3. Randy Savage - WWF Champion (23/03/88 - 02/04/89)
Macho Man Randy Savage was the perfect World Champion. He had everything you needed. He could talk, he had bags of charisma, he could get over equally well as a heel or a face and he could work. Good God almighty, that guy could work. The Macho Mans first reign was very well played out in the long term, with the character starting out as a trusted friend of the beloved Hulk Hogan and then slowly turning heel over time, all while he still had the WWF belt. In a 2013 interview with Fighting Spirit Magazine, Hogan said of Savage that, "You know, he's the only guy we could pass the belt to, and we wouldn't lose money. You gave the belt to The Ultimate Warrior - I don't want to drop a bunch of names - and right away the revenue went down. Give the belt to 'Macho Man', and things would stay the same, or get better." The bizarre love triangle angle between Hogan, Savage and Savages manager (and real-life wife), Miss Elizabeth was relatable (who hasnt been there at least once?) and played off of Savages legitimate jealousy towards Elizabeth. Hogan, an expert in milking sympathy from the crowd, was perfect as the misunderstood nice guy who watches his best friend slowly turn into a rotten apple and doesnt quite know what to do about it. The whole thing came to a head, of course, at WrestleMania V, when Hogan faced off against Savage and defeated him for the WWF Championship. Savage would go on to be WWF Champ once more (defeating Ric Flair), but eventually fell out of favour with Vince McMahon (and, if Bret Harts book is to be believed, was treated abysmally in his final years within the company). He did go on to become a four-time WCW Champ, however. One day, when the WWE corrects its heinous mistake and FINALLY inducts The Macho Man into the Hall of Fame, Ill read this bit back to myself and smile. Your day is coming, Macho Man.
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
I don't generally read or reply to comments here on What Culture (too many trolls!), but if you follow my Twitter (@heyquicksilver), I'll talk to you all day long!
If you are interested in reading more of my stuff, you can find it on http://quicksilverstories.weebly.com/ (my personal site, which has other wrestling/comics/pop culture stuff on it).
I also write for FLiCK http://www.flickonline.co.uk/flicktion, which is the best place to read my fiction work.
Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
Finally, I sincerely appreciate every single read I get. So if you're reading this, thank you, you've made me feel like Shakespeare for a day! (see what I mean?)
Latcho Drom,
- CQ
