10 Genuinely Disturbing WWE Heel Beatdowns
9. A Savage Gloat Over Steamboat's Throat
The flashpoint in a rivalry that led to what was for nearly a decade considered WWE's greatest ever match, Randy Savage's heinous assault on lifetime babyface Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat came at the height of the latter's popularity and Intercontinental Champion's vicious notoriety.
Savage was virtually untouchable with the secondary strap, assuming a dominant position just below Hulk Hogan on the 1986 pecking order albeit by vary different methods. 'Hulkamania' trumpeted commandments against a backdrop of the American Dream, but 'Macho Madness' proffered only psychotic self-interest.
It was for this reason he saw fit not just to defeat potential contender Steamboat, but eliminate him from the chase altogether. Sensing the threat of 'The Dragon' during a televised clash, Savage draped Steamboat over the guardrail neck-first and struck him with an axe-handle. He grabbed his throat in agony but the Macho Man only used the vulnerability as a target. He drove the ringbell further into Steamboat's adam's apple from the top rope, as commentator Vince McMahon openly mourned the potential death of an all-time heroic figure.
Their iconic WrestleMania III battle was of necessary standard to pay off such a terrifying assault.