It is a sad day for fans of late '80s, early '90s professional wrestling as fan-favorite and wrestling icon Randy Savage has died. Savage died in a car accident that was brought on by a sudden heart attack while driving. Truly one of the sports' greatest athletes, Savage and his generation of wrestlers catapulted pro wrestling into the phenomenon it is today.
Oohhhh Yeeeah!!
The WWF named Savage their greatest champion of all time. They credited him for bringing "a higher level of credibility to the title through his amazing in-ring performances. Best known for his raspy voice, energetic performances and knack for winning titles, Macho Man is an all-time great in the the realm of wrestling. Among his 20 titles, Savage is the 7-time World Heavyweight champion: a 2-time WWF Champion, 4-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, 1-time USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion, and Also a 1-time WWF Intercontinental Champion.
Over his long career he has feuded with some of the giants of the wrestling industry: Hogan, George Steele, Bruno Sammartino, and Ric Flair to name a few. But it wasn't until he teamed up with Hogan to become the Mega Powers that his superstardom arose. The Mega Powers battled mostly with The Mega Bucks a team comprised of Ted Dibiase and Andre the Giant.
The Powers dissolved after Hogan accidently eliminated Savage during the '89 Royal Rumble and took Savage's manager Miss Elizabeth as his own. At Wrestlemania V, Savage lost the WWF title to Hogan after holding onto the title for 371 days, becoming the sixth longest reigning WWF Champion in history. No wrestler after Savage would hold the title for more than a year until John Cena did it nineteen years later.
2 years later at Wrestlemania VII, Savage faced off against the Ultimate Warrior in a Career-Ending Match, with the loser having to retire. Savage lost the match even after delivering five consecutive elbow drops in which Warrior somehow managed to kick out of. The Warrior was able to procure victory after several flying clotheslines and shoulder blocks. After the match, Savage was attacked by Queen Sherri as he lay in the ring. This attack was too much for Miss Elizabeth, who happened to be in the audience. Elizabeth rushed to Savage's aid, fighting off Sherri and reuniting with her one-time love to huge crowd ovation.
Savage eventually returned to the ring to feud with Jake Roberts and Flair before uniting with the Warrior as a tag team known as the Ultimate Maniacs. He continued in the WWF for a few more years with great success, but like most wrestlers of the era, his contract ran out and he joined WCW.
While at WCW, it wasn't hard for him to just re-create his WWF image. It was popular with the fans and he was good at it. In the WCW, he began to feud with old rivals, most notably Flair. The rivalry lasted a while and was only flushed out by the turning of Hogan against his old friend Savage.
Savage was the victim of the attack, in which Hogan revealed himself as the 3rd member of The Outsiders. After a short battle with Hogan, Savage's contract expired and he left WCW.
The exit was short-lived, as he returned at SuperBrawl VII to this time help Hogan, in defeating Roddy Piper and declaring himself a member of the NWO. The NWO reaked havoc throughout WCW, before internal issues started to tear the faction apart.
At the Spring Stampede in '98 Savage was given the opportunity to face Sting for the WCW Heavyweight Championship. Feeling that he was the only member of NWO that deserved the title, Hogan tried everything he could do to stop Savage from winning. But with the help and protection of Kevin Nash, Savage defeated Sting, despite tearing his ACL during the match. The next night, Hogan challenged Savage for the title. When it looked as though Hogan would win, Nash, for the second consecutive night, came to Savage's aid and powerbombed Hogan. Savage was unable to take advantage of this help, but held onto the title after a Bret Hart interference.
The clash with Hogan allowed Savage to join Nash and Scott Hall as members of the Wolfpac.
After a run in the Wolfpac, Savage turned on Nash and left the group. He became rogue and debuted a new look and heel character. He had new music, a slick-backed ponytail and a 22-year-old girlfriend.
In 2000, his WCW contract expired again and he left the company for good.
As good as Savage was as a wrestler, I will always remember him as a spokesman for Slim Jim. There would always be an explosion, followed by that raspy voice peddling the product. Pure advertising genius. I love Slim Jims, I don't know anyone who can honestly say that they don't like that beefy, spicy goodness. I know when I need a little excitment, all I have to do is snap into a Slim Jim.
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