WWE – Macho Madness: The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection
Disc Three
Released: 6/9/2009

Your hosts are Matt Striker and Maria.

• WWF World Champion Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) vs. Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri) – (UK Rampage Tour, 4/19/92)
  

So Savage is fresh off his title win and looking to make a viable contender here. Something Hogan only did when it was convenient for him. As for Shawn, this is easily his biggest singles match up to this point. This UK crowd is SO very much into Savage. In fact, this could be why WWE allowed Savage to carry the title through SummerSlam. Savage has no trouble knocking Michaels around the ring to start and even has him on the run. Back inside, Shawn skins-the-cat and takes a clothesline to put him back on the floor. Savage follows Michaels out with the Flying Double Sledge. Sherri attacks Liz to bring Savage off a piledriver attempt. He comes down and sends Elizabeth backstage. That allows Shawn to attack Randy from behind to make him eat some steel. In the ring, HBK delivers a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker (!!) for two. He whips Savage from corner to corner and follows up with a swinging neckbreaker. Savage comes back with a catapult into the ringpost for two. Running hotshot sets up a High Knee to the back to send Shawn flying to the outside. Another Flying Double Ax Handle follows. Shawn does his corkscrew sell off the post. Back inside, a third flying double ax handle gets 1-2-NO! He wants a FOURTH, but Michaels catches him on the way down. Shawn flips out of a hiptoss and clotheslines Savage down for two. Superkick gets two. Shawn delivers a flying fist drop and Savage rolls out to the floor. Now Shawn makes Savage eat the post and heads back inside to allow Sherri some free shots on her ex-King. Back in the ring, Shawn delivers a series of jabs for two. Ref gets bumped inadvertently by Savage. Comeback by Savage, he hits Shawn with the MACHO ELBOW, but no ref. Sherri gets chased out of the ring. Savage pulls the ref back into the ring who counts 1-2-NO! Sherri gets up on the apron and Liz runs back down to flip her into the ring. Whoops! Savage delivers a flying bodypress for 1-2-NO! Sherri’s back on the apron, so Liz yanks her down to the floor! Ouch! After a neat back and forth segment, Savage delivers a crossbody out of the corner that scores the 1-2-3! (16:22) It’s cool to see some stuff you don’t see Savage do every day. Shawn and Sherri try to double-team the champ afterwards, but heel miscommunication ensues and a meeting of the minds occurs, leaving Savage and Liz to celebrate. By the way, this would be her final appearance for the WWF. Great match for Shawn too as it shows he can hang with the best of them. ***½

• Randy Savage & Bret Hart vs. Ric Flair & Shawn Michaels (w/Mr. Perfect & Sensational Sherri) – (Worcester, MA – 7/20/92)
  
  

WOO HOO! JR and Heenan are on commentary thanks to a 1993 Coliseum Video release that included this match. Obviously four of the best wrestlers ever, yet in 1992 they are THE four best wrestlers in the WWF. The classic rivalry of Bret and Shawn start the match. Shawn gets a little cocky with Bret, so Bret shows him a thing or two by blind tagging Savage. He cleans house on the heels. Tag to Flair, he and Savage get into a shoving contest, which Flair naturally loses. Flair turns the tables on Savage and gets him stuck in his corner. WOO! Shawn tags in, but charges shoulder-first into the ringpost. Here comes Bret to tear Shawn’s arm off with an armbar. Shawn slams out of that and tags Flair. He corners Bret for some chops. Bret comes back with a backdrop and tags Savage, who goes nuts on Flair and Shawn. Flair stops a ten-count corner punch with an atomic drop, but Savage kicks off a few FIGURE-FOUR attempts. Shawn sneaks in and slows Savage down with a Superkick. Meanwhile, Perfect is agitating Bret like crazy, Sherri has the ref’s attention, allowing Shawn to beat up Savage on the floor. AWESOME tag team work here. THE CHAMP Savage plays face-in-peril for a while. Everybody gets some cheap shots in on him. Shawn hits the TEARDROP SUPLEX and gets 1-2-NO! Savage fights off a sleeper from Flair by driving him face first into the top turnbuckle. Flair gets slammed off the top and that sets up a HOT TAG TO BRET! He starts up the suplex and the backbreaker on Flair and goes for a pin, but Shawn breaks it up. In comes Savage for an O’Connor roll on Shawn for 1-2-NO! Neither one of those guys are even legal! Bret beats Flair out to the floor. Meanwhile, Sherri gets up on the apron, so Savage runs Shawn into her and rolls up Shawn for the 1-2-3. (17:18) Fantastic formula tag match with the heels being as obnoxious as possible and the babyfaces barely pulling off the win. That’s how it’s DONE. ****

• WWF World Champion Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) vs. Randy Savage – (Monday Night Raw, 2/28/94)
  

Aside from Yoko’s match with Bret at WrestleMania 9, this might be his best match ever as champion. The rare team of Vince McMahon and Harvey Wippleman are on commentary. Savage is thick in his feud with Crush while Yokozuna already has his two opponents set for WrestleMania 10. Knowing all that, there’s not really a good chance that Savage will win here. Odd to see there’s no Jim Cornette leading the way for Yokozuna. Since it’s the common sense thing to do, Savage sticks and moves all over Yokozuna to knock him on his back side for two. He makes the mistake of letting Yoko get back up on his feet however and thus begins the breakdown of Randy Savage. He reverts back to his old plan by avoiding a splash and knocks Yokozuna to the floor with a High Knee. As Savage delivers his Flying Double Sledge, here comes Jim Cornette. Commercial break! Afterwards, Savage is trying to get Yokozuna back into the ring. He can’t do it! The man’s too fat! Cornette distracts Savage, allowing Yoko to regroup and nail Savage from behind. Back in, Savage gets Yoko all wobbly with jabs and delivers another flying double ax handle. Flying bodypress gets 1-2-NO! Yokozuna fires back and foot chokes Savage down in the corner. He nails Savage with an Avalanche and then drags Savage to the center of the ring for his LEGDROP, but Savage moves out of the way. While Cornette distracts the ref, Fuji hands Yoko the wooden pail. Savage gets the pail away from Yoko and uses it against him. Yoko goes down, but so does Savage. He’s so exhausted! He finally rolls over on top of Yoko for 1-2-NO! Savage nails Cornette off the apron on his way to the top for the MACHO ELBOW! Here comes Crush to stop the count. DQ! (11:40 shown) Bret tries to save, but that proves unsuccessful until the ALL AMERICAN Lex Luger comes down to help out and punch Yoko out to the floor. From there, Bret and Lex take care of Crush together with a double-team clothesline. Again I say, Yoko’s best non-Bret singles match. **½

• Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair – Lifeguard Match – (WCW Bash at the Beach 1995)
  

It’s the same thing as a lumberjack match, but since we’re at the beach, why not call them lifeguards? Our “lifeguards” are DDP, (WHO’S BETTA THAN?) Chris Kanyon, Maxx Muscle, Mark Starr, Harlem Heat, Arn Anderson, Johnny B. Badd, Dave Sullivan, Dick Slater, Bunkhouse Buck, Jim Duggan, and the Nasty Boys! Angelo Poffo’s at ringside and boy does he stick out in this crowd of beach bums and bikini girls. While Michael Buffer announces his name, Randy Savage throws out Slim Jims. Yeah, nothing more tasty on a hot summer day than Slim Jims! Savage beats the crap out of Flair to start and clotheslines him out to the lifeguards. Of course it’s on the heel side of the ring, so they take their time with Flair. Back in, Flair stops a ten-count corner punch with an atomic drop and throws Savage out to the floor. Back in for Savage, he catches Flair with an elbow out of the corner. Savage wins a slugfest and a Flair Flip lands him with the Nasties. Back in again, Flair yanks Savage out into the sand, which can be very abrasive to the skin. Flair tries to suplex Savage into the ring and winds up taking one out to the floor. In the ring, Flair begs off and gets whipped into the corner for a backdrop. Flair stays adamant with a sleeper until Savage runs him into the corner. The lifeguards have a little more fun with Savage. When Flair heads to the top rope, Savage falls into the ropes to cause Flair to come down chin first on Savage’s head. Whoops. Now Savage goes for a sleeper, but it’s only so Flair can go to the side and deliver the shin breaker. WOO! Savage mounts a comeback with a turnbuckle smash, but then runs into a boot. FIGURE-FOUR! Savage turns it over for the break. Stalling suplex by Flair gets two. Savage blocks a blow off the ropes and goes for the ten-count corner punch again. Flair tries to counter with another atomic drop, but Savage avoids it and nails Flair. You know the spot. Savage punches Flair out to the floor where he gets past the lifeguards and heads up the aisle. Well, he heads up the…shoreline? The lifeguards bring him back to the ring anyway. Savage hits a flying double ax handle and Arn Anderson gets on the apron to protest. Arn gets nailed and then Flair goes to the eyes. Flair charges at Savage and takes a backdrop over the top rope into the arms of the Nasty Boys! Meanwhile, Arn Anderson sneaks in and spins Savage around for a DDT! YES! Once the lifeguards push Flair into the ring, he covers for 1-2-NO! Savage counters a hiptoss into a backslide for two. Savage runs into an elbow out of the corner, but slams Flair off the top. A flying double ax handle and a MACHO ELBOW DROP gets the 1-2-3. (13:58) Post-match, the face lifeguards try to hold Flair down for another Flying Elbow Drop, but *Mark Starr* pulls Flair out to safety. A very formulaic Flair match, but he did take some pretty risky bumps in there. **¾

• WCW World Champion Ric Flair (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Randy Savage – (Monday Nitro, 1/22/96)
  

The ultimate crazy train of ladies is highlighted with the presence of Linda Hogan, Debra McMichael, and Woman. Hogan stops Savage on his way to the ring and wishes him good luck because secretly, the dude just wants stab you in the back and wipe the floor with you so he can take the title back. What it is, is what it is says Randy. Okay. Bischoff mentions Woman’s past with the NATCHA BOYYYY from like, 1990. Holy crap, that’s like a bazillion years ago in WCW time. Bischoff then lets the cat out of the bag about the ‘secret weapon’ the Mega Powers have for the Clash – it’s Miss Elizabeth. Talk about being disappointed when people were talking about it being possibly the Ultimate Warrior. Elizabeth is great, but who really cares about her enough to make it such a hyped part of the show? He also tells us that Kevin Greene from the Pittsburgh Steelers will be at the Clash to watch Hogan and Savage’s back during the main event. Before the bell, Flair goes over to woo (literally) Woman and gets slapped. WHAT? No woman would ever reject Ric Flair? He’s the champ! Savage attacks Flair on the floor as the women head to the locker room, but Flair chops back and whips Savage into the guardrail. In the ring, we get some back and forth stuff until Jimmy distracts the ref so Flair can throw Savage over the top rope. Not only that, but Jimmy runs to the OTHER side of the ring and kicks Randy in the gut. Flair heads out and whips Savage into the front row. Savage gets a desperate backdrop on Flair to the concrete, but misses a flying double ax handle and eats the guardrail as we go to break. Afterwards, Savage fires back on Flair and whips him in for the Flair Corner Flip to the floor. That was ugly. Back in, Flair begs off and goes low on Savage, but then Flair Flops for seemingly no reason. Savage blocks a hiptoss for a backslide that gets two. Flair counters a headlock with a shinbreaker and hooks on the FIGURE-FOUR! Flair grabs the ropes and everything, but gets caught by ref Randy Anderson as he pulls Flair by his blond roots to make him break the hold. They get into the standard shoving match. Anyways, Flair lets that go and hits the Rolling Knee Drop on Savage, but that doesn’t matter because he heads up top. You know what’s happening next. Savage delivers a pair of flying double ax handles until Jimmy Hart gets up on the apron to distract the ref again. Arn Anderson runs down with his dreaded taped knux. Flair holds Savage, but Savage moves and Flair gets nailed. Hogan yanks Arn off the apron as Savage heads to the top (bell rings prematurely, or did he think this was a DQ? Why didn’t anybody tell the ‘timekeeper’ what the finish was?) for the MACHO ELBOW for 1-2-3! (8:03) Savage wins his second WCW world title, but Hogan celebrates with him like he just won the belt himself. Shades of WrestleMania 4 for sure, and we all know how that one ended up. Once Hogan is the #1 contender, he’ll get his title shot, brother. If and when that match does happen, Savage says he wants Hulk to shake his hand when he beats him. Forget the fact that Savage has NEVER beaten Hogan, but no one can say he ever stopped trying. **½

• Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) vs. Diamond Dallas Page (w/Kimberly Page) – Falls Count Anywhere – (Great American Bash 1997)
  

And onward to the DDP feud. I still don’t know why DDP objected to Savage and every other wrestling fan seeing his wife naked (well, her naughty parts were spray painted with nWo), yet had no problem whatsoever with her appearing in a Playboy magazine in the first place. What kind of logic is that? Page takes Savage to the floor and tries a pescado, but his ribs are taped! Such a bad idea, son. They fight through the crowd and out the door. DDP even breaks a crutch over Savage’s back. Probably some broken-legged fan is left saying, “Umm, I needed that.” Back to the ring, Savage sends Page into the steel steps and then throws powder in his face! Some glass plate of some sort shatters over DDP’s head. Savage pulls off Page’s rib tape and decks the ref for a piledriver! Another ref comes out and gets tossed aside by Savage. On the floor, Savage backs Kimberly into the corner of the guardrail. Former nWo ref Nick Patrick recently forgiven by WCW runs down and gets in between them. Savage gives up on her and brawls with Page over to the faux picnic area. Ah yes, Fourth of July picnics in June! Savage gets run into the fence and gets slammed on the picnic table. Back to the ring, Savage gets his testicles split on the ringpost. Pancake Slam connects, but Savage sends Page back on the floor with a jawbreaker. Savage peels back the mats for a piledriver, but Nick Patrick objects and gets nailed. Just to show crazy Savage is, A RANDOM PHOTOGRAPHER gets beat down. DDP finds a chair and wallops Savage. Inside the ring, Savage low blows Page. Savage goes for a suplex, but DDP slips out and hits the DIAMOND CUTTER! Cover, 1-2-NO! Oops, Scott Hall runs out and STOMPS Nick Patrick on the head. Well that’ll stop any count. Hall has his tag belt with him and goes to nail Page, but DDP ducks and fires back on Hall. He calls for the Diamond Cutter, but Savage KO’s Page from behind with the belt. OUTSIDER’S EDGE to DDP from Hall! Savage goes up top and hits the MACHO ELBOW for the 1-2-3. (16:56) This was almost a prelude to Attitude Era brawls like Steve Austin would popularize in 1998. The run-in seemed like it was a little overkill, but it sets up future sub-feuds with the addition of Luger, Hennig and Zbyszko which follow into the fall and winter. ***¼

• WCW World Champion Kevin Nash & Sting vs. Randy Savage & Sid Vicious (w/Team Madness) – (Bash at the Beach 1999)
  

Team Madness are Madusa, Miss Madness (Molly Holly) and the blonde female Gorgeous George who dated Randy Savage in real life. Anyways, the WCW world title is on the line and first to score the pinfall becomes the champion. Obviously Sting and Nash aren’t going to get along here. Gorgeous George grows tired of Savage telling her what to do and heads over to Nash’s corner. That distracts Savage enough for Sting to attack from behind. After Savage has enough of that, Sid tags and beats down Sting. Sting comes back with a crossbody and slams Sid’s head all over the mat just like old times. More Sid stuff follows as Sting plays face-in-peril. Eventually, Sting fights out of a corner and tags Nash for the first time in the match. Side Slam takes out Sid. Nash gives Savage all his signature spots in the corner like the boot choke and the back elbows. Back to Sting, he takes Savage to the floor and misses the Stinger Splash up against the guardrail like usual. Back inside, Sting elbows out of a chinlock and falls headfirst into Sid’s grapefruits. Another hot tag to Nash, he wants to JACKKNIFE Sid, but Savage knocks him away. In come the ladies, Sting takes them out with a DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER! Sting delivers Stinger Splashes to everybody, including the ladies and Nash! Oh, but then he turns around into a Chokeslam from Sid! Nash knocks Sid to the floor as the crowd starts to chant “Goldberg”. It looks to be JACKKNIFE POWERBOMB time for Savage, but then Gorgeous George breaks it up with a low blow to Nash. Sid slams Nash down for a MACHO ELBOW! That gets the three-count and Savage wins his fourth and final WCW world title. (13:18) It’s kind of sad to see Gorgeous George hoisted up on Savage’s shoulder where Elizabeth used to sit. *½

DVD Extras:

• Over a dozen neat yet half crazy interviews with Randy Savage spanning throughout his career up to 1997.
  

Final Thoughts: Once again, WWE hits a home run clear out of the park with their superstar-oriented DVD set. Some seem to complain over the lack of WCW footage, but what else could they show really? His best WCW feuds were with Flair and DDP, so what else could they show? A terrible Hogan match? It wouldn’t really matter which one. They were all bad. Maybe his okay match with Bret at Slamboree? Anyways, as a HUGE Randy Savage fan, I enjoyed everything here. Thumbs WAY up for this set.