All language subtitles for Dark Side of the Ring s01e01_English

If you were to try
to package intensity,

and electricity,
and just

pure explosiveness
into one package,

that would have been
the Macho Man, Randy Savage.

Oh my God.
Macho Man.

It's a stick of dynamite
that is lit and

the fuse has gotten very short.

100 percenter, man. He's
gonna come at you with 100%.

The Macho Man Randy Savage.
He was loud.

The cream of the crop!

He was colorful.
He was intense.

Oh, yeah!

Miss Elizabeth...
was... not.

Elizabeth was an icon and a
role model for so many women.

Her character was something that
brought a lot of feeling and

emotion to the matches.

Elizabeth, I love you!

Randy "Macho Man" Savage
and Miss Elizabeth were

wrestling royalty, and
their roller coaster romance

captivated audiences
around the world.

It's Bonnie and Clyde,
it's Romeo and Juliet.

They were the first, you know,
male-female package

that was created in
that new WWF model.

They were the first
and they were the best.

Dysfunctional, as it may
have been in some respects,

but I saw it...
It's a love story.

On this episode,
art imitates life

as we examine a fictional
love story surrounding

a real-life marriage that
explodes beyond the ring

with tragic consequences.

♪

- I don't want to do that.
- PRODUCER: Okay.

Look at how ripped I was.
Look at that belly.

Good God. I was in fighting
shape right there.

My name is Bruce Prichard
and I have actually worked

in the wrestling business
for about 45 years.

First time I met
Randy Savage was in 1987,

in Houston, Texas.

Randy got into the
wrestling business,

he was a
second-generation wrestler.

His father, Angelo Poffo,
was one of the greats.

And, Angelo had
a wrestling territory

and it was considered,
back in the day,

an "outlaw"
wrestling territory.

Can't do nothing against
the Macho Man, yeah.

♪1 professional wrestler!

Complete mental insanity, yeah!

You're a champion, Randy.

You'll go down in
history as the greatest.

The greatest--

I broke this chair
by sitting down!

Then, all of a sudden, it's time
for Randy Savage to appear.

Jimmy, baby, the best thing
that you can do is probably just

stand back and let the
Macho Man talk 'cause there's

nothing that you could say that
I couldn't say better myself.

There was a period in the
wrestling business where,

if you were crazy onscreen,
you were crazy off-screen.

You had to live
your gimmick.

And Randy played
crazy really well.

He lived it 24/7.

♪

Just, personally, do you
think it'd be okay if

I came out that Randy
was a bed-wetter?

PRODUCER:
[laughs] Ah...

What was it like growing up
with Randy as a brother?

He's the same as
any other alpha male,

except his dial is
not only past 10,

but it's broken and
it's gone off the hinges.

I was upstaged every day,
but I knew it was getting over,

so I was proud
to be holding the rope.

He had a dream that
he could be a villain,

a bad guy, a ruffian.

He wanted to be an antagonist
'cause he felt he had more

creativity than just being
the pawn of the villain.

Randy would take
a lot of risks.

He would say,
[gruff voice]

"You gotta stare into a
candle for two hours."

Staring at the candle
for about two hours

and get my head together.

Some people loved him,
some people hated him.

But everybody respected him
because when you see that

kind of athleticism,
you have to buy into it.

♪

So, this is my
autograph table.

Okay, this was another
night where, like,

I think everybody was
drinking too much red wine.

And, right here is
that little saying,

never know what
he meant by it, but...

that's what Macho carved
into the table and

he used to say, [gruff voice]
"Whatever it takes!"

I'm Linda Bollea.

Married to my ex-husband,
professional wrestler,

Hulk Hogan, for 25 years.

Oh, that was back when
we loved each other.

[laughs]
In the olden days.

So, once I met
Miss Elizabeth,

we ended up being friends
because I was really the

only other female on the road.

Elizabeth was from
Frankfort, Kentucky.

Good upbringing.

She addressed her
mom as, "Mother".

And she said, "We were broke.
My dad left early.

It was just me, and my mom,
and my brother,

and money was
always really tight."

There was a gym called
Sin The Sport Center,

and Randy worked out there.

And then, one fine day,
a new girl came,

and that was
Elizabeth Hulette.

And she said Randy was in
the gym about 6 in the morning

and she's working
the front desk,

and he comes in
and she goes,

"Oh, my,
your eyes are so red."

And he goes, "You should
see 'em from this side."

And I said-- I looked
at Liz and said,

"That did it for ya? That one
line, like, reeled you in?"

My name is
Scott Oliver Hall.

I also was wrestling as
Razor Ramone, the bad guy.

I don't know;
if I was a chick,

I'd 'a banged Randy.
I thought he was cool as hell.

Randy would always
tell the story that

it was love at first sight.

[gruff voice] "Yeah, she
saw me and fell in love.

What more she could want?"

Liz would always
be like, "Yeah...

it took a little
while to get used to it."

[laughs]

She was beautiful,
she was phenomenal,

and she was excellent.
What a nice person, too.

And I think that came
across on television.

Elizabeth got involved
in ICW as an announcer,

and she also helped
with the editing.

Because it was a
mom and pop shop,

we did everything.

And, she was
adaptable and brilliant,

and very quick to learn.

Their first wedding was
in Frankfort, Kentucky

at the home
of Elizabeth's mother,

and that was about
6 months before

Randy made his debut with WWE.

Alright, this is gonna
be a Jimmy Hart one.

Here we go.
Hey, it's me!

The Mouth of the South,
Jimmy Hart.

The sun is shining.
Life is great!

There's Randy, and myself,
and Hulk in WCW

when I managed them for
a few matches.

The rest was history.

He goes, "How's New York?"
I said, "It's great."

I said, "Look, they
just saw your tapes.

They want you in New York."

The Macho Man, Randy Savage,
who is quite the competitor,

making his World
Wrestling Federation debut.

Vince and Linda McMahon had
come down to Florida to

get the contract signed
before WrestleMania 1.

Is that Vince?
Oh my gosh. Whoa.

When Vince took over,
he went around every territory

and took the very best
of what was available.

He made you
bigger than life.

Vince was taking it to a
whole completely new level

that none of us were ready
for or even knew about,

or used to, and we were all in
for a big huge learning curve.

You know, when Macho
came onboard, Vince was like,

"Well, you know, we really want
your character to have

a valet, a woman, a manager."

I think Randy probably
just sat down and said,

"Look, you know, I want to
come up here and I think

I can make you money
in this territory.

Can we work a spot out for
Liz because she's gonna

go with me on the road.
She's gonna be with me."

Randy, if he loved somebody,
whether it was his brother

or whether it was
Liz or whoever,

he was gonna be
very loyal to them.

Macho Man is at
his peak right now,

and we gotta know who
the manager is gonna be.

They fell in love with her as
soon as she opened up the door

and stepped
into wrestling history.

RANDY:
...here she comes.

ANNOUNCERS:
Oh... Oh... [laughs] Oh my.

Liz was very demure,
very quiet, gentle soul.

The person and the character
were really one and the same.

As far as the persona of the
Macho Man and the

package of the Macho Man
and Miss Elizabeth,

was they were two opposites.

And Randy, so intense, and
Elizabeth, so subdued.

They wanted you to love
Elizabeth and hate Randy.

Picture of Elizabeth.

No picture of the
Macho Man Randy Savage.

That's very, very,
very bad, Elizabeth.

Randy would bring her out.
She'd stand at ringside.

He'd get in the ring,
he'd circle around,

and then he'd get out,
"No, I told you to stand here!"

The people were hating Randy
just for brow beating

the beautiful young girl.

Like, "You can do
better than him, honey!

Get away from him."

And there would be
times Randy would

give Liz a look and just...
[inhales]

Turn his head and
give her those eyes,

and she would
almost be subservient.

Macho Man Randy Savage,
isn't that right, Liz?

- Right, Randy.
- Shut up and keep polishing.

If I lose tonight,
it's your fault!

Each time he did, they just,
"Oh, you sorry son-of-a,"

you know, and that's
exactly what they wanted.

And you want Liz
to see the light.

But Liz, underneath this,
you're seeing, man,

she loves her man.

And you infer that
Randy mistreats her,

but he never really does.
He's just a little intense.

By the spring of 1987,
Elizabeth and Randy are

red hot and are about to
make history in front of

a record-breaking
crowd of 93,000 fan's.

WrestleMania 3 was,
at the time,

the largest indoor
attendance record.

I mean, the largest
gathering indoor of

any event in the world.

Oh, Jesus.
It was unbelievable, man.

90,000 people.

I had Alice Cooper with me.

I mean, the electricity from
the crowd was just unbelievable.

I mean, your skin is
crawling and it feels like

your hair is growing.

The Randy Savage-
Ricky Steamboat match,

WrestleMania 3, I think a
lot of people consider

one of the greatest
matches of all time.

Two of the greatest athletes
that I have ever seen

in my life.
All that athleticism,

all the drama,
all that excitement...

It killed him that he could
never surpass that match.

He was a perfectionist,

and perfectionists
are never happy.

The thing with Savage
I learned later on, of course,

when I started working
with Savage was...

trying to hold him down.

Because, he always
wanted to give more.

Well, sometimes you
can give too much.

Two years after their debut,

Randy and Elizabeth are
taking the WWF by storm,

but a surprising twist in
their story line would

propel them to the top of
the wrestling world.

I pulled out a bunch
of pictures and tried to find,

that had
Liz and Randy.

This is sweet.

There's Randy and Liz.
This was just at the condo.

We were just
hanging out in Florida.

Polaroid picture, Macho.

A picture of Elizabeth,
so sweet.

So, Macho Man,
he always kept Elizabeth

in the dressing room, so
nobody really knew her.

Then one night, Macho came
into our dressing room and said,

[gruff voice]
"Where's Linda?"

And, ah, "Liz needs
some help with her hair."

[laughs] And she had her
hair kind of like coiffed

and tightly curled, and
it was just sort of church girl,

and I said, "Bitch, you need
to just bring that stuff out,"

you know, and so,
I started like

getting her hair teased up
and kind of stacked it out.

She's like,
"Oh yeah, I like that."

Once we all realized that,
hey, I live in Tampa.

"Oh, you live in Tampa?"

"Yeah, I live in Clearwater.
I live in Largo...

You know, we all kind of lived
in this area so we thought,

hey, let's all get together,
you know.

It was nice because when
we did get a few days off,

I could call on her and
she could call on me,

and we could either go shopping,
or we could hit the beach.

And, it was just great
'cause at least you had

somebody to do
something with.

Hulk would have big parties
over there and invite everybody,

you know, and Randy
and Liz would go to it.

And it seems like that's when
she was the most happiest,

when she could be out around the
people and kind of be herself.

You know, we'd be out
barbequing in the backyard

the weekend before.

Terry would always
kind of like lay it out,

"Here's how I want to run it,"
and then Randy'd

throw in some ideas,
you know.

And Liz would always just
go along with whatever,

talking about the "angle".

The hotter the heel,
and people after a while

will begin to respect you.

And, Randy was so good,
he was hard to boo.

The audience liked him
and it was hard to ignore.

Randy Savage was really
catching on as a babyface

and people had,
had grown to...

really love the Macho Man.

By the end of 1987,

the fans'love for
Randy Savage inspires

a revelation in
Vince McMahon,

a partnership with the
company's top hero to create

a team unlike anything pro
wrestling has ever seen.

The two biggest names in the
wrestling business at that time

are gonna combine forces,
you know,

the madness in Hulkamania
combining forces with brother.

With the madness
and the mania...

- They got powers.
- Yeah!

I mean, who's gonna
match up against them?

By the summer of 1988,
Hogan and Savage,

with Elizabeth as their manager,
appear invincible.

They've destroyed all
challengers and the

only place left to turn
is on each other.

What we knew is that we would
have the Mega Powers explode.

You create the Mega Powers
for the Mega Powers to explode,

especially when one
is a paranoid schizophrenic,

and the other is the
all-American dude.

And what is the easiest thing

for two men to argue about?

A woman.

Summer Slam '88.

Randy hoists Liz up on his
shoulder and goes around,

and when he does,
there's like a little slip,

Hulk puts his hand
up to steady her.

[gruff voice]
"Freeze it!

Look at how long his
hand is on Elizabeth, huh!

Nobody touches
Elizabeth, un-uh."

There was Hulk, "Say your
prayers, take your vitamins,"

you know, "Here's the
American flag."

And here's Randy going,
"You know, I don't think

you're as truthful as everybody
thinks you really are."

They don't realize
that underneath,

he's been boiling.

You got lust in your eyes

and in your black heart,
for Elizabeth!

Randy is the jealous raving
lunatic and Hulk is the

best friend who's trying to
screw his best friend's girl.

Picked her up and put
Elizabeth where she has

never been before, on top
of another man's shoulders!

It's easy for him to blow
it out of proportion because

you can tell the
jealousy side of it.

He's blinded by love
and he's blinded by rage.

He's paranoid.

He's got the championship;
he's got the whole world

on his back, so of course
everybody's trying to

knock him off,
even his best friend.

His best friend's not only
trying to knock 'em off,

he's trying to take my girl.

That really played
off Randy's paranoia,

and it was real, so that's
what really made it work.

The Twin Towers -
Big Boss Man and Akeem -

against, you know,
Randy and Hulk, the Mega Powers.

But there was a point in
the match where Randy took

a bump out and ended up
taking Liz out.

Hulk sees that she's hurt,

carries her back
to get her help.

"You're hovering over her,
over the bed.

How dare you!

I'm out there
fighting for my life,

but you're more
concerned about her.

It all makes sense now!"

When you take a look at
the madness' eyes,

all you're gonna see is

complete and utter rage!

Match made.

What corner is
Elizabeth gonna be in?

Well, a lot of
people wondered,

did Randy really control
her in and out of the ring;

absolutely.

Randy...

Very protective of her, man.
God, you have no idea.

I mean, he would get visibly
upset with anybody that

tried to talk to her or carry
on a conversation with her.

He just did not like it.

When they would be
getting ready for an event,

we didn't want any
malfunctions with her wardrobe,

so he would
literally take the tape...

and like wrap it all
around her whole body.

And then, the other big
thing was because she was

always in a short dress was,
getting into the ring and

entering the ring
over the rope,

and was she gonna go
over the second rope?

She should go under it.

This was all a big huge thing
for Randy because

this was his wife.
He loved and respected her,

and he didn't want anybody
to be making fun of her.

He was definitely in charge
of that relationship and

she was just the tag along.

And, I think that that
started to grow on her.

I think that started
to just unnerve her.

That may have been where a
lot of the issues started.

In WrestleMania 5,
are you gonna be in

the Macho Man
Randy Savage's corner?

When you take real life
situations and you put it

in front of the camera,
it's great because

it's usually very relatable.

- No, no.
- [cheering]

However, when you take your
real life feelings and you

put them on camera, and you
make it a part of a story line,

'cause they
don't know you...

they don't know what you guys
do when the doors shut at night.

They have no clue.

But, they know you're really
married and they know

what you said on TV,
you sorry son of a bitch.

Life imitating art...

And sometimes
art imitates life.

And then you get
really fucked up.

Being on the road 24/7
with your spouse,

it's not an easy task.

You know, Elizabeth,
as his wife,

had those same
duties as I did.

I did travel with
Randy and Liz a lot,

and their relationship was that
of a married couple on the road.

They didn't go
out and party.

They went back to the
room and went to bed,

and they had their privacy.

You'd get back to the room,
and she would have to

scrub the blood off the boots
like I did to Terry's,

from their wrestling match.

You know, you'd put the
wrestling boots in the

bath tub of the hotel
and wash them off,

get all the blood off 'cause
they had to wear 'em the

next night, and I'm sure he
probably wanted to get laid

and I'm sure she
probably didn't,

you know, and maybe
she did and he didn't.

Then, her, unlike me,
she has to think about herself.

What the hell dress
is she gonna wear?

I had my wife
involved for a while, man.

It's brutal, man, having
your wife around the guys.

They did practical
jokes that were cruel.

I'm telling ya, they used
people's suitcases as toilets.

There were no boundaries;
that was the problem.

I mean, you know,
cutting somebody's hair off

while they're passed out,
or, I mean,

I wouldn't want my
wife around that shit.

The pattern seemed to be
that Randy wanted to keep

Elizabeth away from "the boys"
as much as possible.

And... you know,
there's...

I don't blame him, really.

Randy being so intense and
being so watchful over her,

she couldn't have freedom.

And I think, I think you
can't smother somebody

all the time like that.

Elizabeth wanted to
leave the road and

she wanted Randy to quit.

Randy wasn't done yet.
Randy was still enjoying it.

I knew she needed to have
more socialization and,

and more friends, and she missed
having the normal life, but...

Liz, apparently, was looking
for something more than that,

than I realized
at the time.

By 1990, an exhausted
Elizabeth asked for

some time off the road,

and the WWF seized this
as an opportunity

to reinvent the Macho Man
into a new kind of villain.

We did Randy as the heel.

We made Randy
the Macho King,

and thought that
Sensational Sherri

to be his manager,
another female and

make her the queen.

Sherri was a
women's wrestler,

and the guys loved working
with Sherri because

she could take it,
she was tough as nails.

Queen Sherri adds a whole
new dimension to the

Macho Man's character,
but the fans demand to see

wrestling's First Lady
back in her rightful place.

Every day that Randy spent
with Sherri, everybody said,

"Let's bring-- Where's
Elizabeth? Where's Elizabeth?"

I mean, the people
hungered for Elizabeth.

Going into WrestleMania,
Randy was looking to

take the summer off.

He and Liz were looking
to spend time together as

husband and wife, not being
on the road all the time.

So the idea was,
at WrestleMania 7,

have a, a career match
with the Ultimate Warrior.

If Warrior lost,
he was gone.

If Randy lost, he was gone.

We'd shown,
earlier in the night,

that in attendance that night
was Elizabeth in the crowd,

sitting like in the 4th row.

And, when Sherri started to
kick Randy and go after Randy,

Liz made her way to the ring
and pulled Sherri off,

and you know, Liz is
there fighting for her man,

and people were...
are slowly applauding,

and you see grown men
with tears in their eyes...

That's emotional.
That's good stuff.

We got 'em...

because it, it was...

they felt it, you know,
and people could feel that, too,

you know,
the getting back together,

getting back to the
one you really love.

Elizabeth...

Will you marry me?

Despite being married in
real life for 7 years,

which was kept
secret from fans,

Randy and Elizabeth's
characters finally tied the knot

on live television on
August the 26th, 1991.

Oh, yeah.

[cheering]

And they were excited.
I mean, they,

they were like two kids
planning for their wedding.

I think it was just the
first time you ever saw the

Macho Man break down
and have a human emotion,

other than anger.

You saw him actually happy,
and you saw him emotionally

care for someone outwardly,
which you had never seen before.

Liz and Randy are having this
beautiful wedding ceremony...

Now cue the devil.

♪

And, at the
reception bullshit...

[screams]

Putting the snake in
the box and all that crap,

and that got it started,
that kicked it off.

14, 15-foot king cobra.

Look at that son of a bitch.

Beautiful, beautiful
fucking animal.

Randy came to me and said,
[gruff voice] "So, tonight,

I hear we're gonna do something
a little different, hm?"

I'm like, "Yeah, man.
A snake's biting ya."

And he's like, "Yeah, so...
Has the snake been fixed?"

"Fuck, yeah!

It's a fucking cobra,
you dumb shit!

Of course it's been fixed!"

"Maybe it has and
maybe it hasn't.

How about the snake
biting you first?"

"Fuck you, man.
I ain't fucking let--"

"Oh, oh, you don't
want it to bite you.

'Cause if you won't
let the snake bite you,

that tells me it
hasn't been fixed."

And he was dead
fucking serious, man, so...

I went and got the snake,
and rolled up my pants leg

and let it bite me.

And, he's like, "Don't move.
Don't take no pills.

Don't take no antidote,
don't take no serums,

no fucking nothing,
brother."

Fuck! For like 20 minutes,
man, he's like,

"I guess you're okay.
How do you feel, man?"

"Pissed off right now,
to be honest with you."

So when it was time for
that snake to bite him,

I got the snake out and
turned my back to him,

and I fucking paint-brushed
the shit out of that snake,

pissed it off.
And then,

whenever I turned around
that snake was just, "Agh!"

You know, he was ready.

And I got him close to Randy
and he latched to him and

would not let go.

I mean, the time that you
see it on television was

nothing to the real time.
It went on forever.

Vince wound up
sending Elizabeth down,

"Get the snake off of him.
Get it off of him!

Vince said now!"
I'm like, "I'm fucking trying."

And I'm pulling on the snake
and it wouldn't let go.

It's just chewing on him.
And it's like anything else.

First time it's
ever been done,

it shocks people, man.
The, the visual, you know.

Bottom line is nobody
ever felt sorry for Randy.

They felt sorry for her.

And it's not a
good situation.

Like with me, whenever
I slapped Elizabeth,

and then they tried to go
home to see her family,

Grandpa meets him
on the porch and says,

"You're not coming
in this house, boy.

You promised us you'd always
protect our little girl."

The only way he could gain
access back into their home

was basically kicking
my ass and getting even,

so to speak.

You know, these are Tennessee
folks, bro, you know...

Wrestling's real.
People are fake.

[laughs]

PRODUCER: What was the state
of their relationship

at the time they were
getting married again?

I would say tumultuous.

On the verge of breaking up.

[zap]

So, Terry had been
cast in a movie.

It's called Mr. Nanny.

It required us to be down
in Miami for about 8 weeks, so

Liz called and goes, "When
are you gonna be back home?"

And I said, "I'm going
back the next week."

She's like, "Oh," she's like,
"Randy, can I please go?"

I heard her talking to him
in the back of the phone.

She's like,
"Can I please go?

I want to go help
Linda with the kids.

I just want to go see them
and hang out with

Nick and Brooke in
the pool and stuff."

And he's like, "Well,
only if you're gonna be

babysitting and you're
gonna be with Linda."

She flew down with us.
It was so much fun.

She helped me
unload the kids,

we got the toys,
we were hanging out.

We were all gonna
go out to dinner, you know,

I said, so, I'll just go
get ready, do whatever,

come back from your workout
or whatever, and...

7:30, I'm thinking like,
aren't we gonna do

our makeup together and
our hair together,

which is what we always did,
so I'm kind of like

knocking on her door and
I see the light is on,

I can see under the door,
but she's not answering.

I'm like, "Where's Liz?"

In 1992, leaving her husband
Randy Savage behind,

Elizabeth travels alone
to Miami to stay with

Hulk Hogan and
his wife, Linda.

Terry had to film the
next morning and the

whole next day goes on and
I see her at the pool.

I'm like, "Liz,
where were you?"

You know, "We were
worried about you."

And she's like, "Oh, well,
I met this other gentleman

that lives in the building
and he has an extra room

here in the building,
and he,

he thought maybe
I'd want to take it."

The way I heard the story
was that Liz wanted

away from Randy, and so,
she contacted Hulk's wife,

Linda, and went and
stayed with them.

Now meanwhile, Randy is
freaking out 'cause

he doesn't know where
the love of his life is.

Randy kept calling my
room wanting to talk to Liz,

and I was like,
"Liz is not here."

[laughs] I didn't say she
had her own room.

I just said,
"She's not here.

I think she's with friends,"
or something like that,

and he goes,
"Well, where is she?"

I was like, "She's not here,
she's not here."

Randy was like,
"I'm gonna fly down," you know,

"don't tell her because
I, I don't like this.

You know, she's never
like missed my calls and

she should be answering.

She should at least
be calling me back."

Three hours later,
he lands, comes in,

blazing in the door.

Blazing guns of fire,
looking for Liz,

and I'm sitting there and
he's like, "Where's Liz?"

I was like, "Randy, look.
I don't know."

He's like, "What?"
You know,

"Where do
you think she is?"

You know,
"Who was she with last?

What did you guys do?

I'm gonna go find Liz and I want
you sitting here in the chair,

and if you so much
as leave this chair and

you smarten her up and tell her
that I'm here looking for her,

you're gonna
hear about it."

I'd never seen Randy
like this before in my life

because I'd never even
seen them argue or fight.

Seriously, I really hadn't.

So, him and Terry
went out the door,

and I didn't know
what was going on.

I just knew I wasn't
leaving the chair.

And, I guess he found her.

Terry came back to
the room and said,

"I left them on their own.
They're sorting it out."

So they got in their rental car
and they drove back home

and he basically told Terry
in so many words or less,

like, "Liz is not coming
back to Miami and

there's no more hanging out.
Party's over.

This is ridiculous. She just
went too crazy," you know.

I think Randy felt, you know,
again, life imitating art,

that Hulk was taking Liz's side.

Well, that was the beginning
of the end for them,

but beginning of the end for
Randy and Hulk too because

Randy always thought that Hulk
had something to do with it.

And, I'm with-- I've been
with Hulk for 39 years.

Hulk had nothing
to do with that.

He was shooting
the doggone movie.

I think that when,
when you separate and like

she's at home and
he's on the road, that...

all of a sudden, it's a
newfound freedom and

that's a whole brand new
life on both parts.

You know, it was
just a normal day.

I was just home
with the kids...

beautiful day out, and
this is probably like

5, 6 weeks after we wrapped
filming and we left Miami.

You know,
hard line phones.

I'm in the kitchen.

I'm giving Nick a
bottle or whatever,

and it's Liz.
I'm like, "Hey, Liz!

God, I miss you.
How are you?"

You know...

And it was like dead silent
on the other end of the phone.

I was like, "Liz?"
She's like, "Linda...

I left Randy."

I was listening to
her and she was like,

sounded like she was at a
gas station or something.

I could hear cars going by
on the freeway, you know.

I was like, oh my God.

She goes,
"I'm done. I left him."

And I said, "Oh my God."
I said, "Are you home?

Can I come help you?
Can I talk to you?"

I was like, I need to talk some
sense into this girl, you know.

And, she wasn't home.
She goes,

"Nope.
I'm halfway to Miami.

I'm going back.
I met some people there.

I got a place to stay."
She goes,

"Just promise me, don't tell
Randy that I'm on the road."

She had a convertible,
little red Cadillac.

And I, I just-- The mental
picture in my mind was her,

like a country music
video or something,

with two suitcases in the back
and just driving her convertible

down to Miami with the wind
blowing through her hair,

probably feeling free
and relieved of the

constant submission
that Randy had on her.

And it wasn't that he
was trying to do it

out of being mean or anything.

It was just his
protective way,

but she had just had
enough of that suppression.

When Randy and Liz split up,
you could tell there was

a change in the Macho Man.

You know, he was a
little drawn back.

He really wasn't as intense as
he was when they were together.

Once she was gone, he really
kind of just went silent.

He lost all...

he didn't really care
about the business,

you know, it was
like the lights are on,

but nobody's home.

Sad, but yet, there was
that exterior that was,

"Okay, I've gotta move on."

I think Randy was tormented.

You know, I mean,
he had all the money,

all the stuff, and all that,
but he always,

[gruff voice]
he was never...

I don't know; he was
always so wound up,

and I'm thinking "Mach,
like, you've made it, bro."

Like, what's missing?

Like, what's it gonna
take to make you happy?

One day, we were
sitting in the car...

ah, waiting for
Vince to come down,

taking forever, and
Vince gets in the car,

shuts the door and says,
"Gentlemen, Randy Savage is

now the proud property of
World Championship Wrestling."

And, we're like...

"What happened?"

WCW was owned by Ted Turner,
the competition to the WWF.

Ted Turner had started to
try and lure talent from the

WWF over to WCW.

Hulk Hogan was the first
talent that made the big jump.

The Macho Man, Randy Savage,
he's interested in coming over

because the WWE,
Randy had been

put out to pasture
by Vince McMahon.

And Vince McMahon basically
said, "Randy, you're too old.

Your gimmick's over,
your shtick is done.

You're gonna be a
colour commentator,"

and that hurt Randy.

I didn't want to reinvent
a wheel that I believed

already worked.
And by the way,

when Randy Savage
came over...

[shattering glass]

- Want to spice up your life?
- Yeah!

Have a Slim Jim!

...$750,000 a year of Slim Jim
money came with him,

and Slim Jim wasn't interested
in changing Randy Savage.

WCW has given the Macho Man
a renewed career,

but his protective nature
won't allow him to leave

his one true love behind.

Randy called her up
and said, "Come on in.

You can be a part of the story
line, make some money."

He's divorcing
Elizabeth at this point,

but cares about her enough
that he gets her a

250 grand a year contract,

just to kind of stand around
and look pretty.

She wasn't even
on camera much,

but he wanted
her looked after.

Except this time,
she was the villain and

Randy was the babyface.
It was perfect.

She had changed so much.

She wasn't like the same
little quiet girl I remember.

She was more talkative.
So, I said, "What's happening?"

I go, "Are you
dating anybody, or...?"

She goes, "Well, I'm kind of,
like... seeing Lex."

And I go,
"You're like seeing Lex?"

I go, "Lex is married."

And she goes, "I know;
that's the problem."

I go, "Liz,
that's not good."

Lex Luger was oftentimes
considered, you know,

the second coming
of Hulk Hogan.

Lex had a million-dollar body
and he had a great look.

Lex Luger is a, one of
the top names ever

in professional
wrestling history.

He's easy to hate
because it's like, what's--

there's nothing
wrong with him.

She was... head over
heels over him.

I could tell that.

Paired together as part
of a wrestling story line,

Elizabeth and Lex Luger's
professional relationship

evolves into a
secret love affair.

They were a
very happy couple.

They'd go work out
at the gym together.

They would spend a
lot of time together.

They were being a
little bit sneaky,

but adjoining rooms
and stuff, and...

and I guess you can't help
who you're attracted to and

who you fall in love with,
and I always liked Lex and

I always liked Liz.
And hey,

if you guys make each
other happy, go for it.

So, when the ideas started
bouncing around about

blurring the lines,
if you will,

between scripted and reality

with regard to Elizabeth's
relationship with Randy

and their marriage and
their divorce...

Randy, she's your ex-wife...

at least you owe
her this much, man.

I was really shocked at
first that Randy would

entertain some
of those ideas.

I'm really lost and
I need you, and I'm...

I don't think I
can reach you.

He was still very
protective of Elizabeth,

but in a much different way.

He watched Lex like a hawk.

It wasn't just that they
were in a relationship;

Lex was married
and he had kids.

Everybody knows that
that's gonna end badly

one way or the other.

"Where are you living?

You have an apartment
or whatever?"

She's like, "No, he's...
he's got another place he's got,

he's keeping me in, but the
weird thing is that it's in

the same complex of
where he and his wife live."

I go, "Oh..."
I said, "This is not good!"

It was pretty apparent
also that they were both...

They were pilled up.

They were just spending too much
time doing too many drugs.

I've never witnessed her doing
any kind of drugs or pills,

and in fact,
when we'd go out and drink,

she'd have two glasses
of wine and she'd be

already like feeling it.

I'm like, "Oh, it's time
to go home," you know.

Thing is, Liz doesn't
weigh 270 like me and Lex.

Liz, Liz weighs
about 85 pounds,

so she's taking...

same amount of pills that
a 300-pounder's taking.

You know, they had some
kind of a fight and

she fell down the stairs, and

she ended up with
two black eyes.

In April of 2003,
squad cars respond to a

domestic disturbance at
the home of Lex Luger.

Upon their arrival,
the police notice

Elizabeth has bruised eyes.

At first she denies the
injuries are from Luger,

but she eventually
admits to the authorities

that he did hit her.

Luger was charged with a
misdemeanor account

of battery and
released on bail.

I thought, falling down the
stairs gave her two black eyes?

Hm...

PRODUCER:
Talk about the idea of

getting Lex Luger
on your podcast

and talk about that
process and what you

wanted to talk to him about.

When Nick,
my producer and co-host,

suggested it, you know,
that we bring Lex on,

you know, I was, I had
mixed emotions because I,

I still...

honestly, Lex, I'm sorry,
but I still had some resentment,

even during the time we
were making the call,

but Lex rose
to the occasion.

He was, he was
brutally honest.

I, I'll never forget...

The, ah-- It was actually
early morning hours,

we were having just an evening
watching movies together

and she came
back and had been

sipping on some vodka
and popping pills and,

literally, before
the 9-1-1 call,

I realized she'd
stopped breathing.

9-1-1: Okay,
what I want you to do,

I want you to go over and
see if she's breathing.

LEX: I can't tell.

9-1-1: I understand that, sir.

I have somebody on the way,
but if she's not breathing,

you need to
help her breathe.

You need to find out whether
or not she's breathing.

Go over to her...
Sir.

9-1-1: Lay down and check to
see if she's breathing.

Look at her chest,
see if it's rising.

LEX: It doesn't look like it is.
I'm scared to death.

Terry called me and he
just said, you know,

"Really, really bad news.
Liz is dead."

And, like,
when he said that,

I just felt like somebody
poured a bucket of ice on me.

Oh, I was at
home in Atlanta.

Heard it on the morning news.

I was pissed.

I was pissed
because I saw Lex...

manipulating and exploiting
a vulnerable person,

and using prescription
drugs to do it.

LEX: They told me that
Elizabeth had just passed.

I thought she was gonna make it
and she was gonna go to

the hospital, and then I
heard that she didn't make it.

Then, I was arrested on,
I think, 17 felony counts,

and all the drugs they
found in my house.

Thought I had the
drugs under control,

but I ended up having--

getting control of
Elizabeth and I,

and the tragedy of that,
to witness that firsthand,

it was a very dark time,
without a doubt.

I knew he was
telling the truth.

I knew he was being honest
and accepting responsibility.

I look at him so
differently now.

Ah...

I respect him, which I never
thought I'd hear myself say.

I want to ask you
about Miss Elizabeth,

you know, her loss and
everything, that...

earlier in your career,
you guys

helped each other
out in your career.

Yeah, we were actually
married and we got a divorce,

like, which happens
in life sometimes,

and we had separation,
we had closure.

But, really feeling real
bad for her and her family.

And a situation where we
hadn't seen each other in

about maybe 5, 6 years,
but, you know,

we had closure and we said hello
and everything was all good.

But, feel bad
for her family.

Elizabeth tragically passed
away at the age of 42,

but grieving fans would have
no idea that this epic saga

was approaching
its final chapter.

This is my brother
getting married for the

second time to the
lovely Lynn Payne-Poffo.

In 2010, 7 years
after Elizabeth's death,

Randy Savage finds
love once again.

He, you know, weathered the
storm through his divorce

and he was finally
kind of on his feet,

he was remarried and, and...

just starting to kind of
really enjoy his life.

When Randy retired
from wrestling, he was

able to devote a lot of his
time to the Special Olympics.

That was his
passion and he...

enjoyed his final years
as a sedentary person.

I was supposed to go
to San Jose, California.

American Airlines
stopped in Dallas.

I turned on my phone and
there was a message on there

and it said,
"This is Largo Medical.

Your brother and his wife were
in an automobile accident,

and she's banged up and

your brother's in
critical condition,"

but the way they said it,
I knew.

I got a phone call early
that morning from Lanny Poffo,

"Jimmy."
"Yeah, Lanny.

I didn't have time to
call ya 'cause it's early."

He goes, "No, listen.
I'm coming back home."

"Why?"

And I could tell his
voice was really shaky.

Goes, "What?" He goes,
"I just got a phone call."

He said, "My brother
just got killed."

We want to share some
breaking news with you now

regarding a
Randy Macho Man Savage.

You may know him well.
He is a pro wrestler.

We have just confirmed that
Randy Macho Man Savage has

died coming from the
Florida Highway Patrol.

There was a car accident.

I was literally on my way to
the airport to leave Clearwater

when I got the phone
call from Hulk, or, Terry.

Crashed into a tree and died
as a result of a heart attack.

It was,
it's hard to believe.

Even now, sitting here
doing this interview,

it's hard to believe
it's true 'cause he,

he was so full of life.

He was so full of
energy, brother,

it's hard to imagine
that he's not here, really.

We're going to the site
where my brother lost control,

and you're gonna
see the tree.

They still got
a few flowers,

although they've
taken some of them down.

It's been 7 years, you know.

♪

I judge people by
the way, for example,

Randy treated my kids.
Oh, and that was it for me.

If I start thinking about
that too much I'll cry.

He went out of his
way to be really,

really good to kids, and
that's how I judge people.

He loved Brooke
and he loved kids.

I'm sure he probably would
have said yes at any time

and loved to
have kids with Liz.

I think it's a shame Liz
isn't in the Hall of Fame.

I think that she was called
the First Lady of Wrestling

for a reason.
She was the first

significant female star
who never wrestled.

Because he had
her at his side,

made him even more special
because she was so special.

She was the first female
that was depicted in a...

in a powerful role.

She was beautiful,
quiet, but she was class.

Elizabeth was class.

Maybe a boy named Timmy
would come up with his father

and they say, "May I have
your autograph, sir,"

and he'd, "Oh, yeah.
Here's the deal, Timmy.

I'm gonna sign
your autograph,

but you gotta do
something for me."

"Well, what's that?"

"How ya doin' in
school, Timmy?

How you doing in school?
Are you doing your best?

'Cause Timmy, I'm gonna
sign your autograph,

but if you don't
do well in school,

if you don't do your
best every single day,

it's gonna be real,
real bad for you."

Randy and Elizabeth
were greater than

the sum of their parts.

They were undoubtedly key
to each other's legacy.

Fans had never before
experienced a more emotional

and relatable story line
on the complexity of love.

Together they
transcended television,

and, well...
wrestling, too.

Even after the divorce,
they still had a tremendous

amount of love and
respect for each other.

They were true, true
celebrities and icons.

There's not one person on
the whole planet earth that

doesn't know who they were.

From a wrestler's
point of view,

she's one of the greatest
performers ever, you know.

While both passed too soon,
they left their legions of fans

with an epic love story
that will last

long after they're gone.

To me, Randy Savage is on the
Mount Rushmore of wrestling.

Could perform,
could do an interview,

had the right look.

He was the Macho Man.

He was an innovator,
he was a creator,

and he, he made
the business better,

in my opinion.

I would call Randy Savage
one of the all-time greatest,

without a doubt.

And the real human being,
Randy Poffo,

was really a very good man,
and a loving man.

It was a lot of
art imitating life.

You know,
sometimes in the world,

what really happens,
it's not really planned.

After you roll with it,
then all of a sudden,

you really turn into that
character and turn into that

dilemma that takes place.

I think people will always
want to think of her as

Miss Elizabeth, the one
that'd been with Randy.

You don't want to remember
her being with somebody else.

It just doesn't seem right.

I mean,
that's what we were fed.

You know,
that's what we believed.

♪