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For the last two decades, one special night each year has
captured the grandness of professional wrestling. Combining
spectacular action and breathtaking drama along with the
glitz and glamour of sports entertainment, World Wrestling
Entertainment's WrestleMania has become the premiere wrest-
ling event around the world since 1985.
While hundreds of superstars have graced the WrestleMania
stage, only a handful were able to leave an indelible mark
on the business with their majestic performances. Perhaps
no other superstar has performed at a higher WrestleMania
level than former WWE Champion "Macho Man" Randy Savage.
Recently, he shared some of his greatest memories about
being a part of the granddaddy of them all with SLAM!
Wrestling.
Savage, real name Randy Poffo, brought a look and charisma
to the World Wrestling Federation that few had seen before.
He paraded out to the ring with long, thin hair and star-
glittered robes which exemplified his grandeur. He sported
a dark pair of sunglasses that, once removed, revealed his
wide-eyed, crazy look as he pointed his index finger in
the air.
He combined a unique wrestling style with those character-
istics, featuring high-flying moves and a jaw-dropping
elbow off the top rope for a finisher. Plus, it never hurt
to have a beautiful woman in Elizabeth accompany him to the
ring when it came to garnering the fans' attention.
Savage used that package to catapult himself into a major
wrestling star in the 1980s and 1990s which included him
winning the WWF Championship on two different occasions,
the WWF Intercontinental Title once and becoming World
Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion three
times. But to Savage, working at WrestleMania was the
highlight of his career.
"WrestleMania is the show," pronounced Savage. "It's the
Super Bowl. It's the World Series. No doubt about it." All
together, Savage has appeared on eight different Wrestle-
Mania shows, wrestling an astonishing eleven matches in
total including four times in one night.
On two separate occasions, Savage was able to capture the
WWF Title at WrestleMania, once from Ric Flair at WrestleMania
VIII, the other four years earlier at WrestleMania IV in a
tournament. Originally, he was not scheduled to win the
title until other circumstances unfolded leading up to the
big show.
"It actually started when they wanted to get the belt off
Hogan," Savage explained. "I guess he didn't want to lose
it so they put it up in a tournament. Right before it,
there was an Intercontinental Title match between me and
the (champion) Honky Tonk Man. You know, Honky just had
this attitude that he didn't want to lose. So, I went and
did the business move and Honky Tonk Man kept his cracker
jack title. Then what happened was Vince did make the
change from (Ted) DiBiase to me at WrestleMania so it
worked out better for me."
WrestleMania IV would prove to be a memorable night for the
Macho Man as he won his first WWF Championship but he had to
work a record four matches before the night was over, compet-
ing with Butch Reed, Greg Valentine, and One Man Gang before
defeating DiBiase in the tournament final. If that wasn't
tough enough, there were others trying to impede his path to
the top that night.
"I kept going back in my dressing room after every match and
changing outfits. One of the people who didn't like me locked
me in my own dressing room before the fourth match, hoping
that I couldn't get out of there. But I busted that door down
because I had so much enthusiasm in me. I think I could have
gone through two of them. Just making it harder for me, well,
the harder the conflicts the more glorious the triumph. It
made it even more worthwhile."
For the next year, Macho Madness ruled the WWF, leading up to
a showdown at WrestleMania V: The MegaPowers Explode where he
dropped the title to his real-life nemesis Hulk Hogan. While
the two have never seen eye to eye on many things, Savage did
enjoy working in the ring with the Hulkster.
"Well, Hulk Hogan and me have personal differences," said
Savage. "At the same time, in the ring we had good chemistry,
good entertainment value for the fans."
After his year-long run at the top, Savage's career took a
downswing as he was dropped to mid-card level, being paired
with Sensational Sherri. When WrestleMania VI rolled around,
Hogan was still in the main event but Savage teamed with his
valet to square off against a polka-pot wearing, comedic
Dusty Rhodes and his female partner Sapphire. It was some-
thing that Savage was not used to.
"In a way, that was way different than what I was used to,"
he said. "It just takes a matter of time. If someone tries
to hold me down, that's fine for a little while but then they
usually get tired. They punch themselves out and I rise to
the top. Everything is a test. Any obstacle in front me just
makes me stronger."
While he would go on to face the Ultimate Warrior the fol-
lowing year at WrestleMania VII and regain the WWF Champion-
ship from Ric Flair at WrestleMania VIII, the match that most
people remember involving Savage goes back to WrestleMania
III when he went toe-to-toe against Ricky 'The Dragon'
Steamboat in a classic that is still talked about to this
day.
"It's really flattering that people still talk about it,"
said Savage. "I think Ricky and myself were primed and peaked
and everything just worked. We have good chemistry in the
ring and it all flowed together. The entertainment of the
fans had a definite hum right there because there were 93,000
plus people in the arena and you could hear them all. It was
just incredible. I'll never forget that."
Of all the accomplishments that Savage achieved throughout
his career, he still appreciates each and every moment he
was a part of the biggest stage of them all, WrestleMania.
"Vince McMahon gave me a break a long time ago. The first
time I got called into New York I told him - Thank you for
the opportunity' and I still mean it," said Savage. "That's
all he guarantees people is an opportunity. When you get
the ball, you've got to run with it. That's all I needed.
He gave me that opportunity and I'll be forever grateful
to him."
***end of history***
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