Randy Savage is one of the most beloved wrestlers in the history of the industry. The ability to connect with the crowd in WWE during the 80s boom period made him the second most valuable superstar of the era. Savage had some of the best matches in WWE’s history at the time and became even more popular due to his outlandish promos.
We will look at many of the relationships Savage had in his WWE career. Some names saw him develop the ultimate respect and admiration for them. Others felt his wrath as Savage was known as someone that didn’t fake any emotions he shared for others. Find out just which wrestlers had a memorable history with him. The following wrestlers were either loved or hated by Savage at some point in his WWE career.
10 Loved: Ted DiBiase
Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase worked together countless times in WWE throughout the 80s. Both top stars often faced off on house shows as the semi-main event to Hulk Hogan’s feuds at the time. DiBiase and Savage even had the honor of main eventing WrestleMania IV for the WWE Championship.
Savage trusted DiBiase in the ring and always enjoyed working with him. DiBiase revealed in WWE’s DVDs about Savage that the two got along and had similar mindsets about the wrestling world. Savage had some of the happiest moments of his career come against DiBiase.
9 Hated: The Ultimate Warrior
WWE’s Self-Destruction of Ultimate Warrior DVD showed just how much fellow stars of the late 80s and early 90s disliked working with him. Hulk Hogan and Ted DiBiase each referenced Savage as one of the many wrestlers that didn’t enjoy working house show loops with Warrior.
The stiff shots and lack of professionalism rubbed others the wrong way. Savage coming in the business as a second-generation star likely made him even more upset at how Warrior carried himself. Despite not always getting along, Savage led Warrior to some of his best matches.
8 Loved: Mr. Perfect
The bond between second-generation wrestlers often forms friendships in wrestling. Mr. Perfect was one of the most respected wrestlers in WWE. The incredible in-ring work and fun personality made Perfect easy to get along with.
Randy Savage was one of many close friends of Perfect from before their time in WWE together. The two even had some fun moments on commentary later in their careers. Savage and Perfect never had a longstanding feud, but they still grew close in WWE.
7 Hated: Vince McMahon
The end of Randy Savage’s WWE run saw things get quite ugly between him and Vince McMahon. Savage was already forced into to transition to commentary due to McMahon viewing him as too old to remain a full-time wrestler.
All pitches from Savage to put over younger talent would get denied. Savage eventually left to join WCW for a main event run. Former WWE writers of the 2000s revealed Savage was the only wrestler Vince stated he’d never bring back. The two had a horrible falling out to end his WWE career.
6 Loved: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
Randy Savage had a polarizing reputation for scripting out his matches backstage with opponents at a time when most preferred to call it in the ring. It sometimes upsets wrestlers to realize that his WrestleMania III classic with Ricky Steamboat was planned out ahead of time.
Steamboat showed a lot of love to Savage to agree to have such a pre-planned idea heading into the match. The two rising stars had a legendary match for the Intercontinental Championship. Their careers will likely always be remembered together for having the first legitimately great WrestleMania match.
5 Hated: Jake "The Snake" Roberts
There was more tension than hatred between Randy Savage and Jake Roberts during their feud. The two were viewed among the most impressive all-around performers in the industry at the time. Roberts had a huge moment attacking Savage during his wedding with Miss Elizabeth.
The most memorable scene from their feud saw Roberts having his snake bite a trapped Savage tangled in the ring ropes. Roberts revealed on Chris Jericho’s podcast that Savage was paranoid and wanted to see Roberts let the snake bite him first. The aftermath saw Roberts riling up his snake to make Savage’s bite even more painful in the segment.
4 Loved: Shawn Michaels
One unlikely viewpoint of Randy Savage was viewing Shawn Michaels as the future of WWE. It is easy to see Michaels was always an outstanding talent looking back at his career today, but many other wrestlers felt he was too small to have a main event run.
Savage thought differently and wanted to work the final program of his career with him. Randy’s brother Lanny Poffo revealed Savage pitched the idea of having a retirement match with Michaels at WrestleMania XI, but it was turned down. The desire to put over a young rising star was the ultimate respect from a legend like Savage.
3 Hated: Hulk Hogan
The relationship of Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan featured a mixed history of love and hate. Fellow wrestlers revealed they would back-and-forth from best friends to hated enemies during their time in WWE and WCW together.
Savage’s storyline getting unhappy at Hogan’s closeness to his wife Miss Elizabeth mirrored a real-life issue. One rumor even claimed Savage punched Hogan in the face during the weekend of WrestleMania to cause Hogan’s visible black eye. Savage made a rap song dissing Hogan later in life to show his real feelings about his former friend.
2 Loved: Bret Hart
Bret Hart has always expressed respect and appreciation for Randy Savage when discussing their careers. The two became friends in WWE likely due to the bond of growing up as second-generation wrestlers having similar stories.
Hart revealed Savage was a better locker room leader than Hulk Hogan or Ultimate Warrior even when not holding the WWE Championship. The two requested to work together later in WCW due to their friendship formed in WWE. Savage always worked hard to put over Bret during the commentary portion of his career as well.
1 Hated: The Honky Tonk Man
The Honky Tonk Man’s Intercontinental Championship reign set a record for the longest title run, but no one ever viewed him as a great wrestler. That made it more surprising when HTM revealed that he refused to lose the title to Randy Savage when planned.
For whatever reason, HTM felt it would hurt his career to lose to Savage and later dropped it to The Ultimate Warrior instead. Savage’s pride and respect for the business were two of his main driving forces in wrestling. A significantly lower tier talent making such demands about him caused Savage to lose any respect for Honky Tonk Man.