That Was Then 2.23.07: The History Of The Madness Part 2 - Macho King

Posted by Sam Caplan on 02.23.2007

From WWF Champion to King to retirement, all in the space of two years. Come relive the tumultuous period in the career of Macho Man Randy Savage from 1989 to 1991.

When we last left off with the Macho Man, he had lost the WWF Title to Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 5. They had been friends and tag team partners for a year, but Randy Savage became jealous of the attention Hogan received and also thought Hogan was trying to move in on Elizabeth. Savage finally snapped and turned on Hogan, but that turn led to the end of Savage's year-long reign as the WWF Champion at the hands of Hogan. Now Savage was faced with having to battle the man he had never been able to beat, and do it without the championship advantage or any fan support. But he had plans.

Part I: Down But Not Out

Meanwhile, all was well in the world of Hulk Hogan. Having regained the WWF Title that he had previously held for over four years, life was more or less back to where it was before the Andre-Dibiase-Savage situation sidetracked him for most of 1988. He went about his business as champion, but when he came to the ring for a title defense against the Big Boss Man on Saturday Night's Main Event, he had an unexpected surprise waiting for him. Standing on the steps leading into the cage and blocking Hogan's entry was the Human Wrecking Machine, Zeus. Zeus was the main villain in Hogan's movie No Holds Barred, and of course in the movie, Hogan vanquished his evil opponent and saved the day. But now here standing before him was not Tiny Lister the actor, but Zeus the wrestler, and he challenged Hogan to try and move him. Hogan tried telling him to get out of his way, but Zeus would not move, and when Hogan tried to force his way past, Zeus simply swatted him down and then just walked away and left the injured Hogan to now get into the cage and face the Boss Man.

Hogan won the match, but now he was being faced with a wholly unexpected situation. Zeus was just a character in No Holds Barred, yet now here he was challenging Hogan to fight him in real life. Was this guy really upset that he had lost in the movie, and was now challenging him for real to prove something? Why was he here? Hogan wasn't sure, but what he did know was that he had been absolutely demolished by Zeus before his cage match, and he wasn't looking forward to getting back in the ring with him anytime soon. Zeus's motivation was soon revealed when it was discovered that he was in league with the Macho Man and his new manager, Sensational Sherri. Zeus wanted another crack at Hogan after No Holds Barred and Savage, correctly thinking that he would make a powerful ally, brought him to the WWF to help him in his own quest to destroy Hogan.

Zeus began accompanying Savage to ringside for his matches, and was a commanding and intimidating presence in Savage's corner. During one match against Brutus Beefcake, Savage got caught in Beefcake's sleeperhold and was about to go out, but Zeus climbed in the ring and attacked Beefcake, beating him down and then clamping him into a powerful bearhug. Hulk Hogan rushed the ring with a chair to save Beefcake and, thinking that this time he was going to get the drop on Zeus, he gave Zeus his best shot. Zeus simply put Beefcake down, turned around, and smiled at Hogan. Beefcake went and grabbed a chair and the two were ready to make another go at Zeus, who for his part was not backing down, but Savage convinced his partner that discretion was the better part of valor, and that they would live to fight another day. That other day turned out to be Summerslam 89, as Hogan and Beefcake faced Savage and Zeus in the main event. Zeus again dominated both men, and it seemed that neither Hogan or Beefcake could put a hurt on the big man. However, Hogan got ahold of Sherri's loaded purse and, after nailing Zeus with it, Hogan slammed Zeus and gave him the legdrop for the win.

Amazingly, Hogan and Beefcake had beaten Zeus, but Savage STILL wasn't done with them. Although Hogan and Zeus were on opposite sides of the ring at the Survivor Series (where Zeus again left Hogan laying before getting disqualified), the real final confrontation between the two sides came at No Holds Barred: The Movie, The Match. The idea was that first you saw the No Holds Barred movie, and then afterward you saw a cage match pitting Hogan and Beefcake against Savage and Zeus. Beefcake and Savage both escaped the cage and left Hogan and Zeus alone in the ring, and Hogan gave Zeus three legdrops and pinned him to win the match. Zeus was never seen again in the WWF.

Part II: The King And The Common Man

After losing at No Holds Barred, Savage and Sherri were once again on their own, and Hogan had moved on. Even without the Hogan feud to occupy him, Savage kept himself busy as the new King of the WWF. A couple of months before No Holds Barred, Savage had defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan to win the crown, and since he was out of the WWF Title picture, he instead viewed the WWF as his kingdom. As ruler, he took offense to any perceived transgressions against the new Kingdom Of The Madness.

Now considering Sherri and himself to be of royalty, he thought of himself as being above the other lowborn wrestlers, and so when the son of a plumber himself, Dusty Rhodes, came to the WWF, Savage was quick to make it known that he and Dusty were not going to be friends. To drive the point home, Sherri and Dusty's manager, Sapphire, were guests on an episode of the Brother Love Show at Royal Rumble 90. Rather than conducting the segment as a regular interview, Brother Love and Sherri instead took turns insulting Sapphire and Dusty, mostly making fun of their weight. Sapphire finally had enough and smacked Sherri, drawing the ire of Brother Love. Both Dusty and Savage came out to the ring and a short skirmish ensued, but Savage and Sherri bailed, leaving Brother Love alone in the ring to catch a beating from Rhodes.

Dusty and Savage met briefly in the Royal Rumble match later that night, but Dusty quickly eliminated Savage. This had now become more than Savage could stomach. In addition to having this common man and his fat woman transgress on his kingdom, in addition to Sapphire daring to strike Queen Sherri and embarrass her on the Brother Love Show, Dusty had now embarrassed Savage as well by eliminating him from the Rumble. Savage and Sherri challenged Dusty and Sapphire to a mixed tag match at Wrestlemania 6. Though Dusty was a former three-time NWA World Champion (a fact that, like his entire past in the NWA, had been ignored since he came to the WWF), Savage was a former WWF World Champion and Sherri was a former WWF Women's Champion, and both were in far better shape than their opponents. If Dusty and Sapphire were to win, they were going to need some kind of psychological advantage over Savage and Sherri.

They gained that psychological advantage by bringing a big surprise: Savage's former manager Elizabeth would be in their corner for the match. This was just the kind of mind game that Rhodes needed to play. Savage was visibly rattled that Rhodes had Elizabeth with him, and also that Elizabeth would dare cross him by being in their corner. Both Savage and Sherri were visibly off their game, and Rhdoes and Sapphire used it to their advantage. In the end, it was the direct involvement of Elizabeth that would make the difference. After years of never getting physically involved in matches, Elizabeth grabbed the hair of Sherri and shoved her backwards, allowing Sapphire to roll her up for the win.

At this point, Savage was willing to do anything to take Rhodes down, but it seemed that whatever Savage came up with, Rhodes had an answer for. Savage and Dusty signed for one last meeting at Summerslam 90, and Sapphire would meet Sherri in a separate singles match the same night. However, in the weeks leading up to Summerslam, Sapphire began receiving mysterious and extravagant gifts from an unknown benefactor. Rhodes didn't know what to make of this, but didn't want to say anything to Sapphire because it was not his business. Summerslam came and Sherri made her way to the ring to face Sapphire, but Sapphire never showed. She was given chance after chance to come to the ring, and even a ten count to make it to the ring, but she never appeared. Sherri won by forfeit.

Now Rhodes was worried. After all the mysterious gifts, Rhodes had to wonder if the two situations were in any way connected. Sapphire finally appeared, locking herself in the dressing room and not even letting Rhodes in. When it came time for Dusty's match with Savage, he had to make his way to the ring alone. Before the match started, Dusty's attention was drawn to the entranceway where Ted Dibiase stood with his bodyguard Virgil. He brought out Sapphire and announced that it was he who had bought Sapphire all those gifts, and now he had bought Dusty's embarrassment, because Sapphire had sold herself lock, stock, and barrel to Dibiase. Dusty tried going after Dibiase and Sapphire as they made their way out of the arena, but Savage headed him off at the pass, brought him back to the ring and, after a shot from his sceptre, Savage finally pinned Rhodes.

Part III: The Collapse Of The Kingdom

Savage had suffered embarrassment after embarrassment in his battle with Rhodes, but thanks to Ted Dibiase, he had gotten the last laugh. Now with Rhodes out of the way, Savage decided that it was time to once again challenge for the WWF World Title. By this time, Hulk Hogan had lost the WWF Title to the Ultimate Warrior, so at Survivor Series 1990, Savage came out for an interview with Gene Okerlund between matches and announced his plans to challenge the Warrior. Warrior never responded, so at the Royal Rumble, Savage sent Sherri to confront the Warrior and ask him face to face to give Savage a title shot. Warrior again didn't respond. Sherri instead tried to come on to the Warrior and kissed him, but all that got out of the Warrior was a very loud and emphatic no.

Savage was irate, he felt he deserved that title shot, and was furious that the Warrior would deny him that shot. He decided that if he wasn't going to get a chance to once again be the WWF Champion, then Warrior wouldn't be the champion either. Later in the evening, Warrior was defending the WWF Title against Iraqi sympathizer Sgt Slaughter, and Savage and Sherri constantly interfered in the match. Savage finished Warrior off for Slaughter by smashing his sceptre over the head of the Warrior, and one elbowdrop later, the Ultimate Warrior was the former WWF Champion.

Savage now had a different problem on his hands. Instead of being booked against new champion Sgt Slaughter as he had expected, he instead had to deal with a vengeful Warrior who wanted to destroy Savage for costing him the WWF Title. They agreed to a Retirement Match at Wrestlemania 7 in which the loser's career in the WWF would be over. To the surprise of announcers Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon, Elizabeth was spotted in the crowd, in attendance for this important match even though her relationship with Savage had soured.

Neither the Warrior or Savage noticed her sitting at ringside as they made their way into the ring because they were focused on coming out of the match with their career intact. It turned out to be one of the best matches of either man's career and the fight of both men's lives. Warrior overpowered Savage as expected, but Savage was able to use some smart heel tactics to take over control. He finally got Warrior down and hit him with his patented flying elbow five times. Very few men had been able to get up after just one flying elbow from Savage, but somehow Warrior was able to kick out. Warrior kicking out had shocked and demoralized him and, no longer knowing what else to try, the Warrior was able to turn around the momentum and hit his own patented press slam and splash, but then Savage kicked out.

Now Warrior was in shock. He took this as a sign from his gods that maybe he wasn't meant to remain in the WWF and started to leave the ring, but the delay allowed Savage to recover and he attacked Warrior from behind. Warrior fought back and told his gods that no, he was here to stay. He tossed Savage back in the ring, hit him with three flying tackles, and pinned him with a boot on his chest. Warrior would stay (for another five months, anyway) and Savage's career was now over. As Warrior left to massive cheers, it was now Sherri's turn to be in shock. She couldn't believe that Savage's career was over and she was left without a charge to manage. She got in the ring and began berating Savage, who was still crumpled on the mat in defeat. She verbally tore Savage apart and then attacked him in frustration. Savage was in bad shape after the loss and was unable to defend himself, but then Elizabeth climbed over the guardrail and ran to the ring, and she grabbed Sherri and tossed her to the floor.

Savage was still disoriented as he got to his feet, and he turned around ready to knock out Sherri, only to discover that it was not Sherri that stood behind him, but Elizabeth. He couldn't believe his eyes as he stood in the ring with Elizabeth and then looked down at the floor and saw Sherri being escorted away from the ring by WWF agents. Savage figured out what had happened and finally realized that Elizabeth had saved him from the beating Sherri was giving him, and he came forward and embraced her and the crowd exploded. People actually had tears in their eyes as Savage and Elizabeth reunited, and though it may not make the video packages each year, it was easily one of the greatest moments in Wrestlemania history.

Savage's career as a wrestler was over and the Kingdom Of The Madness had reached its end, but as he made his way to the back with Elizabeth, the future looked very bright for Randy Savage.

Conclusion

With his in-ring career over, Savage transitioned to the much less rigorous life of an announcer for WWF Superstars. This was a lot better than getting beaten up night in and night out, but there was more in store for him. Savage had regained Elizabeth, and that meant more to him than the WWF Title or even his very career. He knew there was no doubt about his future with Elizabeth, and so on an episode of WWF Superstars, he proposed to Elizabeth. With tears in her eyes, an emotional Elizabeth accepted. After all the highs and lows they had gone through over the past few years, Savage and Elizabeth were ready to take the next step and become husband and wife.