411’s WWE Rivals Report: Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage

-Written: 5.24.26
-Source: A&E
-Run Time: 1 Hour (w/ commercials)

-WWE Rivals is back for another season, though they have this listed as a continuation of Season Five. This would be episode 10 in that run. This is going to be fun because I love this feud and their Mania VIII match is one of my 10 favorite matches of all time.

-Gabriel Igelsias is our host and joining him at the round table this week: Kofi Kingston, Kevin Nash, JBL, and Nattie.

-Nattie notes that both men had strong personalities. CM Punk says Savage is from outer space and Lanny Poffo (from 2022) talks about his brother and how he would do anything to entertain and that’s what drew people to watch him. Nash talks about The Flying Elbow and how Savage made sure to land more of his weight on his opponent and told Nash the big guys could take more. Funny!

-We see Savage win the WWF Title at WrestleMania IV and become a mega-star. He then loses a retirement match to The Ultimate Warrior at Mania VII and I love that match so much as well. He wasn’t happy though as he wanted to be in the ring.

-We see Savage propose to Miss Elizabeth and they have an on screen wedding at SummerSlam 1991. Mooney notes Liz was his wife and business partner. Hogan says Savage was madly in love with Liz. Nattie puts over how much Liz meant to Savage’s career. True that!

-Meanwhile, Ric Flair is down South and is the cockiest man in the world. He loves to brag about all the women he has been with and how much money he has. They talk about the night in 1988 when Flair and Savage were each Champion and the companies ran the same city. It seems Flair and Savage went off to a private room and had a conversation. First time I ever heard that. It seemed like a dream match that could never happen.

-Enter Jim Herd, and he wants to push Flair down the card. Flair talks about the deposit he put down on the World Title and wants it back. Herd cusses him out and Flair ends up in the WWE by the summer of 1991.

-Ric Flair debuts in the WWF and has The Big Gold Belt with him and if there was a wrestling internet back then this would have broken it. Flair is paired with Heenan and then Mr. Perfect, once Heenan can’t go on the road anymore. Prichard notes it was a roster of fresh match ups for Flair as he had Hogan, Taker, Savage, Piper, and Sid.

–Royal Rumble 1992: I love this match so much as well! Before we get too far into discussing it we take a break.

-Commercials!

-Back to Rumble 92 and we see the famous ending of Hogan getting eliminated and then pulling Sid out while Flair helps to make Flair the WWF Champion. Flair says winning that Title was awesome as he was back where he should be and had people that appreciated him. Keith Greenberg notes that it validated Flair and we get to the hear the famous “tear in my eye,” promo.

-WrestleMania VIII Press Conference: Hulk Hogan is announced as Flair’s opponent for Mania VIII and Sid is not happy. BOGUS as he would say. Hogan says he felt the match with him and Flair was a match made in heaven. Bruce says Flair/Hogan was the dream match of all dream matches. He says it didn’t happen because it was test marketed and it flopped. Flair says they could not sell out MSG or down South. Bruce says Flair/Hogan didn’t have the story. Hogan felt the fans deserved that match at Mania. Back to the table where Nash says Hogan needed someone he could pound on him and get to the Hulk Up. I mean, WCW ran the match immediately and did the biggest buy in their history to that point.

-The change was made and a double Main Event was announced with Savage vs Flair and Hogan vs. Sid. Some people didn’t like Savage/Flair being announced first and then the angle, but I was okay with it. In my mind it made sense as Flair knew Savage’s weakness was Liz and Flair had a thing for the ladies, so he started the mind games after the match was announced. We get the story of Flair saying he has a surprise for Savage. Gene interviews Flair, who has a copy of the latest WWF Magazine.

-Greenburg talks about the importance of the WWF Magazine in those days. I really need to find my old stash of magazines. Inside this issue as photos of Flair with Liz before she was with Macho Man. So awesome! Flair laughs about it and Bruce says he thought it was genius. Taker says that is what a great heel is all about. Truth! TOM RINALDI is here and talks about Flair calling Liz “damaged goods.” That wasn’t on my bingo card.

-Commercials!

-JBL goes over Savage’s weakness being Liz and how that led to The Mega Powers exploding. It was easy, low hanging fruit, but worked. I love anytime they talk about Liz. First woman I ever had a crush on as a kid. Rosenberg brings up how faking photos wasn’t a real thing back in 1992. Kofi says Liz was a saint and the princess and now she is with someone other than Randy.

-Flair doesn’t think Macho enjoyed the angle, but he didn’t turn it down. Bruce thinks it took a toll on Randy and fed into the paranoia. He also knows that Randy wanted to be back in a top spot and this story was going to get him there. We get behind the scenes footage of Gene interviewing Randy at his home. Gene says they loved working together. Savage screaming “untrue” while looking unhinged is amazing work.

-Flair says they shot everything at Bobby Heenan’s house and puts over Gene for being the best. We get a great photo of Liz and Flair standing by a horse and Flair saying she was by her two favorite studs. I LOVE IT ALL SO MUCH!

-JBL notes the WWE Universe loved Miss Elizabeth. Nattie says she wanted to be like Elizabeth when she was a little girl. Lanny notes Liz had poise and greatness and the fans could believe in her. Punk says people watching at home know heartbreak and that hits compared to other stories in wrestling. FLAIR TELLS SAVAGE THAT LIZ RODE SPACE MOUNTAIN! He then tells Savage he will be damaged goods just like his wife. I WANT TO GO WATCH THIS MATCH RIGHT NOW!

-Commercials!

-Oh, we aren’t done as Flair promises a large centerfold with Liz wearing only a staple to debut at Mania. Punk laughs as how crazy it sounds. JBL: “I banged your wife, what are you going to do about it?” They talk about Flair having the pressure of being WWF Champion heading into Mania. He had something to prove and says Mania is the mecca.

–WrestleMania VIII: JBL brings up how Savage planned everything out way in advance and Flair called everything in the ring. It seems Kofi didn’t know that as he seems caught off guard hearing that. Flair say she tried to tell Randy to relax and feel the crowd, but Randy had his style. I don’t care how the sausage was made. I just know it was AWESOME!

-The match is crazy intense with Savage acting like a mad man and Flair trying to survive the early onslaught. Hogan says it was two excellent workers with an interesting story. Punk notes you get sucked in watching that match. No kidding! He says he had just watched it recently and it was art. Again, no kidding! Flair gets busted open and A&E gives us all the blood in color. Things get so intense that Liz makes her way down to the ring.

-Commercials!

-Back to Liz marching down to ring with a young Shane McMahon and other officials trying to keep her away. Flair hits on her because he can’t help himself. Savage ends up getting the win with a roll-up and a fist full of tights. We aren’t done yet though as Flair gets in Liz’s face and KISSES HER! Liz with a slap and Macho attacks. Flair says it was the best part of the match. I will say it again, I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!

-They mention that Savage wanted to prove during this run that he was as good as he had ever been. Miz talks about Savage retiring and coming back bigger than ever. Flair knows how Savage felt as he had people telling him his best days were in the past as well. He says he was happy for Randy.

-We tie-up the photo saga as the photos were frauds. The real pics were of Randy and Liz and Flair just put himself in Randy’s place. Genius! I am bummed they didn’t cover the amazing post match interviews at Mania.

-Now Flair was chasing the Title and Liz was no longer involved. Kofi wants to know why she was pulled. Nattie thinks it was due to real life issues between Liz and Randy. She brings up the eventual divorce that Randy wrote about for the WWF Magazine. Flair knows it broke Randy’s heart.

-Commercials!

-No Liz, but the feud continues through the summer. We get to Sept. 14 and Flair beats Savage for The WWF Title at a house show in Hershey, PA. I think that was the famous match where McMahon was pissed at what they were doing and had them fight to the back, yell at them, and had them go out and finish.

-They quickly touch on the rivalry getting to WCW. Nash says he remembers Randy not being at RAW and then showing up on WCW TV. They still delivered in WCW and brought in Randy’s dad this time (though not mentioned here). Then Liz returns and turns heel and Rosenberg says it wasn’t the same. SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I still loved it! They even cover that they wrestled on an episode of Baywatch!

-JBL with a fun fact as he notes Flair vs. Savage is the only match to Main Event WrestleMania and Starrcade. Cool! He says Flair did his job in the feud and Flair says it was the best time with definitive good and bad. We close with Savage and Liz with the pyro going off at Mania VIII.

-Not sure if you could tell, but I LOVE THIS RIVALRY. I have said many times, these two were made to feud with each other and I would watch them wrestle until the end of time if possible. This was the second WWE documentary on this feud and if they want to do another one in five or so years, I will gladly watch. They didn’t even touch on how great Perfect, Monsoon, and Heenan were during the Mania Match. Perfect was the biggest douche ever with all the cheating and Heenan delivered another classic performance to follow up his Rumble 92 call and Monsoon was there to needle him along the way. Just brilliant and perfect wrestling. Thanks for reading!