything else. A younger guy with blond hair is battling an older guy with a barrel chest, curly black hair, bushy sideburns and an oversized noggin crammed where his neck should be. Young Guy gets knocked out of the ring accidentally. Older Guy holds the ropes apart, politely invites Young Guy back in … then gets sucker punched by Young Guy. The crowd is appalled. The announcer is appalled. Hell, I am appalled.

Young Guy won't stop punching and kicking Older Guy. He grabs a chair and creams Older Guy with it. Right in the noggin. Older Guy wobbles to his feet and gets clubbed again. The crowd is screaming as though it's watching a baby get dangled out of a window. The fans don't want Older Guy to rise again, but of course, he can't help himself. He staggers to his feet one more time, "bleeding PROFUSELY!" as the announcer says. Young Guy readies the chair. I can't believe what's happening. I am witnessing a murder.

And then … thwack!

Older Guy crumples into a heap, blood pouring from his head. Young Guy disdainfully tosses the chair away, soaks in the jeers for a few seconds, then struts out of the ring wearing an evil smirk. Older Guy doesn't move. He's lying in a puddle of hemoglobin. He's dead. He's definitely dead. They go to commercial. I keep watching. I need to see what happens.

And just like that … they had me. I watched every Saturday after that, quickly realizing many of the stereotypes of an '80s wrestling fan: obsessed with sports, awkward around girls, tons of time on my hands, just smart enough to enjoy the funniest things about wrestling and just dumb enough never to ask questions. This was like joining a little club of sorts. We had our Saturday TV show, our magazines, our live event that passed through town every month or so, our T-shirts, our posters, and that was about it. We kept to ourselves. We didn't bother anyone. We didn't try to convert anyone. Whenever we found other wrestling fans, we bonded with them immediately.

Back then, we played up every "real" moment and brushed over the sketchier stuff. One time in Madison Square Garden, I watched Bob Backlund break out of Big John Studd's dreaded backbreaker by steering him toward the corner, pushing off the turnbuckle, then toppling Studd over and pinning him. A few weeks later, I attended another Studd-Backlund main event in Boston Garden that ended the same way. Hmmmmmm. Had to be a coincidence. Studd was stupid for falling for the same trick twice. I wasn't lying to myself, just believing what I wanted to believe.

That's what every wrestling fan did. We straddled the line between real and fake all the time. Sure, we loved the storylines, gimmicks, feuds, interviews, comedy, unintentional comedy … but at the heart of it, we loved straddling that line, when something intended to be fake ended up feeling real. Piper pounding Snuka with coconuts? Real. Killer Khan breaking Andre's leg? Real. Sgt. Slaughter defending America's honor from the Iron Sheik? Real. It helped that wrestling crowds sounded as good as or better than any other crowd, like the Boot Camp Match in Madison Square Garden when Sarge coldcocked Sheik with the boot, then everyone shrieked the referee's count in unison. Onnnnne! Twwwwwo! Threeeeeee! Hrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh! That wasn't real?

Our big reckoning came in 1984 and 1985, when the sport improbably went mainstream thanks to Mr. T, Cyndi Lauper, MTV, USA's "Tuesday Night Titans," Hulk's Sports Illustrated cover and a closed-circuit, later pay-per-view event called "WrestleMania." Suddenly, wrestling was cool, which made little sense because wrestling fans were fundamentally uncool. We felt vindicated and exposed all at once. As casual fans gravitated toward Hogan in droves, you can guess what happened next: Die-hards started searching for someone new, someone who wasn't so … popular. You know when a musical band hits it big and its original fans resent sharing the band with everyone else? That was Hogan. His new fans didn't care that he had only four moves, that he couldn't carry a bad opponent, that his matches ended the same way every time. He catered to those bandwagon morons. We found ourselves blaming him for it. Just a little. We needed someone who belonged to us.

Almost on cue, Randy Savage arrived in the summer of 1985. Wrestlers usually showed up in the WWF as unfinished products: They would make their mistakes, screw up a gimmick or three, find what worked, and stick with it. Not Savage. From day one, he carried himself like Superstar Graham, worked the crowd like Roddy Piper and used the ring like Ricky Steamboat. He dressed in lavishly ridiculous outfits, custom-made cowboy hats and jackets bathed in pink and lime green.

And his interviews … my God. You needed a translator even if he was speaking in English. Those first few weeks, you watched him and said, "Eventually, I'm going to figure this guy out." Nope. Thanks to YouTube, his finest work endures with titles like "Macho Man on coke" (it just seemed like it) and "Macho Man is insane" (possibly true). He made Johnny Rodz seem predictable.

That should have been enough, but Savage had a trump card: he became the first high-profile WWF wrestler to travel with a female manager, the gorgeous Miss Elizabeth, a godsend for horny wrestling fans who eventually opened the door to Missy Hyatt, Sable, Sunny and every "diva" today. Please understand: Wrestling was like a sausage party from college until Miss Elizabeth showed up. Why didn't anyone say, "Hey, our sport revolves around male wrestlers rolling around in tights in front of a predominantly male audience … maybe we should import a few attractive ladies in here to mix it up"? It's a great question. Better late than never.

Their original storyline apparently was written by Ike Turner: Savage played the jealous, abusive boyfriend who blamed the late Elizabeth for everything, a twisted version of a "damsel in distress" plot. More than once, she would screw up a match and Savage would pull her into the ring by her hair, with fans begging him not to hurt her. Every time, and I mean, every time, we were freaked out that Elizabeth -- more beautiful than just about anyone in 1985 with the possible exception of Kelly Preston, by the way -- might get roughed up by her jealous boyfriend even though it never actually happened. I'm not condoning this angle (and it never would fly in 2011, or even post-OJ, obviously), just noting that Savage had so much talent that even the "mean-spirited, potentially abusive boyfriend" gimmick couldn't hold him down. How many wrestlers could have parlayed that into "good guy" status?

Those Elizabeth blowups and goofy interviews reinforced Savage's defining trait: his unpredictability, always the best thing about his wrestling. If Jimmy Snuka was the Dr. J of jumping off the top rope, then Savage was MJ. Wrestling moved pretty slowly back then: lots of headlocks and clotheslines, lots of rolling around, lots of killed time, lots of fat rolls and labored breathing. Savage murdered that era almost overnight. He dragged 20-minute matches out of Hogan and took 90 percent of the bumps. He climbed to the top rope and delivered flying assaults to opponents outside the ring, which I can't remember having seen before. His devastating finishing move (a flying elbow off the top rope) was so convincing that you always wondered, "Wait, is he actually hurting people when he does that?"

Everything peaked with his Steamboat feud, which started when Savage "crushed" Steamboat's larynx with the timekeeper's bell. (Steamboat "lost" the ability to speak, which led to some of the unintentionally funniest interviews ever done. In general, Ricky Steamboat made Vin Diesel look like Daniel Day-Lewis.) They settled their score in Detroit in front of something like 90,000 people, with their Wrestlemania III battle becoming the first great modern match, the Hagler-Hearns of wrestling moments. In a memorable sports year that included Leonard upsetting Hagler, the Lakers outlasting the Celtics, Indiana shocking Syracuse, Elway unleashing The Drive and Calgary toppling Edmonton, I'd put Steamboat-Savage against any of them. It was that good. The full potential of professional wrestling, realized.

For those first few WWF years, Savage simply couldn't miss. He picked the best possible manager and feuded with the best possible people. His nickname doubled as the single best wrestling nickname of that decade unless you want to argue for "The Million Dollar Man." His entrance music ("Pomp and Circumstance") was obviously a better choice than the Village People's "Macho Man," but kudos to him for making the right call. He wasn't opposed to wrestling with his sunglasses on (a lost art, really), and his crazy beard/thinning hair/bandanna/sunglasses look shouldn't have worked but always did. His interviews were phenomenally bizarre and undeniably entertaining, and, by the way, he might have been the first wrestler to refer to himself almost entirely in the third person. The Macho Man was like the Rickey Henderson of wrestling, right down to the fact that you never knew what the hell he was talking about.

Nobody -- repeat, nobody -- was more fun to imitate. Savage said everything in quick bursts, with his voice dropping low, then turning loud, then low, then loud, and any time he couldn't figure out how to end a point, he just screamed, "Ooooohhhhhhhhh yeah!" He used "ooooohhhh yeah!" as a noun, verb and adjective. It never stopped being funny. I could never decide whether the Macho Man was in on the joke. I'm also not sure it mattered.

By the time Savage won the WWF title, I was heading to college and starting to grow out of the wrestling thing. It happens. As luck would have it, I landed in a room right next to another freshman wrestling fan. We called him the Birdman, and within three weeks, I was knocking on Bird's door, waiting for him to open it, then whipping baby powder in his face like Mr. Fuji's salt and "attacking" him. There was no wrestling joke we couldn't beat into the ground. The Birdman also did a dead-on Savage impersonation, even better than mine, so we wasted countless hours talking like Savage, doing fake Savage interviews and greeting each other with exaggerated Savage-like handshakes. We made multiple field trips to a local mall that had the WWF's then-superb arcade game, usually arguing over who got to be Savage. Did either of us have a girlfriend? What do you think?

In February 1989, our college staged its annual Blind Date Ball -- a little like a prom, only your roommate set you up with your date. As luck would have it, the most famous Friday Night Main Event match ever was scheduled that same night. Now considered a "good guy," Savage had been tag-teaming with Hogan as the Mega Powers … only Hogan's budding friendship with Miss Elizabeth was making Savage jealous. Any true wrestling fan knew where this was headed. They were setting us up for a double-cross in that night's tag-team match against Akeem and the Big Bossman. Bird and I kept joking about ditching our dates to catch it, one of those situations in which you're pretending to be kidding but, deep down, you're waiting for the other person to say, "You know what? We SHOULD do that!"

Finally, I broke the ice: "Let's go into my room and just check for a second."

Bird agreed. We snuck away, went upstairs and turned the television on. Hadn't started yet. We rejoined the party. A few minutes later, we snuck away again in time to see Miss Elizabeth get knocked out cold, with a crying Hogan carrying her backstage for medical attention and Savage eventually ditching the match. After Hogan finished off the Twin Towers by himself, he confronted Savage backstage, with the Macho Man snapping and unleashing his most inspired monologue ever.

Lemme tell you why you're out of line, man. You got JEALOUS eyes!

We knew what was coming and loved it anyway: Savage sucker punched Hogan and beat him senseless, just a virtuoso performance, one of the defining buddy-turning-on-buddy events of the past 30 years. I'd put it up there with Biggie turning on Tupac, Crockett shooting Tubbs, Brandon going after Dylan's girlfriend, T.O. backstabbing McNabb, Westbrook punching Durant (fine, it hasn't happened yet -- I'm projecting) and everything else. And Bird and I were in my room going crazy watching it … at least until my door opened and Bird's date was standing there. Uh-oh.

Did either of us get lucky that night? Of course not. Although we did get to re-enact the entire "You got jealous eyes!" scene at 3 a.m. for our floormates, after about 45 beers apiece, with our pal Nick Aieta playing Miss Elizabeth. (Fortunately, no videotape exists. Or maybe unfortunately.) It's one of my favorite dumb memories from college, and, to be honest, it was probably the last night I ever truly loved wrestling. It pulls me back every so often, but not like that. Not even close.

Of course, you never stop liking wrestling. When word broke last week that a car accident had claimed Savage, I couldn't believe how many people emailed me about it. He lasted 58 years, forever by wrestling standards, but it still felt too soon. I liked knowing Savage was out there, giving insane interviews and leaving people generally perplexed. The scope of his career can't compare to those of Shawn Michaels or Ric Flair, but you won't find a more meaningful apex: He peaked right as wrestling peaked, ushered in a more athletic era and introduced eye candy (Elizabeth) to a fan base that desperately needed it. We look back at the '80s ironically now -- everything is much funnier now than it was then, whether it's outfits, haircuts, movie plots, political incorrectness or even a sweeping lack of self-awareness. Savage tapped into those faults better than anyone. He was the '80s, for better and worse.

And then there's this: I became a wrestling fan thanks to a moment that I never expected, but, gradually, you learn what to expect. You see the angles before they happen, the twists before they twist, the double crosses before they're crossed. Only Savage kept me guessing. The man captured all the reasons I loved wrestling better than anyone, and, for that, Randy Savage will always be my favorite. Oooooohhhhhhh yeah. And then some.

Bill Simmons is a columnist for ESPN.com and the author of the recent New York Times No. 1 best-seller "The Book of Basketball," now out in paperback with new material and a revised Hall of Fame Pyramid. For every Simmons column and podcast, check out Sports Guy's World or the BS Report page. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sportsguy33.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110524

godtabh

parker kent wrote: »

I found this really good article on ESPN about Macho Man this morning. It is long for a Boards post, but worth the read.

I love this bit: "Wrestlers usually showed up in the WWF as unfinished products: They would make their mistakes, screw up a gimmick or three, find what worked, and stick with it. Not Savage. From day one, he carried himself like Superstar Graham, worked the crowd like Roddy Piper and used the ring like Ricky Steamboat. He dressed in lavishly ridiculous outfits, custom-made cowboy hats and jackets bathed in pink and lime green."



http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110524

Was just about to read that! Great read

Marc Savage

When I first watched WWF I loved seeing this guy he was my favourite wrestler always liked him even as heel, and while my character on Radio and Wrestling I feel I'm paying a tribute to the legend RIP gone but never forgotten

waltersobchak

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

According to a source, the recent allegations made by WWE Hall of Famers George "The Animal" Steele and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper concerning Vince McMahon's soured relationship with Randy Savage have nothing to do with the WWE chief's animosity towards the late wrestler.

Piper alleged last Friday on Twitter that Savage slapped McMahon in a bar. Steele then suggested in an interview that McMahon held Savage in contempt for abruptly jumping to World Championship Wrestling in 1994 because he considered him "almost like a son."

Steele said, "I think that what happened with Randy, when his career was winding down with the WWF, Vince McMahon just loved Randy. After all everything Randy had done and he took him under his wing, and he wanted Randy after the ring was over with for him, he wanted him to be our spokesperson. He was traveling with Vince all the time. Randy was almost like a son, they were really tight. And then one day, we were at a TV meeting, and we got word that Randy, without calling Vince, had left and jumped to the WCW. I had never seen Vince McMahon broken before, he was crushed. It hurt him big time and I don't think he ever got over that. I think that's the real problem to be honest with you."

In late 1996, Savage's contract with WCW had expired and he briefly negotiated with WWE regarding a possible return to the organization. According to the source, during this time frame, Vince McMahon told him he would take back Savage "with open arms," but would "never ever" take Hulk Hogan back.

McMahon's animosity towards Savage during the final years of the wrestling legend's life stemmed from an incident that occurred following 1996, or "something he found out."

"Any explanation of why Vince hates Savage that has to do with something that Vince would have known pre-1996 is clearly balderdash," the source stated. "Either something post 1996, or something he found out after 1996."

There is a long-standing rumor indicating that Savage was involved in a sexual relationship with McMahon's daughter Stephanie during his final year in WWE, therefore explaining his animosity towards him (which McMahon learned years later). While the allegation has never been verified, top WWE officials believed the rumor to be true.

"I think that the reason is the same reason that everyone says. It's the reason everyone in (WWE) says. It's the reason that is the only one that makes any sense. So I think that's the reason. I can't come up with any other reason. I don't know. I mean, I've heard that reason from so many people that are not internet rumormongers, I mean people who - all I know is that within the company as far as the top people, they all believe it, and nobody knows for sure, because it's never brought up.

"When I first heard the story I didn't believe it because I thought it was just some story, but then, and I mean even when people who are very high up in that company, after they left the company, would tell me that story I still didn't believe it, but, you know, after a certain number of years when it's just, you know, ideas are brought up for Randy Savage and the reaction - there's something real, real bad because, let's face it, I mean, I couldn't count the number of times Vince said he would never do business with Hulk Hogan, and he always does. So, I don't know...Actually, as time goes by, more people talk about it trying to say that it didn't happen.", the source said.

parker kent

Yeah I read that today as well. Was gonna post it here but though I'd posted enough articles for one day! Steele's version of events is far more likely than any of the Steph BS.

Hygro

just watching a shoot interview with roddy piper there and he said that both him and savage were both fired at the same time (in the same meeting). Supposedly it was to do with the high wages vince was paying them.