wrestling / Video Reviews
Csonka Reviews WWE’s Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story DVD Set
Loading...In the spirit of full disclosure, the following DVD set was provided to 411 by WWE for review purposes.
* Runtime is approximately 7 hours.
* Synopsis: WWE fans, you have waited long enough! Randy “Macho Man” Savage captivated the sports entertainment world for over a quarter century. His glistening wardrobe, often-imitated cadence and grandiose style was outshined only by his virtuoso performances in the ring. Randy Savage, with his gorgeous leading lady Miss Elizabeth, embodied the raging 80s in the WWE and later, compounded his success in WCW. Now, the complete story of his incredible life can finally be told in Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story. In this 90-minute documentary, get brand new, exclusive commentary from family, friends and his contemporaries as they chronicle his ascent from a young baseball phenom through all of the pomp and circumstance of his incomparable career.
* Personalities interviewed for the set were: Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, Ricky Steamboat, Bret Hart, Jerry Lawler, Jimmy Hart, Ted DiBiase, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, DDP, Lanny Poffo, Judy Poffo and more.
* Note: This a review of the DVD set.
DISC ONE
Brief Documentary Review: I’m not going to do a word by word review of the documentary, just comment on some topics it covered and my overall thoughts.
* They did a really good job discussing Savage’s love of baseball and how much he wanted to make it a career. The documentary also sold how devastated Savage was when his baseball career ended so early. This led to him turning to wrestling. Lanny tells a story about how Randy actually wrestled while under a contract for baseball, masked of course.
* His pre-WWE wrestling career wasn’t as deeply explored as I would have hoped, but I really enjoyed Lawler’s comments on the feud between the territories. They did discuss his physical transformation (from slender baseball player to his bearded wrestling physique) and how he wanted to develop a persona so that he could get out from under his father’s shadow. Lanny discusses Randy having anxiety over cutting proms, which almost sounds too hard to believe because of how good he would become.
* Savage’s Memphis work got him his WWE job (thanks to Jimmy Hart and Howard Finkle recommendations). Randy made sure to bring Lanny with him. Talk turns to Savage bringing in his wife, Miss Elizabeth, to be his manager. Missy Hyatte was said to be under consideration for the job, but Randy got Elizabeth an audition and they loved her. It was new and fresh, and she was gorgeous so it worked. Tons of praise for Miss Elizabeth, noting that she was treated like royalty by the fans. They did mention that Randy was very over protective of her, but many of the guy don’t blame him for that.
* They praised Savage’s look; the robes, the gear, the music and pairing with Elizabeth combined with Savage’s athletic look made him the complete package. Savage had everything custom made by a wardrobe designer. DDP says that Savage was the example of how to do this business right when you’re not a giant.
* As they discuss how great the promo work was, and watching all the clips, reminds you how awesome a character Savage was.
* They spend a nice amount of time looking at his IC Title and first World Title run in WWE. They discussed how the IC Title was a launching pad for a young star, and made it sound so important. It’s a shame that they’ve shit on that title for so long, because it was such an important tool for the company. I felt that they missed the boat by not looking at his feud and WrestleMania match with Warrior and second title run. Steamboat put over how much of a stickler for detail and perfection Savage was. He discusses how Savage laid out the WrestleMania III match from lock up to finish. Bret Hart says that Savage vs. Steamboat was a backstage sellout, everyone was watching. Steamboat says people still talk about that match out of the 6,000 he had. He gets teared up discussing it. I love the Steamboat feud and felt that they did some great work covering that, but the Warrior stuff was also a great part of his career and another great WrestleMania moment from Savage.
* Discussion of Savage taking time off and doing the Slim Jim promotion. His perfectionist attitude also went into shooting the commercials. Sales doubled after two years with Savage as the spokesperson. This led to the move to commentary, and some felt that he did well but that it wasn’t his best work. Nash notes that Savage hated it and wanted to be in the ring because he had a lot to give. With the New generation being pushed, the feeling was that Savage didn’t mesh with the new talent and direction of the company. On top of commentary, he became an ambassador for the company. His charity work with children is discussed, noting that he was selfless with his time. For 11 straight years he read “The Night Before Christmas” for George Steinbrenner’s event for disadvantaged children. The feeling was that Savage loved the ambassador’s role, but knew he had at least another great run in him. Lanny says that he wanted to work with Shawn Michaels, and had laid out a two-year feud for them leading to Michaels retiring Savage once and for all. WWE refused, and this led Savage to WCW. We see Vince’s goodbye to Savage on Raw, and I really wished that they would have had Vince comment on this to offer his thoughts now, because there is seemingly so much unanswered about the jump. Nash and Bret say that Vince was shocked when Randy jumped to WCW, and the locker room was shook up because they all looked up to him. Hart says that both Vince and Randy felt betrayed over the situation.
* They did not go into deep detail regarding his WCW career, but they discussed the former WWE talent going to WCW and the “Huckster and Nacho Man” skits. These skits, according to Lanny, personally hurt Savage. Savage, being insulted, wanted to prove WWE wrong with his time in WCW. Flair says that Savage had issues with paranoia, and that he shouldn’t have because he was so good. Nash says that Savage and Hogan had a love/hate relationship in WCW, one month they were cool, the next they were feuding. Luger felt that Savage gave legitimacy to WCW at a time when it needed it. He says that Savage made DDP a star. Savage saw charisma in DDP, and wanted to work with him. Lanny says the “Team Madness” era was Savage reinventing himself. Randy knew he couldn’t keep up as much in the ring, so he surrounded himself with a gimmicked stable. They discussed the DDP feud more than anything, which I understand, but feel that they missed the boat by not going into the importance of the feud in WCW with Flair and how it did some of the company’s best live events business in the company’s history.
* WCW was bought by WWE, but unlike others that got brought back into the fold, Savage wasn’t. Triple H called Savage and Hogan dinosaurs in an interview, and this pissed off Savage. Then in 2003, Miss Elizabeth was found dead as Les Luger’s residence. She died due to a mixture of alcohol and painkillers. Nash says people were shocked at how she died, because no one thought that she’d be the kind of person to pass away that way. Savage expressed his condolences to the family, but would refuse to discuss it after that.
* They spent a good amount of time on his post wrestling life, which is where the room gets dusty. Between the guys that seemed to really love Savage and his mother, looking at how he seemed to be happy with life and then passed away so suddenly really pulls at the old heart strings. Savage continued to do community work, including buying a gym for a school and then taught the kids to work out properly. Some of the taking heads say that Savage could be standoffish with adults, but loved kids and was completely open to them. It was the softer side of the Macho Man.
* Lanny discusses Randy reuniting with Lynn (who he dated while playing baseball), who he later married, and Lanny says it gave him new life. His mother agrees. Nash said when Randy sold his place on the beach he knew it was serious. Savage led a secluded life with Lynn following what Lanny and Randy’s mom says was a beautiful wedding on the beach.
* About a year after the wedding was when Savage passed away in the auto accident. Lanny spent the night before with Randy, and found out about the death while traveling he next day. His mother discussing hearing about the death is heart breaking. Nash and DDP get broken up discussing the death, while others were also visibly shaken up discussing it.
DISC TWO
Intercontinental Championship Match: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat – Superstars • November 22, 1986: This is the match that put us on the path to WrestleMania 3, because this was the match that left kids hating Randy Savage back in the day. This was the match that Randy Savage tried to destroy the larynx of Steamboat. The match was their typical good affair, but this was heavy angle here when Savage sent Steamboat to the floor. Steamboat would take a double axe handle as he was prone over the barricade. The attack continued as Savage used the ring bell on Steamboat, and at that point I went from loving Randy Savage as a young man to thinking he was one of the most evil bastards ever. [***]
Lumberjack Match for the Intercontinental Championship: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Bruno Sammartino – Boston Garden • February 7, 1987: Oddly enough, towards the end of Bruno Sammartino’s career, he had some great chemistry with Savage. Sure you could say that Savage was so great that he worked well with everyone, but that wasn’t the case as we’ll see later. Anyway, they played the stipulation well and while the DQ finish was a complete disappointment, I felt it clicked very well. [**¾]
Intercontinental Championship Match: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat – Maple Leaf Gardens • February 15, 1987: This was a meeting prior to WrestleMania III. This was a great way to continue their feud prior to the big blow off. Steamboat worked a different style, he was working as if this was very personal, which it was. In the end, it took Steamboat out of his game and Savage scored the win by holding the tights in a roll up counter. The good work as you’d expect with a great story being told. [***½]
“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. “The King” Harley Race – Philadelphia, PA • September 18, 1987: This was not good. Savage was a working hard and as always was on, but Race was old and slowed badly by injury at this point, and it was a bit of a chore to get through. I would not have included this on the set. [*½]
Six-Man Tag Team Steel Cage Match: “Macho Man” Randy Savage & Strike Force vs. Honky Tonk Man & The Hart Foundation – Boston Garden • March 5, 1988: This is a really fun match, no tag rules and all members of the team had to escape to secure the victory. It was a big old brawl, but completely filled with action and very easy to watch. The mix of talent worked effortlessly, and adds into the theory that 99% of the time, WWE puts on great multi-man matches. [***½]
WWE Championship Match: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase – Boston Garden • July 9, 1988: DiBiase and Savage were a peculiar combination for me. I loved both as performers, but they never really had great matches in my opinion. They had good matches and worked well enough together, but I always felt under whelmed. This was a good outing, but like most of their matches, underachieved for some reason. [**¾]
Harlem Street Fight for the WWE Championship: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Bad News Brown – Hamilton, Ontario • January 16, 1989: This match automatically gets love for the fact that this is a street fight and they are in street clothes. I always love that. Very fun brawl overall, and was a great example of Savage being able to work out of his usual comfort zone. That is always the trademark of a great performer. This felt similar to the way Brody would work with Flair and completely make him abandon his typical formula. [***]
WWE Championship Match: Hulk Hogan vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage – Madison Square Garden • April 24, 1989: Despite people loving to hate on Hogan, and I am not his biggest fan, he and Savage always seemed to have entertaining matches (pre-WCW). This was more brawl than match, but it worked because they knew how to work with each other and make it fun and believable. Sherri‘s involvement led to the countout finish, which is frustrating because they were working such a good match until then. [***]
DISC THREE
“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper – Miami, FL • January 22, 1990: This wasn’t so much of a match as it was Sherri gets involved a lot, which obviously hurts things. There was just so much Sherri involved, and while some of the in ring was fun, it never went anywhere and they never got to that next level or gear. Add in the non-finish and we could have done without this. [**]
WWE Championship Match: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Shawn Michaels – Munich, Germany • April 14, 1992: They had another match on this same tour which was not as good, but I liked this one. The match is a very “Randy Savage” style match as opposed to the matches you’d get used to later from Shawn, which at this stage you’d expect. Shawn had a ton of charisma, but was about a year and a half away from starting to really get into his great phase. But this match is really good, with Shawn showing signs of what he’d become and Savage showing that he could work exciting matches with the younger talent. The knock is the lack of dedication ad payoff to the work on the leg, but it’s still good stuff overall. To see these guys in 1995 would have been awesome. [***]
WWE Championship Match: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior – SummerSlam • August 31, 1992: While nowhere near the classic they had at WrestleMania, this is a worthy follow up match in many ways. This relies heavily on the storyline aspect and extra curriculars, but comes off as very enjoyable, even with the countout finish. Savage and Rick Rude were the two guys that I felt got the most out of Warrior, with Hogan trailing just behind. [***¾]
WWE Championship Match: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair – Prime Time Wrestling • September 14, 1992: This was the title change to Flair following Savage winning it from Flair at WM 8. Quality match overall from these two as you’d expect, but was heavy on the story with Savage’s injured leg to explain the title change. And that’s not the worst thing. Savage passes out in the figure four, giving Flair another run with the WWE Title. These guys could do three stars in their sleep. [***]
WCW Television Championship Match: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Arn Anderson – WCW Saturday Night • January 28, 1995: This is just a damn fine pro wrestling match. I loved Savage challenging for the TV title here, the fact that a star like Savage acted like he wanted the title gave it more credibility. Something WWE should do today with the US or IC Titles, but has failed to do. They worked to the time limit draw, with Savage about to hit the elbow when time expired. He’d drop the elbow anyway, and that led to a brawl with the Stud Stable, with Sting and Dustin Rhodes making the save. In a way I thought that this would be better, but it wasn’t bad, rock solid and fun overall. [***]
Steel Cage Match for the WCW Championship: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair – WCW Superbrawl VI • February 11, 1996: I discussed the importance of the Flair vs. Savage feud in the documentary portion. I felt that did even better in WCW than WWF, not only from a business aspect but also for their in ring work. Savage sold everything for Flair so well, and while they used a lot of shenanigans, they derived their usual greatness as far as the work and storytelling went, the extra stuff hold it back a bit though. [***¾]
Las Vegas Sudden Death Match: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Diamond Dallas Page – WCW Halloween Havoc • October 26, 1997: Depending on who you talk with, this match ranges from fine to great to excellent MOTY contender. I fall in that middle category, feeling that the match was very good and that Savage did so much to make DDP a player and believable as a main event style guy. But the bullshit with the fake Sting, the ladies and the eventual limp dick ending (fake Sting) leaves a bit of a bad taste in your mouth, and takes away from it. WCW everyone. [****]
There is a very good match selection, most of it not available on the network or prior releases. While a lot of the known classics aren’t here, due to being on other sets, I felt that they gave you a wide selection of Savage’s matches with opponents he works with well. Unlike other DVDs, there are only two matches I would have dropped and replaced with others (the Piper and Race matches). Other than those, you get a nice picture of the work of Randy Savage.
You go back and watch the matches and all of the promo clips they include in the documentary and you really see how great Randy Savage truly was. When people discuss the greats (in US wrestling) you always get Sammartino, Flair, Hogan and Austin as the very top guys, and you can’t knock any of them. But I have always felt that guys like Savage and Funk get lost in the shuffle. This DVD proves that this mindset is flawed, because Savage is clearly an all time great. Make sure you pick this one up.
