John LaRocca and Garrett Gonzales return with a holiday edition of The Fight Game Podcast.
This isn’t a show about current wrestling, rather it’s a review of the 1992 Survivor Series, but done in a slightly different way.
We go through the history of the time in WWF post-SummerSlam. Randy Savage is the WWF World Champion but soon enough, Ric Flair and then Bret Hart would take the title. The Ultimate Warrior is fired only a couple of weeks before Survivor Series and they have to scramble with a late turn of Mr. Perfect to save the main event.
Here are some of the other things we talk about:
A list of Dave Meltzer’s best singles and tag matches of the early 1990s
What was happening in 1992 in pop culture during this time
What has aged well and not-so-well from the show
Guessing Dave Meltzer’s star ratings from the event
Because of the holiday week, we’ve put this show for free on our Spotify and Apple Podcast feeds, as well as on YouTube, which you can see below.
A cinematic look at the life of Randy “Macho Man” Savage is one step closer to becoming a reality, first revealed by Deadline on Tuesday.
Artists for Artists, the production company co-owned by SNL star Kenan Thompson and Johnny Ryan Jr., is developing a movie based on a script written by the late Lanny Poffo, Savage’s brother, and Eric Shapiro.
The working title is MACHO.
As noted in the article, Savage and Thompson worked together in 1999 on a Nickelodeon promo, and Thompson and Ryan Jr. are lifelong fans of the former WWE and WCW star.
No timeline or attached talent were announced, nor if it’s intended for cinematic or streaming release. WWE/TKO were not announced as being attached to the project.
Thompson told Deadline, “Beyond excited for this one!! Macho Man is hands down one of the greatest of all time and can’t wait to bring his story to the screen!!!”
Savage passed away at 58 years old in May 2011, suffering a heart attack while driving. He has been the subject of numerous documentaries, both produced by WWE and independently.
The first part of the most important week for the TNA promotion, the Victory Road PPV, was not a home run, but was a mild success amidst all kinds of late negotiations.
In the end, negotiations with Sting fell through, and a last minute deal was made with Randy Savage, 52, who has not appeared on a wrestling TV show in more than four years, to take his planned spot which was to be in the final scene on the PPV after Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall were wreaking havoc on everyone. But that turned out to be a waste, when two days later, Savage quit the company, blaming it on Hulk Hogan and saying the company had an unsafe working environment.
It was clear the company’s direction has totally changed, from one to a company trying to use talent from the past that Vince McMahon doesn’t want, to garner interest. Besides the aforementioned trio, Diamond Dallas Page also debuted the 11/9 Impact tapings, and Jerry Jarrett tried at the last minute to get Hulk Hogan to make an appearance on the PPV.
Bull Nakano is thankful for the friendship she got to have with “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated that was published on Thursday, the legendary Nakano discussed her new role as the commissioner of Sukeban. She also reflected on her time wrestling in the United States in the 1990s. Nakano has fond memories of the main event stars of that time period, especially Savage.
“All of the top stars were also excellent human beings, especially the ‘Macho Man,’ who was very kind to me,” Nakano said. “Randy made me laugh with his gestures when I could not understand English. I want to make sure to thank him.”
Savage and Nakano are both WWE Hall of Famers. Last month marked the 13th anniversary of Savage’s passing.
The 56-year-old Nakano joined the WWE Hall of Fame earlier this year. She was inducted by her former in-ring rival Madusa.
In 2023, Sukeban launched with events in New York City and Miami. The company then made its Los Angeles debut last week. The United States-based joshi promotion is attempting to blend fashion, anime, and music to “break down the walls between the worlds of art and wrestling.”
The name Sukeban translates to “delinquent girls.”
“I was appointed Commissioner of Sukeban in 2023. The thing that excites me most about Sukeban is that I get to see the past, present, and future of the unique Japanese culture all in the ring. I like the acknowledgment of the Sukeban lifestyle from decades ago, and the veteran wrestlers and young wrestlers coming together to put on the best show,” Nakano told Sports Illustrated.
“I am so proud of all of the athletes who are active now, and I try to support them. My favorite wrestlers, the ones I care about most, are all the Sukeban wrestlers. I consider them like my children.”
Today marks 13 years since the passing of “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
Savage’s life, death, and career were covered in the May 30, 2011 edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, available now in our archives for subscribers.
“The amount of fanfare the story of his death received was unbelievable, dwarfing that of any wrestler death aside from major news tragedy deaths of Owen Hart and the Chris Benoit story. Even household names like Andre the Giant, or the death of a current superstar like Eddy Guerrero got only a minute fraction of the coverage this death got from every major news service in North America, for at least five straight days.”
Of Savage’s career, Meltzer wrote:
“From the late 1970s until the early 90s, Savage was considered one of the great in-ring workers in the business. He was in his prime, a quick and fearless daredevil known for his intensity, which bordered on scary at times. His unique interviews were among the most recognizable, imitated by people in and out of wrestling to this day.
However, his national fame didn’t come until 1985 with WWF because his family ran a renegade wrestling promotion and were unofficially blacklisted from the mainstream.”
Well, we’ve got a bizarre show for you today. Shawn is on vacation, and Granny is sick — but Jared didn’t get the memo and connected her and so she decided to do half of her segment. Then it’s off the rails, Bryan read her wrestling report as she wrote it, he read his own memoir she wrote, and then everyone reviews WWF Wrestling Challenge S1:E6. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including Randy Savage, the Rock and PRIDE, Vince McMahon sells some stock, AEW has a mystery signing this weekend, ratings, Best on Interviews, AEW and NXT TV reports, line-ups for all the AEW shows this weekend, and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Let’s have some fun on this week’s DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show looking back at a retro pro wrestling magazine.
These shows have proven very popular and this week, we are looking at WWF Magazine from September 1992 (31 years ago!) featuring Papa Shango on the cover. He is making life miserable for the Ultimate Warrior and WWF Magazine tells us all about it.
Other features include more neon than you can shake a stick at with Randy Savage, a new shady character has shown up in WWF, and we find out what is known about Razor Ramon plus looks at Curt Hennig, Rick “The Model” Martel, and The Undertaker.
The Bryan & Vinny & Craig & Granny Show is back with tons to talk about including TECH ISSUES AS ALWAYS, our weekly Granny segment, WHAT IS VINCE MCMAHON DOING RIGHT NOW?, her weekly book reading and wrestling report and more. Then the boys review RAW 39 with Macho Man finally getting his hands on CRUSH. A fun show as always so check it out~!
The Bryan & Vinny & Granny & Craig Show is back with tons to talk about including a full look at RAW 36 with a fun confrontation between Crush and Randy Savage which was, in fact, much better than it sounds. Also, a BRYAN’S MATCH POETRY CONTEST, Granny’s Weekly Wrestling Report and limerick book reading, and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Dave Meltzer and I are back with a bonus episode of Wrestling Observer Radio. I mentioned during our last show with Kim Wood that we’d answer all the listener questions that we didn’t get to on The Fight Game Podcast, but didn’t realize that there’d be an open Sunday night slot for Wrestling Observer Radio. So here we are.
Dave answers the rest of the questions from listeners which are mostly about Brian Pillman, but there are a few Randy Savage ones in there as well.
WWE and A&E’s “Macho Man” Randy Savage Biography ranked in the top 10 of cable on Sunday.
The Savage Biography documentary averaged 790,000 viewers on A&E, down from the 880,000 viewers that the previous week’s Roddy Piper Biography averaged. But while viewership was down, the rating in the 18-49 demo was up to a 0.31. The Piper Biography had drawn a 0.27 rating in the demo.
In 18-49, the Savage Biography ranked seventh for the day on cable. The Piper Biography ranked 10th the previous Sunday.
The third episode of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures, which was focused on Jerry “The King” Lawler memorabilia, averaged 563,000 viewers on A&E on Sunday. That’s down from the 769,000 viewers the show averaged the previous week. The rating in the 18-49 demo was a 0.22, down from the previous week’s 0.27. It ranked 12th for the day on cable in 18-49.
The previous week’s Most Wanted Treasures episode was focused on Undertaker & Kane memorabilia. It ranked 11th for the day in 18-49.
Here’s a look at the ratings for WWE’s programming block on A&E since it began:
Biography —
Steve Austin: 1.062 million viewers (0.38 rating in 18-49)
Roddy Piper: 880,000 viewers (0.27 rating in 18-49)
Randy Savage: 790,000 viewers (0.31 rating in 18-49)
WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures —
Episode one (Mick Foley): 766,000 viewers (0.29 rating in 18-49)
Episode two (The Undertaker & Kane): 769,000 viewers (0.27 rating in 18-49)
Episode three (Jerry Lawler): 563,000 viewers (0.22 rating in 18-49)
This coming Sunday’s Biography and Most Wanted Treasures episodes will both be focused on Booker T. The Biography documentary premieres at 8 p.m. Eastern time, with Most Wanted Treasures starting at 10:02 p.m. Eastern.
As the saying goes, they don’t quite make them like Randy Savage anymore.
Simply put, he is, and was, unforgettable. From the voice to the look to the talent, his impact was felt on pop culture and still resonates today. Even those who hate wrestling (like my wife) know Randy Savage. Compare that to today and, well, you get the point.
That’s why it’s surprising that there hasn’t been any independent documentaries on Savage before Wednesday night’s debut of the Viceland ‘Dark Side of The Ring’ series. Sure, there was the WWE version done a few years ago, but as a viewer, I would rather hear from a party who isn’t so vested in retelling history the way they want it.
But Viceland took a different path than just a straight Savage bio (A&E is giving us one next year anyway), focusing instead on the relationship with Savage and his wife/ex-wife Elizabeth. ‘The Match Made in Heaven’ is a worthy kickoff to the six-week series and is well worth the watch for wrestling and non-wrestling fans alike.
(Side note: I interviewed series co-creator Evan Husney on my podcast last week about the series if you’re into that kinda stuff.)
What’s In This Thing?
It begins by telling the story of Savage and his road to the WWF, navigating efficiently through his dad’s ICW promotion, the Continental Wrestling Alliance, and eventually to Vinceland. The journey is presented in a way in which the filmmakers seemed to understand that most watching probably have a baseline knowledge of who Savage is. Going with a slightly beefier Cliffs Notes version of history was a move that works.
Helping us navigate throughout Savage’s career are an impressive group with Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff, Jake Roberts, Lanny Poffo, and others. Prichard especially is great throughout the near 50-minute film and while you never know what stories are real and what isn’t, he’s at least convincing enough where you believe him and he knows how to talk to the camera.
We learn how Savage met Elizabeth Hulette in a charming story with a memorable quote about red eyes told by Scott Hall. Linda Bollea, Hulk Hogan’s ex-wife, is the equal to Prichard in helping us work through Hulette’s life as she was close friends with her in the WWF days. The pictures she shares, including one of a shirtless and jacked Vince McMahon, and the stories of the Hogans and Savages hanging out are so important that it’s hard to think of who else could have done a better job.
It’s here we get a sense of how, as Prichard explains, “art imitates life, life imitates art, and then you really get f*cked up.” We see the on-screen relationship where Savage talks down to her and wants to make fans hate him because of his treatment of her. We also learn what extents he took to avoid her being embarrassed or critiqued visually, especially being around “the boys”. He loved her, but almost loved her too much.
It’s also a bit jarring to see how Savage talks to her during some of the promos and realizing how much things have changed culturally in the decades since then. Even in an entertainment format that people know is just that, I can’t imagine anything like this in WWE in 2019.
We spin through the formation and explosion of the Mega Powers and how life and art began to act as one. Eventually, Liz has enough and Bollea walks us through the beginning of the end of their relationship and how it split him, Liz, Linda, and Hulk apart. The music does a good job at building tension, especially during the Mega Powers split.
It’s also important to note that they use WWE footage throughout, but in a creative way that doesn’t appear to violate any copyright issues.
As we wind through their love life, we take a fun and interesting stop at the infamous cobra bite segment during an episode of Superstars of Wrestling. (Yes, apparently fun and cobra bites can go in the same sentence.) Roberts does a great Savage impersonation regarding a conversation and course of action the two had before hand when Savage doubted the snake was devenomized. Roberts also tells a story of how Savage wasn’t allowed in Hulette’s grandparents house as the angle was going on. This is the stuff we love: wrestling stories.
The final act could essentially be dubbed “The End”. Bischoff helps us work through Savage coming to WCW and how, even divorced, Savage cared enough about his ex-wife to get her a $250,000 a year gig in the company too. But, WCW is where she met and fell in love with Lex Luger, a relationship that would end up tragically fatal. That story is told as well including some admissions by Bischoff of his perceptions of Luger after a conversation he had on his podcast.
We wrap by going through Savage’s final years as a Special Olympics volunteer devotee, his eventual remarriage, and his death in a car accident before closing up shop.
What’s Missing?
Considering the focus of the story, not that much. The group of those interviewed is extensive and used effectively. Outside promos, there’s no archival Hulette sitdown footage and only a brief Savage interview following her death, but perhaps there simply isn’t a lot out there to work with. There are no children to interview, but I did find myself wanting to hear from Savage’s second wife. (From what I understand, the request was made, but declined.) Still, Poffo’s inclusion helps fill in some gaps from a family perspective.
Is It Worth Watching?
Yes. It’s a fast-paced 45 minute run through a familiar story but with some new wrinkles. It’s one that can keep a non-wrestling fan’s interest, but has enough meat on the bone to keep the wrestling crowd happy as well. Savage is such a fascinating figure that it would be hard to mess this up unless you had no access to anyone.
Savage and Elizabeth remain a fascinating and sad part of wrestling’s past, and ‘The Match Made In Heaven’ does this part of their history justice.
A story he heard from Ted DiBiase about a double-shot day that illustrates how talented Savage was
His interesting voicemail from Jesse Ventura about contributing to the piece
Is Adam Cole a can’t miss star?
What’s up with Ricochet matches?
That weird Ronda Rousey title win including the talking and the war paint
The whole Braun Strowman non-MiTB cash in
Book talk!
Listen to this whole free episode below. If you like what you hear, consider subscribing and check out my past shows with John Pollock, Jeremy Botter, Brian Campbell, Richard Deitsch, and more.
He is brash and you do not ever need to wonder what he is thinking; he will tell you in no uncertain terms. He has a grasp of wrestling psychology that few have and he still teaches it today. If you follow him on Twitter, you know that still to this day, he thinks about wrestling and what can make it better.
He gives solid advice to young wrestlers, but why? Because “Hustler” Rip Rogers worked all over the country including spending his early career working with “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Rip was in demand by everyone because he was in shape and was a super entertaining hand. Starting out in bodybuilding, working a solid career and ultimately ending up as a trainer affiliated with WWE for many years, Rogers was a great gimmick too.
Karl first saw Rogers in Southeastern Wrestling working a junior heavyweight program with Johnny Rich and later working against people like Dutch Mantell in Memphis. He had a big and entertaining feud with Adrian Street in Continental and then spent quite a bit of time in WCW working both in the ring and behind the scenes. Later, he worked in one of the farm territories for WWE in the era prior to the developmental center.
Today, the DragonKingKarl classic wrestling July marathon takes a look at “Hustler” Rip Rogers.
Also, time is running out to get the history-packed Super Stern Stick 16gb Flashdrive. It ends this month, so hurry! Over 500 wrestling history related podcasts and series and over 500 wrestling history related text and pdf files can be had for only $20 with free shipping worldwide. Get more info now!
