You can all admit it - you read the title of this article and you immediately let out an “ooohhh yeah!” Or had visions of being a youth, leaping off your couch or a diving board ready to deliver the big elbow onto an unsuspecting wrestle buddy, friend, or sibling. Randy Savage was a lot of things to a lot of fans and fellow superstars.
To some, an overprotective, over-paranoid meticulous madman. To others, he was one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time. Savage was an inspiration to fans around the globe as well as many current and past superstars.
A Savage WWE Debut
As was tradition for several superstars who debuted during the 80s Golden Age, several managers made a play to acquire Randy Savage as a client. The Macho Man would turn them all down in favor of Miss Elizabeth and it immediately became clear that Savage was a different kind of superstar.
Their initial chemistry was then unique - the fans adored Miss Elizabeth for her beauty and more importantly her sweet and gentle nature. Meanwhile, the WWE Universe despised Randy for how he treated her and his nasty heel tactics. The pairing worked and The Macho Man quickly found himself as the Intercontinental Champion and on top of the mid-card in a world ruled by Hulk Hogan and the monster factory WWE was feeding the Hulkster.
Randy Savage Reached Hulkamania Levels
While there wasn’t necessarily any thought of the proverbial "glass ceiling" in the early days of the Hogan Era, it was also clear that Hulkamania was the straw stirring the drink. For anyone else to be on top could seem like sacrilege. Unless of course, that person was getting a little of the magic dust sprinkled on him.
In the fall of 1987, the fans had begun to come around on The Macho Man, thanks in part to how good he was in the ring and even more so for just how entertaining his persona and promos were. When he had a chance to regain the Intercontinental Title from The Honky Tonk Man and the Hart Foundation were doing a number on Savage until Miss Elizabeth headed to the back and returned with some red and yellow colored backup. The Mega Powers were born and The Macho Man was starting to break through.
Randy Savage Was Small For His Time
Long before he was officially the Macho King, he was anointed as the man when he wrestled four times in one night to become the WWE champion at WrestleMania IV. For the first time since Hulkamania was born, a guy under 240 pounds was the world champion. Despite walking around on his tippy toes, puffing put his chest to look bigger, and wearing lavish robes to conceal he was on the smaller side; his larger-than-life charisma and desire to be perfect in the ring, Savage was able to ascend to the mountaintop. While it took a few more years, The Macho Man paved the way for guys that were slightly smaller and significantly lighter and slightly shorter than Vince McMahon’s idea of a wrestler. Savage became the WWE champion and became the first-ever superstar to win the WWE title twice at WrestleMania.
In a lot of ways, Randy Savage was the very first Mr. WrestleMania years before Shawn Michaels coined the term. If Savage was on the card, rest assured he’d give 110 percent to make sure he'd have the match of the night. Besides the mythical WrestleMania III battle against Ricky Steamboat and the tournament at WrestleMania IV, Savage headlined WrestleMania V against Hogan and stole the show against the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VII. Randy Savage spent nearly a decade on top of the WWE and he was able to do it being more charismatic and energetic than most stars.
He might not have been thought of as one of the smaller guys, but he was and that makes Savage the first to break through and be an inspiration to everyone who came next. When McMahon tried to bench him in the commentary position, he left for WCW and resumed his great in ring career, again paving the way for guys who were considered “old” to show the world that they weren’t quite dead yet.