"Macho Man" Randy Savage | Full Documentary | Biography

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- "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Oh, yeah. - Ooh, yeah. Complete mental insanity. - Everybody when they're talking about Randy, they're never gonna speak in their own voice. They're gonna do a Randy voice, they're gonna do macho voice every single time. - I am the Lord and master of the ring. - The growl that he would have... - But I was gonna do something devastating. - It's more about quiet than it is loud. - Cream rise to the top. Oh, yeah. - I think it's all in the fingers. Dance outside, yeah! - Snap into a Slim Jim. - Snap into a Slim Jim. - Oh, yeah. - Oh, yeah. - Oh, yeah. - Ooh. - Ooh. - Ooh. - You want some water? - No, no. What happened, I did my Randy Savage voice and I choked on it. - Isn't it great we didn't wear the same outfit? - He was a pop culture phenomenon. - This is unbelievable. - Randy lived it. There was no faking anything. And he believed everything he did. - I'll be in the ring until they throw my withered carcass in a bag and drag me to the dumpsters. Let me tell you something Dingle Berry-- - David Perry. - We have a little magic in the bottle here. The ones that stand the test of time are the things that are real. - So long as you both will live? - Ooh, yeah. Three minutes of play time. - He was a wild man. - Ooh, yeah. - In this corner, from Downers Grove, Illinois, weighing 225 pounds, Angelo Poffo. - My father was a wrestler and he was traveling around. Randy was born in Columbus, Ohio and I was born in Calgary, Alberta. - Our kids went to lots of schools. When we finally settled down, we were on Downers Grove, Illinois. And it was nice for them to have roots. - His mother was from Germany and she was Jewish when Hitler was in power. So, his mother had had an extremely difficult life. - Randy was really something. He was so different. The first complaint we've got, his teacher that he had for the fourth grade said he can't sit still a minute. He sees a piece of paper on the floor 10 feet away and he has to get up and pick it up. - The earliest memory of my brother is like having two fathers. He gave me a lot of instructions, let's put it that way. If he thought I wasn't my maximum effort, "Is that the best you can do?" - When he was in high school, we had a lot of kids that were being bullied. He and his friend, they use to escort the kids that were being bullied from class to class so they wouldn't get picked on. He used to say, "You want to pick on this kid now? " Always for the underdog. He was so busy with sports, 'cause he played basketball, football, and baseball. He never dated but all the girls liked him. He didn't have time to date. He had homework, he had to get to sleep, he had to get up early to practice. It was always something to practice, practice, practice. - He moved to Tampa, Florida, in 1971 to about '75 to play baseball. Apparently, he was a very successful baseball player because he had made it to the minor leagues with the White Sox, the Reds, and the St. Louis Cardinals. - Professional baseball was the first endeavor that I encountered. And I did it rather well. I did it rather well I have to admit myself. Started out in 1971. St. Louis Cardinals, minor leagues. - He was a catcher. And then he had an accident in a home plate with a collision and he separated his shoulder. And then he did the impossible. He learned to throw left-handed. And he signed as a left-handed first baseman with the Chicago White Sox. - But what I did do was I was a switch hitter and a switch thrower. That means I could hit and throw with both arms, which no other wrestler, no other baseball player, no other hockey player, no other football player, no other nothing could do with an athletic background like that. Yeah. - If it's even true, I could imagine what he had to do to make that work. I mean, you just have to be some kind of blessed, super freak athlete for that even to be an option. - He made the first cut, second cut, third cut, and then they cut him. He was a right-handed thrower and then he learned to throw left-handed. So, they said he looked funny and they couldn't put him on the White Sox. - It broke his heart when he was no longer involved. He threw away his bats, he broke them. He said, "If they're finished with me, I'm finished with them." He asked his dad, "How do you get to the top in wrestling?" That was the beginning. - Randy never spoke about baseball anymore. He was always wrestling. - I 100% think that all greatness comes from failure. And I think all greatness comes from being overlooked, for doing it wrong. Him not looking good throwing that ball probably affected how he performed in the ring. So now he goes to his dad's business, the thing he grew up around, the thing that he knows, that he's passionate about, and he makes it look great. - 1979, we got a family business started. The ICW International Championship Wrestling. - The inevitable Randy "Macho Man" Savage. - Welcome back, wrestling fans. We take you now to the Capital Plaza Sports Center in Frankfort, Kentucky. - The "Macho Man" Randy Savage. - My brother was gone a whole lot into it. - One reversal by the Macho Man. Sends him down, shoulders down. He had no speed to look over his shoulders. - The only thing that comes with a second-generation wrestler is following in your father's footsteps and you get to toe the line. Angelo was a tough guy. So, Randy had to deal with a lot specially when he made the transition. - In the '80s, in the '70s, there were territories and every area had its own promoter. Mid-South, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia. There were all these different fiefdoms of promotions that promoted their unique area. - The first time I met Randy "Macho Man" Savage was almost 40 years ago. He was running a little outlaw promotion, independent promotion up around Kentucky area. And they were doing the invasion on Memphis Wrestling where I was from. - We started in Lexington, Kentucky, and we spread out in every direction. - We considered it our town. And all of a sudden, the Poffos opened up their own local wrestling promotion. - Randy Savage has to beat both these men in 10 minutes. - The first time they tried to run their shows, they didn't draw very many people. So, I think that's why they turned their formula around and said, "Look, if we're gonna draw money, we've got to challenge the other company." You know, our company against them. Our boss told us whatever we do, don't ever say anything on our live TV show about them because sooner or later, if you don't talk about your opponent, they're gonna go away. - Jerry Lawler's dead as dead man, he ain't healthy, man. He's in his grave somewhere to... - Randy would come on TV and challenge me saying, "Jerry Lawler, you know, this week, when I get you down in that arena, you know, I will beat your brains out if you show up." - The "Macho Man" Randy Savage and I ain't be an underdog longer, no. Four years, man. Where's Lawler? - And we felt like they were, you know, almost false advertising to their audience. You know, they're building up a match between me and Randy Savage that we know is never gonna take place because we don't have anything to do with him. - Put it down. Yeah. - It escalated into what we felt like was a gang war. I mean, peeps started carrying guns on the trips. You know, that's how scary this thing got at one point because the Poffos were known then around their territory as being nuts. - Don't tell me just like that... - Come on. Come on. Hey. - But finally, I think what really brought this thing to a head was the fact that the Poffos ran out of money. - And there goes the backflip off the rope. Count this one, two... - I was at Jerry Lawler's house one night until he read me this letter that Randy had sent to him saying, "Look, we're leaving the territory. Everything that we said, we apologize for. Hopefully one day we can work together." I said, "What a home run. That's gonna be a complete sell out." - Came the Macho Man. Whoo-hoo, a lot of talk about this meeting. - This is something that we had been talking about for years. Randy Savage against Jerry "The King" Lawler, and completely sold out. - Wait a minute. He misses Lawler. - Randy caused quite a stir when he joined up with Memphis Wrestling. I mean, people knew he was going to be a very big deal. - ♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey ♪ ♪ Macho, macho man ♪ - ♪ Macho man, yeah ♪ - ♪ I've got to be a macho man ♪ - My mother thought of Macho Man but the song by the "YMCA" Village People, their song "Macho Man" was first. - Where did the name Savage come from? Well, I think he earned it. I think... - And the prophet told me, he said it's better to be rich and dead than poor and alive. - Never ever in his life came to me for any advice. If there was advice, he would give me advice but he wouldn't ask for advice. And then he absolutely floored me and he said, "Lanny, I need help." - From people that go up there and say that the Macho Man can be beat. Oh, there's 10,000 people telling 10,000 lies. - I said, "You've changed your name to Savage, you've got hair like a savage, you wrestle like a savage, who is the best savage type interview that you've ever seen? Let's copy him." And he says, "Okay. How about Pampero Firpo? - He has done it. Pampero Firpo, "The Wild Bull of the Pampas," and... - Oh, yeah. - And he goes, "Ooh, yeah." And I went, "My George, I think he's got it." - The manager came up to me and he says, "Hey, you don't play baseball no more, man. You're fired." Yeah, they do that. When you're not good enough or they think that you're not good enough, they get you out of there. They take your uniform out of your locker. - I promise you, I never heard that voice again, his other voice. - Got my head together later that night. I stared at a candle and I said, "Randy Savage, you are gonna be the greatest at something someday." Yeah. Fans are going wild and I'm so excited. - He's going up. Hulk Hogan, and he drops a big leg on him. He's now for the cover, hooks the leg. One, two, he's done it. We have a new champion. Hulkamania is here. - Hulk Hogan was larger than life. He was literally like a real life superhero. And WWE needed a real-life supervillain. - You wanted to look for unique personalities and unique personas or you see something in someone, you can then take that and apply a new concept to. In those days, I mean, all these little fiefdoms, all these little territories had very rich characters. And so it was, the question is whether or not they wanted to come to work at WWE or stay where they were. - When the WWE began its national expansion to come on board to the WWE, meant now you're exposed to the entire country. Now you're going nationwide. It was national exposure, an exposure that a lot of the talent had never experienced before. - Ladies and gentlemen, you're going to meet, without a doubt, one of the fastest rising stars in the World Wrestling Federation, a man who is really making a reputation for himself almost overnight as a matter of fact. Would you please welcome Randy "The Macho Man" Savage. ♪ ♪ - I think Randy left Memphis probably in hindsight just at the right time. - Somebody said something about Hulkamania. Yeah. Somebody said something about Hulkamania and I answered it with Macho Madness. Yeah. So, I'm feeling real, real good. And I will be the next World Heavyweight Champion. - Macho Madness. - This contest is scheduled for one fall. - The "Macho Man" Randy Savage, who is quite a competitor, making his World Wrestling Federation debut. - The top wrestlers that had only been seen in these local markets, they wanted to be seen nationwide. They wanted to be worldwide stars. - He's a very good wrestler but he's very mean individual but he has certainly has been a winner. - That's what happened with Randy. He wanted to be seen on the biggest stage. - "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Ooh, another one. I think these managers are out here all to take a look at Randy Savage. - I think so. - The Macho Man congratulated by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and by Freddie Blassie, Jimmy Hart, Mr. Fuji with a hand shake. My goodness. I can't believe what I'm seeing. - Here is your winner, Randy "Macho Man" Savage. - When I first met him, I'm going, hmm, he's small compared to the size of our performers at that time. I think Randy was very subconscious about being smaller. - Randy wasn't the biggest in size and stature. However, Randy made up for the size differential with his intensity. - Top turnbuckle to the concrete. Oh, what an elbow. It's all over. - It is all over. - Yeah. The World Wrestling Federation. - Look at this maneuver. Wow. - At that point, managers were very, very important. Everyone was sitting around waiting to find out who would manage this new heralded talent. - So as gratitude, he has invited all of the managers for a bidding for his service. - They had Bobby Heenan come out and go, "Randy, let me you tell what, The Brain should be your manager. Then Jimmy Hart came out, "Hey, let me tell you what, you should be a manager." - Macho Madness at this peak right now. And we got to know who the manager is gonna be. And here she comes. - Oh. Uh-oh. - Oh, goodness. - Oh, my. Oh, my goodness. - We're gonna have to find out a lot more about this lady. - Hello, everybody. Welcome to another sensational hour of International All Star Wrestling. I'm your hostess Liz Hulette. - You know what, Liz is the love of Randy's life. And we happened to be around when they first met. I mean, you know, they met down in our territory. - Lexington, Kentucky. On Richmond road had a gym called the Sintay Sports Center. Elizabeth was the first person you saw in the morning. And she would hand you the towel and the key to the locker room. And that's how Randy met Elizabeth. They were married on December 31st, 1984. Approximately six months before Randy went to the WWE. - For us all... - Part of Randy's deal was he was gonna bring his brother, Lanny Poffo. Later on became the Genius. But Randy also wanted his wife Elizabeth to have a role in the company. As legend has it, Randy originally wanted Liz to do some broadcasting work for WWE. And then Vince took a look at her and said... - No, you're not gonna be a commentator. It's a waste. You know, so she became the manager. - What a beautiful woman. My goodness. The smile. - It was kind of the prequel of all these reality shows. - Randy Savage selected Ms. Elizabeth to be his manager and giving her that proverbial rose. Her being in his corner, I think it was revolutionary. - The bachelor, the bachelorette. Randy was one of the very first real scenarios of love on TV. - People could just kind of pick up on the energy of that realness that was actually happening in real life. It was a unique pairing because she carried herself so beautifully and she had an elegance about her. It was kind of like this Beauty and the Beast sort of dynamic. - That's what made Macho Man Macho man. You know, he had this queen, man. You know, everybody wants a queen. - I don't know what in the world, we're gonna have to find out a lot more about this lady. - But she's not Macho Man in my book anymore. - Oh, Billy Jack sticking his nose on personal business here. - Oh, look at that. Scooped Elizabeth right around and look at that. Give me a break. - At ringside, he would sort of give her a look sometimes that's like, "You better or," so there's an inherent threat to the relationship of Savage and Elizabeth. Don't get me wrong. I assume that part was him hamming up the character. But it's still uncomfortable to see now. - He developed that persona. But he started using that personality in his real life. - Randy was so protective of Liz, he started bringing her to the matches before he actually got her into the business. And he would put her in his dressing room and literally lock the door when he wasn't in there with her, so that she couldn't come out and nobody could go in. It was almost like a way to dominate her. - Once again, they did not treat Elizabeth very well. - The way he interacted with her. And, you know, you put the voice on. "Ooh, yeah. Don't look at my wife when she walks to the dressing room, brother." I was watching and it was like, okay. I get it. You know, he's the dominating personality in this relationship. - Randy made it clear to everyone, Ms. Elizabeth was his and his only. - He jumped out of the ring and take Miss Elizabeth and moved her to the other side of the ring and tell her, "You're safer here." And you don't know it was a controlling factor or if it was a sincere heartfelt protection that he wanted for Ms. Elizabeth. - He believed in his gimmick. He lived his gimmick 100%. And he became the Macho Man even when Randy Poffo... - I questioned his treatment of Elizabeth. - You have to believe it. You have to actually believe it and feel it and live it. If you don't do that, you're not gonna connect. Randy lived it. - And he's ready. Oh, look at that. Give me a break. Who do you... - I think the first thing that I perceived was obsession. Oh, this guy is a lot. - The fans don't appreciate... - I think the little kids were like, "Stop being mean to Elizabeth." We liked her. She was like our nice second grade teacher that was beautiful. "Leave her alone." "Randy, you're mean." But he's so good. It was such good storytelling. Randy Savage had this beautiful woman that he loved but no one was gonna talk to her and she better know her place. - Elizabeth, I've got to compliment you on just an outstanding jewelry. That is very, very attractive on a very attractive lady I might add. - Oh, thank you very much. - Hey, wait a minute. Wait a minute. I didn't tell you to talk, did I? Did I tell you to say anything? No, I told you say nothing. Didn't I tell you that? - What a dick. I wanna watch this guy get beat up. - ♪ You need the sunshine ♪ ♪ And palm trees at Florida ♪ - Tampa is a great town, it really is. It's kind of a white trash version of Miami. Tampa's known for strip joints, pimps, shop jocks, sex tapes, macho, Hogan, stuff like that. Great stuff. - This is still the hot bed of wrestling. Everybody from John Cena to the Big Show, to Edge and Christian, Roman Reigns. Everybody lives here in Tampa. Actually started during the '70s. When I first went up to Minneapolis and New York, I started bringing some guys down that were single. The next thing you know, we had a whole crew here, man. It was crazy. But Randy got the job in the WWE, but I got his ear. I got him and Liz to come down. Randy and Elizabeth were just so much fun to be around. They're just normal people. Nice, really kind, normal people. The relationship with myself and my wife and Randy and Liz, we hung out all the time. - Ooh, yeah. This is some people. - They live right down the beach from us so every day, when we were home, we were all together on my boat or at the pool or at the beach. We hung out with them all the time. Therein lies the problem. - Hey, Hulkster, what's the deal, brother? Talk to me. It's not like you to leave me hanging and just checking out the babes and just leaving me out there. - We need to have a little talk, brother, about who cut out on who. - All right. Let's do it right now. - Come on. - All right. - Hey, maybe they're gonna fight. - Randy and Ms. Elizabeth threw a party and we were so excited to go because my sisters and I all wanted to be like Ms. Elizabeth. My dad and Randy were really close friends but for us, like, we were still, like, in awe of Ms. Elizabeth because she was the woman that we saw on our TV screens. As kids, even though our dad was a WWE Superstar, we were still fans. They had a beautiful home and they had really beautiful artwork. It wasn't a mansion but it was just a beautiful home that was so well-taken care of and so pristine. Their house was immaculate. Like, I thought, like, when we walked in, we had to like take our shoes off right away and put on little, like, booties. So, I thought, like, he may have had OCD. - When I met Randy, he was the... "Macho Man" Randy Savage, oh yeah, 24 hours a day. But what he didn't have was the look. He needed to look like a star. I said, "Bro, I got a guy named Michael Braun that when I played in the Rock n' Roll band for 10 years, he made all Hendrix's clothes and made all the stuff for the guys in my band. - Randy calls me on the phone, "Hulkster told me you can make me some clothes." I'm going, "Who's this? He comes with Ms. Elizabeth and he brings me shorts that had three stars in the front and maybe 2-inch letter across his tush, it says "Macho Man". And I say, "Dude, I need real estate. I need from the floor to past your head." He says, "You can do whatever you want." This is the kiss of death. I make him five outfits out of spandex but full-length pants and shirts, and maybe there's a little fringe here and there, we're just starting out. In the '80s, there was a series of pimps. One pimp would bring another pimp often to us and they'd say, about me, he's all right. Yes, there was some inspiration from them for Macho Man's clothes. - His--the costume would fit, man. Every look. The tassel and everything just went down right where it's supposed to go to, you know what I'm saying? Damn, it was a pimp outfit Randy was wearing, man, when you think about it. Like, duh. Randy Pimpin' Savage. [laughs] - The guy that dressed the pimps in the '70s end up being one of the most influential costumers in all of wrestling. That's how Tampa rolls. - A real funny story is he was wanted a really fast car, you know. Buddy of mine had it. So, Randy and I sort of looked at the car, bought it, had the car sent from California. He called me, "We'll send the damn car back." "So, what's wrong with the car?" "Because my hat box won't fit in front of the trunk. I guess, the only place that there is a trunk was in the front of the Ferrari, so we put the hat box and then, it wouldn't close, so we had to send the car back. - Here at the Royal Rumble. - That's doing good. Now, we got hats, we got glasses. I'm painting on his shirt, on the hat, on the sleeves, on the pants, on the back of the jacket Macho Man. Over and over again, how many times can you write Macho Man, how many times can you paint the name, how many fonts can you use? Nobody can wear Randy's clothes, nobody. They all look silly. There's something about this person fits these clothes. - He did spend money on his outfits and they were lavish and extraordinary and colorful. Randy spent a lot of money on the perception of who the Macho Man was. That was all out of his pocket. - Michael Braun made a fortune making Randy's clothes. - And he wouldn't buy you a cup of coffee but that's another subject. - Randy saved his money, he was smart. That's a nice way of saying he was cheap but that's okay, you know. - Oh, Randy was making a lot of money. Randy probably held on to every nickel that he ever earned. - His mom and dad didn't always have it easy. And his father had to work really hard for every penny that he made. So Randy's father, Angelo, instilled in both kids, "Save your money." - He would drive from Memphis all the way to Louisville, Kentucky, wrestle in a match, and then, he wouldn't get a hotel. He'd sleep in his car. - It was a lot of fun having him with us on the road. I don't remember him ever buying, I'll say that. - His opponent... the ring by his manager... - "Pomp and Circumstance." What a song. All these other wrestlers had "I'm gonna beat you up," and then, like, crunchy, like, '80s or '90s guitar, like, "I'm a man, I'm a man." And then, you just had this classic, elegant "Pomp and Circumstance," and the second it hits... - "Macho Man" Randy Savage is the definition of pomp and circumstance. - I think that that was a perfect music for Randy. - Oh, what I think made Randy such as good wrestler is the combination of his athletic ability and his personality and his work ethic in the ring. Man, he was just on the cutting edge with all of it, always. - He was extremely professional when it came to his preparation. He spent more time on the preparation than some other people did, a lot more than I did, and it showed in his work product. - Guaranteed. One, two, three count. - You know, my phone rings at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. "Hey, I got an idea about that finish in Madison Square Garden." I'm like, "Randy, it's 4:00 in the morning, brother." "I don't care what time it is, you should care as much as I do." I'm like, "Okay. I care, Randy, I care." It was always just banging heads with him. He'd always step with a big foot forward, brother. And how about just elbow me back over the top rope?" I'm like, "Okay, Randy. 5:00 in the morning." But he was always on, man, and he was a wild man. I think he'd really overthink it sometimes. He was too calculated, you know, sometimes, you got to, like, freeform. In the ring, you hear what the crowd wants instead of going to the corner and hit the guy, you may want to grab his arm and bite his thumb off or something, you know. - Cut out the costumes, cut out the crazy voice, cut out everything, at the core is a man that knew what it took to be great. He knew the work. He wasn't afraid of the work. He put in the time. And he put in the effort. And I think that's the beautiful thing that anyone in any field could look at and realize that's what it takes. - Look at Macho Man, over the top turnbuckle. Oh. That... - Go put in the work. Go fail. Get back up. And then, you have your WrestleMania III moment with Steamboat. - Heavyweight Champion along with... Along with the man who will be in his corner, George... Oh, nice block. - This is the WrestleMania Report. I'm Gene Oakland. Surprise. Yes. Yet even another match has been added to WrestleMania III. - Well, this was going to be the biggest thing ever. At least that's what I said. Actually, it became the biggest thing ever for a long time. - We could hear the numbers coming in from the number of ticket sales at the Silverdome. You know, 50,000, 60,000, 70,000, it finally got up to 93,000. - Heavyweight Champion, Hulk Hogan... - Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, the two biggest icons in our business at the time, were the main event. We want a match just to steal the show. - Randy and Ricky were not trying to upstage my main event. They didn't go up there and go, "Okay. We want to steal the show from Andre. We want to steal the show from Hulk Hogan." They didn't do that, man. - Yeah. Our goal was to have the match of the night, and to do that, we had to upstage Hogan and Andre. - Welcome. To the magnificent Silverdome and welcome to WrestleMania III. - March 29th, 1987. This is going to be the biggest moment in wrestling history. I knew that when I watch the whole show, as good as Hogan and Andre was, and it was damn good, it didn't hold a candle to Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat. Obviously, it turns out that one of the ways that they were able to do that, is because Randy Savage was obsessive about that match and worked out every single detail repeatedly on notepads with Ricky Steamboat until they got exactly the match that they needed to have. - We had these yellow legal tablets. We got into two and a half pages of these long legal pads. We're getting up to, like, a hundred and sixty steps. We started quizzing each other and I would say, Randy step number 37 is this, this, and this. Tell me the rest of the match. "Number 38 is this and that, number 39 is this, number 40 is this." We took every opportunity and every advantage going over the match just to make sure that we're all on the same page. - The most extraordinary athlete. - And you got the ultimate good guy in Ricky Steamboat. He's impossible to dislike. Then, you got Randy "Macho Man" Savage, who Savage being, you know, the bad guy. He was just a perfect storm, man, everything you needed for the perfect story. - And the story that they've told leading up to it had layers. - I'm gonna not only embarrass you, not only pin you with the one, two, three count, but I'm gonna put you out of wrestling for good. - They never have a televised match until WrestleMania III. - And now, here he comes, making his way down the runway. - Crowd is so big. It's majestic. It's like this gigantic sea of people. - The noise of 97,000 people. Your body would almost vibrate from when you came down the ramp through the curtain and you're out there for the first time. My stress level rose because of trying to remember a hundred and sixty some different steps. - This is a vendetta that's been... - One. Two. Three. Four. - And Randy Savage got... - Obviously, Elizabeth... Irish whip and... - Five. - Oh, look at that. - Six. Seven. - On the ropes, through the legs. - Eight. Nine. - Oh! [cheers and applause] Look at this one though. - And he's caught. - Caught between the eyes. Hooks to the leg, Savage... and how about on the top rope? From the outside, and there he goes again. And that's where this one goes. - It's never as good as when they have one pure good guy and one evil bad guy. And they're doing things that are athletic and excellent and great and violent with reckless abandon. - Sunset flip over the top. Yes. Oh. - Oh. - Placed in his position. Bombs away. - 159, 160, it is done. [crowd cheering] - It worked. It is perfect. - To this day, people think it was like one of the best matches ever. - New... - The goal of a match is to tell a story within a match. How can you with your body and your face tell a story to the fans? - There was nothing like rush from the crowd after taking the fans on a ride of... 20 false finishes, the sound was deafening. - You'd see the crowd jump up and react. I watched it a thousand times. I still get the chills. It's the definition of what the art of professional wrestling is supposed to be. - And I'll never forget Savage when I covered him. Randy goes, "We got him, Dragon, we got him." - A very despondent former champion, the Macho Man and Elizabeth leaving. - It's a labor of love and it's a craft that when done at the highest level is art. - Savage, even though he was obsessed with living the character, didn't seem to care about wins and losses. "I'm gonna lose to Steamboat at the biggest thing in front of 93,000 people? No problem, it's gonna be awesome. We're gonna make it incredible." A truly great wrestler should be as happy when the third count hits, if he is on the top or looking up, it should be the same thing if the crowd reacts, you should be happy either way. - The match actually ruined his life because he could never top that night. He could never top the match. His standards were too high. - After WrestleMania, that's where it all blew up right there, man. - Release the mighty power of the Tornado. Show the power of the Barber. - And the firepower of Sgt. Slaughter. - Perfectly ridiculous. - With Mr. Perfect, you can achieve perfection. - Wrong because he's the... - Randy and I, I think we had 300 licenses each at one time. So Randy was running neck-and-neck for first place. - Figures sold separately. - Prepare man. - Everywhere they booked Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan always, always sold out everywhere. We couldn't do anything wrong. - "Macho Man" Randy Savage high in the air. - Wait, wait, wait. - Hogan wasn't threatened at all by anybody and there was no one around that could touch Hulk Hogan at the time but Randy Savage was-- came close at that time. - I feel real strongly about this man right here. Yeah. This is the man who is going to lose to the "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Isn't that right, Elizabeth? - Randy was a little more indoctrined to it and knew the lifestyle because of his--being in the second generation of his family, whereas Terry kind of stumbled into it. And I think that maybe Randy always resented that a little bit that Hogan, not only stumbled into it but also became the biggest and outshined him. - There was no jealousy over anything like that. [crowd cheering] - No problem at all, baby, no problem at all. You see my t-shirt? In a lot of ways. In a lot of ways, everybody is gonna be seeing the Hulk Hogan, Mr. McMahon. - I think everyone that has been or will be ever in the WWE will be in Hogan's shadow. I don't think Randy ever thought he would overshadow the Hulkster. - Hulk Hogan was going to be the unbeatable guy. That's the way it is. Those eyes right there. Those eyes lost Elizabeth, you understand that? - Randy, no. - Not my face. - You got lust for Elizabeth right there. - I think Randy Savage doesn't get nearly enough credit for how important he was to the success of the WWE at that time. Hulk Hogan seems to be the guy. It's like there was Hulk Hogan and there was wrestling. - Come on. - He was intense, mix a little of intensity with the right toxins and the right poisons, he could get a little crazy. - Get out of the way. - No. - Somebody get the help out there. - Tonight is the first time that I've ever been in the price in a match. If Randy wins, I stay with him and if George wins, he gets the title and he gets to keep me. Tonight is definitely the scariest night of my life. - When we look back on Randy Savage's career, so many of the most influential matches and storylines of his career involved Ms. Elizabeth. So without her being a foil and a catalyst in the storytelling, we wouldn't remember those iconic epic matches. - He'd grab her and push her in front of them. I mean, he was a king of that move, of grabbing her and be able to, like, "Uh-uh, no, not today," you know, like, "You're gonna hit my woman?" You know, what a dick. - But two arms on the lovely Elizabeth. - To use Elizabeth in the storyline was so easy. Looking back, I want to set a good example for kids watching at home. It's not something we do today but we learn and we move on. - It's professional wrestling and I call it the theater of the absurd. Plenty of time he crossed that line that stirs the fans' reaction. When you stir the reaction, you start putting asses in seats. And that's what it's all about. - She was the first major valet in wrestling. To be kind of part of the story. - Elizabeth has shocked everybody. Look at... - The husband and wife team working together, I don't think we really had anything like that before, so it was--it was unique. And Randy was extremely possessive with Elizabeth. - Shut up and keep polishing. If I lose tonight, it's your fault. See that... - If you're given to be a certain way, you know, and I can take that and boost it up, you know, then, it becomes larger than life. It worked and it just worked. - He can't stay in a neutral corner. - Ms. Elizabeth broke the mold. - Oh, look at this, manhandling her once again. - If you remove Elizabeth from the equation of Randy Savage and he's just the guy that talks weird and is incredible in the ring. Ms. Elizabeth anchored Randy Poffo to that character. - I don't think she had any clue about how talented she was and how beautiful she was. She didn't have a healthy body image. Liz struggled with eating disorders. She struggled with bulimia. And so, she really struggled with just self-confidence. She tried to be what she thought the man that she was having whatever relationship by the time with what they wanted her to be. So, she would get lost in the relationship. - I was the first one to push Liz down in a--in a very physical altercation where I shoved her sideways. That was really, really a big deal. He asked me to come up to his hotel room and we went over the pushing of Liz for about two hours. She was falling on the bed when I was pushing her sideways. How they got Randy to go for that or to do that, that's a mystery. - Oh, my goodness! Elizabeth! Almost struck by the... - [screams] - Thirty or thirty-five million people tuned in to see it. [indistinct chatter] - They come up with the idea of the slap. Not me, that's the last thing I thought I'd ever do. I got more heat from the fans for slapping her than I do for the snake biting Randy. The wrestling fans destroyed my car. They totaled it. Knocked all the windows out and busted the headlights, taillights. This is like, they were saying, with slapping a woman. You don't do that. That's ingrained in here, man. This is--that's one of the two top evil things you can do. Can you imagine somebody slapping somebody today? - Randy and Liz were married in real life. However, on camera, their relationship was never, it was never exposed, and it was never talked about, it was more of an animal magnetism attraction. Randy's character changed. Randy went from a very popular character to just a despised character, the Macho King. - Savage goes full bad guy because of jealousy, a very real reason to turn. Elizabeth is out, Sherri's in. - Queen Sherri. What kind of rules are there? - No holds barred! - She turns on the Macho Man. In the crowd, Elizabeth. - Oh, look at Elizabeth. - What's she doing? - She's going on her way to the ring! [cheers and applause] - When she came back and slapped Sherri, come on. Come on. Everyone popped. Everyone went nuts. I loved it. - Hello Howard, bring us up to date on the travels of the World Wrestling Federation. - I mean, you could be in Dallas one night, and Miami the next, and then up to Chicago the next, and this would just keep right on going and the traveling part was the hardest. - The "Macho Man" Randy Savage. - We were running so hard in those days, man. We were running seven days a week, every night. - Trying to teach Jake The Snake a lesson. - Our way of dealing with it wasn't right? Guys were doing steroids, you guys were doing a lot of pills, man. You know, a lot of pills. - It does not matter which one I'm... - Some of this including myself, did fair amounts of cocaine just to get going. - What is he doing there? - Your body needs time to heal. - These guys, their whole empire is built upon their physique so to speak, so I got to think that's very, very tough on them. - Yeah, it's a world of action figures and when you put yourself out there as much as wrestlers do, your body ain't gonna keep the body of an action figure. - Macho Man just told Elizabeth... - It's tough enough to do it by yourself, not to imagine having your wife there with you every step of the way with, you know, sharks tagging behind. - Randy really loved her and I know that he wouldn't have it any other way, Miss Elizabeth with him. - You know, the business is tough. It's just the road and it's just a tough business. I don't know of any husband-wife teams that have done it since. There's, you know-- but there's probably a reason why that doesn't happen a lot in wrestling because it's just, it'll ruin you. - I guess in hindsight, she just finally couldn't take it anymore. Not only sometimes was Randy overprotective, he was a little bit overbearing on Liz. And I really think that she just reached her breaking point. - I think he always felt like there was somebody else in her life besides him when there really wasn't, how could it be? You're locked in the house and you can't go out on the road, nobody can touch you, nobody can see you. How in the world could she fall in love with anybody else? - Elizabeth, I love you. - Wow. - Yes. - Will you marry me? - [laughs] - Oh, yeah. - When Randy the wrestler and Miss Elizabeth were having a great life on TV, they were having a horrible life in real life and I think that was a huge, huge accelerator so to speak of the demise. - Can you imagine that? Like, if your marriage was seriously in trouble and you had to publicly get married again, so the world is kind of like, "Oh, my God. That's so cool. You guys are married." It's like, "No, no, actually we were married and now we're barely married." I wonder how much of the worst of him was brought out by the wrestling business. They clearly brought the best out of him professionally, but I wonder how much it cost him personally. - That's terrific. - Fantastic. - As the orchestra played, the formal line of the eager guests gave their congratulations to the happy couple. - I remember Randy coming to me, "Liz is very unhappy with me and I think she wants a divorce." And I said, "Well, maybe she just wants a little bit of freedom." But I knew he was really heartbroken over that, you know. - I don't know if anybody ever looked at Randy and his wife's situation and said, "Hey, maybe I should step in and say something." If you knew Randy, I don't think that would've set well with him, I think maybe later on Hulk Hogan and at the time Hulk's wife, may have crossed that line and that didn't go well either. - [screaming] - I didn't realize that Liz was uneasy. I just remember Randy, he just bought a boat. My ex-wife was on the dock and, you know, her and Liz would talk, she goes, "Yeah, well, Terry's going down to Miami to shoot a movie called Mr. Nanny and we'd be down there a couple months and I'll be there with the kids and he's gonna working on it, so if you get bored, come on down and hang out and help me with the kids," so. I went down the next day to Miami, and I was shooting nights, and I guess, I left work about 5:00. When I came in at 6:00 in the morning, I saw the red Cadillac out there. Hmm. That's Liz's car, you know. I go upstairs and I said, "Where's Liz at?" My ex-wife was still asleep, "Oh, she's in the back room over there." And I just kind of peeked in the other room and no one was in the bed, and I'm like, "Hmm." I didn't think nothing of it so I went to sleep and got up, worked out, did my thing, the next day I went to work again at night, I came in, same thing, nobody in the bed. I said, "Okay, here's the deal. I don't know what's going on, but if she's not gonna be sleeping here, she needs to get her stuff out of here, because I don't want any heat." And so as things progressed, I saw her down by the pool, hanging out with a guy that played tennis and I was getting ready to go to work at night and I came out of the shower about 6:00 and I heard this screaming, "Oh, where she at? Where is she at? You know where she's at." And I said, "Oh, my God. He's here." So I put a towel on and I went out to the living room and there was Randy staring at my ex-wife, pointing his finger going, "You know where Liz is?" I said, "Randy, calm your you know what down, brother." Grabbed the manager, I said, "Hey, brother, this is Macho Man, his wife's here, he doesn't have the key to her room, we need the key to her room." So the manager walked us all the way around the back of the hotel. Guy put the key in and door opened it, and Randy pushed the door and was, "Hey, Liz." And I took off. I was gone. All of a sudden I get ready to leave for work and there was like 20 cop cars outside the hotel. I was blamed for that. The truth is, after the second day, I should've called him right away and said, "Hey, man, I don't know where your wife's at but her car is here. She's not in her room." I should've done that, I guess, that's where our relationship fell apart for about 10 years. Just as intense as the wrestling was, that's how much he hated me in real life. I just figured if I got her out of my room, I had no idea she didn't call home, I had no idea that she left and packed all of her stuff up and didn't tell him she was done with the marriage. I didn't know any of this stuff. I just thought she came down to hang out. She left him and didn't tell us. - Let's just be honest, the day that Randy died, he still loved Miss Elizabeth, like, I mean, that's his ultra-love in life. And so as he's losing her in real life, he has to act like, you know, worse, in love, get married, the whole nine yards, and so, I mean, I can't even understand how much pain that would be. - It's right, the real deal right here. I'm the "Macho Man" Randy Savage. And Mean Gene Okerlund, I'm gonna be your cohost, yeah. On All-American Wrestling, do you have any problem with that? - I don't have a problem at all. - I don't know why Vince puts people on commentary other than the fact that he might have another vision of what needs to be done for the product. - You better watch your step, Mister... - Vince, I don't think, wanted him to work anymore. They wanted to get him out of the ring and do commentary and Randy always felt like he had some matches left. - The reason that I argue that Randy Savage is probably the greatest who ever lived is because he literally could do every single aspect of professional wrestling. Except for commentary. Was not a fan of that. - You got to be able to get a patent on some of these wrestling holds. People are stealing them, that's the million-dollar dream. - Randy probably looked at it as, "Man, do they not think that I'm good enough in the ring anymore that they're gonna put me out here as a color commentator?" - His voice was a small doses thing. You don't want to just hear, "Oh, in commentary. Oh, off the top. Oh, there we go." After two hours of it, it's like, "All right, it doesn't have the same mystique anymore." - Are you ever gonna get back in the ring again? - Absolutely. Thanks for asking me that question. I'm gonna just--you know, I've been in the sidelines kind of just picking my shots, and I feel an opportunity coming up really, really, really soon, within a week in fact and I'm gonna get back to the ring. I'm gonna still be doing the broadcasting... because I really enjoy it and I'm broadcasting because I want to, not because I have to, but when I get back into the squared circle, I'm gonna make a quick name for myself again and I'm gonna go after that World Wrestling Federation Championship belt for the third time, a three-peat. - Randy had a lot of fight left in him, lot of gas in the tank, he had no knee replacements. Randy hadn't had any major surgeries, his legs were good, he tore his tricep, and I knocked his teeth out one time by accident. He was in great shape, man, he could go. - When they wrestle me, they turn out to be a clown one way or another. - Yeah, Doink the Clown. - Doink the Clown or Hulk Hogan the Clown or whatever it is. You know, it doesn't even matter. - I know you and Hulk were, kind of, friends there for a while. - Kind of not too. - Oh, yeah? - Yeah. Kind of and kind of not, yeah. Somewhere in between, yeah, huh? - Yeah. - They said, we're having a youth movement, the best thing you can do is hold on to the mic, he says, "Well, I'll get a second opinion on that." And it turned WCW didn't think he was too old. - I'll never forget the night that it happened. I remember Vince walking around saying "has anybody seen Randy? I would need to go over the format with him." And then an hour before our show started, somebody came to Vince and said, "Hey, Vince. Turn on the TV." - It gives me a great deal of pleasure to introduce truly one of the all-time greats in professional wrestling, finally arriving at World Championship Wrestling. - I was with Vince at the time right in the same room and he no-sold it. There was no expression change on his face at all. He looked around, he looked over at me and said, "King, could you do the commentary with me tonight?" - But Randy, I know you're out there listening. And on behalf of all of us, all of your fans, and certainly me, the number one fan, I'd like to say, thank you for all of your positive contributions. - Even when it was happening, a lot of people didn't believe it was happening. - I wish you nothing but the best, Godspeed and good luck. It was a surprise and not a pleasant one. I was, you know, it hurt. - They wanted me to do the commentary thing, you know, which I will wanna do some time, you know, because I got a pretty good slanted viewpoint on things, you know? - Oh, yeah? - I feel that I would like to express it at some time, you know, it's not even now, but I just wasn't ready, you know, to take off my boots at that point. I'm glad I didn't. - I don't think he wanted to do that. He didn't want to do that [bleep]. It wasn't Randy. - Macho Man and Hulk Hogan have a date with destiny. Oh, yeah, Starrcade, dig it! - All right. The "Macho Man" Randy Savage already making his presence known here on WCW Saturday Night. - Oh, yeah. - During the Monday Night Wars when WWE and WCW were going head-to-head on TV on the same night, for a long time, WCW, they were winning the Monday Night Wars and part of that was because a lot of talent would jump ship and Randy was one of those talents. I mean, he was a big, big star. - I think it was devastating. You know, I think it was because he was our captain. I remember a bunch of us were talking and saying like, "Man, like, we don't have any stars." - And it's the "Macho Man" Randy Savage for the... - Though we all felt maybe there was a shift going on, my gosh, the two biggest guys of our era, Hogan and Randy Savage are there? - Oh, yeah. - There was a huge rift with Randy and Hulk, so when Randy went to WCW, it was always a very business-like relationship. - It was a really smart move, because Randy wasn't done wrestling. Vince told him he was done wrestling and Randy wasn't done wrestling. He had a major impact on the wrestling business once he came over and get back in the ring again. - Randy was highly motivated, so was I. And when you have two highly motivated people that each want really the same thing, then it's just about numbers. And what was really, really interesting about negotiating the Randy Savage deal is, it didn't cost me a dime, because when Randy Savage made the jump to WCW, so did Slim Jim. - Wanna pick up the tempo? - Yeah. - Snap into a Slim Jim. - He took Slim Jim with him and that was to the tune of... $750,000 per year. - How about the funky chicken? - Oh, is that a waltz? - Oh, yeah. Need a little excitement? Snap into a Slim Jim! - Macho Man got me to eat Slim Jims. So any irregularity I have with my bowels is on you, Slim Jim. I'm gonna take you to court. Drop the elbow from it, yeah. Intestinal fortitude not included, yeah. - What do you see? - Slim Jim. Slim Jim. Slim Jim! - You could tell he was struggling with aging in WCW and you could tell he was doing whatever he had to do to keep his body in shape and he got too big. - I'm not giving up. I'm just getting started. - In that period of time, it was about guys getting bigger, stronger, and faster. You know, it was in all sports. A lot of wrestlers shoots steroids just to heal and to maintain their body. If you're on the road like that, you're not eating properly, you're not getting the right sleep, your body starts to tear down. - Did Randy use them? - I've never seen him do it. Now, if you ask me if I think he did? Yes. That's just my own thought. I've been wrong before though. - No love lost here. - Uh-oh. - He got his money in WCW, you know? He went and cashed in, got a nice a check, money he could've lived off of for the rest his life. He did sort of in WCW, kind of, end up in Hogan's shadow again. In WWE, it was almost like he was lurking in the shadows of Hogan like, "I'm right here, I could do this." In WCW, it wasn't like that. He was never a threat to Hogan's spot. - I think there was lot of competition. I think till the day that Randy Savage died, there was a lot of emotional feelings between he and Hogan. It was kind of scary even though neither one of them would talk about it, you don't need to have anybody tell you what was happening, you could see it. They didn't get along. They did not get along. - Eric Bischoff came to me, "Hey, man, get an opportunity to grab Elizabeth. They were divorced, you know?" And I'm, "Oh, my God. If we could get her, that would be so intense." - Well, guess who's here. - When Miss Elizabeth wanted to come to WCW, it was Randy who was one of her biggest advocates. Randy had moved on with his personal life, so there was no excess baggage. - He didn't have a problem with it all and said, "Man, if there's money to be made, let's make it. On board." - By the time that I met Liz and we were getting to know each other, I've had the sense that she had completely moved on from the marriage with Randy. She had met someone. All of a sudden, Liz was converting to Judaism and moving to Florida. You know, it didn't last long, but she tried. - A real man who knows how to come to the aid of a woman. - What I thought at the time was an innocent workplace flirtation and sure enough, there is no such thing as innocent workplace flirtation, so working together and being around each other, we definitely crossed those boundaries. - Take a good look at him, the genetic wonder here, Mr. DNA... - My best friend from wrestling, Sting, he tried to sit down with me many times and talked to me about it. - Man, I just-- I wouldn't do that. There just wasn't any stopping him at the time. - It didn't seem like it was probably the best idea for a number of pretty obvious reasons, but somebody else's life and they're gonna do what they're gonna do. - When it became obvious to me, I thought, "Okay, here we go." This is that iceberg that the Titanic hit that nobody saw coming. Here comes mine. It didn't happen. - I think Randy was just, kind of, maybe over it. Just, kind of, was keeping his distance. - It was like a full circle situation because, you know, if I hadn't done that then I hadn't got over it, you know what it mean? - Yeah. - Because, you know, I don't believe in taking anything to the grave. You know what I mean? You know, because me and Elizabeth are still friends, you know what I mean? Just something that didn't work and then it was a--it was-- it was a no problem situation. You know what I mean? And just, you know, life goes on and just, you know, you shouldn't spend the rest of your life dwelling over one thing. - When he had Liz, I don't think he really went out. When they separated, it was-- it was almost like having, like, a freshman in college. What are we doing tonight? - I believe Randy Savage met Gorgeous George outside of the wrestling business. I'm not sure what she was doing for a living at the time. There may have been some dancing involved. - I moved to Tampa and the first person that I met was Randy. It was kind of like fate. I totally believe in fate. The first place I worked is the DollHouse, so I get in there, they give me a sequin gown that I owe money for at the end of the week. I'm on the set list to go on stage. I didn't even have enough money to get a drink for myself. So I'm sitting there and some old guy starts whacking me in my arm and he's like, "Girl, buy me a drink." And I was like, "You buy me a drink." And he starts fighting with me. So next thing I know I got grabbed up and thrown outside the DollHouse, on my knees in a sequin gown, some guy comes up to me and he goes, "Hey, girl, are you okay?" And I'm like, "Dude, did you just see what happened? " He's like, "Yeah. Oh, that wouldn't have happened if you wouldn't have been beaten up on Evel Knievel." And I get to looking at him and I'm like, "Macho Man?" I mean, this was like a surreal dream. He gives me his phone number and an address. So I got this piece of paper with his phone number in my hand and I'm thinking to myself, "Well, he might be cool." - And she was, like, younger than all of us. She was the perfect eye-candy for the Macho Man for the gimmick. Where Elizabeth was unplugged, she got plugged back in. - Hold all phone calls, we have a winner. - Gorgeous George, she was cool. I mean, young, and she was kind of hip. She kind of updated Randy. Randy got kind of a cool factor. - That's when he started wearing leather, that's where he got really jacked. He got rid of all the flair. He's coming out in just like black leather with the necklace. - Here comes the Macho Man. - "Thursday Night Thunder", "Monday Night Nitro", it just kept going, you know. There was never no let-up. We traveled over 300 days a year. - There is the celebration kicking up... -My sister, she's about 17 at the time. She moved down to Florida to watch my son. So when we went to travel, I trusted somebody. - My sister had called me, she said, "I'm gonna be wrestling and with Isaac being down here, I need someone that I can trust to watch him." And, you know, I'm down. - Randy was really nice to me. He's just really focused on his work. Macho Man, he would take me at Toys "R" Us, he would buy different action figures for me and stuff and a couple of times he actually bought himself as an action figure. That was cool. - Oh, it's nice. I like it... - Is that-- is that like a negligee? - Randy and George, they had the reputation in town of really partying, and that reputation got out. - Well, I like it. - They seemed to have a good time but after shows or matches, they were, you know, they went out together. She partied hard. George wasn't afraid. - George came from the stripping community and Randy was, I think, trying to live vicariously in a young type of way through George. I don't know what the age gap was. I think it was quite extensive. - Even though he was older, he didn't act older. He was fast-going, upbeat, he worked out every day. He was just go, go, go, go. That was Randy. - You can see strength. - When I met first Randy, he was definitely doing steroids. There was veins upon veins. He had veins on his eyelids. If he started to regress from it, he'd see the difference in his body change. So as soon as he thought for one second he was getting older, he'd push more. We would always stop at his mom and dad's and Angela would put me in the massage chair. He would take Randy upstairs to give him his medicine. Dad would distribute the things that he needed to enhance his physical being. I would stay in the chair till the shots were distributed and then we'd jump in the car and leave. We were doing alcohol, ecstasy, steroids, uppers, downers. - He liked to indulge in some ecstasy. In Florida, it was kind of on the scene, especially over in Tampa. He'd sometimes give me $200, $300 and I would go and get them and I'd give them to him. - Randy would walk around with a thousand dollars or more worth of ecstasy pills in his hip sack at all times. There's one really distinctful time we were high. It was when we were wearing the red outfit. - ...and Gorgeous George were in the house. Oh, yeah. They're right about one thing. - What's that, Macho? - I'm ain't no punk bitch! - People were like, "What is he talking about?" We were so high. - The Macho Man and Gorgeous George are leaving the building. Oh, yeah. - Yeah, but he did-- whose he's going to-- who's he going to... - At the height of my success, was the worst part I've ever been in my entire life. I looked gorgeous, I looked beautiful, I looked like I had it together, and at the same time, I had nothing together. I heard about Randy doing things to Liz through the grapevine. I had heard that she had to go to Hulk Hogan's house to hide from him with his wife. I'd heard about her eating in closets, I'd heard about all the stuff. I didn't believe it because he was so good to me. And then as time went on, the steroids got worse and worse. And the paranoid schizophrenia started to grow more and more. I was so young. I had no idea how to categorize what I was seeing. I didn't see the side of him yet until now he's looking at me like that. One day I'm cleaning his house and all of the sudden I noticed this fuse box on the bottom of the broom closet. I go to open it up. So I put the keys in and I turn them and I pull it out and I open the door, I'm like, "Wow, what is that?" And there's a four screens on top and four screens on the bottom. Wow, that looks like my house. Wait a minute, that is my [bleep] house. He's got my whole [bleep] house taped. And then I hear him coming up the corridor, right? And right when he walks in the door, boom. Clicked it, put the--just slam it. I was sitting like this. He goes, "Are you okay?" I go... He goes, "What's wrong with you?" I go, "Take me home now." He goes, "What is wrong with you?" I go, "Take me [bleep] home." - There was things that he would say, there's no way he would be able to say that if he didn't have some kind of camera or audio-video in our home because he wasn't there. That's when it got creepy. - There were some times where, you know, you could feel the tension between them both. Being that young and being around a lifestyle like that, he was really busy you know, everything was just really constant. - Randy had a-- upon dilution of our relationship would be the termination of every kind of contract. He knew what he was doing. - When they broke up, she went from Gorgeous George, back to Stephanie. Done. Randy cut her out of every single thing. - We end up leaving Florida and she got a place back in our home at Rockford, and we got our own house there and stuff and Randy was really pissed off about that, you know, and he wanted her-- he just wanted her and, you know, and she didn't want to be a part of it. - Nobody knew what I was going through. And I've never really opened up and told anybody. I didn't want to tarnish somebody's reputation who was such a great person. The things that were bad were very bad, but the things that were good were very good. - Miss Elizabeth was very pristine, was always on this extra pristine pedestal. I think she may have jumped out of Randy's frying pan into a hotter skillet so to speak. But I think the ongoing scuttlebutt amongst the boys was, "This is not going to end well." - We definitely did not put the brakes on. Might have been a good idea but we didn't. In retrospect of course. In hindsight. - It's all about, I've got the greatest manager in the sport today. I'm talking, you show me some respect. - Because she was so deep into this relationship, she was around us less and less. She was a little more isolated. We were concerned and we were worried and we would always reach out to her and see what we could do to help her but it just wasn't working. - Last week Bagwell made the... - I was surprised she was running with Lex. Lex was running real hard, so were some of his friends at the time. And when I saw her with Lex, I told her, we'll be reading about her in about two years. - Will face Bret Hart this Sunday. Hogan and... - I'm not getting punked out my whole town. Let me just tell you that right now, by you or anybody else. - Now if he wants to fire the first shot, that's fine because I'll fire the last shot machine gun style. - You know the sad part about this whole thing, I'm supposed to be the enemy and I'm this no good son of a bitch. - Randy and the Hulk had a dysfunctional relationship. Much like many marriages that I witnessed over the years were a husband and a wife kind of tend to fall in and out of love with each other. - If all the moons line up just right, you know, and everything is just great and it's a sunny day, you know, they might be able to work something out. It was that way with them, you know, they had their wars, you know, in Florida. - Randy Savage got another radio station to talk crap about me, say that me and Hogan are having sex. That's fine Randy. The girl you used to have sex with now is doing pornos. Join me tonight at Storman's on the big screen and I'll play the Gorgeous George tape. - It was all apparently real. They were always kind of hot at each other. - When he started on me, I started on him, you know, and I had a bigger voice than him because I had a buddy here in Tampa, had a local radio show and we just blast him every morning and drove him crazy. - Making fun of Randy, kind of gravitated to my airwaves fairly instantaneously, so, within a few months of Hogan and I hanging out, we just started kind of ribbing Randy. - ♪ Your fabulous... it's Randy "Macho Man"! ♪ ♪ Working at a Gold's Gym he just [bleep] his pants ♪ - Oh, it just drove Macho Man insane. Macho Man would go to lawyers in town, be like, "Oh, yeah, there's this fat radio guy who's talking a bunch of crap about me that I pooped my pants." And then the lawyers would say, "Well, Randy, did you poop your pants?" He was like, "Well, yeah, well." - It's the debut release from "Macho Man" Randy Savage. - ♪ Let's roll baby Come on kick some butt ♪ - Listen to him throw down in such songs "Let's Get It On" and "Be A Man". - ♪ Be a man Hulk, come on don't be scared ♪ - At some point I look up and I see that "Macho Man" Randy Savage is a rapper. And he's not kidding. - I've been putting my music as a priority one. Everybody is writing a book and I'm not writing a book. I'm--I want to express myself with music. - I think the entire motive of his rap album was to try to take a shot at Terry. - I-I just think... I don't know, you know, I didn't really get any traction anywhere, you know. It was just one of those things to get off his chest, was part of that hate that he had to get rid of. - Randy had a plan that Be A Man Hulk was going to sell 50 million copies instead it only sold 50,000. The critics said it defied physical possibilities. It sucked and blew at the same moment. - I don't necessarily know that many of us were really proud of it. You know, I wouldn't be a man if I didn't say, you know, to the camera that I was sorry for the things that I said. - Get a shot of this right here, you hear me? Macho Man Savage, boy, if you don't got it, you don't know what music is. ♪ ♪ - You know, there was nothing untypical about the evening. We were hanging out, watching movies, having a few drinks, and popping some bills. She dozed off on the couch for a minute, it was late at night, so, went over, I realized definitely there was something wrong so I immediately called 911. She's laying on the floor. I tried to pick her up, I tried to... - Okay, what I want you to do, I want you to go over and see if she's breathing. And I got taken in from there and they found all the drugs in the house and I was placed under arrest shortly thereafter. - One day the phone rang, Liz is gone. - Pro wrestler Lex Luger is under arrest tonight and his girlfriend is dead. This all happened today in... - She just had so much to offer. - Both Lex and Elizabeth did what addicts often do which is hide it. By the time it became obvious to those of us who would have liked to know, it was too late. They were already pretty far gone. - She's a beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous woman who had no clue how gifted she actually was. - Absolutely, I had a role in definitely and profoundly a negative influence and so he was, "Did you murder her?" "No, I didn't force her to do drugs or take pills." But was I a negative influence her time that led to that happening? Definitely. If I could change that and go back in time, I-- oh, boy, I mean, I would but I can't. - I think the end for Elizabeth is one of the saddest things that's ever happened in wrestling. She wasn't supposed to go that way, like she wasn't a wrestler. She didn't abuse her body that we knew of, you know, like, it is just-- it's heartbreaking. - I never said a word about it. I said, I'm very sorry for Elizabeth, he said thank you. I didn't pick his scabs, I spoke once spoken to and if I saw a mud puddle, I didn't splash him with it. We loved each other but we didn't talk about everything unless he brought it up. I know that he had a lot of fond respect for Lex Luger and I don't think he held any animosity toward him. - At all, really? - I gave my answer. - Really feel real bad for her and her family. And the situation where we hadn't seen each other about maybe five, six years but, you know, we had closure and we've settled low and everything was all good. But I feel bad for her family. ♪ ♪ - It just sort of ended and Randy Savage seemed to just sort of fade away from wrestling. He seemed to kind of go... peacefully into the night in a way that most wrestlers are incapable of doing. - In my whole life it's because I want to do something whether than having to do it, you know, so, you know, I've been a really good businessman as far as my personal finances have gone. - From what I heard, he was doing well. He was happy. A lot of the guys leave this business and they can't get it out of their system, can't get it out of their blood but Randy seemed to have done that. And if you remember, I mean, he was one of the first guys that got a decent part in a major, major motion picture. - Hey, unlock the thing. Take the chain off. - Hey, freak show, you're going nowhere. I got you for three minutes. Three minutes of playtime. I got this little switch inside my brain, if you trip that light, fantastic and it's showtime and you hear that war from the crowd, you know what I mean? And you get those chill moves all the way up, nose to toes. and that is not a problem at all, you know? In fact, it's pretty easy for me to get up for something like that, you know, because it's just-- it's just either inside you or it's not. And I say that when it stops getting to be fun for somebody, they need to get out. - When Randy Savage was done with people, he moved on. And Randy would cut it off and move on. You didn't exist to him. So the same thing with his personal life, same thing with his business, it was time to move on, he moved on, didn't look back. - In the latter part of his life where he went gray and he kind of naturally aged, I think that that might have been when he finally dropped the Macho Man persona and could be Randy Poffo. And I think that that might have been a huge relief for him. - There's arguably no more tiring character to play than Macho Man. I mean just from a physical voice standpoint. You can't tell me there weren't times when you say, "Oh, I just want to not talk for three days because my throat hurts." - Randy had reunited with his I guess high school sweetheart. To me it was like, you know, Randy had found peace. - I was at a heart doctor, I looked at him, there he is, he looks great. He's about 240 pounds, he's got his weight back. He's smiling and he's happy. It's, "Hey, man, what's up, man, I love you, I miss you." "I love you too, brother." It's damn, you got your wedding ring on. He was, "Oh, yeah, I got remarried." He was happy, he looked so great, you could see the glow coming off him. He was at peace, he was himself and he was happy. It kind of like made my life to it, to see how happy he was and he forgave me for whatever I did. - I remember my dad telling us about Randy having met, you know, back in the '70s a woman named Lynn Payne and he had this relationship with her before he ever met Miss Elizabeth. In 1975, Randy had left baseball and he and Lynn had broken up. So it caused Randy to leave Florida and get into professional wrestling. - Randy had told me that Lynn was always the love of his life. They were sweethearts early on and then of course they went their own ways and they found their way back to each other. - And boom. The stars never shone so bright. They get married on Lido Beach where they had met 36 years before. - This time, man, he just-- he was still Macho but the pace was much different. You just see that Randy had kind of, you know, went full circle. There are so many of these guys were so tormented and then you hear that they died, it's like the life of a kamikaze pilot. We saw Randy got to touch down back on the carrier for a while. - He was at the point of relaxing and enjoying his life with the woman that he was supposed to be with. So he's just in love and ready to just, ah, you know, and he told me that. I got my dogs, I've got my house, and you know, I'm there. - Randy getting back to his high school sweetheart who hadn't been around the wrestling business ever, she wasn't jaded, you know. And I think when he unplugged from this crazy business, he fall back in a really beautiful place that was probably before he ever wrestled. - You old punks you ain't got nothing on the "Macho Man" Randy Savage, in my generation, yeah. - Randy Savage at the end of his life left wrestling in a way that I really respected and I liked because he walked away from it. - He pulled a lot out of the WWE, made a [bleep] ton of money and a hell of a ride, circumstances being what they are, man, a wonderful, wonderful life. ♪ ♪ - They were coming back from being at the store, Randy was driving his Jeep. He said, "I'm not--I'm not really feeling that well. I think, I'd like to go home." And he started to swerve out of his lane and he pressed the gas. ♪ ♪ Lynn had to steer, the Jeep was going to crash into other vehicles, oncoming vehicles and cause all kinds of other fatalities. So she steered the Jeep into a tree to stop it. And Randy was pronounced dead, right there on the scene. - Some sad news to report this morning. Pro wrestling icon, Randy "Macho Man" Savage died Friday in a car crash in Florida... - I get a message from Largo Medical and that my brother and his wife were in a car wreck. So I called up and that's when they put me on the phone with Lynn and she explained to me what happened. - Police say Savage lost control of his Jeep Wrangler about 9:30 this morning. His wife suffered minor injuries. Randy "Macho Man" Savage was 58. - My thought immediately went to, "I wish I would've shared some more moments with Randy." Not so much in the ring stuff but just going out and having a lunch or something, you know, to the other side of Savage. - If I never would have been able to meet with Randy one last time before he passed away, he would have some-- probably been something that would've haunted me. I don't think I could have really rationalized it if I never get across and saw him again. - He had a heart attack while driving and that's a crazy way to die but it's also a very Macho Man way to die. You take a Jeep and a heart attack into a tree, you know, like, dude what's up? You kind of wonder if he negotiated that death. He's like, "What if I die here, what if the heart stops then the Jeep pops over the highway, yeah, right into a tree?" And everyone's like, "That's a, that's a tough way to go." He's like, "Very memorable," you know? As opposed of just dying in a--in a bed. That's a very Macho Man way to die. I mean, it's a sad death, I'm not taking that away from him but I'm saying, as far as spots go, then, uh, that's a suplex off the top rope. - For as many people that can be like, "Oh, it's not a real sport, you know, it's just entertainment," and by the way, I have a big update for everyone, all sports is just entertainment. The value that these athletes have is just as great in culture as a competitive athlete. In fact, with ones like Randy Savage, they're greater. He gave us more than physical entertainment, he gave us himself as a person. Snap into a Slim Jim, oh, yeah, being in "Spider-Man," I hope all of those things, these cultural moments added up to something where he knew, like, "I was a big deal. I was meaningful." It's crazy because there's some people whose run as a professional wrestler is amazing because it lasts 20 years. Randy Savage, his run was really seven years, but it's one of the greatest seven-year runs of all time. - History beckons the Macho Man. - He was different. He wasn't like everybody else. - And who was the first man... - The perfect way to describe him, he was an enigma. - First page, the first page, the headline, yeah. - I'm on a headlock. - You know-- - You like pain like that? ♪ ♪ - I'm watching an artist paint. He could take you on that rollercoaster. He has psychology, he had athleticism, and he could tell a story. That was him being that painter. - I am the new kid on the block, yeah. - Captured the imagination of the WWE Universe. Truly did. - Snap on a Slim Jim. - A whole generation, probably a few generations have a piece of him in their heart, in their minds, in their memories. - Oh, yeah, brother. - That was Hulk Hogan. - Oh, yeah. - Randy affected a lot of people all over the world. - You conjure up warm feelings thinking about Randy. He was very intense and wanted to give his all and I so respect someone like that. - You got a clip-on tie, and I'll tell the people that if you don't shut up and sit down. - Randy was the real deal. He loved this business, he gave his heart and his soul and everything to this business and there won't be another like him. Very few guys have this in their blood and live it and Randy was one of them. - I am the baddest dude in the planet and you don't want none of this. - How much longer do you think that you're gonna, you know, keep this up? - I'm tapering down, I'll probably go about 248 more years and then I'll retire for a year and come back and win the world title again.

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Channel: Biography

Views: 709,405

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Keywords: bio, biography, life story, documentary, history, historical figure, celebrity, famous, Macho Man, Randy, Savage, macho man, randy savage, wwe, wwe documentaries, wwe biographies, wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment, wrestlers, wrestle, sports, athletics, athletes, athlete biographies, athlete documentaries, WWE Championships, WCS® World Championships, Intercontinental Champion, Macho Man, Randy, Savage, documentary, Macho Man, Randy, Savage, biography, Macho Man, Randy, Savage, streaming

Id: QTsWwQX10wI

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Length: 86min 3sec (5163 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 08 2023