of his career. [155] Savage's brother, Lanny Poffo, appeared on the WWE Network that same night and commented on Savage's induction announcement by saying "I had no thoughts. the reason for firing the Ultimate Warrior from the WWF. [3] Savage wrestled a number of times following WrestleMania VII and the WWF's official story was that out of respect, Warrior generously allowed him to see out the final months of his contract before he was forced to retire. While the Rockers were doing their thing up North as Tag Team Specialists, Ricky And Robert practically invented the art form down South for the NWA. [7] He was recognizable by wrestling fans for his distinctively flamboyant ring attire and raspy voice, intensity exhibited in and out of the ring, use of the finale from "Pomp and Circumstance March no. In late 2007, Hart released an autobiography, Since 2008, though, Snitsky's been mostly gone from wrestling, and focusing on several other ventures. It includes a tribute song to "Mr. [113] However, an interfering Bret Hart attacked Savage and preserved the victory for Hogan. Before a match, he would make a show of removing his robe while running down the males in the crowd. Savage appeared in WWF WrestleMania, WWF WrestleMania Challenge, WWF Superstars, WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge, WWF Super WrestleMania, WWF Royal Rumble, WWF King of the Ring, WCW vs nWo: World Tour, WCW Nitro, WCW/nWo Revenge, WCW/nWo Thunder, WCW Mayhem, WWE All Stars, as a DLC in WWE 12 and as an unlockable character in WWE 2K14. again, in late 1992 after yet another feud with the federation, this time over Perfect initially laughed off the suggestion, but was angered by Bobby Heenan and his insinuations that he could never again wrestle at his previous level, and accepted the match. Many more are long retired. [51][52] Later that month, he replaced Elizabeth (who stayed with Hogan) as his manager with former WWF Women's Champion Sensational Sherri. [32][33] On March 29, 1987, Savage wrestled Steamboat at WrestleMania III in the Pontiac Silverdome. Sans clothing, you're still likely to wonder why that Bob guy doesn't eat a sandwich and hit the gym. Despite Savage ending the show claiming he was going to help the veteran group take out young New Blood group, he did not appear again in WCW before they folded the next year. [91] On December 27, he lost the title to Flair at Starrcade; earlier that night, he defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Since leaving the ring, Kozlov has slimmed his body but jacked up his muscles. well, some of them, anyway! He appears as the Macho King as a DLC in WWE 2K15, in WWE 2K16 as a starting wrestler, in WWE 2K17, WWE 2K18 and as an unlockable wrestler through the in-game currency "VC" (Virtual Currency), and WWE 2K19 as an exclusive DLC character for the Collector's edition of the game, entitled the "Wooooo!" WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion, WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, CWA International Heavyweight Championship, USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, WWC North American Heavyweight Championship, World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment, WWF World Heavyweight Championship Tournament (1988), Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, "Randy Savage, Pro Wrestling's Macho Man, Dies at 58", "Former wrestler Randy 'Macho Man' Savage killed in Seminole car wreck", Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum, "Remembering 'Macho Man' Randy Savage on Twitter", "Hogan: I Want To Induct Macho Man Into Hall of Fame", "The Macho Mom: Judy Poffo, mother of wrestlers Randy Savage and Lanny Poffo, dead at 90", "#558 Southern Illinois University, Carbondale", "Randy Poffo Minor Leagues Statistics & History", "Teammate remembers 'Macho Man' Randy Savage", "Macho Man: Wild road from baseball washout to WWE Hall of Famer", "Saturday Night's Main Event results November 2, 1985", "Randy Savage's first Intercontinental Championship reign", "Saturday Night's Main Event results January 4, 1986", "WrestleMania 3: An oral history of Randy Savage and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat", "Saturday Night's Main Event results January 3, 1987", "Saturday Night's Main Event results March 14, 1987", "The Summer of Savage: Inside the Macho Man's explosive run to the top of WWE, 30 years later", "Tampa mansion that once doubled as a fashion factory for stars is for sale", "Saturday Night's Main Event results October 3, 1987", "Saturday Night's Main Event results February 5, 1988", "Randy "Macho Man" Savage vs. "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase WWE Championship Tournament Finals", "Randy Savage's first WWF Championship reign", "Saturday Night's Main Event results April 30, 1988", "Saturday Night's Main Event results November 26, 1988", "Hulk Hogan & "Macho Man" Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth vs. "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase & Andre the Giant w/ Virgil & Bobby "The Brain" Heenan", "Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Koko B. Ware, Hillbilly Jim and Hercules def. With his curly blond hair, ripped physique, creepy theme music, crazy eyes, and super-intense "talk softly then yell ferociously" style of speaking, Sid was just plain awesome. In the WWF, he was Razor Ramon: basically Al Pacino in Scarface if he wrestled. [39] His feud with Honky continued into early 1988, where in their last high-profile matchup (aired as the undercard to Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan on the February 5 episode of The Main Event I), Savage defeated Honky by count-out after he shoved Honky away from Elizabeth and into the ring post. VH1 has not released the official cast She looks largely the same, but she's now a full-fledged fighter. [6], Savage made his first appearance for WCW on the December 3, 1994 episode of Saturday Night, referencing the love/hate relationship he had with Hulk Hogan and stated his desire to be the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. professional wrestlers of the 70s and 80s and was loved by audiences and fans [62] He also made an initial, untelevised return to the ring on July 30 in Portland, Maine, at a WWF Wrestling Challenge taping when he substituted for The Ultimate Warrior and pinned The Undertaker. Then the Legion Of Doom were a two-man army, ready for war! But two years later, after his opponent, D'Lo Brown, botched a powerbomb and dropped Droz square on his neck, he found himself a quadriplegic. [32] When The Honky Tonk Man declared himself "the greatest Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion of all time", Savage began a feud with him to get the title back, becoming a fan favorite in the process. As she told TV Guide, she can relate to Tamee because she too was saddled with a character she initially didn't like: being called Kong, which can be a huge insult for an African-American person. [8] Randy's father was a well-known wrestler in the 1950s and 1960s, and his younger brother Lanny Poffo also went into wrestling. [94] Flair claimed that Elizabeth gave him a sizable amount of Savage's money, taken in their divorce settlement, which he used to set up a "VIP section" at Nitro events. He voiced the rogue alien wrestler "Rasslor" in the Dexter's Laboratory shorts Dial M for Monkey. [18] He made his pay-per-view (PPV) debut for a 16-man tournament at The Wrestling Classic on November 7, defeating Ivan Putski, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, and the Dynamite Kid before losing via countout in the finals to Junkyard Dog. Sadly, King Kong Bundy died in March 2019. Not only is the Japanese legend still wrestling (hes set to retire at the 2020 Wrestle Kingdom show), but Jushin Liger is the only one on this list that still wrestles in as top-notch shape as he possibly can. [114] On June 14 at The Great American Bash, Savage teamed up with Piper against and lost to Hogan and Hart by submission. RELATED:5 Wrestling Couples That Survived Total Divas (& 5 That Broke Up After Appearing On The Show). appearing on The Tonight Show and co-hosting Saturday Night Live. After injuring his back during a fight in 1994, Rude did not return to wrestling until 1997. He was the first [96] At Bash at the Beach on July 7, the New World Order (nWo) was formed when Hulk Hogan turned on Savage, Sting, and Lex Luger and joined "The Outsiders", a tag team of former WWF wrestlers Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. feuds with the federation owner, Vince McMahon. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is now a movie star. [40], At WrestleMania IV on March 27, 1988, he participated in the 14-man tournament for the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship. When he was not in front of a camera, he was usually in a [21] In 1998, Savage accepted an award from Harvard University's humor society Harvard Lampoon as Man of the Year.[129]. But if he's not wearing his gear and wielding those shears like his life depends on chopping off some heel's precious ponytail, you'd hardly know it was him. [144] Ten days before his death, he had asked his brother to pour the ashes of his dog in the same spot. and wrestlers. abruptly withdrew the Bulldogs from AJWP by returning to the WWF, fabricating a He later retracted that timeline, but sadly it turned out to be pretty accurate. the Ultimate Warrior didnt have a close relationship with his father and By the. fired him for taking time off to grieve his fathers death. Billed as "the top free agent in pro wrestling", Savage's first appearances on Tuesday Night Titans featured several established managers (including Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Jimmy Hart, Mr. Fuji, Johnny Valiant, and "Classy" Freddie Blassie) offering their services to Savage. [141][143], Five days after his death, Savage was cremated, and his ashes were placed under a favorite tree on his property in Largo, Florida, near his mother's development. professional wrestling today. Duggan left the WWF and signed with World (His injury was so gruesome we're not linking to it here.) In 1996, he returned again. [140], On the morning of May 20, 2011, Savage was driving his Jeep Wrangler near his home in Seminole, Florida with his wife in the passenger seat when he became unresponsive and crashed into a tree. He may not look as great as he did in the '80s, but considering his face was all but shattered in a 1990 parasailing accident, the fact that he's still kicking period is nothing short of a miracle. Yes, in 2012, at the age of 51, Sid took a stab at bodybuilding, getting ripped, oiled up, and fat-free against competitors far younger than he. Who Was Andre the Giant? In WCW, under his real name, he was one of the tough-talking, rebellious founders of the New World Order. Throughout 2021, there were 80s wrestler releases, with some even coming in late December. For the better part of 1992, Savage and his old nemesis The Ultimate Warrior (who returned to the WWF at WrestleMania VIII) peacefully co-existed. [148] TNA held a ten bell salute in Savage's honor the night of his death. His brutal style made him the most dominant . Rapper Don Trip released a mixtape on January 24, 2014, entitled Randy Savage. and backgrounds. In the ensuing beatdown, Miss Elizabeth ran back to the locker room and brought Hulk Hogan out to the ring to save Savage, leading to the formation of "The Mega Powers". But that's nothing compared to his most drastic post-fame change: bodybuilder. The following year, he lost his other leg, leaving him permanently confined to a wheelchair. [14] His father was Italian American and his mother was Jewish; Poffo was raised Catholic. Federation. He is also to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. The partnership lasted a few years but eventually Savage's 16 plus year absence from WWE-licensed games from 1994's WWF Raw to 2011's WWE All Stars was recognized by Guinness World Records in its 2015 gamer's edition as the longest such absence. Savage was described by sportswriter Bill Simmons as "one of the greatest pro wrestlers who ever lived"a statement echoed by multiple industry performers. Why would he spend his retirement getting into better shape than during his day job? [10] [4] On January 24, he was the runner up in the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble, where he was eliminated by Yokozuna. The feud escalated on January 19, 1991, at the Royal Rumble, when Warrior refused to promise Savage the right to challenge him for the title, should Warrior defend it successfully against Sgt. [122], Savage disappeared from WCW programming following his feud with Rodman and would make two more appearances: first on the October 25, 1999 episode of Nitro, when he appeared in the ring with Gorgeous George and talked about passing the torch forward. They waited for Bruno Sammartino for so many years and now they waited for Macho Man." [32] This allowed both Savage and Hogan (who had been knocked to the outside) to get back in the ring and get the pin on DiBiase with Savage pushing a reluctant Ventura to the 3-count.