Dark Pegasus Video Review: Macho Madness: The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection, Disc Two

Posted by J.D. Dunn on 05.18.2009

The greatest reunification since Martin and Lewis.

Macho Madness: The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection, Disc Two

By J.D. Dunn
Twitter.com/jddunn411
Brightkite.com/jddunn411
Facebook

The version of Macho Man's music on the second disc sounds like something Flash Gordon and Dale Arden would play at their graduation.

Your hosts are Matt Striker and Maria.

Randy Savage & Hulk Hogan (w/Elizabeth) vs. Andre the Giant & Ted Dibiase (w/Virgil & Bobby Heenan).
Resident Hogan-hater Jesse Ventura is your special guest referee. Jesse rearranges the tag ropes so they are in the adjacent corners, which really freaks me out because the WWE never has the teams in the lower-left and upper-right. This pairing of the two top babyfaces and the two top heels would become a staple for the Summerslam in the early years. Dibiase gets knocked back and forth between Hogan and Savage to start. Heenan objects to doubleteaming, but the beating continues. Hogan decides to go after Andre and pays for it as Andre chokes him down. Savage gets the hot tag but misses a charge. A crossbody gets two, but Andre tags in for a bit. Hogan grabs a sleeper on Dibiase, but Andre blocks Savage's elbow. The heels clear the ring, and Jesse starts a fast count, leading the Megapowers to unveil their master plan – Elizabeth's underwear! See, they rip off her skirt, exposing her bikini underwear, and everyone is so shocked that they're able to knock Andre out of the ring and finish with the elbowdrop and legdrop. Jesse refuses to count, but Savage forces his hand down for the final count at 14:48. Liz's wardrobe is pretty tame by Attitude standards, but check out those stems! The match had a lot of heat (natch), but it's overshadowed by too much Andre and too much attention to whether Ventura is honest or not. The celebration features a moment that would become huge later on as Savage picks Elizabeth up on his shoulders, and Hogan cops a feel under the guise of steadying her. Come on, like we all haven't tried that one before. Jesse Ventura would show Macho Man this footage, aiding the Megapowers breakup. **1/4

Striker blames Elizabeth for breaking up the Megapowers, but Maria argues she kept them together for longer than they otherwise would have. Advantage: Maria.

WWF Heavyweight Title: Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan (04.02.89).
You know the story. Macho Man spent months fighting the Honky Tonk Man and the Hart Foundation after his face turn, leading him to form a partnership with Hogan. That led to the Mega Powers and one of the all-time great babyface teams. Tensions mounted, however, as Savage began to perceive that Hogan was in it just for Elizabeth, a paranoid delusion that wasn't helped when Jesse showed him a piece of footage from Summerslam '88 that showed Hogan copping a feel as he helped Elizabeth onto Savage's shoulder. Savage went ballistic on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event two months before this, and that's where we stand now. Elizabeth is non-committal, leaving her in a neutral corner, but Savage is pissed at her for exercising some measure of independence. Her presence figures into the match early and often, though, as Savage gets overpowered early and has to hide behind her. Back in, Hogan continues to dominate with a few elbows and rakes the eyes, drawing protestations from Ventura. Savage kicks Hogan in the face to block a backdrop, cutting Hogan's eye open a little. Gorilla says there's no way you're going to stop a match of this magnitude for a little blood over the eye (which is exactly what happened at the NWA's Great American Bash '88). Savage gets two off a schoolboy but gets distracted by Elizabeth. Hogan comes back and slams Savage from the ring to the floor! Well, it was a big bump back then. Elizabeth checks on Savage, but he shoves her away. Hogan jumps Randy from behind and is about to ram him into the post, but Liz stands in the way. See, this is some great characterization and storytelling. Even though Savage was a jerk to her, he's her jerk, and she doesn't want to see anything happen to him. Savage pushes Hogan to the post instead and accuses her of helping Hogan. Finally, referee Earl Hebner has had enough and sends her to the back because her presence is disrupting the match. Savage knocks Hogan into the ring barrier throat-first. Back in, he works in that top-rope clothesline and chokes him out with a piece of wrist tape. Savage hits the FLYING ELBOWDROP! ONE! TWO! THR-NO! Hogan kicks out. Jesse thinks that's the first time it's ever happened, but not only had Hogan done it before, but George Steele did it at WrestleMania 2. Hogan hulks up and hits the big boot and legdrop to win his second WWF Title at 17:54. These two were great together from '86-'89. It was all downhill after that, though. ****1/4

WWF Heavyweight Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Macho King Randy Savage (w/Queen Sherri — 02.23.90).
This is the final blowoff for their WWF feud and one of their worst matches ever, and it comes a little over a year after the big Megapowers breakup. Buster Douglas who is but a blip on the sports radar after scoring a huge upset over then-unbeatable Mike Tyson is your special referee. Interestingly enough, the WWF would revive itself by bringing in the man he beat eight years later. To his credit, Douglas actually does do some enforcing instead of standing around looking embarrassed to be there like most celebrities. Sherri gets on the apron, and Savage accidentally knees her while going after Hogan. Hogan smacks Savage around, but Sherri trips him up from the outside. The usual Hogan formula follows with Savage going through his entire moveset until Hogan gets tired. Sherri interferes again and gets chased to the back by Douglas. Savage hits the flying elbowdrop, but that just causes Hogan to Hulk up. The ref gets bumped as Hogan hits the legdrop, so Douglas counts three at 9:52 (even though Savage had kicked out). Savage takes exception with Douglas and slaps him in the face. Hogan, ever the disturber, shoves Savage into Douglas who knocks him out (on the second try). I've heard a couple of interesting stories about this match. 1) That Savage was supposed to win the title here and drop it to Warrior at WrestleMania, which I put in the "bullshit" file because Hogan/Warrior was penciled in the moment Zeus was sent packing. 2) That Savage kicked out because he had legitimate backstage heat with Hogan for abandoning him in the midcard. That one has a little more validity, and there certainly has to be some explanation because NO ONE kicked out of the legdrop in those days. Anyway, the quality of this match backs up my theory that Sherri was great at getting Macho Man heat, but her antics overwhelmed the matches. Not that it was a bad idea to put her with him, because I think he probably would have drawn cheers if not for her, as the fans realized he was a great worker even then. *3/4

Mixed-Tag Match: Dusty Rhodes & Sapphire vs. Randy Savage & Queen Sherri (04.01.90).
Dusty introduces Elizabeth to be in the babyface corner. This is the first mixed tag in the WWF, and men can only face men in the interests of fairness. Sapphire uses the POWER OF ASS to dominate Sherri. Gotta hand it to Sherri for selling like that. Savage dominates Rhodes through most of the middle portion, so it's kind of a face-in-peril situation only Savage can't tag out because Dusty would automatically be allowed out of the ring. Sapphire tosses Sherri to the outside, so Liz tosses her back in and does the old playground shove. Sapphire finishes with the schoolgirl rollup at 7:32. Savage went from the main event… to this? A low point for Savage. 1/2*

Retirement Match: Randy Savage (w/Queen Sherri) vs. The Ultimate Warrior (03.24.91).
Bobby Heenan notices Miss Elizabeth sitting out in the crowd. I guess she doesn't have the connections that Red Hat Guy does because she's way in the back. Sherri distracts Warrior early, allowing Savage to blindside him. Warrior shrugs him off and destroys him with atomic drops and a chokelift. Sherri runs in, so Warrior tosses Savage into her. Savage gets tied in the ropes and takes a few shots. Warrior press slams him and then just sets him down and slaps him in the face. Finally, Warrior misses a charge and goes over the top. Sherri gets in a few cheapshots, and Savage comes off the top with a double ax-handle. Sherri gets in a few more shots, so Warrior shoves her down. Back in, Warrior misses a flying shoulderblock and goes facefirst into the mat. Warrior counters a slam to a small package, which exhausts his moveset, and right when the ref is distracted by Sherri too. Savage knees the Warrior into referee Earl Hebner. Sherri and Savage try a doubleteam, but Sherri takes out her own man! Oops. Great reaction from Sherri there. The Warrior chases her around the ring but gets schoolboyed for two as the ref recovers. Savage hotshots him and snaps his throat on the top rope. FLYING ELBOWDROP! ANOTHER! ANOTHER! ANOTHER! ANOTHER! Warrior should be dead at this point, but HE KICKS OUT! Savage can't believe it. Warrior "fokes" (as he likes to call it) and hits a few clotheslines. PRESS SLAM! SPLASH! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Now, Savage kicks out! The crowd is going nuts. Warrior asks his hands what the deal is and gets some advice from the Almighty – you know, Herb, the guy who arranges the lights up at the top of the arena. Savage jumps Warrior from behind, interrupting the rapture. Sherri holds Warrior's throat over the railing, and Savage comes off for a double ax-handle, but Warrior shoves her back. Savage's chin bounces right off the metal railing. Well, that's no good. Back in, Warrior sends Savage flying out of the ring with a shoulderblock. He tosses him back in and knocks him right back out again with a flying shoulderblock. And another. Savage is legally dead, so Warrior drags him back in and pins him with a boot to the chest at 20:47. I'd rank this up there with Hart-Piper and Hart-Austin as the best-booked matches in WrestleMania history. Ironically, Savage would be competing for the title at next year's show, and Warrior would be begging for his job back. ****1/2

Btw, after watching that again – one of the single greatest moments in wrestling.

Savage's retirement would be short-lived as Jake Roberts began getting in his marital business and Macho begged to be let back in the ring. This, btw, was very similar to the Dusty Rhodes/Kevin Sullivan feud in Florida which also coincidentally included Jake Roberts.

Jake Roberts vs. Randy Savage.
Savage attacks during Jake's entrance and mauls him like an animal. Earl Hebner finally gets in between them, allowing Jake to hit a cheapshot and toss Randy to the floor. Jake goes after Savage's injured arm. Heenan cracks me up by saying he bets Savage wishes he was at home doing the dishes and washing out pantyhose as if he's Fred Murtz or something. Savage reverses a whip, sending Jake toward the referee, but Earl "John McClane" Hebner rolls out of the way. Jake knocks Savage down and stops to pose, but Savage rams him into the buckle to counter a DDT. The flying elbowdrop finishes at 6:25. This was surprisingly short for a blood feud. *3/4

Savage tries to finish him by crushing his throat with the ring bell, but Hebner grabs the bell away from him, allowing Jake to hit the DDT. Jake hits another one and grabs a bag from under the ring. That brings out Elizabeth to plead for mercy from Jake. Jake gives Savage another DDT and yells at her to beg him to stop. This is so awesome. Jake puts on his snake-handler glove and goes for the bag. He tells Liz that she'd better REALLY beg for Savage if she doesn't want to see him bit again. Sadly, it cuts off right there, and we don't get Jake slapping her around. THAT'S THE THING THAT MAKES THE SEGMENT! Grrr.

WWF Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair (w/Mr. Perfect) vs. Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth — 04.05.92).
Didn't get around to a second review of WrestleMania VIII, so I'll do a fresh one here. Flair won the title at the 1992 Royal Rumble, and Savage was named the number one contender. Oh, but Flair revealed that he had been doing Elizabeth long before she married Savage. Wow, how did he get in the closet Macho Man had her locked in? Savage attacks Flair in the aisle, but Mr. Perfect pulls him off. Savage fights back but gets jumped on his way into the ring. Flair goes to work in very Ric Flairian fashion. Savage comes back with a neckbreaker and catches Flair on top. Yes, really. I know. I didn't believe it either. Savage blitzes Flair and rams him into the post, busting him open and thus triggering an angry behind-the-scenes rift between Ric Flair and Vince McMahon. Savage hits the flying elbowdrop, but Perfect yanks him off the cover. Savage goes after Perfect, bumping the ref in the process. In all the chaos, Perfect tosses Flair a foreign object, and Flair nails Savage. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Savage kicks out. Perfect sneaks up and nails Savage's knee with a chair as Flair has the ref distracted. Elizabeth runs down despite the protestations from Dave Hebner and Shane McMahon. Hey, Shane took on three Legacy members. You'd think he could stop her. Figure-four from Flair. Savage fights back against the pain, and Earl Hebner breaks up Perfect's interference from the outside. Flair goes for another figure-four but gets rolled up for two. Flair stops to taunt Elizabeth before hitting a kneebreaker. Savage nails him with an overhand right, though, and schoolboys him for the pin and his second WWF Title at 18:03. Flair wrestled a Flair match. Savage wrestled a Savage match. They came together like chocolate and peanut butter. ****

Special Features

Ooh. Macho Man thanks all the managers for their consideration, but he turns them all down in favor of the debuting Miss Elizabeth (07.30.85). Vince's lecherous commentary is both creepy and understandable.

We also get Macho Man's coronation after he defeats Hacksaw Jim Duggan for the crown (09.30.89).

The 411: This was the best and worst of Savage as he slipped into a nadir after losing the title to Hogan only to come back with some great WrestleMania performances. The Tuesday in Texas match is disappointingly (but understandably) clipped of most of its appeal. Still, the second disc has a number of classics, including one of the all-time great WrestleMania matches against the Ultimate Warrior.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]