At Halloween Havoc 1996, Macho Man Randy Savage lost a WCW title match against Hollywood Hogan and then faded into the shadows, as his contract expired. Savage sat at home for a couple months before returning to WCW in January 1997 and kickstarting the last great run of his career, highlighted by his joining the nWo and his rivalry with Diamond Dallas Page. But it was during his holiday that rumors persisted that Macho Man would defect back to WWF after a three-year absence from the company. Savage returning would have leant some established star power to Raw, which was rebuilding around established stars like Bret Hart and Undertaker with Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin. WCW, meanwhile, boasted some of the biggest stars of the 80s and 90s WWF and was in the midst of its 84-week reign in the ratings. Also, had Savage jumped, he would not have been a part of the nWo, which would have created a vacuum in the earlier days of the group. There would have been no memorable feud with DDP which elevated Page to a main-eventer. As with many of these potential defections, theres a double-edged sword to leaving one promotion for another. (Savage also was rumored to jump in 1998, but WWF was on the rebound by that time. It still would have been huge and hurt WCW tremendously, but it wouldnt have been as earth-shattering as two years earlier.)