Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Macho Man – The Randy Savage Story – Disc 3

 

WWF
January 22, 1990

Randy Savage (w/ Sensational Sherrie) vs. Roddy Piper
There was some tomfoolery before the match. Sherrie went to pull up Piper’s skirt, and Piper then slapped her butt. A Sherrie distraction allowed Savage to cut off Piper. Piper made a comeback and got Savage hung up in a turnbuckle. Savage came back with the airplane spin. The action spilled to the floor. The referee called for the bell. I think Savage was either DQed for Sherrie interfering or they were both counted out. It was never announced.

Roddy applied a sleeper after the match. Sherrie got in the way, but Roddy got the better of the brawl in the end.

In theory, this was a cool matchup, but it never amounted to much before the shit finish.
Match Rating: **1/4

 

WWF
April 14, 1992

Randy Savage(c) (w/ Miss Elizabeth) vs. Shawn Michaels (w/ Sensational Sherrie) [WWF Heavyweight Championship]
Savage’s left leg was clearly injured, as he was limping around before the match. They brawled on the floor for a bit. Savage briefly had control Sherrie failed at interfering at one point. Shawn finally cut off Savage with a shinbreaker on the injured leg. Shawn worked over the injured leg. This went on for a while. Savage eventually drove Shawn into a ringpost, punched him out, and used one leg to get to the top rope. Diving elbow: 1…2…3

Shawn and Sherrie attacked Savage after the match.

In theory, this match was laid out in an interesting manner. Savage was coming in with an injury. Shawn took advantage of that. Then, Savage hit his finish that requires jumping anyway. On top of that, they never really got the crowd all that invested in the proceedings. The combination of the lack of substantial payoff to the work and the relatively quiet crowd that this was performed in front of made this rather unsatisfying.
Match Rating: **

 

WWF Summerslam
August 31, 1992

Randy Savage(c) vs. The Ultimate Warrior [WWF Heavyweight Championship]

We saw clips of the build for this match. Apparently Mr. Perfect was claiming that he was going to be the manager of one of them for their title match, and that caused lots of issues. Basically, Flair and Perfect were trying to stir shit to make whoever won more vulnerable. Flair and Perfect were then shown attacking Warrior during Warrior/Savage’s tag match with The Nasty Boys. Each man was convinced that Mr. Perfect would be in his corner. Okay.

I’ve actually never seen this one. Their Retirement match is one of my favorite Wrestlemania matches ever, but I believe this one is not as beloved. We shall see.

Mr. Perfect did not come out with either man. Warrior was in control early. Savage came back, and the crowd was not pleased by this turn in events. Warrior hit a backbreaker to slow Savage down. Savage got a nearfall with a neckbreaker. Savage’s back gave out on a vertical suplex attempt. Warrior was able to connect on a vertical suplex. They started brawling on the floor. They got back into the ring, as Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect came to the ringside area. Did Warrior or Savage sell out???? Savage blocked the Warrior splash. They did the double clothesline spot. Perfect took out Savage, and the commentators talked about Warrior being the one who sold out. There was a ref bump. Warrior hit a diving axe handle for a phantom pinfall. Savage kicked out by the time the referee recovered. A second ref bump. I am not a fan of this one. Savage hit a delayed piledriver. Savage went to get the ref. Mr. Perfect then held up Warrior for Flair to hit with the brass knuckles. Savage hit the diving elbow: …1…2…NO! Warrior came back and SHOOK THEM ROPES! Shoulder tackle. Flair hit Warrior with the chair. This match is so overbooked. It should have been marketed as a Library Match. Savage had a chance to finish Warrior with a diving elbow, but he went for a plancha on Flair instead. Flair hit him with the chair for his troubles. Savage got counted out.

Flair and Perfect pounced on Savage. They tried to destroy Savage’s leg. Warrior chased them away.

I was really not a fan of this match. This is a case where the overbooking really took away from the match even if it all made storyline sense. Savage and Warrior were both working as if they were waiting for the shenanigans to start, which did not help matters. In general, PPV world title matches should not be used to set up other world title matches. It’s just stupid and insulting.
Match Rating: *

 

WWF Prime Time Wrestling
September 1, 1992

Randy Savage(c) vs. Ric Flair (w/ Mr. Perfect) [WWF Heavyweight Championship]
Savage was still hobbled after Flair and Perfect attacked him at Summerslam. Perfect kept verging on attacking Savage from the floor. Flair couldn’t get full control for a while. Eventually, Flair did get control though and proceeded to work Savage over. I believe there was a commercial break or it was just a really awful edit. Regardless, Savage started to come back. Savage hit a diving axe handle, but that just aggravated his knee injury. Razor Ramon came down to the ringside area. Flair sent Savage to the floor. Razor attacked Savage. Flair applied the figure four. Savage refused to submit. Savage passed out, and the referee counted the fall. New champ.

While this wasn’t the most exciting match these two had, I thought it was a fairly well-executed way to change the title in a convincing fashion that left room for an obvious rematch. The match was enjoyable but not close to the level of some of their other matches.
Match Rating: ***

 

WCW Saturday Night
January 28, 1995

Arn Anderson(c) (w/ Colonel Robert Parker & Meng) vs. Randy Savage [WCW Television Championship]
Anderson was not having much success early. A Meng distraction did not even work. Anderson finally cut Savage off by sending him into a ringpost. Anderson then worked him over. Savage applied a sleeper, but Anderson reversed it into a jawbreaker. Savage started to fight back. Five minutes left in the time limit. Parker interfered to get Anderson the advantage again. Savage fought back again with two minutes remaining. He hit the diving axe handle to the floor. A Parker distraction allowed Anderson to hit a suplex with fifteen seconds remaining. Savage tried to go for the elbow, but the time limit expired.

Savage hit the elbow anyway. The referee counted a pinfall for some reason so the fans thought they saw a title change. The Stud Stable ran in to attack Savage. Dustin Rhodes and Sting made the save.

I enjoyed this, but it didn’t really live up to my expectations of a fifteen minute Anderson/Savage WCW Saturday Night match. On paper, it just sounds much better than it ended up being. Both guys were seemingly holding back a bit.
Match Rating: ***

 

WCW Superbrawl
February 11, 1996

Randy Savage(c) (w/ Miss Elizabeth) vs. Ric Flair (w/ Woman) [Cage Match for the WCW Heavyweight Championship]
I think I’ve seen this one before? Is this the one where Elizabeth turns on Savage at the end?

Flair offered Elizabeth a chance to kiss Flair before the match. Flair was in control early, and he then took out the ref. The ref and Savage recovered within a minute. So, I’m not sure of what the point of that attack on the ref was. There was some rather lifeless action for a bit. Savage applied the figure four. Savage went for a diving axe handle off the top of the cage, but Flair punched him on the way down. Flair was then in control after that. The crowd was not hot for this at all. Savage fought back. Woman was so annoying with her yelling. Flair tried to escape, but Savage pulled down his trunks. Flair then got crotched with his ass hanging out. Savage pinned him: 1…2…NO! The bell rang anyway. Flair was busted open. He hit Savage in the balls. Flair kept trying to escape, but Savage always kept him inside. I think Woman and Savage fucked up a powder spot, but maybe it was on purpose. I think the idea was that Savage avoided it, actually. Elizabeth gave Flair her shoe, and he hit Savage: 1…2…3

Hulk Hogan came out and pointed at Elizabeth. Arn Anderson and Flair avoided Hogan’s wrath.

I really find this match to be quite boring with an unsatisfying finish. That is a deadly combination for me. There were some good moments of course, and both guys worked hard. It just didn’t really come together the way you would want.
Match Rating: **1/4

 

WCW Halloween Havoc
October 26, 1997

Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) vs. Diamond Dallas Page [Las Vegas Sudden Death]
The DDP feud is basically the last artistically redeemable thing that Savage accomplished in professional wrestling.

The match started as a brawl on the floor. DDP hit a Diamond Dallas Pescado. Savage came back and hit the diving axe handle. The brawl spilled into the crowd. They eventually made their way to the Halloween Havoc entrance ramp set. They made their way back to the ringside area. Savage seemed to be getting some semblance of control. Right on cue, he went to use a video camera, but DDP kicked it into his face. Elizabeth then broke a glass platter on the ref’s head. Elizabeth started choking DDP, but Kimberly dragged Elizabeth to the back. Both men got to their feet before the ten count. I guess it’s a Last Man Standing match. DDP made a comeback. Savage hit the diving elbow. He hit another one. Right to the injured ribs. DDP just beat the ten count. Ref bump. Diamond Cutter. Both men beat another count. Savage hit a low blow. Fake Sting (?) came out and hit DDP in the ribs with a belt. DDP could not answer the ten count. Ffs, WCW.

Savage hit the ref and then attacked DDP some more. DDP had to be stretchered out. Savage attacked DDP some more.

Just as I was thinking that this match was much better than I remembered, Fake Sting came out to decide the match. Overall, this was still a good match. The ending just left a very sour taste in my mouth.
Match Rating: ***1/2

 

Check out some free Randy Savage matches!
Randy Savage vs. Tito Santana
Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase
Randy Savage vs. Jake Roberts
Randy Savage vs. Bad News Brown
Randy Savage vs. Aldo Marino (WWF debut)
Randy Savage vs. George “The Animal” Steele
Randy Savage, Jeff Hardy, & AJ Styles vs. Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, & Jeff Jarrett

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to my Twitter or to my email address: [email protected]. Also, feel free to check out my own wrestling website,FreeProWrestling.com. Check out a full/organized list of all the wrestling show reviews I’ve done at 411mania.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

The more Randy Savage I watch, the higher he rises on my list of favorite wrestlers ever (he's probably in my top five at the moment). He was pretty much everything you would want in a wrestler. Savage is so good that even a compilation full of not-so-good matches is entertaining to watch because it means watching more of him. However, I think WWE is trying to sell this set more on the documentary than the actual matches this time. As usual, it's a slick documentary that is easy to watch and full of nuggets of information that you either did not know or had forgotten. As per WWE tradition with these sorts of things, it leaves you wanting more without making you feel like you wasted your time. Unfortunately, there are very few instances where I can recommend a WWE set on that alone. This is not the exception. It might have been if we finally got Vince to open up on the subject, but that is apparently something that will just never happen. With that in mind, I cautiously recommend this set for purchase.  I really enjoyed it, but it may not be something you want to spend money on if you're not a huge Savage fan.