Macho Man Randy Savage: Unique Madness

“Macho Man” Randy Savage is one of the best and most influential wrestler’s ever. He came from a wrestling family and understood the importance of ensuring the sport’s future. He came from the era of Hulk Hogans and Ultimate Warriors. Guys who, despite being huge stars, had very little interest in helping the next generation along. Savage could have kept young talent down in WCW, instead he helped nurture them and tried to pass along some of his knowledge. He was every bit as popular as Warrior and Hogan. All three men had that 80’s larger than life feel to them, but Savage was the only one that could go out and put on a 5 star match on any given night. He was ground breaking in so many ways. The concept of the over protective male chauvinist wrestler was practically invented by Savage, and was essential in making Ms. Elizabeth so beloved. The same blueprint was successfully used during the Attitude Era by “Marvelous” Mark Mero and Sable, and more recently during Daniel Bryan‘s World Championship reign, which made AJ Lee a star. Without Savage, the wrestling world might look a bit different. What if we never got the Macho Madness? What if there was no iconic image of a wild looking man wearing a long robe and sunglasses, holding (not wearing) the legendary Intercontinental Championship belt? Would the Intercontinental Championship even be the same without Savage’s iconic reign to jump start its legacy? Ricky Steamboat is a Hall of Famer, former World Champion, and had a legendary feud with Ric Flair, but would his career be looked at the same without his WrestleMania III match with Savage? Would Diamond Dallas Page have been World Champion and Hall of Fame worthy without the Macho Man‘s willingness to put him over? Luckily for us we’ll never know how the wrestling world would look without Savage, because in his own famous words “The cream will rise to the top,” and he was most certainly the cream of the crop. Macho Man was light years ahead of his time, but thanks to the doors he helped kick down and the trail he blazed, professional wrestling was able to grow into what it is today, and we should all be able to dig that “Oooooh Yeahhh!”