wrestling / Columns

Into the Mouth of Madness: The Immortalization of Randy Savage

January 20, 2015 | Posted by Len Archibald

Here is why I love professional wrestling: As someone who has dedicated his life to the art of storytelling, I consider this weird dance of athleticism and soap opera one of the best modern forms. These gladiators come from somewhere and each take a unique path in their careers from beginning to end. Some are larger than life icons. Some overcame impossible odds to live among these icons. These careers intersect and share moments that define them. In the ring, these competitors lose battles and win wars. These professional wrestling stories are interactive with its audience and use a clear language through its physicality to weave a narrative that encourages the boundless imagination of the collective human race and speaks to the human condition. There is conflict and suspense. We laud the musings of Shakespeare, King, Dickens, Dahl and Gaiman through their words, so who do we consider as some of the greats who took us to new worlds through their physical actions?

WrestleMania XI was the low point of my fandom. Yes, even lower than WrestleMania IX. 1995 was a sad, sad year in my life, and was perhaps the height of my cynicism in the world. I discovered the political and psychological definition of anarchy and was hooked. Everything around me was a lie and everything felt like a disappointment – even when in hindsight, some of my moments may have not been as dramatic as I remember. The lead up going into the eleventh edition of WrestleMania was not…great. It wasn’t the fault of the performers, but the promoters who had clearly lost touch with the tone of the time. We were in a post-Cobain world. The air smelled of conspiracy, fanned by the flames of the cultural phenomenon that was The X-Files.

It was not a big deal in hindsight – but I remember really, REALLY wanting the WrestleMania XI main event to pit WWF Champion Randy Savage against Royal Rumble winner and #1 contender, Shawn Michaels. Being as cynical as I am, I had gone through a period of trying to soak up the point of views of all the great storytellers to see who could speak to me. In professional wrestling, I considered Randy Savage to be the best long term storyteller and HBK was becoming his heir apparent. They were both right there; Savage and Michaels competed at WrestleMania X and through their seemingly unrelated moments at the event, there was a clear through line for the two to meet a year later at WWF’s biggest event. Savage, after being caught up in his grudge feud with Crush sets his eyes on the WWF Title he had not held in three years and unknowingly inserts himself into the Brother vs. Brother feud with WWF Champ, Bret Hart and Owen Hart that gives Owen an opportunity to hatch a sneaky and deplorable scheme to dethrone his brother from the seat of WWF Champion. Michaels, on the other hand, would springboard his performance at WreslteMania X’s spectacular ladder match and gain more momentum than any other wrestler on the planet and would push harder to prove he is the most complete in-ring competitor. Michaels would overcome the betrayal of his bodyguard, Diesel, avenge his WrestleMania X loss and would best 29 other competitors to earn a shot to be the best at the main event of WrestleMania XI.

A glimpse of what could have been…

Then, abruptly – Savage was gone, denying a dream match we never got to see come to fruition. I had that same feeling on May 20, 2011 when Savage abruptly left us for good. After years of a blackball with no clear reason for it, Randy Savage had found himself back into the good graces of WWE. He had made appearances advertising the WWE All-Stars game and raised speculation that finally…FINALLY, roads were being mended to correct one of the biggest omissions in the WWE Hall of Fame: a rightful induction for The Macho Man so he could be immortalized publicly for his contributions to the artform. This has been an omission that has irked me for the longest time: seeing Hogan, Piper and others from the Rock n’ Wrestling era be inducted while Savage continued to be snubbed over the years was maddening. Savage was the second biggest star behind Hogan and provided professional wrestling numerous great moments in history. The Macho Man competed in what is argued by some to be WWF’s greatest match: the breathtaking Intercontinental Title match with Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania III. Randy Savage brought great mainstream appeal to the artform – he certainly deserved to have a chance to headline the night before WrestleMania and provide the fans with one more ride into the mouth of Madness: Macho Madness. And just like that, he was gone.

A week ago, we were given a treat as various news outlets leaked that WWE had finally come to terms with the Poffo Family for Randy Savage to be inducted into the 2015 Hall of Fame. It was long overdue and bittersweet. For me, I have a real platform to make the case as to why I feel Randy Savage was wrestling’s greatest storyteller during the great boom of the mid 1980’s and early 90’s. Savage – a phenomenal athlete – was also a master craftsman at his art, meticulously telling stories in and out of the ring with precise detail on every nuance. If Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon’s collaboration on the big stories was the wrestling equivalent to a Jerry Bruckheimer/Don Simpson blockbuster, Savage was WWF’s Hitchcock, weaving entertaining yarns that were both suspenseful and touched the height of human emotions.

As Hulk Hogan took on the world, defeating giants, traitors, backstabbers and monsters, it was Randy Savage who was the face of the single-best long term storyline WWF ever produced. And like all great stories, it focused on love. Upon Savage’s arrival to the mainstream juggernaut that was WWF at the time in the summer of 1985, he was almost immediately paired with his manager, Elizabeth. The two would take fans on a roller coaster ride that touched on several universal tropes brilliantly: competition, partnership, deception, the fall from grace, redemption and ultimately, respect. From Elizabeth’s reveal to fans as Savage’s manager to the fallout of WrestleMania VIII and the bitter feud with Ric Flair, Savage was the main collaborator of a seven-year odyssey that captured the imagination of fans and showed critics that professional wrestling was just an essential artform that speaks to the human condition – valuable as illustrations, photography, sculpture, literature, film, stage, dance and music. There were peaks and valleys of sweeping emotion from all involved during this period colored with gradual, logical changes of all the characters involved. The Savage/Elizabeth drama had a definitive beginning, middle and end. It was the logical progression of a gifted athlete who grew into a champion, who lost his way in the glitz and glamor, only to fall and find new hope and redemption through the power of love.

HISTORY BECKONS THE MACHO MAN

Randy Mario Poffo was born in Columbus, Ohio and broke into the wrestling business in 1973 during the fall and winter of the baseball off season. His father, Angelo was a well-known wrestler in the 1950s and 1960s, and was featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for his ability to do sit-ups for hours on end. Even though the Poffo family was a well-known commodity in the professional wrestling world, Randy’s passion was baseball – he was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals organization as a catcher out of high school. Injuries would plague his baseball career and Savage would turn his attention to professional wrestling permanently, first appearing – ironically enough – as “The Spider” which was a riff on Spider-Man. Decades later, Savage’s career would come full circle as he played Bonesaw – Spider-Man’s in ring opponent in the 2002 Spider-Man film. Poffo would take the ring name Randy Savage at the suggestion of Georgia Championship Wrestling booker Ole Anderson, who said that the name Poffo did not fit someone who “wrestled like a savage”, while the “Macho Man” nickname was adopted after his mother read a Reader’s Digest article predicting that the phrase would become “the next hot term”. Savage eventually decided to end his baseball career and become a full-time wrestler, working with his brother, Lanny (who would be known as The Genius) and father.

Randy and Lanny entered the Memphis scene, joining Jerry Lawler’s Continental Wrestling Association. Savage feuded with Lawler over the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship and teamed with his brother to battle The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express; a feud that reached its apex when Savage injured Ricky Morton by piledriving him through the timekeeper’s table. Later in 1984, Savage turned babyface and allied with Lawler against Jimmy Hart’s First Family alliance, only to turn heel on Lawler again in early 1985 and resume the feud with him over the title. This ended when Lawler beat Savage in a Loser Leaves Town match.

In June 1985, Savage signed with the WWF and was billed as “the top free agent in pro wrestling.” Savage’s first appearances on Tuesday Night Titans featured several established managers – Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart, and “Classy” Freddie Blassie – offering their services to The Macho Man. Savage’s first shocking moment arrived when he declined their offers and chose Miss Elizabeth as his new manager. The Savage/Elizabeth story took hold as Savage played a crazed, ego-maniacal bully who mistreated Miss Elizabeth and threatened anyone who even looked at her. Savage’s pay-per-view debut at The Wrestling Classic on November 7, 1985 served as foreshadowing into his career, as he participated in a 16-man tournament and defeated Ivan Putski, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and the Dynamite Kid before losing by countout in the finals to The Junkyard Dog.

A feud with Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana began later that year and Savage got his first taste of mainstream gold as on February 24, 1986, he won the WWF Intercontinental title at the Boston Garden by nefarious means. Feuds with WWF champion Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino and George “The Animal” Steele followed. He also formed a brief tag-team with Jesse “The Body” Ventura, who remained a vocal supporter of Savage throughout Ventura’s tenure as a WWF color commentator. Savage’s beef with George Steele heated up as Steele developed a crush on Miss Elizabeth, culminating in a match at WrestleMania 2, where Savage bested The Animal to retain his Intercontinental title. The Animal would continue to be a thorn in Savage’s side, though and would drive The Macho Man towards new heights of violence in WWF. This violence led to one of the more memorable moments of my youth, as a match between Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat ended with Savage firing off a top rope Double Ax Handle onto Steamboat and crushing his opponent’s larynx against the guardrail. Steamboat sold the moment as if he was near death; fans in attendance and at home salivated for anyone to take Savage down a peg.

WrestleMania III pitted Savage against his arch nemesis, The Dragon who returned for revenge for almost ending his career. While I was already a wrestling fan, it was still a humdrum hobby for me to pass the time – but the masterpiece between Savage and Steamboat opened my eyes to view professional wrestling as a precise art form. The pacing of the match, the nearly 20 two-counts and the unbridled passion on display from all involved in the match gave me a new understanding of how pro wrestling can be used to manipulate the emotions of the audience like puppets. The breathtaking match ended as Steamboat pinned Savage (with help from George Steele, who pushed Savage from the top rope seconds before he was pinned) to end his near 14-month reign as Intercontinental champion. While several cite (with no true arguments from me) that The Honky Tonk Man is the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time, I consider Savage to be the greatest simply because his long reign and high-octane affairs brought the level of the IC Title as close to the prestige of the WWF Title one could get. Savage/Steamboat was named 1987’s Match of the Year by both Pro Wrestling Illustrated and the Wrestling Observer. While I was a firm Hulkamaniac, I had gained a better appreciation for the “smaller” athletes. Steamboat and Savage quickly became the performers I began to look up to and emulate.

Savage would win the King of the Ring tournament later in 1987 and rode a wave of popularity that was becoming undeniable. His performance at WrestleMania III was so unlike anything most fans had witnessed at the time that he was being cheered by a majority of the fans despite being heel. He softened his hostilities towards the fans and Miss Elizabeth. When The Honky Tonk Man declared himself “the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time”, Savage began a feud with him to get the title back and effectively turned face in the process. The October 3, 1987 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event saw Savage win a match against HTM via disqualification. In the ensuing beatdown, Miss Elizabeth prompted Hulk Hogan to save him that lead into the formation of the tag team that would shape and define his persona: “The Mega Powers.” It is still the most gleefully, glorious, most powerfully over the top handshake perhaps in the history of mankind.

SUPERNOVA

This wave of momentum carried Savage into WrestleMania IV, where he participated in the 14-man tournament for the vacant WWF Championship. Savage’s one-man performance in four different styles of matches, against four very different opponents in powerhouse “The Natural” Butch Reed, hard-hitting stamina machine, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, the gigantic One Man Gang, and the technical marvel “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase helped elevate his stock greatly. Savage’s performance in one night showcased that he was ready to carry the ball as WWF Champion. At the end of WrestleMania IV, Savage had won the vacant WWF Title to a sea of cheers. The image of placing Miss Elizabeth over his shoulders with the gold is still one of the penultimate moments of the Rock n’ Wrestling Era – a genuine feel good moment that are now few and far between in mainstream wrestling. Savage had reached the mountaintop, and was considered in some circles just as popular – and in some smaller ones, even more popular – than Hulkamania itself. Savage became the most emulated and imitated professional wrestler of the day with children and adults all over the world attempting to match his trademark raspy voice, catchphrases and mannerisms.

Savage would hold onto the WWF title for over a year, defending it against the likes of super heavyweights One Man Gang and André the Giant. While Savage proved to be a fighting champion, he and Mega Powers partner, Hulk Hogan would become embroiled in a feud with The Mega Bucks, Ted DiBiase and André the Giant, whom they would defeat in the main event of the first-ever SummerSlam. The end of that match saw Miss Elizabeth make a rare show of engagement as she distracted the opposing team by showing off her “assets”. The ensuing celebration saw Hogan get a little too close to Elizabeth for Savage’s liking, but they continued to press on and dominate the main event scene of WWF programming, feuding with The Twin Towers (The Big Boss Man and Akeem.) But a powder keg was awaiting all who witnessed the bright rise of the Mega Powers. There is only one thing that happens to a star that burns at such a quick pace: supernova.

Problems between Savage and Hogan developed in early 1989 after Hogan took Elizabeth as his manager, and began to plant seeds into the mind of the already unstable and jealous WWF Champion. At the 1989 Royal Rumble, Hogan accidentally eliminated Savage from the Royal Rumble match and began to tussle until Elizabeth separated them. The February 3, 1989 episode of The Main Event saw The Mega Powers take on the Twin Towers in a match that saw Elizabeth accidentally get injured at ringside. Hogan carried the unconscious manager to the back, enraging Savage to the point that he abandoned Hogan later in the match. The later spat between Savage and Hogan in the locker room is now an iconic bit of television, with Savage’s declaration that Hogan was not only an inferior wrestler to him, but that the Hulkster also had lust in his eyes for Elizabeth. The sudden attack on Hogan was shocking and brutal as Savage tossed the helpless Hogan into everything he could find, without regard for Elizabeth’s pleas – or her physical well-being. The Mega Powers had exploded.

After a 371-day reign as WWF Champion, Savage lost the title to Hulk Hogan at the main event of WrestleMania V. Savage would replace Elizabeth with Sensational Sherri as his manager – a great dick move as Sherri was everything, physically and psychologically, that Elizabeth was not. It marked a true break from what fans had known as “The Macho Man.” Savage would co-main event SummerSlam 1989, teaming with Zeus against The Mega-Maniacs, Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake. After defeating King Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Savage adopted the moniker “The Macho King” and started a new phase in his career. With Queen Sherri at his side, the new King would reign havoc on his opponents, using a scepter given to him by former foe, Ted DiBiase as a heinous weapon. The “Macho King” and Hulk Hogan met one “final” time when Savage got a shot at Hogan’s WWF Championship on the February 23, 1990 episode of The Main Event. The pinfall was counted by new heavyweight boxing champion Buster Douglas despite Savage kicking out at two. Douglas then punched Savage in the face after The Macho King confronted and then slapped Douglas. Even though Savage was WWF’s #1 heel, it was The Macho King who continued to raise the mainstream awareness of the WWF.

The second act of Randy Savage’s career began with a feud with the “Common Man” Dusty Rhodes, losing a mixed tag match (along with Sherri) to Rhodes and his manager, Sapphire at WrestleMania VI – an event where Elizabeth made an appearance as “The Crown Jewel” and distracted Savage and Sherri enough to lose. This prompted a noticeable shift in Savage’s character, as the mere mention of Miss Elizabeth sent The Macho King to a tailspin of rage and violence. It was obvious to fans that Savage had clearly lost his way without Elizabeth serving as a moral compass to guide him. Savage had fallen farther and farther on the heel end of the spectrum and something had to give. In late 1990, Savage started a feud with then WWF champion The Ultimate Warrior that escalated at the 1991 Royal Rumble when Warrior refused to promise Savage the right to challenge him for the title, should Warrior defend it successfully against Sgt. Slaughter. Outraged, Savage promised revenge, which he got during the Slaughter-Warrior title match – attacking the champion before the match and smashing his scepter over Warrior’s head leading to Slaughter winning the WWF Title.

These events at the Royal Rumble led to a career-ending match at WrestleMania VII between Savage and Warrior, and the apex of a storyline that had been ongoing since Savage unveiled Elizabeth as his manager. Savage, lost in a haze of ego, rage and violence felt he had nothing left to prove on the big stage and if he was going to climb back to the hunt for the WWF Title that had eluded him for two years, he needed to summon the darkest place he could find to defeat The Ultimate Warrior. This was not only about besting an opponent, but ensuring a livelihood. The Savage/Warrior match became an instant classic, one of the first matches I can remember that acted more like a dramatic presentation one would find at the Royal Shakespeare or Stratford Theater than inside a wrestling ring. These characters were clearly defined with the highest stakes one could deem imaginable outside of death. All roles were played to perfection – everyone from the performers in the ring, to Sherri’s antics outside of it, to Bobby Heenan’s and Gorilla Monsoon’s commentary gave the audience the sentiment that something special was taking place in Los Angeles. Savage kicked out of Warrior’s patented Gorilla Press Slam and Splash(!) Savage dropped FIVE(!!!!!) Flying Elbows and Warrior STILL kicked out. Warrior would then dig deep and defeat Savage after receiving a message from “The Gods” (and a few devastating battering rams), effectively ending Savage’s “career.”

THE AUTEUR

It was here that it seemed as if Randy Savage’s career – nay – his entire LIFE flashed before his eyes. Understand that in storyline terms, Savage was every bit The Ultimate Warrior’s equal, kicking out of the most devastating maneuvers in The Warrior’s offensive arsenal. As cruel as The Macho Man may have been to the fans and the other face wrestlers, the one thing that no one could deny was that deep inside, professional wrestling and the thrill of competition was in Savage’s blood. Those are the defining traits of a BABYFACE wrestler, and what usually separates a good face from a great one. Savage couldn’t afford to lose: there was nothing else for him. The one thing outside of wrestling that gave him any sympathy, he violently tossed out of his life. It was at this match that Randy Savage “became a man.”

Randy Savage (characteristically) just wanted to be the best in the world at what he did: he didn’t want the praise from the commentators, or the cheers of the fans – he just wanted what any sane human being wants in their lives: acceptance and recognition for his talent. He clawed to the top of the mountain, yet it seemed empty. He was always in the shadow of something bigger. It seemed as if he was Salieri and Hogan (or even Elizabeth) was Mozart. Losing to The Ultimate Warrior meant he lost EVERYTHING. The fans cheered wildly as The Warrior planted one foot on his chest, arms outstretched in victory. His career was over. He could no longer apply his God-given talent for the world to see. At the very worst, the one person who supported him at this stage in his career literally kicked him when he was down. Savage was a tool, a ploy…used to simply enhance her own selfish career. It was Elizabeth who finally came to Savage’s rescue – not just from Sherri’s venom, but himself.

As Randy Savage stood there, battered, beaten and broken – confused, yet compelled to do something as the love of his life stood in front of him, it was the simplest idea that struck a chord with the live audience: “You lost the match, you lost your career – but you never lost ME. I’ve always been there. Even at your lowest point, even right now, when you don’t know what you’re going to do, I’m still here.” At that point, Savage didn’t even hesitate. He knew what he had to do…

…Then they embrace. Only on the rarest occasions in my life as a fan of professional wrestling, had I ever felt whatever it is that one feels that convinces them that there is something more – a little deeper – to professional wrestling than just “oiled muscle-bound men who grapple in a per-determined, choreographed ‘sport’”. As cynical and smarky as we all can be around here, for as much as we may argue with others over which promotion is more superior, which performer deserves to be at the top of the mountain, the flaws in booking, the backstage drama and politics, the needless death and physical toll wrestling’s shadow hangs over these performers, the drug use, the self-destructive habits, the misogynist attitude of promotions AND fans and self-serving nature of the industry – there are – there HAS to be – moments in which we all understand and confirm to ourselves:

“THIS is why I love professional wrestling. This is why I’ve caught myself mimicking the poses and gestures of my favorite wrestlers. This is why I’ve ripped off the catchphrases and integrated them into my personal language. This is why I am deeply disturbed when a performer dies young or involves themselves in a deplorable action. This is why we argue with each other over storylines. This is why…Because somewhere, underneath all that filth and fury, this form of entertainment on its absolute best day, can give me a high that no drug or no drink can match.”

The Savage/Warrior match was not just professional wrestling – it was much more than that. It was the climax of a SIX YEAR journey into the lives of Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth. Fans were emotionally invested in the lives of these two characters and their on again/off again relationship. I am not sure that perhaps apart from the Raven/Tommy Dreamer feud in ECW, had any mainstream wrestling promotion had taken such love, care and detail into a long-term storyline of this magnitude. Every major event in Randy Savage’s WWF career was a logical path leading up to this very moment. That is why there were fans who wept (and still weep) at the embrace. It is why I consider Randy Savage perhaps the best “director” of matches in professional wrestling history. Despite the notions of what we view in front of us being “scripted”, the one thing that Savage understood was the very real and raw emotional relationship fans have with this crazy business. Somehow, Savage understood that his matches needed to be more than just a spectacle of athletics. Savage understood the spectacle of human emotion and psychology as well – perhaps more than any other mind in wrestling history. Like the great filmmakers of our time: Hitchcock, Ford, Truffaut, Spielberg, Bergman and Kurosawa, Randy Savage was an auteur, a performer whose personal influence and artistic control over his work was so great that a match that Savage is widely regarded as the author of the match. No two Savage matches were the same; The Macho Man made it a point to map out every moment of his matches to the very last detail.

THE MADNESS OF REALITY AND THE SANITY OF DEATH

This is why his sudden departure from the WWF in 1994 affected me so much, and why when Shawn Michaels made his unprecedented return in 2002 I still held out some form of hope that something could be reconciled between Savage and WWE. With his performance at the 2003 Survivor Series Elimination match, HBK evolved from “All-time great wrestler” to “All-time great PERFORMER” right before our eyes. Michaels was able to convey emotion and drama in a way that I had only been able to see from Randy Savage. It was a confirmation (in my mind) that the WrestleMania XI main event had got it wrong on all levels. A Savage-Michaels confrontation may had gone down as the greatest mainstream professional wrestling match ever. We will never get to witness such a spectacle. It is the reality of the disappointment of life. We got a brief glimpse of Savage vs Hart or Micheals early but never got to see those matches on a grand scale. All we really have is this forgotten gem that is a precursor of three of the most important careers in wrestling history interescting over the next 15 years:

Savage would be embroiled in a bitter feud with Jake Roberts that saw Savage on the receiving end of the more graphic images in history where a helpless, tied up Macho Man would fall victim to a deadly snake bite. Savage would win the WWF Title one final time at WrestleMania VIII to complete the arc between he and Elizabeth as he defended his wife’s honor in the face of Ric Flair’s antics before he would slip into a role of semi-retired color commenter for WWF shortly after. His abrupt departure in 1994 confused fans, and confused them even more when he wound up with Hulk Hogan in WCW. Wars and rumors of affairs with an underage Stephanie McMahon would become part of the wrestling fan lexicon. Vince McMahon, embittered with Savage’s departure would characterize him with tasteless vignettes where “The Nacho Man” would appear on RAW programming. Not many would speak up, shed light or offer any clarity as to why the rift between Savage and McMahon was so wide. Most attribute it to Savage’s shocking defection to WCW, which some insiders consider as an unforgivable sin to Vince McMahon. When Savage would publicly feud with Hogan, proving Savage to be perhaps the most unique rapper to emerge since Shaquille O’Neil, fans were left even more confounded as to what was going on in the life of The Macho Man. Fans would see Savage win titles and even World War 3 in WCW, but it did not carry the same magic it once did. Apart from a feud that virtually made Diamond Dallas Page a star, Savage was lost among the juggernaut of the New World Order and slipped farther into the role of utility player. A final attempt at a return fizzled in TNA in 2005 when Savage had to leave the promotion due to health concerns.

On the morning of May 20, 2011 – a little more than a year into a new marriage with longtime girlfriend, Barbara Lynn Payne – Savage died after suffering a sudden heart attack while driving with his new bride in Seminole, Florida. Savage became unresponsive and lost control of his Jeep Wrangler, crashing into a tree. He was 58 years old. Savage is survived by his only son, Roderick Randal Poffo.

Years have passed. We have all become older, some of us wiser and more mature (not by much), but most of us have learned to put aside petty differences with old foes in the name of peace – for no other reason than the understanding that life itself is a fragile thing. Why bog ourselves down with hate for our fellow man over past squabbles that in hindsight – did not mean as much as we remembered. In the heat of any moment, we irrational, illogical animals can say the most harmful things, commit the vilest actions and hurt the ones we love the most all in the name of proving a point or being “right.” No one is perfect (save for Curt Hennig) and we all hold grudges. Some of those grudges are taken to our graves. For the few, some of those grudges can be put aside to view the bigger picture of life.

These professional wrestlers share a bond that we fans do not truly understand. They travel together, work out together, bleed and break bones together. They share financial and emotional advice with each other. It is a secret brother/sisterhood that we only catch glimpses of from time to time, where the real life conflicts and egos come into view. I can only imagine that being involved in this seemingly secret society where trust is perhaps the #1 point of contention, where that trust is broken, the wounds run deep. I do not know why Savage had been denied his rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame. To be frank, I do not care. I do know that it was a long time coming, and well-deserved. Randy Savage pulled me into the art of professional wrestling deeper than any performer before him. If Savage’s antics in and out of the ring did not fascinate me on the scale it did, I would not be writing these words – or have the affinity for this violent ballet that I share with you. I would not seek out Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat or care for nothing New Japan. I would not even have a wrestling character that I could precisely imitate and impress my friends with that even THEY instantly recognize.

…and a world where we cannot imitate Randy Savage from the mouth of madness is a sad one, indeed.

Thank you, Randy Savage. Congratulations for making it to the Hall of Fame. Now, get Elizabeth in there, too…History beckons it.

Whoa, man…FREAK OUT!

Len Archibald is the former Executive Director of the Northwest Ohio Independent Film Festival, and is a current movie reviewer for WLIO in Lima, Ohio.

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