“There must be some sort of bizarre charm there that the rest of us simply don’t understand.” – Mean Gene Okerlund on Macho Man’s relationship with Elizabeth
This Coliseum Home Video is a brief journey through Macho Man Randy Savage and Elizabeth’s initial year in the WWF: Savage’s early run opposite Hulk Hogan, a bit of his ongoing feud with George Steele, and the Tito Santana program that also got Adrian Adonis and Bruno Sammartino involved.
It’s bound to leave stuff out because Savage’s first year was an epic. His introduction went like this: on June 17, 1985 he made his debut at a TV taping with a squash match and a Piper’s Pit. The next day, they shot an angle with all the managers of the WWF vying for his contract, and Savage taped an appearance on The Body Shop. On June 21, he made his MSG debut. On June 22, his Boston Garden debut. Then he started touring with squash matches and yelling at people on Tuesday Night Titans. He rejected all the managers and debuted Elizabeth at the end of July, and then in October he had his first legit TV angle with Hogan, which is what begins this tape, and led to a round of main event matches with the champ over the next few months.
Very soon after all this he won The Wrestling Classic tournament and the Intercontinental Title – WHAT A RUN.
Mean Gene does little voiceovers with Savage before some of the matches.
I have to say – Jimmy Snuka, The Wild Samoans, Ken Patera, and the U.S. Express, the Coliseum Home Video intro already feels outdated.
1. Hulk Hogan vs. Rusty Brooks (Poughkeepsie NY 10/22/85)
The pleasantly plump Rusty Brooks is one of my favorite mid-80s New York job guys, so that he has a place in history as the guy opposite Hogan for the first Hogan/Savage angle just warms my heart. Elizabeth comes into the ring before the match and asks Hogan why he won’t wrestle anybody with any credentials. I was always enamored with how good Liz played up her relationship with Savage – she delivers her lines like she’s a hostage delivering a message. Brooks uses the distraction to attack Hogan from behind before he’s leg dropped 30 seconds later. Savage attacks Hogan after the match, but is knocked outside. This whole angle was a Triple H: Hot, Historic, Hogan.
2. WWF World Heavyweight Title: Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth vs. Hulk Hogan [c] (MSG 1/27/86)
This is just the last couple minutes: they’re on the floor, Savage is bleeding, Hogan tries to throw Savage into the post but Liz blocks it, Savage manages to push Hogan into the post and he rolls inside for a countout win. The locker room spills out to break them up as they continue brawling. Seemed exciting.
3. Lumberjack Match – WWF World Heavyweight Title: Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth vs. Hulk Hogan [c] (MSG 2/17/86)
The announcement of this being a Lumberjack Match gets a huge pop. This is only 7 minutes long but it’s magic: two GOAT’s, huge selling, huge crowd heat, Savage new to the territory, Hogan in his prime, Madison Square Garden. It’s more of a brawl than your traditional Hogan match too, with no dedicated segment of offense for the bad guy. Savage grabs a headlock, is shot off the ropes, gets tripped by a lumberjack, and leg dropped for 3. A hard to rate match – short and to the point, but also two of the greats just doing their thing. Until next time… ***1/2
Elizabeth is Delivered Flowers (TNT #71 2/14/86)
“Tell me who’s the guy that’s in the danger zone right now” Savage asks, as Vince McMahon investigates the card on the flowers that Elizabeth has just been delivered on the set of Tuesday Night Titans, commenting that he sees some turnbuckle stuffing in the box. Savage always commits, so this is great – he is all fussed up about this one.
4. Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth vs. George “The Animal” Steele w/ Captain Lou Albano (SNME 1/4/86)
This match, refereed by a young Dean Malenko, kicked off the whole Steele having a crush on Elizabeth angle. He pets her before the bell and keeps getting distracted by her all match, the poor weird fella. The match is all character – stalling, Steele waving his arms around, Savage putting Liz in front of him, Steele eating the buckle, Savage running away. Elizabeth’s beauty distracts Steele one final time and Savage drops an axe handle for a 3-count where Steele’s arm is blatantly under the ropes. Not the greatest, but it kicked off an angle that lasted over a freaking year. **1/2
Macho Lifestyles: At Home with Randy Savage and Elizabeth
Here’s Mean Gene, sporting sunglasses and a tuxedo, visiting the Macho Man and Elizabeth at their home in a clear allusion to Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, of which Savage actually ended up appearing on a couple years later. This a whole on-location segment that is primarily Gene interviewing Savage and Liz poolside, but it also starts with a married couple at the front of the Savage’s home as the lady goes on and on about how she has to see Randy, and ends with the lady ending up in their swimming pool as Savage casually says this happens all the time.
Because it’s Savage, the interview is crazy too – duh. When he’s first seen, he’s doing stretches before he puts on a skin tight classic Macho Man shirt. He immediately begins deflecting as Mean Gene begins asking questions: “Everything’s OK between us – no problems, Miss Elizabeth? No problems??” Liz gets a phone call from a “national women’s publication” that wants him to pose for photos for $500k, which is more than Burt Reynolds got when the reference was more relevant a decade prior. Then he gets a call in Japan to wrestle three guys for $400k. The Macho Man is in demand – DIG IT. Wild segment.
5. WWF Intercontinental Title: Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth vs. Tito Santana [c] (Boston Garden 2/8/86)
This was reviewed in Happy Thoughts – WWF Old School (Boston Garden 2/8/86). It’s good, not great, but a big big moment. Here’s that review:
Look, these guys are neck-and-neck as far as my favorite WWF wrestlers but I haven’t yet seen them have a great match together. It’s a good match, very good even, but I’m always left feeling like something’s missing. My favorite part of this might be Jesse Ventura describing the feeling out process in-depth: “Each man is trying to see what he can get away with, what their strong points are, what their weak points are.”
Every Savage match is about the intensity. Tito too. These guys are experts at taking their time, then upping the intensity so people lose their shit. Towards the end they are both sweaty, exhausted, and selling their asses off. It is a beautiful professional wrestling performance.
Savage misses a kneedrop and the crowd is ELATED as Tito applies the figure-four. Savage gets on the apron and Tito brings him inside with a backdrop, only for Savage to clock him with a foreign object on the way down. NEW CHAMPION!! ***1/2
The Body Shop w/ Macho Man Randy Savage and Elizabeth (All-Star Wrestling 2/22/86)
Epic, epic Randy promo, as he’s somehow bursting with even more confidence after his championship win. “And this is real bad news for Hulk Hogan… YEAH, because this is my passport to the World Title!” “Elizabeth, stare into the Videoscope right now… and tell ’em who the new Intercontinental Champion of the World is.” “And now, I’m gonna let you hold the belt… what a thrill, ain’t that something?” Tito Santana and Junkyard Dog apparently interrupted at the end but it’s not shown here.
6. WWF Intercontinental Title: Macho Man Randy Savage [c] w/ Elizabeth vs. Tito Santana (MSG 3/16/86)
It’s the rematch… at MSG! The first rematch was at Boston Garden, which was reviewed in Happy Thoughts – WWF Old School (Boston Garden 3/8/86), and it was exciting but short and ended in a DQ. This is more of the same… they only show the last few minutes, and the brawling action is HOT before Savage throws the referee into Tito while trapped in a figure-four. The sweet, sweet buzzkill of Fink’s “Ladies and gentleman, let me remind you…” notice of the title not changing hands on a DQ is honestly pretty underrated.
7. No DQ Match – WWF Intercontinental Title: Macho Man Randy Savage [c] w/ Elizabeth vs. Tito Santana (MSG 4/22/86)
This is JIP with these two brawling outside, but it’s got most of the match and it might be their best one. Everything is so god damn rough and chaotic and Savage bleeds a bucket or two and the visual of the referee’s towel and back draped in blood after the match is crazy. Tito exudes PASSION as he dives off the apron onto Savage, and as he drops an elbow on the top of Savage’s cranium that Savage takes an epic bump on. Liz looks concerned, Tito punches away at Savage’s wound, Savage rakes Tito’s eyes and straight-up punches the ref, which gets him out of a count off a flying forearm and leads to a tight-pull cradle reversal for 3. His name might’ve been Macho Man but I want to describe every match/segment with “wild.” He should’ve been The Wild Man Randy Savage. Nevermind. ***3/4
8. WWF Intercontinental Title: Macho Man Randy Savage [c] w/ Elizabeth vs. Tito Santana (Guest Ref: Bruno Sammartino) (MSG 5/19/86)
We’re back at MSG and now BRUNO is here to lay down the law. Of course he just plays completely by-the-books, down-the-middle referee. Tito SELLLLLLLS and his comeback is epic. He reverses an atomic drop into the figure-four, then Adrian Adonis runs in wearing a dress and big wig like and knees Bruno from behind, before he attacks Tito and the bell gets called. Bruno is able to fend off Savage and Adonis for a bit before he’s overwhelmed. Savage catapults him into an Adonis clothesline and it looks crap and brutal all the same. ***1/2
9. Macho Man Randy Savage & Adrian Adonis w/ Elizabeth and Jimmy Hart vs. Bruno Sammartino & Tito Santana (MSG 6/14/86)
And of course, to send us off – the… blowoff? I dunno. If anything this is clarifying of just what an introduction Savage had – Hogan feud, IC Title win, Tito and Steele feuds, Bruno, and eventually Wrestling Classic and Steamboat. The brawl at the start here is absolute CHAOS, with Adonis flopping all over the freaking place and Macho putting a terrified Elizabeth in front of a graying Bruno to get him to chill. As he was to do, Tito took a beating, before the heels win by countout. Solid match that’s hot here and there, but it also loses a bit of steam towards the end.***1/4
It’s Macho Man Randy Savage, so though some of the clipping may be disappointing, and though his feud with Tito never reached the in-ring heights it could’ve on paper, and though there’s not nearly enough psychotic promos, everything is more than entertaining. Elizabeth, as always, provided the crucial complement that made the Macho Man gimmick. Their early run is great and this is a fine digest. 9/10
