Lord Raiden posted a BLOG item
7 months ago
For the first time in nearly 15 years, Randy Savage found himself to be out of the public eye. With his WCW career behind him, Savage is suddenly faced with an uncertain future in wrestling. In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation purchased the nearly bankrupted World Championship Wrestling. With WCW out of the picture [along with ECW which folded the previous year], the WWF had finally monopolized the wrestling market in North America.
Savage would be back in the public eye when he made a cameo appearance in the 2002 film, SPIDER-MAN. He portrayed the fictional wrestler Bonesaw McGraw and battled Peter Parker in a rather amusing steel cage match. On May 1, 2003 the wrestling world mourned the loss of Elizabeth Hulette, who was simply known as Miss Elizabeth. The cause of death was ‘acute toxicity’ which was combing prescribed medication with alcohol. Savage quoted on his MachoMan.com website, “I am deeply saddened by this news, and our thoughts and prayers are with Elizabeth’s family”. Back in the squared circle, Savage found himself performing for the upstart organization, Total Nonstop Action [TNA]. In late 2004, he participated in TNA pay-per-view events VICTORY ROAD and TURNING POINT. His TNA stint wasn’t very long, only lasting a few months. This would mark his final time performing as a professional wrestler.
Randy Savage found himself to be in retirement, and in a way, I think he went out perfectly. In a sport where so many wrestlers continue performing well past their prime, Savage walked away at a point where he was comfortable doing so. He mentioned in interviews that he made some good investments and took care of the millions he earned as a wrestler. On March 4, 2010 Angelo Poffo, Savage’s father, passed away in his sleep. His health had not been good in his final days but he lived to be 84, a long full life for a retired professional wrestler. However, just a few months later on May 10, 2010, Savage married his longtime girlfriend, Lynn Payne. He had actually dated Lynn years before meeting Elizabeth so his real life love life had come full circle.
At Comic Con 2010 in San Diego, Randy Savage shocked the world by unveiling his new action figure for the WWE [formerly WWF, now World Wrestling Entertainment switched in April 2002]. The last time “Macho Man” had a WWF figure was in the early 1990s. This pleased many wrestling fans, including this one, who had been waiting for a Savage Legends figure for years. He heralded that “2011” would be “the year of the ‘Macho Man’”. In 2009, the WWE released a spectacular 3 DVD set entitled MACHO MADNESS: THE ULTIMATE RANDY SAVAGE collection. The set contained some of Savage’s biggest matches [and some hilarious interviews] from his storied career. At the time, however, it wasn’t a joint effort and Savage wasn’t interviewed for the DVD. The action figures from Mattel marked Savage’s first partnership with the WWE since 1994. In early 2011, Randy Savage also participated in the release of THQ’s video game, WWE ALL-STARS. Again, this had been Savage’s long awaited return to a WWE video game in nearly 20 years. It appeared that the relationship between Savage and the WWE were starting to make amends.
Friday, May 20, 2011 in Seminole, Florida. Savage lost control of his 2009 Jeep Wrangler went across a highway onto oncoming traffic, finally crashing into a tree. While his wife Lynn only sustained minor injuries, Savage was taken to a nearby hospital where he died. The autopsy reported stated the cause of death was atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease -- a thickening of artery walls that can lead to heart attack or sudden cardiac death. Born on November 15, 1952 Randall Mario Poffo [Randy Savage] was just 58 years old.
Personally, this struck me more than any other celebrity death before. It felt like I lost a member of my family. I was in complete denial, to a degree I still am, and I couldn’t believe he was gone. As I previously stated, things were starting to come together for Savage and the WWE. After DVDs, action figures and video games, it finally looked as if Savage was set to join the WWE Hall of Fame. For years, and I mean YEARS, I have been waiting for this induction to happen. I’ll take the high road and not mention any names, but I truly believe that there are only a handful of people already inducted in the HOF that deserve to be there before Savage. At the time of his death, he had not been active as a wrestler for over 6 years and that seems like a reasonable time to go from retirement to the HOF. I’m sure many of you reading this have heard the rumors as to why Savage isn’t in the Hall and why his relationship with the WWE had been so strained over the years. I’m not going to talk about BULLSHIT RUMORS that haven’t been verified. I’ll talk about the facts all day long however. Again, the night Vince McMahon announced Randy Savage had left the WWF was live television. Never before and not since after, has the WWE publicly announced the departure of one of their performers on live TV. McMahon’s sentiments and words seemed very genuine that night [feel free to look it up on YouTube] which seems to go against these infamous internet rumors. If these rumors happened after Savage had left the WWF, how would he have access to the “situation” if you will? I’m not sure we will ever know the true story of “why” but if the WWE can induct wrestlers to their Hall of Fame that defected as well, why can’t Savage? Again, with this partnership that was going between WWE and Savage with video games and action figures, I was confident we’d finally see Randy Savage in the WWE Hall of Fame.
I’ve told all of my friends for years now that I was afraid we would see Savage’s family induct him and not do it himself. On May 20, 2011 that fear was realized and it was to be the final nail in the coffin of me being a wrestling fan. I had been watching the WWE fulltime up until last year. Finally, getting fed up with the same old shit week after week, I gave it a break. From November 2010 up until around February 2011, I wasn’t watching WWE television. I did, however, tune into see the amusing “feud” between the Rock and John Cena as well as Triple H, Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker. This was all leading up to the events of WRESTLEMANIA XXVIII, which my wife convinced me to order on pay-per-view. Not because of the actual card but to hang out with friends to watch the event like we had for the previous 4 years. WM 28 turned out to be easily one of the worst events of all time. That had really pissed me off and I knew that the current management had lost their minds. After that night, I wasn’t watching any of it. But in the back of my mind, I thought well if they induct Savage in the HOF in 2012, I will be happy to watch the product again around that time. Now, that’s not going to happen.
For whatever the reason, Randy Savage was denied his rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame while he was still alive. And for that, my 25 years of watching professional wrestling has come to an end. McMahon will never get another dime from me, unless it has to do with Randy Savage. Books, DVDs, figures, clothing, action figures, etc. anything with “Macho Man”, I’ll mostly like purchase. My $280 replica WWF Intercontinental Championship [classic] belt is because of Randy Savage. I looked forward to taking that with me to future WWE events in my area. Now, it will just remain displayed on my bedroom wall. Randy Savage will always have his legacy, and millions of fans will always have their memories whether they liked him or not. And because of that, McMahon can take his precious Hall of Fame and stick it right up his ass.
Ending these blogs is bittersweet for me. I want to thank everyone who posted comments during this process. Initially, I did it for my own edification and to document these memories, even though I will never forget one of them. Love him or hate him or even don’t care about him, you can’t deny the fact that Randy Savage has to be considered one of the all-time wrestling greats. He had the wrestling skills, he could work magic on a microphone and he had one of the most original and lasting gimmicks of all time. Randy Savage is the reason I watched wrestling some 25 years ago, and to a degree because of him, I’m calling it quits. And I think my reasons are justified, even though no one could even talk me out of it.
But I’ll always have my memories.
Thank you, Randy.
Rest in peace.
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Love the picture