Original subtitles

- "Macho Man" Randy Savage. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hOh, yeah.

- Ooh, yeah.

Complete mental insanity.

- Everybody when they’re \h\h\htalking about Randy,

they’re never gonna speak \h\h\hin their own voice.

They’re gonna do a Randy voice,

they’re gonna do macho voice \h\h\h\h\hevery single time.

\h\h\h\h- I am the Lord and master of the ring.

\h\h\h\h\h- The growl that he would have...

\h- But I was gonna do something devastating.

- It’s more about quiet \h\h\hthan it is loud.

- Cream rise to the top.

Oh, yeah.

- I think it’s all \hin the fingers.

Dance outside, yeah!

- Snap into a Slim Jim. - Snap into a Slim Jim.

- Oh, yeah. - Oh, yeah.

- Oh, yeah. \h\h- Ooh.

- Ooh. - Ooh.

- You want some water? \h\h\h\h\h\h\h- No, no.

\h\h\h\h\h\hWhat happened, I did my Randy Savage voice

and I choked on it.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Isn’t it great we didn’t wear the same outfit?

\h\h- He was a pop culture phenomenon.

- This is unbelievable.

- Randy lived it.

There was no faking anything.

\hAnd he believed everything he did.

\h\h- I’ll be in the ring until they throw my withered carcass

in a bag and drag me \h\hto the dumpsters.

Let me tell you something \h\h\h\h\h\hDingle Berry--

- David Perry.

- We have a little magic \h\h\hin the bottle here.

The ones that stand \h\hthe test of time

are the things that are real.

- So long as you both \h\h\h\h\hwill live?

- Ooh, yeah.

Three minutes of play time.

- He was a wild man.

- Ooh, yeah.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- In this corner, from Downers Grove, Illinois,

weighing 225 pounds,

Angelo Poffo.

- My father was a wrestler

and he was traveling around.

\hRandy was born in Columbus, Ohio

\h\h\hand I was born in Calgary, Alberta.

\h\h- Our kids went to lots of schools.

When we finally settled down,

we were on Downers Grove, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hIllinois.

And it was nice for them \h\h\h\h\hto have roots.

- His mother was from Germany

and she was Jewish

when Hitler was in power.

\h\h\hSo, his mother had had an extremely difficult life.

- Randy was really something.

He was so different.

The first complaint we’ve got,

his teacher that he had \h\hfor the fourth grade

said he can’t sit still \h\h\h\h\h\h\ha minute.

He sees a piece of paper \h\h\h\h\h\hon the floor

10 feet away and he has to \h\hget up and pick it up.

- The earliest memory \h\h\h\hof my brother

is like having two fathers.

He gave me a lot of instructions,

let’s put it that way.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hIf he thought I wasn’t my maximum effort,

"Is that the best you can do?"

- When he was in high school,

\h\hwe had a lot of kids that were being bullied.

\h\h\h\hHe and his friend, they use to escort the kids

that were being bullied \h\hfrom class to class

so they wouldn’t get \h\h\h\h\hpicked on.

He used to say, "You want to pick on this kid now? "

Always for the underdog.

He was so busy with sports,

’cause he played basketball,

football, and baseball.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHe never dated but all the girls liked him.

He didn’t have time to date.

\h\h\h\hHe had homework, he had to get to sleep,

he had to get up early \h\h\h\h\hto practice.

\hIt was always something to practice, practice, practice.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- He moved to Tampa, Florida, in 1971

to about ’75 to play baseball.

Apparently, he was a very successful baseball player

because he had made it \hto the minor leagues

with the White Sox, the Reds, \hand the St. Louis Cardinals.

- Professional baseball was the first endeavor

that I encountered.

And I did it rather well.

\hI did it rather well I have to admit myself.

Started out in 1971.

St. Louis Cardinals, \h\h\hminor leagues.

- He was a catcher.

And then he had an accident \h\h\h\h\h\hin a home plate

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hwith a collision and he separated his shoulder.

And then he did the impossible.

\h\h\h\h\hHe learned to throw left-handed.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd he signed as a left-handed first baseman

with the Chicago White Sox.

\h\h\h- But what I did do was I was a switch hitter

and a switch thrower.

\h\h\h\h\hThat means I could hit and throw

\h\h\h\h\hwith both arms, which no other wrestler,

no other baseball player,

no other hockey player,

no other football player, \h\h\h\hno other nothing

\hcould do with an athletic background like that. Yeah.

- If it’s even true, I could \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\himagine

\hwhat he had to do to make that work.

I mean, you just have to be \h\h\hsome kind of blessed,

super freak athlete

for that even to be an option.

- He made the first cut, \h\hsecond cut, third cut,

and then they cut him.

He was a right-handed thrower

\hand then he learned to throw left-handed.

So, they said he looked funny

and they couldn’t put him \h\h\h\hon the White Sox.

- It broke his heart

\h\h\h\hwhen he was no longer involved.

He threw away his bats, \h\h\h\hhe broke them.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHe said, "If they’re finished with me,

I’m finished with them."

He asked his dad,

\h\h\h\h\h"How do you get to the top in wrestling?"

That was the beginning.

\h\h- Randy never spoke about baseball anymore.

He was always wrestling.

\h- I 100% think that all greatness

comes from failure.

\h\hAnd I think all greatness comes from being overlooked,

for doing it wrong.

Him not looking good \hthrowing that ball

\h\h\h\h\h\hprobably affected how he performed in the ring.

\h\h\h\hSo now he goes to his dad’s business,

the thing he grew up around, \h\hthe thing that he knows,

that he’s passionate about,

and he makes it look great.

- 1979,

\hwe got a family business started.

\hThe ICW International Championship Wrestling.

\h\h\h\h- The inevitable Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

- Welcome back, wrestling fans.

\h\h\h\h\h\hWe take you now to the Capital Plaza Sports Center

\h\h\h\hin Frankfort, Kentucky. - The "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

- My brother was gone \ha whole lot into it.

\h- One reversal by the Macho Man.

Sends him down, shoulders down.

\h\h\h\h\h\hHe had no speed to look over his shoulders.

- The only thing that comes

with a second-generation \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hwrestler

\h\h\h\h\h\h\his following in your father’s footsteps

and you get to toe the line.

Angelo was a tough guy.

So, Randy had to deal with a lot specially

when he made the transition.

- In the ’80s, in the ’70s,

there were territories \h\h\h\hand every area

had its own promoter.

Mid-South, Louisiana,

Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia.

There were all these \hdifferent fiefdoms

of promotions that promoted \h\h\h\htheir unique area.

\h- The first time I met Randy "Macho Man" Savage

was almost 40 years ago.

\h\h\h\h\h\hHe was running a little outlaw promotion,

independent promotion up \h\haround Kentucky area.

And they were doing \h\h\h\hthe invasion

on Memphis Wrestling \hwhere I was from.

\h\h\h\h\h- We started in Lexington, Kentucky,

\hand we spread out in every direction.

- We considered it our town.

And all of a sudden, the Poffos opened up

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\htheir own local wrestling promotion.

\h- Randy Savage has to beat both these men in 10 minutes.

- The first time they tried \h\h\h\hto run their shows,

\hthey didn’t draw very many people.

So, I think that’s why they turned their formula around

\h\h\h\h\hand said, "Look, if we’re gonna draw money,

we’ve got to challenge \hthe other company."

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hYou know, our company against them.

Our boss told us whatever we do,

\h\h\h\hdon’t ever say anything on our live TV show about them

because sooner or later,

\h\hif you don’t talk about your opponent,

they’re gonna go away.

- Jerry Lawler’s dead \h\h\h\has dead man,

he ain’t healthy, man.

He’s in his grave \hsomewhere to...

- Randy would come on TV \hand challenge me saying,

\h\h\h"Jerry Lawler, you know, this week,

when I get you down \h\hin that arena,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hyou know, I will beat your brains out

if you show up."

- The "Macho Man" Randy Savage

\h\h\h\hand I ain’t be an underdog longer, no.

Four years, man.

Where’s Lawler?

- And we felt like they were,

\h\h\h\hyou know, almost false advertising to their audience.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hYou know, they’re building up a match

between me and Randy Savage

\h\h\h\h\h\hthat we know is never gonna take place

\h\hbecause we don’t have anything to do with him.

- Put it down. \h\h\h\h\hYeah.

- It escalated into what we \hfelt like was a gang war.

I mean, peeps started carrying \h\h\h\h\h\hguns on the trips.

You know, that’s how scary this thing got at one point

because the Poffos were known \hthen around their territory

as being nuts.

\h- Don’t tell me just like that...

- Come on. Come on. Hey.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- But finally, I think what really brought

this thing to a head \h\hwas the fact that

the Poffos ran out of money.

\h\h\h\h\h- And there goes the backflip off the rope.

Count this one, two...

- I was at Jerry Lawler’s house \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hone night

\h\h\huntil he read me this letter that Randy

had sent to him saying,

"Look, we’re leaving \h\h\hthe territory.

Everything that we said, \h\h\h\hwe apologize for.

\h\h\hHopefully one day we can work together."

I said, "What a home run.

\h\h\hThat’s gonna be a complete sell out."

- Came the Macho Man.

Whoo-hoo, a lot of talk \h\habout this meeting.

- This is something \h\hthat we had been

talking about for years.

\h\hRandy Savage against Jerry "The King" Lawler,

and completely sold out.

- Wait a minute.

He misses Lawler.

- Randy caused quite a stir

\h\h\hwhen he joined up with Memphis Wrestling.

\hI mean, people knew he was going to be a very big deal.

- ♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ Macho, macho man ♪

- ♪ Macho man, yeah ♪

- ♪ I’ve got to be \h\h\ha macho man ♪

- My mother thought \h\h\h\hof Macho Man

but the song by the "YMCA"

Village People,

their song "Macho Man" \h\h\h\h\h\hwas first.

- Where did the name \h\hSavage come from?

Well, I think he earned it.

I think...

\h\h- And the prophet told me, he said it’s better to be rich

and dead than poor and alive.

- Never ever in his life came to me for any advice.

If there was advice,

he would give me advice

but he wouldn’t ask for advice.

And then he absolutely \h\h\h\h\h\hfloored me

and he said,

"Lanny, I need help."

- From people that go up there

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand say that the Macho Man can be beat.

Oh, there’s 10,000 people \h\htelling 10,000 lies.

- I said, "You’ve changed \h\hyour name to Savage,

you’ve got hair like a savage,

you wrestle like a savage,

\h\h\hwho is the best savage type interview

that you’ve ever seen?

Let’s copy him."

And he says, "Okay.

How about Pampero Firpo?

- He has done it.

Pampero Firpo,

"The Wild Bull of the Pampas,"

\h\hand... - Oh, yeah.

- And he goes,

"Ooh, yeah."

And I went,

\h\h\h\h\h"My George, I think he’s got it."

- The manager came up to me \h\h\h\h\h\h\hand he says,

\h"Hey, you don’t play baseball no more, man.

You’re fired."

Yeah, they do that.

When you’re not good enough

or they think that you’re not \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hgood enough,

they get you out of there.

They take your uniform out \h\h\h\h\h\hof your locker.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- I promise you, I never heard that voice again,

his other voice.

- Got my head together \h\h\hlater that night.

I stared at a candle \h\h\h\h\hand I said,

"Randy Savage,

you are gonna be the greatest

at something someday." Yeah.

re going wild and I’m so excited.

- He’s going up.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHulk Hogan, and he drops a big leg on him.

He’s now for the cover, \h\h\h\hhooks the leg.

One, two, he’s done it.

We have a new champion.

Hulkamania is here.

\h\h\h\h- Hulk Hogan was larger than life.

\h\h\h\h\hHe was literally like a real life superhero.

\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd WWE needed a real-life supervillain.

\h- You wanted to look for unique personalities

and unique personas or you \hsee something in someone,

\h\hyou can then take that and apply a new concept to.

\h\hIn those days, I mean, all these little fiefdoms,

all these little territories

had very rich characters.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd so it was, the question is whether or not

\h\h\h\h\h\hthey wanted to come to work at WWE

or stay where they were.

\h- When the WWE began its national expansion

to come on board to the WWE,

meant now you’re exposed \hto the entire country.

Now you’re going nationwide.

It was national exposure,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\han exposure that a lot of the talent

had never experienced before.

- Ladies and gentlemen, \hyou’re going to meet,

without a doubt,

one of the fastest rising stars

in the World Wrestling \h\h\h\h\h\hFederation,

\h\h\h\h\h\ha man who is really making a reputation for himself

\h\halmost overnight as a matter of fact.

Would you please welcome

Randy "The Macho Man" Savage.

♪ ♪

- I think Randy left \h\hMemphis probably

\h\h\h\h\hin hindsight just at the right time.

- Somebody said something \h\h\h\habout Hulkamania.

\h\h\h\hYeah. Somebody said something about Hulkamania

\hand I answered it with Macho Madness.

Yeah. So, I’m feeling real, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hreal good.

\h\hAnd I will be the next World Heavyweight Champion.

- Macho Madness.

- This contest is scheduled \h\h\h\h\h\h\hfor one fall.

- The "Macho Man" \h\hRandy Savage,

who is quite a competitor,

making his World Wrestling \h\h\h\h\hFederation debut.

\h\h- The top wrestlers that had only been seen

in these local markets,

they wanted to be seen nationwide.

They wanted to be worldwide stars.

\h- He’s a very good wrestler but he’s very mean individual

but he has certainly \hhas been a winner.

- That’s what happened \h\h\h\h\h\hwith Randy.

He wanted to be seen on the biggest stage.

- "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

Ooh, another one.

I think these managers \h\h\h\h\hare out here

all to take a look \hat Randy Savage.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- I think so. - The Macho Man congratulated

by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan

and by Freddie Blassie, \hJimmy Hart, Mr. Fuji

with a hand shake. \h\h\hMy goodness.

\hI can’t believe what I’m seeing.

- Here is your winner,

Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

- When I first met him, \h\h\h\h\h\hI’m going,

hmm, he’s small compared \h\h\h\h\h\h\hto the size

of our performers at that time.

\h\h\h\hI think Randy was very subconscious

about being smaller.

- Randy wasn’t the biggest \h\h\h\hin size and stature.

\hHowever, Randy made up for the size differential

with his intensity.

- Top turnbuckle to the concrete.

Oh, what an elbow.

\hIt’s all over. - It is all over.

\h\h- Yeah. The World Wrestling Federation.

- Look at this maneuver. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hWow.

\h- At that point, managers were very, very important.

Everyone was sitting around \h\h\h\hwaiting to find out

\h\h\h\hwho would manage this new heralded talent.

- So as gratitude, \h\hhe has invited

\h\h\h\h\h\hall of the managers for a bidding for his service.

- They had Bobby Heenan \h\h\hcome out and go,

"Randy, let me you tell what,

The Brain should be \h\h\hyour manager.

\hThen Jimmy Hart came out, "Hey, let me tell you what,

you should be a manager."

\h\h\h\h- Macho Madness at this peak right now.

\h\h\h\h\hAnd we got to know who the manager is gonna be.

And here she comes.

\h- Oh. Uh-oh. - Oh, goodness.

- Oh, my.

Oh, my goodness.

- We’re gonna have to find out \h\ha lot more about this lady.

- Hello, everybody.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hWelcome to another sensational hour

\hof International All Star Wrestling.

I’m your hostess Liz Hulette.

\h\h\h- You know what, Liz is the love of Randy’s life.

And we happened to be around \h\h\h\hwhen they first met.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI mean, you know, they met down in our territory.

- Lexington, Kentucky.

On Richmond road had a gym

called the Sintay \hSports Center.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hElizabeth was the first person you saw

in the morning.

And she would hand you \h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe towel

and the key to the locker room.

And that’s how Randy \h\h\hmet Elizabeth.

\h\h\hThey were married on December 31st, 1984.

Approximately six months

before Randy went to the WWE.

- For us all...

- Part of Randy’s deal was

\h\h\hhe was gonna bring his brother,

Lanny Poffo.

Later on became the Genius.

But Randy also wanted \h\hhis wife Elizabeth

to have a role in the company.

\h\h\h\h\hAs legend has it, Randy originally wanted Liz

to do some broadcasting work \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hfor WWE.

And then Vince took a look \h\h\h\hat her and said...

- No, you’re not gonna \h\h\hbe a commentator.

It’s a waste.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hYou know, so she became the manager.

- What a beautiful woman.

My goodness. \hThe smile.

- It was kind of the prequel \hof all these reality shows.

\h\h\h\h- Randy Savage selected Ms. Elizabeth

to be his manager

\h\h\hand giving her that proverbial rose.

\h\hHer being in his corner, I think it was revolutionary.

\h- The bachelor, the bachelorette.

Randy was one of \hthe very first

real scenarios of love on TV.

- People could just kind of pick up on the energy

of that realness that was actually

happening in real life.

\h\hIt was a unique pairing because she carried herself

so beautifully and she had \h\han elegance about her.

\h\h\hIt was kind of like this Beauty and the Beast

sort of dynamic.

- That’s what made Macho Man \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hMacho man.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hYou know, he had this queen, man.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hYou know, everybody wants a queen.

\h\h- I don’t know what in the world,

we’re gonna have to find out \ha lot more about this lady.

- But she’s not Macho Man \h\h\hin my book anymore.

- Oh, Billy Jack sticking his nose

on personal business here. \h\h\h\h- Oh, look at that.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hScooped Elizabeth right around and look at that.

Give me a break.

- At ringside, he would sort of give her a look sometimes

that’s like, "You better or,"

so there’s an inherent threat

\h\h\hto the relationship of Savage and Elizabeth.

Don’t get me wrong.

I assume that part was him hamming up

the character.

But it’s still uncomfortable \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto see now.

- He developed that persona.

But he started using \h\hthat personality

in his real life.

- Randy was so protective \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof Liz,

he started bringing her \h\h\h\h\hto the matches

before he actually got her \h\h\h\hinto the business.

And he would put her in his dressing room

and literally lock the door

when he wasn’t in there \h\h\h\h\h\h\hwith her,

so that she couldn’t come out \h\h\hand nobody could go in.

It was almost like a way \h\h\h\hto dominate her.

- Once again, they did not treat Elizabeth very well.

- The way he interacted \h\h\h\h\h\h\hwith her.

\h\h\hAnd, you know, you put the voice on.

\h\h"Ooh, yeah. Don’t look at my wife when she walks

to the dressing room, \h\h\h\h\h\hbrother."

\h\h\h\hI was watching and it was like, okay.

\h\h\h\h\h\hI get it. You know, he’s the dominating personality

in this relationship.

- Randy made it clear \h\h\h\h\hto everyone,

\h\h\h\hMs. Elizabeth was his and his only.

- He jumped out of the ring

and take Miss Elizabeth and moved her to the other side

of the ring and tell her, \h\h"You’re safer here."

\h\h\h\h\hAnd you don’t know it was a controlling factor

or if it was a sincere \hheartfelt protection

\h\hthat he wanted for Ms. Elizabeth.

- He believed in his gimmick.

He lived his gimmick 100%.

And he became the Macho Man

even when Randy Poffo...

- I questioned his treatment \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof Elizabeth.

- You have to believe it.

\hYou have to actually believe it and feel it

and live it.

\h\hIf you don’t do that, you’re not gonna connect.

Randy lived it.

- And he’s ready.

Oh, look at that.

Give me a break.

Who do you...

- I think the first thing

that I perceived \hwas obsession.

Oh, this guy is a lot.

- The fans don’t appreciate...

\h- I think the little kids were like, "Stop being mean

to Elizabeth." We liked her.

She was like our nice \hsecond grade teacher

that was beautiful.

"Leave her alone." "Randy, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hyou’re mean."

But he’s so good.

It was such good storytelling.

Randy Savage had this \h\h\hbeautiful woman

that he loved

\h\h\h\h\hbut no one was gonna talk to her

and she better know her place.

- Elizabeth, I’ve got to \h\h\h\hcompliment you on

just an outstanding jewelry.

That is very, very attractive \h\hon a very attractive lady

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI might add. - Oh, thank you very much.

- Hey, wait a minute. \h\h\hWait a minute.

I didn’t tell you to talk, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hdid I?

Did I tell you to say anything?

No, I told you say nothing.

Didn’t I tell you that?

- What a dick.

I wanna watch this guy \h\h\h\h\hget beat up.

- ♪ You need the sunshine ♪

♪ And palm trees at Florida ♪

- Tampa is a great town, \h\h\h\h\h\hit really is.

It’s kind of a white trash \h\h\h\hversion of Miami.

\hTampa’s known for strip joints, pimps, shop jocks,

sex tapes, macho, Hogan, \h\h\h\hstuff like that.

Great stuff.

- This is still the hot bed \h\h\h\h\h\h\hof wrestling.

Everybody from John Cena \h\h\h\hto the Big Show,

to Edge and Christian, \h\h\h\h\hRoman Reigns.

Everybody lives here in Tampa.

Actually started during the ’70s.

\h\h\h\hWhen I first went up to Minneapolis and New York,

I started bringing some guys \h\h\hdown that were single.

\h\h\hThe next thing you know, we had a whole crew here, man.

It was crazy.

\h\h\h\hBut Randy got the job in the WWE, but I got his ear.

\h\h\h\h\h\hI got him and Liz to come down.

Randy and Elizabeth were just \h\hso much fun to be around.

They’re just normal people.

Nice, really kind,

normal people.

The relationship with myself

and my wife and Randy and Liz,

we hung out all the time.

- Ooh, yeah.

This is some people.

- They live right down the beach from us so every day,

when we were home,

we were all together \h\h\h\h\hon my boat

\hor at the pool or at the beach.

We hung out with them \h\h\h\hall the time.

Therein lies the problem.

\h\h\h\h- Hey, Hulkster, what’s the deal, brother?

\h\h\hTalk to me. It’s not like you

\h\h\h\h\h\hto leave me hanging and just checking out the babes

and just leaving me out there.

\h\h\h- We need to have a little talk, brother,

about who cut out on who. \h\h\h\h\h\h- All right.

Let’s do it right now. \h\h\h\h\h\h- Come on.

- All right.

\h\h\h\h- Hey, maybe they’re gonna fight.

- Randy and Ms. Elizabeth \h\h\h\h\h\hthrew a party

\hand we were so excited to go because my sisters

and I all wanted to be like \h\h\h\h\h\hMs. Elizabeth.

My dad and Randy were really \hclose friends but for us,

like, we were still, like, \hin awe of Ms. Elizabeth

\h\h\hbecause she was the woman that we saw on our TV screens.

As kids, even though our dad \h\h\h\hwas a WWE Superstar,

we were still fans.

They had a beautiful home \h\h\hand they had really

beautiful artwork.

It wasn’t a mansion but it \hwas just a beautiful home

that was so well-taken care \h\h\h\hof and so pristine.

Their house was immaculate.

Like, I thought, like, \h\hwhen we walked in,

we had to like take our shoes \h\h\h\h\h\h\hoff right away

and put on little, \h\hlike, booties.

So, I thought, like, he may have had OCD.

- When I met Randy, \h\h\hhe was the...

"Macho Man" Randy Savage,

oh yeah, 24 hours a day.

But what he didn’t have \h\h\h\h\hwas the look.

He needed to look like a star.

I said, "Bro, I got a guy \h\h\hnamed Michael Braun

\h\h\hthat when I played in the Rock n’ Roll band for 10 years,

he made all Hendrix’s clothes

and made all the stuff \h\h\h\h\hfor the guys

in my band.

- Randy calls me on the phone,

\h\h"Hulkster told me you can make me some clothes."

I’m going, "Who’s this?

He comes with Ms. Elizabeth

and he brings me shorts

\h\h\h\hthat had three stars in the front and maybe 2-inch

letter across his tush,

it says "Macho Man".

And I say,

"Dude, I need real estate.

I need from the floor \hto past your head."

He says, "You can do whatever you want."

This is the kiss of death.

I make him five outfits

\h\h\h\hout of spandex but full-length pants

and shirts,

and maybe there’s a little \h\hfringe here and there,

we’re just starting out.

In the ’80s,

there was a series of pimps.

One pimp would bring another \h\h\h\h\h\hpimp often to us

and they’d say, about me,

he’s all right.

\hYes, there was some inspiration from them

for Macho Man’s clothes.

- His--the costume \hwould fit, man.

Every look.

The tassel and everything \h\hjust went down right

where it’s supposed to go to, \h\hyou know what I’m saying?

Damn, it was a pimp outfit \h\h\h\hRandy was wearing,

man, when you think about it.

Like, duh.

Randy Pimpin’ Savage. \h\h\h\h\h\h[laughs]

- The guy that dressed \h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe pimps

in the ’70s end up

being one of the most influential costumers

in all of wrestling.

That’s how Tampa rolls.

- A real funny story \his he was wanted

a really fast car, \h\h\h\h\hyou know.

Buddy of mine had it.

\h\h\hSo, Randy and I sort of looked at the car, bought it,

had the car sent from California.

He called me, "We’ll send \h\h\hthe damn car back."

"So, what’s wrong \hwith the car?"

"Because my hat box won’t fit \h\h\hin front of the trunk.

I guess, the only place \hthat there is a trunk

was in the front \hof the Ferrari,

so we put the hat box and then,

\h\h\h\h\h\hit wouldn’t close, so we had to send the car back.

- Here at the Royal Rumble. \h\h\h- That’s doing good.

Now, we got hats, \hwe got glasses.

I’m painting on his shirt,

on the hat, on the sleeves,

on the pants,

\h\h\h\h\h\hon the back of the jacket Macho Man.

Over and over again,

\h\h\h\h\hhow many times can you write Macho Man,

\h\h\h\h\hhow many times can you paint the name,

how many fonts can you use?

\h\h\h\h\hNobody can wear Randy’s clothes, nobody.

They all look silly.

There’s something about \h\h\h\h\h\hthis person

fits these clothes.

- He did spend money \h\h\h\hon his outfits

\h\hand they were lavish and extraordinary and colorful.

Randy spent a lot of money \h\h\h\hon the perception

of who the Macho Man was.

That was all out \hof his pocket.

- Michael Braun made a fortune

making Randy’s clothes.

- And he wouldn’t buy you \h\h\h\h\ha cup of coffee

but that’s another subject.

- Randy saved his money, \h\h\h\h\h\hhe was smart.

\hThat’s a nice way of saying he was cheap but that’s okay,

you know.

- Oh, Randy was making \h\h\h\ha lot of money.

Randy probably held on \h\h\h\hto every nickel

that he ever earned.

\h\h\h\h\h- His mom and dad didn’t always have it easy.

And his father had to work \h\h\h\h\h\h\hreally hard

for every penny that he made.

So Randy’s father, Angelo,

instilled in both kids,

"Save your money."

- He would drive from Memphis

\h\h\h\h\h\hall the way to Louisville, Kentucky,

wrestle in a match, and then,

he wouldn’t get a hotel. \hHe’d sleep in his car.

\h\h\h\h\h- It was a lot of fun having him with us on the road.

I don’t remember him ever \hbuying, I’ll say that.

- His opponent...

the ring by his manager...

- "Pomp and Circumstance."

What a song.

\h\hAll these other wrestlers had "I’m gonna beat you up,"

and then, like, crunchy, like, \h\h’80s or ’90s guitar, like,

"I’m a man, I’m a man."

And then, you just had this classic,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\helegant "Pomp and Circumstance,"

and the second it hits...

- "Macho Man" Randy Savage

\h\h\h\his the definition of pomp and circumstance.

\h- I think that that was a perfect music for Randy.

- Oh, what I think made Randy \h\h\h\hsuch as good wrestler

\h\his the combination of his athletic ability

and his personality and his \h\hwork ethic in the ring.

\h\hMan, he was just on the cutting edge

with all of it, \h\h\h\halways.

- He was extremely professional

\hwhen it came to his preparation.

He spent more time on the preparation

than some other people did,

a lot more than I did,

\h\h\hand it showed in his work product.

\h\h\h\h\h- Guaranteed. One, two, three count.

\h\h- You know, my phone rings at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning.

"Hey, I got an idea \habout that finish

in Madison Square Garden."

I’m like, "Randy, it’s 4:00 \hin the morning, brother."

"I don’t care what time \hit is, you should care

as much as I do." \hI’m like, "Okay.

I care, Randy, I care."

\h\hIt was always just banging heads with him.

\h\h\hHe’d always step with a big foot forward, brother.

And how about just elbow me \h\hback over the top rope?"

I’m like, "Okay, Randy. \h5:00 in the morning."

But he was always on, man,

and he was a wild man.

I think he’d really overthink \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hit sometimes.

He was too calculated, \hyou know, sometimes,

you got to, like, freeform.

In the ring, you hear what \h\hthe crowd wants instead

of going to the corner \h\h\hand hit the guy,

you may want to grab his arm

and bite his thumb off or something, you know.

- Cut out the costumes, cut out the crazy voice,

cut out everything, at the core is a man

\h\h\hthat knew what it took to be great.

He knew the work.

He wasn’t afraid of the work.

He put in the time.

And he put in the effort.

And I think that’s the beautiful thing

that anyone in any field \h\h\h\h\h\hcould look at

\h\h\h\h\hand realize that’s what it takes.

\h\h- Look at Macho Man, over the top turnbuckle.

\h\h\h\h\hOh. That... - Go put in the work.

Go fail.

Get back up.

\hAnd then, you have your WrestleMania III

moment with Steamboat. - Heavyweight Champion

along with...

\h\h\h\hAlong with the man who will be in his corner,

George...

Oh, nice block.

- This is the WrestleMania \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hReport.

I’m Gene Oakland.

Surprise. \h\hYes.

Yet even another match \h\h\h\hhas been added

to WrestleMania III.

- Well, this was going to be \h\h\hthe biggest thing ever.

At least that’s what I said.

Actually, it became the biggest \h\hthing ever for a long time.

\h\h\h- We could hear the numbers coming in

from the number of ticket sales \h\h\h\h\h\hat the Silverdome.

You know, 50,000, \h60,000, 70,000,

it finally got up to 93,000.

- Heavyweight Champion, \h\h\h\h\hHulk Hogan...

\h\h\h- Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant,

\h\h\hthe two biggest icons in our business at the time,

were the main event.

\h\h\h\hWe want a match just to steal the show.

- Randy and Ricky were not \h\h\h\h\htrying to upstage

my main event.

They didn’t go up there \h\h\h\hand go, "Okay.

\h\hWe want to steal the show from Andre.

We want to steal the show \h\h\h\hfrom Hulk Hogan."

They didn’t do that, man. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Yeah.

Our goal was to have the match \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof the night,

\h\hand to do that, we had to upstage Hogan and Andre.

- Welcome.

To the magnificent \h\h\h\hSilverdome

and welcome

to WrestleMania III.

- March 29th, 1987.

This is going to be \hthe biggest moment

in wrestling history.

I knew that when I watch \h\h\h\h\hthe whole show,

as good as Hogan and Andre was,

and it was damn good,

it didn’t hold a candle

\h\h\hto Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat.

Obviously, it turns out \hthat one of the ways

that they were able to do that,

is because Randy Savage \h\h\h\h\hwas obsessive

about that match \hand worked out

\h\hevery single detail repeatedly on notepads

\hwith Ricky Steamboat until they got exactly

the match that they needed \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto have.

- We had these yellow \h\h\hlegal tablets.

We got into two and a half pages

of these long legal pads.

We’re getting up to, like, a hundred and sixty steps.

We started quizzing each other \h\h\h\h\h\h\hand I would say,

Randy step number 37 is this, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hthis, and this.

Tell me the rest of the match.

"Number 38 is this and that, \h\h\h\h\hnumber 39 is this,

number 40 is this."

We took every opportunity \h\h\hand every advantage

going over the match \h\hjust to make sure

\hthat we’re all on the same page.

- The most extraordinary \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hathlete.

- And you got the ultimate good guy in Ricky Steamboat.

He’s impossible to dislike.

Then, you got Randy "Macho Man" Savage,

\h\h\hwho Savage being, you know, the bad guy.

He was just a perfect storm, \hman, everything you needed

for the perfect story.

- And the story that they’ve \h\h\h\htold leading up to it

had layers.

- I’m gonna not only \h\h\hembarrass you,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hnot only pin you with the one, two, three count,

but I’m gonna put you out \hof wrestling for good.

- They never have a televised match

until WrestleMania III.

- And now, here he comes,

making his way down the runway.

- Crowd is so big.

\h\hIt’s majestic. It’s like this gigantic sea of people.

- The noise of 97,000 people.

Your body would almost vibrate \h\h\hfrom when you came down

the ramp through the curtain \h\h\h\hand you’re out there

for the first time.

My stress level rose

because of trying to remember

a hundred and sixty some \h\h\h\hdifferent steps.

- This is a vendetta \h\h\hthat’s been...

- One.

Two.

Three.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hFour. - And Randy Savage got...

- Obviously, Elizabeth...

Irish whip and...

\h\h\h\h\h\h- Five. - Oh, look at that.

- Six.

Seven.

\h- On the ropes, through the legs.

- Eight.

Nine.

- Oh!

[cheers and applause]

Look at this one though.

- And he’s caught.

- Caught between the eyes.

Hooks to the leg, Savage...

and how about on the top rope?

From the outside,

and there he goes again.

And that’s where \hthis one goes.

- It’s never as good \h\has when they have

one pure good guy

and one evil bad guy.

And they’re doing things \h\h\hthat are athletic

and excellent and great

and violent

with reckless abandon.

- Sunset flip over the top.

Yes. Oh. \h\h- Oh.

- Placed in his position.

Bombs away.

- 159,

160,

it is done.

[crowd cheering]

- It worked.

It is perfect.

\h\h\h\h- To this day, people think it was like

one of the best matches ever.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- New... - The goal of a match

is to tell a story \hwithin a match.

How can you with your body \h\h\h\h\h\hand your face

tell a story to the fans?

- There was nothing like rush

\h\h\hfrom the crowd after taking the fans

on a ride of...

20 false finishes,

the sound was deafening.

- You’d see the crowd jump up \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand react.

I watched it a thousand times.

I still get the chills.

It’s the definition \h\hof what the art

of professional wrestling \h\h\h\his supposed to be.

- And I’ll never forget Savage

when I covered him.

\h\h\h\h\hRandy goes, "We got him, Dragon,

we got him."

- A very despondent \hformer champion,

\h\h\h\h\hthe Macho Man and Elizabeth leaving.

- It’s a labor of love \h\h\hand it’s a craft

that when done

at the highest level is art.

\h\h\h- Savage, even though he was obsessed with living

\h\hthe character, didn’t seem to care about wins and losses.

"I’m gonna lose to Steamboat \h\h\h\hat the biggest thing

in front of 93,000 people?

\h\h\h\h\h\hNo problem, it’s gonna be awesome.

We’re gonna make it \h\h\hincredible."

A truly great wrestler

should be as happy

when the third count hits,

if he is on the top \h\hor looking up,

it should be the same thing \h\h\hif the crowd reacts,

you should be happy \h\h\h\heither way.

- The match actually ruined \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hhis life

because he could never top \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthat night.

He could never top the match.

His standards were too high.

\h\h\h- After WrestleMania, that’s where it all blew up

right there, man.

- Release the mighty power \h\h\h\h\h\hof the Tornado.

Show the power of the Barber.

- And the firepower of Sgt. Slaughter.

- Perfectly ridiculous.

\h\h\h\h- With Mr. Perfect, you can achieve perfection.

- Wrong because he’s the...

\h- Randy and I, I think we had 300 licenses each

at one time.

\h\h\h\h\hSo Randy was running neck-and-neck for first place.

- Figures sold separately.

- Prepare man.

- Everywhere they booked \h\h\h\h\h\hRandy Savage

\h\hand Hulk Hogan always, always sold out everywhere.

We couldn’t do anything wrong.

- "Macho Man" Randy Savage

high in the air.

- Wait, wait, wait.

- Hogan wasn’t threatened \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hat all

by anybody and there was no one

around that could touch Hulk Hogan at the time

\hbut Randy Savage was-- came close at that time.

\h\h- I feel real strongly about this man right here.

\h\h\h\h\hYeah. This is the man

who is going to lose

to the "Macho Man" \h\h\hRandy Savage.

Isn’t that right, Elizabeth?

- Randy was a little more \h\h\h\hindoctrined to it

and knew the lifestyle

\hbecause of his--being in the second generation

of his family, \hwhereas Terry

kind of stumbled into it.

\h\hAnd I think that maybe Randy always resented that

a little bit that Hogan, not only stumbled into it

but also became the biggest \h\h\h\hand outshined him.

\h- There was no jealousy over anything like that.

[crowd cheering]

- No problem at all, baby, \h\h\h\hno problem at all.

You see my t-shirt?

In a lot of ways.

In a lot of ways,

everybody is gonna be seeing \h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe Hulk Hogan,

Mr. McMahon.

\h\h\h\h\h- I think everyone that has been or will be ever

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hin the WWE will be in Hogan’s shadow.

\h\h\hI don’t think Randy ever thought

he would overshadow \h\h\hthe Hulkster.

- Hulk Hogan was going to be \h\h\h\h\hthe unbeatable guy.

That’s the way it is.

Those eyes right there.

Those eyes lost Elizabeth, \h\h\hyou understand that?

\h- Randy, no. - Not my face.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- You got lust for Elizabeth right there.

- I think Randy Savage doesn’t \h\h\h\hget nearly enough credit

for how important he was to the success of the WWE

at that time. Hulk Hogan \h\hseems to be the guy.

It’s like there was Hulk Hogan \h\h\hand there was wrestling.

- Come on.

- He was intense,

mix a little of intensity \h\hwith the right toxins

\h\h\hand the right poisons, he could get a little crazy.

- Get out of the way. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- No.

\h\h- Somebody get the help out there.

Somebody stop that idiot.

- Tonight is the first time \h\h\h\hthat I’ve ever been

\h\h\hin the price in a match. If Randy wins, I stay with him

and if George wins, \hhe gets the title

and he gets to keep me.

\h\h\h\h\hTonight is definitely the scariest night of my life.

\h\h\h- When we look back on Randy Savage’s career,

so many of the most influential matches

and storylines of his career \h\h\hinvolved Ms. Elizabeth.

\h\h\h\h\h\hSo without her being a foil and a catalyst

in the storytelling, we wouldn’t remember

those iconic epic matches.

- He’d grab her and push \hher in front of them.

I mean, he was a king \h\h\h\hof that move,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof grabbing her and be able to, like, "Uh-uh,

no, not today," you know, like,

"You’re gonna hit my woman?" \h\h\hYou know, what a dick.

\h\h\h\h\h- But two arms on the lovely Elizabeth.

- To use Elizabeth \hin the storyline

was so easy.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hLooking back, I want to set a good example

for kids watching at home.

It’s not something we do today

but we learn and we move on.

- It’s professional wrestling \h\hand I call it the theater

of the absurd.

\h\h\hPlenty of time he crossed that line

that stirs the fans’ reaction.

When you stir the reaction,

you start putting \hasses in seats.

And that’s what it’s all about.

- She was the first major \h\h\hvalet in wrestling.

\h\hTo be kind of part of the story.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- Elizabeth has shocked everybody.

Look at...

- The husband and wife team \h\h\h\h\hworking together,

\h\h\h\h\hI don’t think we really had anything

\h\h\h\hlike that before, so it was--it was unique.

\hAnd Randy was extremely possessive with Elizabeth.

- Shut up and keep polishing.

If I lose tonight, \hit’s your fault.

\h\h\h\h\h\hSee that... - If you’re given to be

a certain way, you know,

and I can take that \hand boost it up,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hyou know, then, it becomes larger than life.

It worked and it just worked.

\h\h\h- He can’t stay in a neutral corner.

- Ms. Elizabeth broke \h\h\h\h\h\hthe mold.

\h\h\h\h- Oh, look at this, manhandling her once again.

- If you remove Elizabeth \h\h\h\hfrom the equation

\h\h\hof Randy Savage and he’s just the guy

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthat talks weird and is incredible in the ring.

\h\h\h\hMs. Elizabeth anchored Randy Poffo to that character.

\h- I don’t think she had any clue

about how talented she was

and how beautiful she was.

\h\h\hShe didn’t have a healthy body image.

\h\h\h\h\hLiz struggled with eating disorders.

She struggled with bulimia.

And so, she really struggled \hwith just self-confidence.

\h\h\h\h\hShe tried to be what she thought the man

that she was having whatever relationship by the time with

what they wanted her to be.

So, she would get lost \hin the relationship.

- I was the first one \h\h\hto push Liz down

in a--in a very physical \h\h\h\h\h\haltercation

where I shoved her sideways.

\hThat was really, really a big deal.

He asked me to come up \h\h\hto his hotel room

and we went over

\hthe pushing of Liz for about two hours.

She was falling on the bed when \h\hI was pushing her sideways.

How they got Randy to go \hfor that or to do that,

that’s a mystery.

- Oh, my goodness! \h\h\h\hElizabeth!

Almost struck by the...

- [screams]

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Thirty or thirty-five million people

tuned in to see it.

[indistinct chatter]

- They come up with the idea \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof the slap.

Not me, that’s the last thing \h\h\hI thought I’d ever do.

I got more heat from the fans \h\h\h\h\h\hfor slapping her

than I do for the snake \h\h\h\h\hbiting Randy.

The wrestling fans destroyed my car.

They totaled it.

Knocked all the windows out and busted the headlights,

taillights.

\h\hThis is like, they were saying,

with slapping a woman. \h\hYou don’t do that.

That’s ingrained in here, man.

This is--that’s one of the two \h\htop evil things you can do.

Can you imagine somebody slapping somebody today?

- Randy and Liz were married \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hin real life.

\h\h\h\h\hHowever, on camera, their relationship was never,

\h\h\h\h\hit was never exposed, and it was never talked about,

\h\h\h\h\h\hit was more of an animal magnetism

attraction.

Randy’s character changed.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hRandy went from a very popular character

to just a despised character, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe Macho King.

- Savage goes full bad guy \h\h\hbecause of jealousy,

a very real reason to turn.

Elizabeth is out, \h\hSherri’s in.

- Queen Sherri.

What kind of rules are there?

- No holds barred!

- She turns on the Macho Man.

In the crowd,

Elizabeth.

- Oh, look at Elizabeth.

- What’s she doing?

- She’s going on her way \h\h\h\h\h\hto the ring!

[cheers and applause]

- When she came back and slapped Sherri,

come on. Come on.

Everyone popped.

Everyone went nuts.

I loved it.

\h\h- Hello Howard, bring us up to date

\h\h\hon the travels of the World Wrestling Federation.

- I mean, you could be \hin Dallas one night,

and Miami the next, and then \h\hup to Chicago the next,

and this would just keep right on going

and the traveling part \h\h\hwas the hardest.

- The "Macho Man" \h\hRandy Savage.

- We were running so hard \h\h\hin those days, man.

We were running seven days \h\h\ha week, every night.

\h\h\h\h- Trying to teach Jake The Snake a lesson.

- Our way of dealing with it \h\h\h\h\h\h\hwasn’t right?

Guys were doing steroids, \h\h\hyou guys were doing

a lot of pills, man.

You know, a lot of pills.

- It does not matter \h\hwhich one I’m...

\h\h- Some of this including myself,

\h\h\h\h\h\hdid fair amounts of cocaine just to get going.

- What is he doing there?

\h\h\h\h- Your body needs time to heal.

\h\h\h- These guys, their whole empire

\h\h\h\h\h\h\his built upon their physique so to speak,

so I got to think that’s very, \h\h\h\h\hvery tough on them.

- Yeah, it’s a world of action \h\h\hfigures and when you put

\h\h\hyourself out there as much as wrestlers do,

\h\hyour body ain’t gonna keep the body of an action figure.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- Macho Man just told Elizabeth...

- It’s tough enough to do it \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hby yourself,

not to imagine having \h\h\hyour wife there

with you every step of the way

\h\h\hwith, you know, sharks tagging behind.

- Randy really loved her

and I know that he wouldn’t \h\hhave it any other way,

Miss Elizabeth with him.

\h\h\h\h\h- You know, the business is tough.

It’s just the road and it’s \h\h\hjust a tough business.

\h\h\h\h\h\hI don’t know of any husband-wife teams

that have done it since. \h\h\hThere’s, you know--

but there’s probably a reason why that doesn’t happen a lot

in wrestling because it’s just, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hit’ll ruin you.

- I guess in hindsight, \h\h\hshe just finally

couldn’t take it anymore.

\h\h\h\hNot only sometimes was Randy overprotective,

he was a little bit overbearing on Liz.

\h\hAnd I really think that she just reached

her breaking point.

- I think he always felt like \h\h\hthere was somebody else

\hin her life besides him when there really wasn’t,

how could it be?

You’re locked in the house \h\h\hand you can’t go out

on the road, nobody can touch \h\h\hyou, nobody can see you.

How in the world could she fall \h\hin love with anybody else?

- Elizabeth, I love you.

- Wow.

- Yes.

- Will you marry me?

- [laughs] - Oh, yeah.

- When Randy the wrestler \h\h\hand Miss Elizabeth

were having a great life \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hon TV,

\h\h\h\h\h\hthey were having a horrible life in real life

and I think that was a huge, \h\h\h\h\h\hhuge accelerator

so to speak of the demise.

- Can you imagine that?

\hLike, if your marriage was seriously in trouble

and you had to publicly \h\hget married again,

so the world is kind of like, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h"Oh, my God.

\h\h\hThat’s so cool. You guys are married."

\h\hIt’s like, "No, no, actually we were married

and now we’re barely married."

I wonder how much of the worst \h\h\h\hof him was brought out

by the wrestling business.

They clearly brought the best \h\hout of him professionally,

but I wonder

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hhow much it cost him personally.

- That’s terrific.

- Fantastic.

- Ah, isn’t she beautiful?

- As the orchestra played,

\h\hthe formal line of the eager guests

gave their congratulations \h\h\hto the happy couple.

- I remember Randy \h\hcoming to me,

"Liz is very unhappy with me

\h\h\h\h\hand I think she wants a divorce."

\hAnd I said, "Well, maybe she just wants

a little bit of freedom." \h\h\h\h\h\h\hBut I knew

he was really heartbroken \h\hover that, you know.

- I don’t know if anybody \h\hever looked at Randy

and his wife’s situation \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand said,

"Hey, maybe I should step in \h\h\h\h\hand say something."

\hIf you knew Randy, I don’t think that would’ve set well

\h\h\h\hwith him, I think maybe later on Hulk Hogan

and at the time Hulk’s wife, \hmay have crossed that line

and that didn’t go well either.

- [screaming]

- I didn’t realize that Liz was uneasy.

I just remember Randy, he just bought a boat.

My ex-wife was on the dock \h\h\h\h\h\hand, you know,

her and Liz would talk, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hshe goes,

"Yeah, well, Terry’s \hgoing down to Miami

to shoot a movie called Mr. Nanny

and we’d be down there \h\h\ha couple months

and I’ll be there

with the kids and he’s gonna \h\h\h\h\h\h\hworking on it,

\h\hso if you get bored, come on down and hang out

and help me with the kids," so.

\h\h\h\h\hI went down the next day to Miami,

and I was shooting nights,

\h\h\h\h\hand I guess, I left work about 5:00.

When I came in at 6:00 \h\h\h\hin the morning,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI saw the red Cadillac out there.

Hmm. That’s Liz’s car, \h\h\h\h\h\hyou know.

I go upstairs and I said,

"Where’s Liz at?"

My ex-wife was still asleep,

"Oh, she’s in the back room \h\h\h\h\h\h\hover there."

And I just kind of peeked \h\h\h\hin the other room

and no one was in the bed, \h\h\h\h\h\hand I’m like,

"Hmm." I didn’t think \h\h\h\hnothing of it

so I went to sleep and got up,

\hworked out, did my thing, the next day I went to work

\h\hagain at night, I came in, same thing, nobody in the bed.

\hI said, "Okay, here’s the deal.

I don’t know what’s going on, \h\hbut if she’s not gonna be

\h\h\hsleeping here, she needs to get her stuff out of here,

because I don’t want \h\h\h\h\hany heat."

And so as things progressed,

I saw her down by the pool, \h\h\hhanging out with a guy

that played tennis and I was getting ready to go to work

\hat night and I came out of the shower about 6:00

and I heard this screaming, \h\h\h\h"Oh, where she at?

\h\h\h\hWhere is she at? You know where she’s at."

And I said, "Oh, my God. \h\h\h\h\h\h\hHe’s here."

\h\h\hSo I put a towel on and I went out to the living room

\hand there was Randy staring at my ex-wife,

pointing his finger going, \h"You know where Liz is?"

\h\hI said, "Randy, calm your you know what down, brother."

\hGrabbed the manager, I said, "Hey, brother,

this is Macho Man, \hhis wife’s here,

\h\h\hhe doesn’t have the key to her room, we need the key

to her room." So the manager walked us all the way around

the back of the hotel.

\h\h\hGuy put the key in and door opened it,

and Randy pushed the door \h\h\hand was, "Hey, Liz."

And I took off. \h\hI was gone.

All of a sudden I get ready \h\h\h\h\hto leave for work

and there was like 20 cop cars \h\h\h\h\h\houtside the hotel.

I was blamed for that.

The truth is, after the second \h\hday, I should’ve called him

\h\h\h\hright away and said, "Hey, man, I don’t know where

\h\h\hyour wife’s at but her car is here.

She’s not in her room." I should’ve done that,

\h\h\hI guess, that’s where our relationship fell apart

for about 10 years.

\h\h\hJust as intense as the wrestling was,

that’s how much he hated me \h\h\h\h\h\h\hin real life.

I just figured if I got her \h\h\h\h\h\hout of my room,

\h\h\h\hI had no idea she didn’t call home,

\h\hI had no idea that she left and packed all of her stuff up

and didn’t tell him she was \h\hdone with the marriage.

\h\h\hI didn’t know any of this stuff.

I just thought she came down \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto hang out.

\h\h\hShe left him and didn’t tell us.

\h- Let’s just be honest, the day that Randy died,

he still loved Miss Elizabeth, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hlike, I mean,

that’s his ultra-love in life.

And so as he’s losing her \h\h\h\h\h\hin real life,

he has to act like, \hyou know, worse,

in love, get married, the whole nine yards,

\h\h\h\hand so, I mean, I can’t even understand

how much pain that would be.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- It’s right, the real deal right here.

I’m the "Macho Man" \h\h\hRandy Savage.

\h\h\h\hAnd Mean Gene Okerlund, I’m gonna be your cohost, yeah.

\hOn All-American Wrestling, do you have any problem with that?

- I don’t have a problem \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hat all.

- I don’t know why Vince puts people on commentary

\h\hother than the fact that he might have another vision

of what needs to be done \h\h\h\hfor the product.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- You better watch your step, Mister...

\h\h- Vince, I don’t think, wanted him to work anymore.

\h\hThey wanted to get him out of the ring and do commentary

and Randy always felt like \hhe had some matches left.

- The reason that I argue \h\h\h\hthat Randy Savage

is probably the greatest \h\h\h\h\hwho ever lived

is because he literally \h\h\h\h\h\h\hcould do

\h\h\h\hevery single aspect of professional wrestling.

Except for commentary.

Was not a fan of that.

- You got to be able \h\h\hto get a patent

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hon some of these wrestling holds.

People are stealing them,

that’s the million-dollar \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hdream.

- Randy probably \hlooked at it as,

"Man, do they not think \hthat I’m good enough

in the ring anymore

that they’re gonna put me out here as a color commentator?"

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- His voice was a small doses thing.

You don’t want to just hear, \h\h\h\h\h"Oh, in commentary.

Oh, off the top. Oh, there we go."

After two hours of it, it’s like, "All right,

\h\h\h\h\h\hit doesn’t have the same mystique anymore."

- Are you ever gonna get back \h\h\h\h\hin the ring again?

- Absolutely. Thanks for asking \h\h\h\h\h\h\hme that question.

\hI’m gonna just--you know, I’ve been in the sidelines

kind of just picking my shots, and I feel

\h\han opportunity coming up really, really, really soon,

\h\h\hwithin a week in fact and I’m gonna get back to the ring.

I’m gonna still be doing \h\h\hthe broadcasting...

because I really enjoy it \h\hand I’m broadcasting

\h\hbecause I want to, not because I have to,

\h\h\hbut when I get back into the squared circle,

I’m gonna make a quick name \h\h\h\h\hfor myself again

and I’m gonna go after

that World Wrestling Federation \h\h\h\h\h\h\hChampionship belt

for the third time, \h\h\ha three-peat.

- Randy had a lot of fight \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hleft in him,

\h\h\hlot of gas in the tank, he had no knee replacements.

\h\hRandy hadn’t had any major surgeries,

his legs were good, he tore his tricep,

and I knocked his teeth out \h\h\hone time by accident.

He was in great shape, \h\h\hman, he could go.

\h\h- When they wrestle me, they turn out to be a clown

\h\h\hone way or another. - Yeah, Doink the Clown.

\h\h\h- Doink the Clown or Hulk Hogan the Clown

or whatever it is. You know, \h\h\hit doesn’t even matter.

- I know you and Hulk were, \h\hkind of, friends there

\h\h\hfor a while. - Kind of not too.

- Oh, yeah? \h\h- Yeah.

Kind of and kind of not, yeah.

Somewhere in between, \h\h\h\h\hyeah, huh?

- Yeah.

- They said, we’re having \h\h\h\ha youth movement,

the best thing you can do \his hold on to the mic,

\hhe says, "Well, I’ll get a second opinion on that."

\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd it turned WCW didn’t think he was too old.

\h\h\h\h- I’ll never forget the night that it happened.

I remember Vince walking around saying "has anybody seen Randy?

\h\h\h\hI would need to go over the format with him."

\h\h\h\hAnd then an hour before our show started,

somebody came to Vince and said, "Hey, Vince.

Turn on the TV."

- It gives me a great deal \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof pleasure

to introduce truly one of the all-time greats

in professional wrestling,

\h\h\h\h\hfinally arriving at World Championship Wrestling.

- I was with Vince \h\h\h\hat the time

right in the same room \h\hand he no-sold it.

There was no expression change \h\h\h\h\h\hon his face at all.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHe looked around, he looked over at me and said,

\h\h\h"King, could you do the commentary with me tonight?"

\h\h\h\h- But Randy, I know you’re out there listening.

And on behalf of all of us,

all of your fans, and certainly me,

the number one fan, \hI’d like to say,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthank you for all of your positive contributions.

- Even when it was happening,

a lot of people didn’t believe \h\h\h\h\h\h\hit was happening.

- I wish you nothing \h\h\h\hbut the best,

Godspeed and good luck.

It was a surprise

and not a pleasant one.

I was, you know, it hurt.

\h\h\h\h- They wanted me to do the commentary thing, you know,

which I will wanna do some time, you know,

because I got a pretty good \h\h\h\h\hslanted viewpoint

on things, you know? \h\h\h\h\h- Oh, yeah?

- I feel that I would like to express it at some time,

you know, it’s not even now, \h\hbut I just wasn’t ready,

you know, to take off my boots \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hat that point.

I’m glad I didn’t.

\h\h\h- I don’t think he wanted to do that.

He didn’t want to do \h\h\h\hthat [bleep].

It wasn’t Randy.

- Macho Man and Hulk Hogan

have a date with destiny.

Oh, yeah, Starrcade, dig it!

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- All right. The "Macho Man" Randy Savage

\h\halready making his presence known

here on WCW Saturday Night.

- Oh, yeah.

- We’re gonna be right back, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h♪ ♪

- During the Monday Night Wars

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hwhen WWE and WCW were going head-to-head on TV

on the same night, \hfor a long time,

WCW, they were winning the Monday Night Wars

and part of that was because \h\h\h\h\h\h\ha lot of talent

would jump ship

and Randy was one of those talents.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI mean, he was a big, big star.

- I think it was devastating.

\hYou know, I think it was because he was our captain.

\h\hI remember a bunch of us were talking and saying like,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h"Man, like, we don’t have any stars."

- And it’s the "Macho Man" \h\hRandy Savage for the...

- Though we all felt maybe there was a shift going on,

my gosh, the two biggest guys \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof our era,

Hogan and Randy Savage \h\h\h\h\h\hare there?

- Oh, yeah.

- There was a huge rift \h\hwith Randy and Hulk,

so when Randy went to WCW,

\h\h\hit was always a very business-like relationship.

- It was a really smart move,

\h\h\h\h\hbecause Randy wasn’t done wrestling.

\h\h\hVince told him he was done wrestling

and Randy wasn’t \hdone wrestling.

\h\hHe had a major impact on the wrestling business

once he came over and get \hback in the ring again.

- Randy was highly motivated, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hso was I.

\h\h\h\h\hAnd when you have two highly motivated people

\h\h\h\hthat each want really the same thing,

then it’s just about numbers.

And what was really, \hreally interesting

\h\h\h\habout negotiating the Randy Savage deal is,

it didn’t cost me a dime,

because when Randy Savage \h\hmade the jump to WCW,

so did Slim Jim.

- Wanna pick up the tempo? \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Yeah.

- Snap into a Slim Jim.

- He took Slim Jim with him

and that was to the tune of...

$750,000 per year.

- How about the funky chicken? \h\h\h\h- Oh, is that a waltz?

- Oh, yeah.

Need a little excitement?

Snap into a Slim Jim!

- Macho Man got me \hto eat Slim Jims.

So any irregularity I have \h\h\h\h\h\hwith my bowels

is on you, Slim Jim.

I’m gonna take you to court.

Drop the elbow from it, yeah.

Intestinal fortitude \hnot included, yeah.

- What do you see?

- Slim Jim.

Slim Jim.

Slim Jim!

\h\h- You could tell he was struggling with aging in WCW

and you could tell he was doing \h\h\h\h\hwhatever he had to do

to keep his body in shape \h\h\hand he got too big.

- I’m not giving up.

I’m just getting started.

- In that period of time,

it was about guys \hgetting bigger,

stronger, and faster.

\h\h\h\h\h\hYou know, it was in all sports.

\h\h\h\h\hA lot of wrestlers shoots steroids just to heal

and to maintain their body.

If you’re on the road \h\h\h\h\h\hlike that,

you’re not eating properly,

you’re not getting \hthe right sleep,

your body starts to tear down.

- Did Randy use them?

- I’ve never seen him do it.

Now, if you ask me if I think he did?

Yes.

That’s just my own thought.

I’ve been wrong before though.

- No love lost here.

- Uh-oh.

- He got his money in WCW, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hyou know?

He went and cashed in, \h\hgot a nice a check,

money he could’ve lived off of \h\h\h\hfor the rest his life.

He did sort of in WCW, \h\h\hkind of, end up

in Hogan’s shadow again.

In WWE, it was almost like

he was lurking in the shadows \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof Hogan

like, "I’m right here, \h\h\hI could do this."

In WCW, it wasn’t like that.

He was never a threat \h\hto Hogan’s spot.

- I think there was lot of competition.

\hI think till the day that Randy Savage died,

\h\h\hthere was a lot of emotional feelings

between he and Hogan.

It was kind of scary

even though neither one of them would talk about it,

you don’t need to have \h\h\hanybody tell you

what was happening, \hyou could see it.

They didn’t get along.

They did not get along.

- Eric Bischoff came to me,

"Hey, man, get an opportunity \h\h\h\h\h\hto grab Elizabeth.

They were divorced, you know?"

And I’m, "Oh, my God.

\h\h\hIf we could get her, that would be so intense."

- Well, guess who’s here.

- When Miss Elizabeth wanted to come to WCW,

\hit was Randy who was one of her biggest advocates.

\h\h\h\h\h\hRandy had moved on with his personal life,

so there was no excess baggage.

- He didn’t have a problem \h\h\hwith it all and said,

"Man, if there’s money to be \h\h\h\hmade, let’s make it.

On board."

- By the time that I met Liz

and we were getting to know \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\heach other,

\h\hI’ve had the sense that she had completely moved on

from the marriage \h\h\hwith Randy.

She had met someone.

All of a sudden,

Liz was converting to Judaism

and moving to Florida.

You know, it didn’t last long, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hbut she tried.

\h\h- A real man who knows how to come to the aid of a woman.

- What I thought at the time

\h\hwas an innocent workplace flirtation

\h\h\hand sure enough, there is no such thing

\h\h\h\h\has innocent workplace flirtation,

\h\h\h\h\hso working together and being around each other,

we definitely crossed \h\hthose boundaries.

- Take a good look at him,

the genetic wonder here, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hMr. DNA...

\h\h- My best friend from wrestling, Sting,

he tried to sit down with me \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hmany times

and talked to me about it.

\h\h- Man, I just-- I wouldn’t do that.

\h\h\h\h\h\hThere just wasn’t any stopping him at the time.

\h\h\h\h- It didn’t seem like it was probably the best idea

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hfor a number of pretty obvious reasons,

but somebody else’s life

\hand they’re gonna do what they’re gonna do.

- When it became obvious to me,

I thought, "Okay, here we go."

This is that iceberg

\hthat the Titanic hit that nobody saw coming.

Here comes mine. It didn’t happen.

- I think Randy was just, \hkind of, maybe over it.

\h\h\h\h\h\hJust, kind of, was keeping his distance.

\h\h\h\h\h- It was like a full circle situation

because, you know,

\h\h\hif I hadn’t done that then I hadn’t got over it,

you know what it mean? \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Yeah.

- Because, you know, \h\h\hI don’t believe

in taking anything \h\h\hto the grave.

You know what I mean? \h\h\h\h\h\hYou know,

because me and Elizabeth \h\h\hare still friends,

you know what I mean?

\hJust something that didn’t work

\h\hand then it was a--it was-- it was a no problem situation.

You know what I mean? \hAnd just, you know,

life goes on and just, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hyou know,

\hyou shouldn’t spend the rest of your life

dwelling over one thing.

- When he had Liz,

\h\h\hI don’t think he really went out.

When they separated, it was--

it was almost like having,

like, a freshman in college.

What are we doing tonight?

- I believe Randy Savage \h\h\hmet Gorgeous George

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\houtside of the wrestling business.

I’m not sure what she was doing

for a living at the time.

There may have been some \h\h\h\hdancing involved.

- I moved to Tampa

and the first person that I met

was Randy.

It was kind of like fate.

I totally believe in fate.

The first place I worked \h\h\his the DollHouse,

so I get in there,

they give me a sequin gown \h\h\hthat I owe money for

at the end of the week.

I’m on the set list \h\hto go on stage.

\h\hI didn’t even have enough money

to get a drink for myself.

So I’m sitting there \h\hand some old guy

starts whacking me in my arm

\h\h\h\hand he’s like, "Girl, buy me a drink."

\h\h\hAnd I was like, "You buy me a drink."

\h\hAnd he starts fighting with me.

So next thing I know \h\hI got grabbed up

\h\h\h\h\h\hand thrown outside the DollHouse,

\h\h\hon my knees in a sequin gown,

some guy comes up to me

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand he goes, "Hey, girl, are you okay?"

And I’m like, "Dude, did you \hjust see what happened? "

He’s like, "Yeah. Oh,

that wouldn’t have happened

\h\hif you wouldn’t have been beaten up

on Evel Knievel."

And I get to looking at him

and I’m like, \h"Macho Man?"

I mean, this was like \h\h\ha surreal dream.

He gives me his phone number \h\h\h\h\h\h\hand an address.

So I got this piece of paper

with his phone number \h\h\h\h\h\hin my hand

and I’m thinking to myself,

"Well, he might be cool."

\h- And she was, like, younger than all of us.

She was the perfect eye-candy \h\h\h\h\h\hfor the Macho Man

for the gimmick.

Where Elizabeth was unplugged,

she got plugged back in.

- Hold all phone calls, \h\h\hwe have a winner.

- Gorgeous George, \h\h\hshe was cool.

I mean, young,

and she was kind of hip.

She kind of updated Randy.

Randy got kind of \ha cool factor.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- That’s when he started wearing leather,

that’s where he got \h\h\hreally jacked.

He got rid of all the flair.

\h\h\h\h\h\hHe’s coming out in just like black leather

\h\h\h\h\hwith the necklace. - Here comes the Macho Man.

- "Thursday Night Thunder", \h\h\h"Monday Night Nitro",

it just kept going, you know.

There was never no let-up.

\h\h\h\h\hWe traveled over 300 days a year.

- There is the celebration \h\h\h\h\h\h\hkicking up...

-My sister, she’s about 17 \h\h\h\h\h\h\hat the time.

She moved down to Florida \h\h\h\hto watch my son.

So when we went to travel,

I trusted somebody.

- My sister had called me,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hshe said, "I’m gonna be wrestling

\hand with Isaac being down here,

I need someone that I can trust \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto watch him."

And, you know, I’m down.

- Randy was really nice to me.

He’s just really focused \h\h\h\h\h\hon his work.

Macho Man, he would take me \h\h\h\h\h\hat Toys "R" Us,

\h\h\h\hhe would buy different action figures for me and stuff

\h\hand a couple of times he actually bought himself

as an action figure.

That was cool.

- Oh, it’s nice. \h\hI like it...

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Is that-- is that like a negligee?

\h\h\h\h\h\h- Randy and George, they had the reputation in town

of really partying,

and that reputation got out. \h\h\h\h- Well, I like it.

- They seemed to have \h\h\h\h\ha good time

but after shows or matches,

\h\hthey were, you know, they went out together.

She partied hard.

George wasn’t afraid.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- George came from the stripping community

\hand Randy was, I think, trying to live vicariously

in a young type of way \h\h\hthrough George.

\h\h\h\h\hI don’t know what the age gap was.

I think it was quite extensive.

- Even though he was older, \h\h\h\hhe didn’t act older.

He was fast-going, upbeat,

he worked out every day.

He was just go, go, go, go.

\h\h\h\hThat was Randy. - You can see strength.

- When I met first Randy,

he was definitely \hdoing steroids.

There was veins upon veins.

He had veins on his eyelids.

\h\h\hIf he started to regress from it,

he’d see the difference \h\hin his body change.

So as soon as he thought

\h\h\h\hfor one second he was getting older,

he’d push more.

We would always stop at his mom and dad’s

and Angela would put me \hin the massage chair.

He would take Randy upstairs

to give him his medicine.

\h\h\hDad would distribute the things that he needed

to enhance his physical being.

\h\h\hI would stay in the chair till the shots were distributed

\hand then we’d jump in the car and leave.

We were doing alcohol, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hecstasy,

steroids, uppers, downers.

- He liked to indulge \h\hin some ecstasy.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hIn Florida, it was kind of on the scene,

especially over in Tampa.

\h\hHe’d sometimes give me $200, $300

and I would go and get them

and I’d give them to him.

- Randy would walk around \hwith a thousand dollars

or more worth of ecstasy pills \h\h\h\h\h\h\hin his hip sack

at all times.

\h\h\h\h\h\hThere’s one really distinctful time

we were high.

It was when we were wearing \h\h\h\h\h\hthe red outfit.

- ...and Gorgeous George \h\h\hwere in the house.

Oh, yeah.

They’re right about one thing.

- What’s that, Macho?

- I’m ain’t no punk bitch!

\h\h\h\h- People were like, "What is he talking about?"

We were so high.

\h\h- The Macho Man and Gorgeous George

are leaving the building.

Oh, yeah.

- Yeah, but he did-- whose he’s going to--

\h\h\h\h\hwho’s he going to... - At the height of my success,

was the worst part \h\hI’ve ever been

in my entire life.

I looked gorgeous, I looked beautiful,

\h\h\hI looked like I had it together,

\hand at the same time, I had nothing together.

I heard about Randy doing things to Liz

through the grapevine.

I had heard that she had to go \h\h\h\h\hto Hulk Hogan’s house

to hide from him with his wife.

I’d heard about her \heating in closets,

I’d heard about all the stuff.

\h\h\h\h\hI didn’t believe it because he was so good to me.

And then as time went on,

the steroids got worse and worse.

And the paranoid schizophrenia

started to grow more and more.

I was so young.

I had no idea

\hhow to categorize what I was seeing.

\h\h\h\hI didn’t see the side of him yet

until now he’s looking at me \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hlike that.

One day I’m cleaning his house

and all of the sudden \h\h\h\h\h\hI noticed

this fuse box on the bottom \h\h\h\hof the broom closet.

I go to open it up.

So I put the keys in \h\h\hand I turn them

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand I pull it out and I open the door, I’m like,

"Wow, what is that?"

\h\h\h\h\hAnd there’s a four screens on top

and four screens \hon the bottom.

Wow, that looks like my house.

\h\h\h\h\hWait a minute, that is my [bleep] house.

\h\hHe’s got my whole [bleep] house taped.

And then I hear him coming up \h\h\h\hthe corridor, right?

And right when he walks in \h\h\h\h\h\hthe door, boom.

\h\h\h\h\h\hClicked it, put the--just slam it.

I was sitting like this.

He goes, "Are you okay?" \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI go...

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHe goes, "What’s wrong with you?"

I go, "Take me home now."

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHe goes, "What is wrong with you?"

I go, "Take me [bleep] home."

- There was things that he would say,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthere’s no way he would be able to say that

\hif he didn’t have some kind of camera

or audio-video in our home

because he wasn’t there.

That’s when it got creepy.

- There were some times where,

\h\h\hyou know, you could feel the tension between them both.

Being that young and being around

a lifestyle like that,

he was really busy you know,

everything was just \h\hreally constant.

- Randy had a--

\h\h\hupon dilution of our relationship

would be the termination

of every kind of contract.

He knew what he was doing.

- When they broke up,

she went from Gorgeous George,

back to Stephanie.

Done.

\h\hRandy cut her out of every single thing.

- We end up leaving Florida \h\h\h\hand she got a place

back in our home at Rockford,

and we got our own house there \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand stuff

\hand Randy was really pissed off about that,

you know, and he wanted her--

he just wanted her \h\hand, you know,

and she didn’t want to be \h\h\h\h\h\ha part of it.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- Nobody knew what I was going through.

And I’ve never really opened up \h\h\h\h\h\h\hand told anybody.

I didn’t want to tarnish \h\hsomebody’s reputation

who was such a great person.

The things that were bad \h\h\h\h\hwere very bad,

but the things that were good \h\h\h\h\h\h\hwere very good.

- Miss Elizabeth was very pristine,

\h\h\hwas always on this extra pristine pedestal.

I think she may have jumped out

of Randy’s frying pan

into a hotter skillet \h\h\h\hso to speak.

\h\hBut I think the ongoing scuttlebutt amongst the boys

\hwas, "This is not going to end well."

- We definitely did not \h\hput the brakes on.

Might have been a good idea \h\h\h\h\h\hbut we didn’t.

In retrospect of course.

In hindsight.

- It’s all about,

I’ve got the greatest manager

in the sport today.

\h\h\h\h\h\hI’m talking, you show me some respect.

- Because she was so deep

into this relationship,

she was around us \hless and less.

She was a little more isolated.

\hWe were concerned and we were worried

and we would always \h\hreach out to her

and see what we could do \h\h\h\h\h\hto help her

but it just wasn’t working.

- Last week Bagwell \h\h\h\hmade the...

\h\h\h\h- I was surprised she was running with Lex.

Lex was running real hard,

so were some of his friends \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hat the time.

And when I saw her with Lex, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI told her,

we’ll be reading about her \h\h\h\hin about two years.

- Will face Bret Hart \h\h\h\hthis Sunday.

Hogan and...

- I’m not getting punked \h\h\h\hout my whole town.

\h\h\h\h\h\hLet me just tell you that right now,

by you or anybody else.

- Now if he wants to fire \h\h\h\h\hthe first shot,

that’s fine because I’ll fire \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe last shot

machine gun style.

- You know the sad part about this whole thing,

I’m supposed to be the enemy

\h\h\h\h\h\hand I’m this no good son of a bitch.

- Randy and the Hulk

had a dysfunctional \h\h\hrelationship.

Much like many marriages

that I witnessed over the years

were a husband and a wife \h\h\h\h\h\hkind of tend

to fall in and out of love \h\h\h\h\hwith each other.

- If all the moons line up \h\h\hjust right, you know,

and everything is just great \h\h\h\hand it’s a sunny day,

you know, they might be able \h\h\hto work something out.

It was that way with them, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hyou know,

they had their wars, you know, in Florida.

\h\h\h\h\h- Randy Savage got another radio station

to talk crap about me,

say that me and Hogan \h\h\hare having sex.

That’s fine Randy. The girl you used

\h\hto have sex with now is doing pornos.

Join me tonight at Storman’s \h\h\h\h\hon the big screen

\h\h\h\h\h\hand I’ll play the Gorgeous George tape.

- It was all apparently real.

They were always kind of hot \h\h\h\h\h\h\hat each other.

\h- When he started on me, I started on him, you know,

and I had a bigger voice \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthan him

because I had a buddy \h\h\hhere in Tampa,

had a local radio show \hand we just blast him

\h\h\h\hevery morning and drove him crazy.

- Making fun of Randy,

kind of gravitated \h\hto my airwaves

fairly instantaneously, so,

within a few months of Hogan \h\h\h\h\hand I hanging out,

\h\h\h\hwe just started kind of ribbing Randy.

\h\h\h- ♪ Your fabulous... it’s Randy "Macho Man"! ♪

\h♪ Working at a Gold’s Gym he just [bleep] his pants ♪

- Oh, it just drove \hMacho Man insane.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hMacho Man would go to lawyers in town,

\h\h\h\hbe like, "Oh, yeah, there’s this fat radio guy

\h\h\h\h\h\hwho’s talking a bunch of crap about me

\h\h\hthat I pooped my pants." And then the lawyers would say,

\h\h\h\h\h\h"Well, Randy, did you poop your pants?"

\h\h\hHe was like, "Well, yeah, well."

\h\h- It’s the debut release from "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

\h\h- ♪ Let’s roll baby Come on kick some butt ♪

- Listen to him throw down

\h\hin such songs "Let’s Get It On"

and "Be A Man".

\h\h\h- ♪ Be a man Hulk, come on don’t be scared ♪

- At some point I look up

and I see that "Macho Man" \hRandy Savage is a rapper.

And he’s not kidding.

- I’ve been putting my music \h\h\h\h\has a priority one.

Everybody is writing a book and I’m not writing a book.

I’m--I want to express myself \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hwith music.

- I think the entire motive \h\h\h\h\h\hof his rap album

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hwas to try to take a shot at Terry.

- I-I just think...

I don’t know, you know, \h\hI didn’t really get

any traction anywhere, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hyou know.

\h\hIt was just one of those things to get off his chest,

\h\hwas part of that hate that he had to get rid of.

- Randy had a plan that Be A Man Hulk

was going to sell 50 million copies

instead it only sold 50,000.

The critics said it defied \h\hphysical possibilities.

It sucked and blew at the same moment.

- I don’t necessarily \hknow that many of us

were really proud of it.

\h\h\h\h\hYou know, I wouldn’t be a man

\h\h\hif I didn’t say, you know, to the camera

\h\h\h\h\hthat I was sorry for the things that I said.

\h\h- Get a shot of this right here, you hear me?

\h\h\h\hMacho Man Savage, boy, if you don’t got it,

you don’t know what music is.

♪ ♪

- You know, there was nothing \huntypical about the evening.

We were hanging out, \h\hwatching movies,

\hhaving a few drinks, and popping some bills.

She dozed off on the couch \h\h\h\h\h\h\hfor a minute,

it was late at night, \h\h\hso, went over,

\h\hI realized definitely there was something wrong

so I immediately called 911.

She’s laying on the floor.

I tried to pick her up, \h\h\h\h\hI tried to...

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Okay, what I want you to do,

\h\h\hI want you to go over and see if she’s breathing.

\h\h\h\hAnd I got taken in from there and they found

all the drugs \hin the house

and I was placed under arrest

shortly thereafter.

- One day the phone rang, \h\h\h\h\h\hLiz is gone.

- Pro wrestler Lex Luger \his under arrest tonight

and his girlfriend is dead.

This all happened today in...

\h- She just had so much to offer.

\h- Both Lex and Elizabeth did what addicts often do

which is hide it.

By the time it became obvious

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto those of us who would have liked to know,

it was too late.

They were already \hpretty far gone.

\h\h- She’s a beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous woman

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hwho had no clue how gifted she actually was.

\h- Absolutely, I had a role in definitely and profoundly

\ha negative influence and so he was, "Did you murder her?"

\h\h"No, I didn’t force her to do drugs or take pills."

But was I a negative \hinfluence her time

that led to that happening?

Definitely.

\hIf I could change that and go back in time, I--

\h\hoh, boy, I mean, I would but I can’t.

- I think the end \h\hfor Elizabeth

is one of the saddest things

that’s ever happened \h\h\h\hin wrestling.

She wasn’t supposed to go \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthat way,

like she wasn’t a wrestler.

She didn’t abuse her body

that we knew of, \hyou know, like,

\h\h\h\hit is just-- it’s heartbreaking.

- I never said a word \h\h\h\h\h\habout it.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI said, I’m very sorry for Elizabeth,

he said thank you.

I didn’t pick his scabs,

\h\hI spoke once spoken to and if I saw a mud puddle,

I didn’t splash him with it.

We loved each other but we didn’t talk

\h\h\h\habout everything unless he brought it up.

I know that he had a lot \h\h\h\h\hof fond respect

for Lex Luger

and I don’t think he held

any animosity toward him.

- At all, really?

- I gave my answer.

- Really feel real bad for her \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand her family.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd the situation where we hadn’t seen each other

\h\h\h\habout maybe five, six years but, you know,

\h\h\hwe had closure and we’ve settled low

and everything was all good.

But I feel bad for her family.

♪ ♪

- It just sort of ended \h\h\h\hand Randy Savage

\h\hseemed to just sort of fade away from wrestling.

He seemed to kind of go...

peacefully into the night

in a way that most wrestlers \h\h\hare incapable of doing.

- In my whole life it’s because \h\h\h\hI want to do something

whether than having to do it, \h\h\hyou know, so, you know,

I’ve been a really \hgood businessman

as far as my personal \hfinances have gone.

- From what I heard, \hhe was doing well.

He was happy.

\hA lot of the guys leave this business

and they can’t get it out of their system,

can’t get it out \hof their blood

\hbut Randy seemed to have done that.

And if you remember, I mean, he was one of the first guys

that got a decent part

in a major, major \hmotion picture.

- Hey, unlock the thing.

Take the chain off.

\h- Hey, freak show, you’re going nowhere.

\h\h\h\h\hI got you for three minutes.

Three minutes of playtime.

I got this little switch

\h\h\hinside my brain, if you trip that light,

fantastic and it’s showtime

and you hear that war \h\h\hfrom the crowd,

\hyou know what I mean? And you get those chill

moves all the way up, \h\h\h\hnose to toes.

and that is not a problem \h\h\h\hat all, you know?

In fact, it’s pretty easy \h\h\h\hfor me to get up

for something like that, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hyou know,

because it’s just-- \hit’s just either

inside you or it’s not.

And I say that \hwhen it stops

getting to be fun \h\hfor somebody,

they need to get out.

\h- When Randy Savage was done with people,

he moved on.

And Randy would cut it off \h\h\h\h\h\h\hand move on.

You didn’t exist to him.

\h\h\hSo the same thing with his personal life,

\h\h\h\hsame thing with his business,

it was time to move on,

\h\hhe moved on, didn’t look back.

\h\h\h\h\h- In the latter part of his life where he went gray

and he kind of naturally aged,

\h\h\h\hI think that that might have been

when he finally dropped \hthe Macho Man persona

and could be Randy Poffo.

\h\hAnd I think that that might have been

a huge relief for him.

\h\h\h- There’s arguably no more tiring character

to play than Macho Man.

I mean just from a physical \h\h\h\h\hvoice standpoint.

You can’t tell me there weren’t \h\h\h\h\h\htimes when you say,

"Oh, I just want to not talk \h\h\h\h\h\h\hfor three days

because my throat hurts."

- Randy had reunited

\h\h\hwith his I guess high school sweetheart.

To me it was like, you know, \h\h\hRandy had found peace.

- I was at a heart doctor, \h\h\h\h\hI looked at him,

\hthere he is, he looks great.

\hHe’s about 240 pounds, he’s got his weight back.

He’s smiling and he’s happy.

It’s, "Hey, man, \hwhat’s up, man,

\hI love you, I miss you." "I love you too, brother."

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hIt’s damn, you got your wedding ring on.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHe was, "Oh, yeah, I got remarried."

\h\h\hHe was happy, he looked so great,

you could see the glow \h\h\hcoming off him.

He was at peace,

\h\hhe was himself and he was happy.

\h\hIt kind of like made my life to it,

to see how happy he was

\hand he forgave me for whatever I did.

- I remember my dad telling us \h\h\habout Randy having met,

you know, back in the ’70s \ha woman named Lynn Payne

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand he had this relationship with her

before he ever met \h\hMiss Elizabeth.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hIn 1975, Randy had left baseball

and he and Lynn had broken up.

So it caused Randy \hto leave Florida

\h\h\h\h\hand get into professional wrestling.

- Randy had told me

that Lynn was always the love of his life.

They were sweethearts \h\h\h\h\h\hearly on

\h\h\hand then of course they went their own ways

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand they found their way back to each other.

- And boom.

The stars never shone \h\h\h\h\hso bright.

They get married \hon Lido Beach

where they had met \h36 years before.

- This time, man, \h\h\h\hhe just--

he was still Macho

\h\h\hbut the pace was much different.

You just see that Randy \h\h\h\h\hhad kind of,

\h\h\h\hyou know, went full circle.

There are so many of these \h\hguys were so tormented

and then you hear \hthat they died,

\hit’s like the life of a kamikaze pilot.

\h\hWe saw Randy got to touch down

back on the carrier \h\h\hfor a while.

- He was at the point \h\h\h\h\hof relaxing

and enjoying his life \h\h\hwith the woman

that he was supposed \h\h\h\h\hto be with.

\hSo he’s just in love and ready to just, ah,

\h\h\h\h\h\hyou know, and he told me that.

\h\hI got my dogs, I’ve got my house,

and you know, I’m there.

\h\h\h\h- Randy getting back to his high school sweetheart

\h\h\hwho hadn’t been around the wrestling business ever,

she wasn’t jaded, \h\h\h\hyou know.

And I think when he unplugged \h\hfrom this crazy business,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hhe fall back in a really beautiful place

\h\h\h\hthat was probably before he ever wrestled.

\h\h\h- You old punks you ain’t got nothing

\h\h\hon the "Macho Man" Randy Savage, in my generation, yeah.

\h\h\h\h- Randy Savage at the end of his life

\h\h\h\hleft wrestling in a way that I really

respected and I liked

because he walked away from it.

- He pulled a lot \hout of the WWE,

made a [bleep] ton of money \h\h\hand a hell of a ride,

\h\h\h\h\h\hcircumstances being what they are, man,

\ha wonderful, wonderful life.

♪ ♪

- They were coming back from being at the store,

Randy was driving his Jeep.

He said, "I’m not--I’m not \hreally feeling that well.

\h\h\h\h\h\hI think, I’d like to go home."

\h\h\h\h\hAnd he started to swerve out of his lane

and he pressed the gas.

♪ ♪

Lynn had to steer,

the Jeep was going to crash

into other vehicles, \h\honcoming vehicles

\hand cause all kinds of other fatalities.

So she steered the Jeep into a tree to stop it.

\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd Randy was pronounced dead,

right there on the scene.

\h\h\h\h- Some sad news to report this morning.

\h\h\hPro wrestling icon, Randy "Macho Man" Savage

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hdied Friday in a car crash in Florida...

- I get a message from Largo Medical

and that my brother

\h\h\h\hand his wife were in a car wreck.

So I called up

and that’s when they put me \h\hon the phone with Lynn

and she explained to me \h\h\h\hwhat happened.

\h\h\h\h- Police say Savage lost control

\h\hof his Jeep Wrangler about 9:30 this morning.

His wife suffered \hminor injuries.

Randy "Macho Man" Savage \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hwas 58.

\h\h\h\h- My thought immediately went to,

\h\h\h"I wish I would’ve shared some more moments with Randy."

Not so much in the ring stuff

but just going out and having a lunch

\h\h\hor something, you know, to the other side of Savage.

- If I never would have been \h\h\hable to meet with Randy

\h\h\h\h\hone last time before he passed away,

\hhe would have some-- probably been something

that would’ve haunted me.

I don’t think I could have \h\hreally rationalized it

if I never get across

and saw him again.

- He had a heart attack \h\h\h\h\hwhile driving

and that’s a crazy way to die

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hbut it’s also a very Macho Man way to die.

\h\hYou take a Jeep and a heart attack

into a tree, you know, like, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hdude what’s up?

\h\h\h\h\hYou kind of wonder if he negotiated that death.

\h\h\h\h\hHe’s like, "What if I die here,

what if the heart stops \h\h\h\h\hthen the Jeep

\hpops over the highway, yeah, right into a tree?"

And everyone’s like, "That’s a, \h\hthat’s a tough way to go."

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHe’s like, "Very memorable," you know?

As opposed of just dying \h\h\h\h\hin a--in a bed.

\h\h\h\hThat’s a very Macho Man way to die.

I mean, it’s a sad death,

I’m not taking that \h\h\haway from him

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hbut I’m saying, as far as spots go, then, uh,

\hthat’s a suplex off the top rope.

- For as many people \hthat can be like,

"Oh, it’s not a real sport, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hyou know,

it’s just entertainment,"

\h\hand by the way, I have a big update for everyone,

\h\h\h\h\h\hall sports is just entertainment.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hThe value that these athletes have

is just as great in culture

as a competitive athlete.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hIn fact, with ones like Randy Savage,

they’re greater.

\h\hHe gave us more than physical entertainment,

he gave us himself \h\h\has a person.

Snap into a Slim Jim, \h\h\h\h\h\hoh, yeah,

being in "Spider-Man,"

I hope all of those things,

these cultural moments

added up to something \h\h\hwhere he knew,

like, "I was a big deal. \h\h\hI was meaningful."

\h\h\h\h\h\hIt’s crazy because there’s some people whose run

as a professional wrestler \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\his amazing

because it lasts 20 years.

\hRandy Savage, his run was really seven years,

but it’s one of the greatest seven-year runs of all time.

- History beckons \hthe Macho Man.

- He was different.

He wasn’t like everybody else.

- And who was the first man...

- The perfect way to describe him,

he was an enigma.

- First page, the first page, \h\h\h\h\hthe headline, yeah.

- I’m on a headlock.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- You know-- - You like pain like that?

♪ ♪

\h- I’m watching an artist paint.

\h\h\hHe could take you on that rollercoaster.

\hHe has psychology, he had athleticism,

and he could tell a story.

\h\h\hThat was him being that painter.

- I am the new kid on the block, yeah.

- Captured the imagination \h\h\hof the WWE Universe.

\h\h\h\h\h\hTruly did. - Snap on a Slim Jim.

- A whole generation,

probably a few generations

have a piece of him

in their heart, in their minds,

in their memories.

- Oh, yeah, brother.

- That was Hulk Hogan.

- Oh, yeah.

\h\h\h\h- Randy affected a lot of people all over the world.

- You conjure up warm feelings \h\h\h\hthinking about Randy.

He was very intense

and wanted to give his all

\hand I so respect someone like that.

\h\h\h- You got a clip-on tie, and I’ll tell the people that

if you don’t shut up \h\h\h\hand sit down.

- Randy was the real deal.

He loved this business,

he gave his heart \h\h\hand his soul

\hand everything to this business

and there won’t be another like him.

\h\h\h\h\h\hVery few guys have this in their blood

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand live it and Randy was one of them.

- I am the baddest dude \h\h\h\h\hin the planet

and you don’t want \h\hnone of this.

- How much longer do you think \h\h\h\h\h\hthat you’re gonna,

you know, keep this up? \h\h- I’m tapering down,

I’ll probably go about \h\h\h\h248 more years

\h\hand then I’ll retire for a year and come back

and win the world title again.