RIP Randy "Macho Man" Savage

Tiger Chung Lee. That's a great pull.

 

I guess I'm going to have to snap into a Slim Jim in his honor.

 

Savage was much more popular than Roddy Piper. Piper faded away pretty quickly in the mid 1980s when wrestling was getting bigger and bigger.

I went to two live WWF matches when I was a kid. Savage was the main event both times, beating Ricky Steamboat once and beating the guy who would use the full nelson as his final move. I can't remember his name.

 

Yes, in fact they called the Savage-Steamboat match at WM3

Second half of that match:

And, any list with wrestling icons of the 80s has to include Ric Flair.

 

I swear to God, the talkback on some of the Savage stories are just freaking hilarious...

 

Hercules Hernandez?

http://www.deadwrestlers.net/Hercules%20Hernandez.jpg

 

I want to say Billy Jack something, but I can't remember. He was fairly prominent for a couple years when Savage had the intercontinental belt.

 

In the northeast, Piper was the original No. 2 in the mid-80s, and was still very well known. Savage really didn't become huge until 86 or so.

Flair was (and still is) an institution in the south, and was talked about for public office. He also was very well known among hardcore wrestling fans elsewhere, although the casual fan in the northeast would say, "Yeah, I heard about some Rick guy who's supposed to be very good."

Andre was famous, world-wide, among even casual fans. He was such a big draw, he would be brought in by promoters for a week or two just to boost attendance.

And yes, Gorilla and Jesse worked together. I read somewhere that Jesse was very nervous at first when he became a broadcaster, but Gorilla helped him out. It also was pretty interesting that Jesse would tone down his heel persona with Gorilla, unlike when he worked with Vince.

 

Billy Jack Haynes. Out of Oregon. Had a short run of about a year with the WWF. He was pretty popular, and they even had him team up with Hogan for a while. He did have some matches with Savage, where Savage usually would get DQed. He later got involved in a major drug-dealing thing after he retired.

Hercules also did the full-nelson in a feud with Haynes. It probably depended on when you saw Savage, if he was a heel or a babyface.

 

Heenan is very ill with throat cancer. On the recent WWE DVD they did of him, Heenan didn't even interview for it. His wife and daughter told the whole Bobby story.

Adonis and JYD died in car accidents. Gorilla also died of cancer. Davey Boy Smith was, I think, a heart attack because of drug and steroid use. Andre was because of the thing that made him large (I can't remember it off the top of my head).

 

RIP Macho Man
I hope you and Miss Elizabeth have a happy reunion.