By Cameron Heffernan

We celebrate the “Macho Man” and his, although rather late, induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

When it was announced on Monday that the “Macho Man” Randy Savage would finally be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, a collective sigh of relief came over the humanoids of the WWE Universe. ‘Macho’ will finally take his deserved place among the pantheon of wrestling.

Many of us – especially after the induction of the Ultimate Warrior last year – felt that the rumors were true. Due to his untimely decision to screw Stephanie McMahon before she had been, for lack of a better term, de-flowered. The “Macho Man” was never going to be inducted into the only thing he had left to posthumously accomplish; enshrinement in the WWE Hall of Fame.  He would never live in the same breath as Hulk Hogan, Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, and – unfortunately – Drew Carey (another reason we all thought ‘Macho’ would never be enshrined: Drew Carey was put in before the “Macho Man”. Drew. Fucking. Carey.). We would never be able to say “WWE Hall of Famer” when it came to the “Macho Man”.

Well, now we can. Say it with me:

WWE. Hall. Of. Famer. “MACHO MANNNNNNNNNNN” RANDY SAVAGE! OHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHH!!! DIG IT!

Let me take you on a ride down memory lane – and not like the last time I ran though some Macho promos – and let us bask in the glory of his Macho-ness:

The Cream Always Rises To The Top

The classic. With only a few words, the wrestling world was put on it’s ear by “the next big thing”. This is his most famous promo, before his most famous match, “Macho Man” Vs. Ricky Steamboat at Wrestlemania III. The world would find out, although he loses to Steamboat at ‘Mania III, that the best was yet to come with the “Macho Man”. I say he may have blown his proverbial load when it comes to the greatness of this match, (he never wrestles another match as good as this one. Not Macho’s fault, more the crap – and sometimes not-crap – he was forced into later.) but its lasting effect on the wrestling world still reverberates throughout the universe to this day. Hyperbole, I know. But it’s the only way to describe the legacy he left behind.

“From the top to the bottom, I’ve been much maligned because they can’t handle the “Macho Man” Randy Savage, they can’t handle the ‘Cream of the Crop’.” – “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

The Formation Of The ‘Mega Powers’

Although Hogan owns every square inch of this promo (and Jesus Christ do you see the size of his hands compared to ‘Macho’s’. Jesus.), what little Randy says is pure gold:

“Unbelievable I’m going into a state of shock right now. In fact I don’t think I’m going to be coming down for a long time. YEAH! Reckless abandon is what I used to be. YEAH! Miss Elizabeth opened my eyes…. and the big guy. Yeah! The big guy here. He endorsed Macho Madness and he gave me direction. Reckless abandon used to be. But the direction now… the mega… yeah… the mega yeah… the Mega Powers… YEAHH!”

Hogan overshadowed everyone at every opportunity he had. There’s no question that he was the alpha of his day, and in a way, today, still the alpha of wrestling in general. When the “Mega Powers” formed though, Hogan gained a new running-mate, as well as someone who could hang with the Hulkster when it came to mic-skill and cutting promos. Hogan and ‘Macho’ never became that close of friends (in real life). Rumors of Hogan having too much control and the fact that ‘Macho’ may have been a little manic when it came to Elizabeth, the “Mega Powers” eventually crumbled.

The Mega Powers Crumble

Even heaven fell under the weight of its perfection. Nothing lasts. Everything dies, everything ends. When we thought we were witnessing the greatest tag-team at its peak. It all came crashing down when jealousy reared its ugly head.

With the crumble, we had one of the greatest set-ups to a WWE Heavyweight Championship match that we’ve ever seen. beginning with the ultimate betrayal by “Macho Man”. Well… in kayfabe terms. In reality, it was really ‘Macho’s’ literal madness that brought this team down, as well as his relationship with WWE’s top star: Hulkamania. To gauge Randy’s obsessive nature towards Elizabeth, there’s a story from the recent Macho Man documentary. The rumor goes, and this is from “Mean” Gene Okerlund, ‘Macho’ was once on the road for 21 days straight. So he bought Elizabeth 21 TV dinners, so she wouldn’t have an excuse to leave the home.  Yikes, talk about possessive.

Madness Consumes Thee

In a time of grandiose, larger than life behemoths, Randy Savage didn’t measure up without going to places that were too beyond just the average promo. He was more insane, more “Macho” than the rest of the WWE card at the time. Including, Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, Andre The Giant, and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat. He faced them all. And whether or not he won, he gave them the best match of their career.

‘Art Thou Bored?’: Macho Madness Goes Hollywood

In the late ’90s, ‘Macho’ took heed from previous wrestlers, like Hogan and Roddy Piper, and made a leap to Hollywood in the form of a endorsement with meat-stick extraordinaire, Slim Jim’s. Centralized around his insanity and “Madness”, each commercial played like some fever dream of anarchy.

The phrase “nuttier than squirrel turds,” comes to mind.

Before he told us to “Snap into a Slim Jim,” in a world when wrasslin’ was less of a niche market, and more a worldwide phenomenon. ‘Macho’, appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show – a relic of the ’90s that fell into obscurity due to it’s even more obscure host. And much like any other time the “Macho” Man was called upon to represent the WWE, and himself, he basically oozes charisma and sweats elegance.

He had a return in 1992, when he was a middling star and sporadic color commentator, and yet again he knocks it out of the park.

No matter what Macho did he did it to the umpteenth degree, and he poured every bit of energy he had. From the “Cream of The Crop” promo, to the many insane (and hard to find. oddly.) WCW promos he did in his later career. Including one where he makes the claim he can’t talk anymore. Bails on the interview. Then returns a mere seconds later to give his patented “Oh Yeahhh!” and a “Dig it!”. It’s beautiful and a downright shame I couldn’t find it anywhere.

His penultimate effort in Hollywood came as “Bonesaw” McGraw in Spider-Man 2. No words are needed. ‘Macho’ says it all in this beautiful piece of cinema. And in this moment, we, unlike ‘Bonesaw’, were not ready.

There’s a genuine debate to be had whether Macho or Hogan is the all-time alpha dog. In my bias opinion, it’s Hogan. At a damn close second, no, 1b if you will, is “Macho Man” Randy Savage. And now, much like Hogan, Race, Warrior, Andre, Bruno Sammartino, ‘Stone Cold’, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, and countless other champions, we can call him a WWE Hall of Famer. Dig it?

And last, one of the best ‘Macho’ related videos. Ever.

Presenting: Macho Man Randy Savage in dragon form.