As outlandish as he was in the ring, Macho Man Randy Savage was very different in his
personal life. He was just as passionate, but many recalled a more reserved and sometimes
even paranoid man. Here are some of the more tragic details from the life of Macho Man
Randy Savage.
Wrestling is entirely about cooperative storytelling, but that doesn't mean wrestlers themselves
have to get along. Many of the best matches have been between people who despised each
other well beyond the normal face/heel dynamic. Savage had the misfortune of getting on the
bad side of one of the biggest wrestling attractions of all time: Andre the Giant. Andre was noted
for being especially aggressive with Savage, throwing him around the ring and pulling at
his hair.
Two reasons have been given for Andre's animosity towards Savage. The first is Macho's extensive
use of baby oil, which helps muscled wrestlers stand out but also makes them hard to grapple.
Savage's brother Lanny Poffo told the Tampa Bay Times,
"Andre hated baby oil, but Randy wouldn't stop wearing it. He stubbornly said Andre's
gimmick is being a giant and mine is baby oil. He never backed down from Andre and they
never got along because of it."
The second, as recounted by Andre's daughter, was his zero tolerance policy for steroids
— and once he found out that the Macho Man stayed Macho by using them, that was it.
Randy Savage was a second generation wrestler. His father, Angelo Poffo, was popular both
as a face and heel during the 1950s through the early '80s. From 1978 to 1984, he ran
International Championship Wrestling out of Kentucky. It was one of the most prominent
so-called "outlaw" promotions, one that existed outside the influence of the National Wrestling
Alliance. He had a dedicated following throughout his career, especially among older fans and
the wrestlers themselves.
Savage idolized his father, both as a wrestler and as a man. Any perceived slight towards
Angelo was taken personally. This included one by Vince McMahon and the Federation that
Macho Man never got over.
The WWF planned an Old Timers battle royal for a house show at the Meadowlands in New
Jersey for November of 1987. Randy Savage was at the peak of his power in the company
— he'd just formed the Mega Powers with Hulk Hogan that October and had an all time
classic match with Ricky Steamboat at Wrestlemania III earlier in the year. As such, Savage flexed
his political muscles to get his father into the match.
The day of the match came, and plenty of legends were part of it... but no Angelo Poffo. Lanny
Poffo told Bleacher Report,
"Randy really loved Vince until the battle royal. He felt really bad when Al Costello,
who was one of Dad's best friends in wrestling, said, 'Where's your father? He should be here.'
Randy never forgot about the battle royal. He felt guilty, like he should have done more."
The battle royal snub was the beginning of the end of Savage's relationship with Vince
McMahon. By 1994, Savage was spending more time as an announcer than a wrestler. He was
just past 40 years old, but still felt he could compete. Lanny Poffo recalled to Bleacher
Report that his brother, quote, "felt he never had a match as good as the Steamboat match"
but thought he could recapture that magic with Shawn Michaels.
"Randy wanted to do a two-year program building up to a match with Shawn at WrestleMania.
Randy would lose, retire, and go back to the announcer's table."
This proposal was shot down since the Federation was in the middle of a "youth movement."
Savage decided to take his talents elsewhere when his contract expired, which in that era
meant the competing World Championship Wrestling. Even so, breaking off his decade-plus relationship
with Vince was daunting. Bruce Prichard, who was Vince's right hand man in that era, revealed
on his podcast Something to Wrestle that Randy had to get drunk to call Vince and tell him
he was quitting, only for an irritated Vince to call him back the next day. The two did
indeed talk the next day, when Savage made it clear he was gone.
The WWF never referenced talent leaving, much less going to other companies, but McMahon
broke his own protocol and offered Savage an emotional goodbye on commentary the next
week. This velvet divorce did not stay so civil backstage: when Macho Man left for WCW,
he took his Slim Jim sponsorship with him — often reported as a million-dollar deal.
Attempts to transfer the sponsorship to WWF star Bam Bam Bigelow did not go through, and
WCW reaped the benefits while Vince had another reason to dislike Savage.
"Gotta have beef, gotta have spice. Get a little excitement. Snap into a slim jim, oh
yeah."
It's almost impossible to talk about Randy Savage without bringing up Miss Elizabeth,
his onscreen manager and wife. Miss Elizabeth, whose real name was Elizabeth Ann Hulette,
was married to Macho Man for seven years in secret before their iconic wedding at SummerSlam
1991. She was especially notable for her role in causing the Mega Powers to explode, after
Savage got paranoid that his friend Hulk Hogan had lust in his eyes for Elizabeth.
Savage was as protective of Elizabeth outside the ring as he was in it. He made decisions
about how she'd dress and behave in the ring, all to avoid embarrassing her. Several wrestlers
traveled with their wives, and Savage wanted to protect her from the cutthroat cruelty
of the other wrestlers — especially since she was a performer herself. Even with noble
intentions, this was a smothering relationship.
Lanny Poffo said Mach and Liz's relationship during the wedding was "tumultuous, on the
verge of breaking up." The relationship reached its low point in 1992, when Hogan was shooting
Mr. Nanny. Liz and Hogan's wife Linda were close friends, and Liz begrudgingly got permission
to visit the Hogans and help out while the Hulkster was working. Savage tried to call
her, but couldn't get a hold of her because she was in another room. In a jealous rage,
Savage flew down to Florida the next day and retrieved his wife. Liz left Savage a few
weeks later, which left the wrestler emotionally devastated. Even after they divorced, Savage
cared about her enough to get her a job in WCW.
In the mid-to-late 1980s, Macho Man Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan were the two biggest
stars in the wrestling business. The two were also, for a time, great friends. During The
Dark Side of the Ring episode "A Match Made In Heaven," Linda Hogan said that their families
often held cookouts and went over in-ring choreography. This all fell apart after the
incident in Florida — Savage, in his paranoia, blamed Hogan for Liz leaving.
Jimmy Hart said of Savage going to Florida to retrieve Liz:
"That was the beginning of the end for them but the beginning of the end for Randy and
Hulk, too, because Randy always thought Hulk had something to do with it. I've been with
Hulk for 39 years, Hulk had nothing to do with that! He was shooting the [...] movie!"
Hogan and Savage reunited on a professional basis in WCW, even if Savage spent most of
his time there as second banana to Hollywood Hogan. Savage held much animosity towards
Hogan during this time, which seldom got attention over the dozens of other trainwrecks associated
with WCW. Hogan claimed to WWE.com that he and Savage met by chance at a doctor's office
a few months before Savage's death and they reconciled.
Wrestlers getting injured is nothing new, nor is taking lasting damage from their work.
Even so, Savage was widely regarded as a safe worker and seldom suffered any high profile
in-ring injuries. Instead, the injury that caused him the most lasting damage happened
on a movie set: playing Bonesaw McGraw in Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man movie. It's one
of the most iconic scenes in any superhero movie, one made especially hilarious by implying
that wrestling is an actual competitive sport.
"Are you ready for more?"
"Bonesaw is ready."
It's also the source of damage that lasted him until his dying day.
The 50-year-old Macho Man insisted on doing all of his own stunts in the scene. This included
a spot at the end when Bonesaw gets monkey flipped onto his head. The spot required multiple
takes and took a toll on the aging wrestler. Lanny Poffo told Bleacher Report that,
"[He] needed a lot of physical therapy... But he was never the same. Instead of turning
his neck to see you, he turned his torso."
Randy Savage's last wrestling appearance came in the final months of 2004, when a grizzled
Macho Man appeared during the early days of TNA. His surprise entrance at the first ever
Victory Road pay-per-view saw him confront Jeff Jarrett, and remains one of the most
memorable moments from that era. The follow-up was less so — he stuck around for a month,
was part of a six-man tag match at Turning Point nobody remembers, and then left the
company after disagreements over booking.
Many look back on Savage's brief TNA run as a disappointment. Those behind the scenes
tell an even sadder story in The Genesis of TNA, an ebook about the early days of the
company. Agent Bill Behrens in particular described Savage as a headache to deal with
— and frequently sauced out of his mind.
A few people connected with the company had a big trailer, one that became a hotspot for
dysfunctional stars who wanted to sit around drinking all day. Behrens recalled,
"Randy was one of the guys that did that, so his run was bad all the way around. It
made it clear that there wasn't going to be a good final run that Randy Savage would have
in wrestling."
Angelo Poffo lived until the age of 84, dying about a month shy of what would have been
his 85th birthday. Savage also had to deal with an issue most everyone does with parents
lucky enough to get old: age catching up to them.
Angelo in particular suffered from dementia, with his functions failing notably by 2009.
Savage went to great lengths to care for his ailing father, going so far as to install
an invalid toilet and a walk-in bathtub in his father's house. Angelo died March of 2010.
Randy told the St. Petersburg Times,
"He has always been my hero and my mentor, and the priceless gifts he gave I will have
and cherish forever."
A mere two months later, Savage got married — a sad milestone for his father to miss.
Randy Savage woke up on May 20, 2011 not feeling all that well. His wife Lynn figured he might
just need something to eat, so they went out to breakfast. On the way back, he lost consciousness,
with his foot slamming on the accelerator. The car passed off the cement median into
oncoming traffic, and Lynn quickly grabbed the wheel and swerved the car into a tree.
She escaped with minor injuries, but Savage was declared dead later that day.
The autopsy showed that Savage died of a heart attack from ventricular fibrillation. The
death was likely quick and painless, even if it occurred at the most dangerous possible
time. Casting a long shadow over his cause of death is Savage's alleged predilection
for steroids. Heart disease connected to drug use has claimed many lives far too young in
the wrestling business. While it's hard to say for sure that Savage's death was a direct
result, it's hard not to connect those dots.
It took Randy Savage entirely too long to get into the WWE Hall of Fame. He was the
crown jewel of the class of 2015, an occasion made all the more tragic by the fact that
it was posthumous. Part of the delay might have been some of that indeterminate heat
backstage, but a bigger part was Savage's own wishes.
After the Von Erichs were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a family in 2009, Macho
Man Randy Savage declared that WWE would have to take his whole family in as well if they
wanted him. This was, of course, unlikely — Angelo was more of a star in the territories
than any WWE-related property, and Lanny's run as "The Genius" was successful and well-regarded,
but not exactly Hall of Fame-worthy. Lanny honored this wish after Macho Man's passing.
In 2015, however, Lanny relented. He told Sporting News,
"I had an epiphany when I was 59 years old in that I'm the older brother now. Now, I
get to make unpopular decisions. I'm not a Star Trek fanatic, but the needs of the many
far outweigh the needs of the few or the one. Randy loved the fans and so do I. And Randy
not being in the Hall of Fame was a horrible thing to do to his fans."
Lanny himself was the one who inducted his brother.
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