Steve Austin has a new resident of the Broken Skull Ranch, and it’s a feline with a moniker fit for a one of a kind WWE Hall Of Famer.
Over the weekend, ‘Stone Cold’ shared the unfortunate news that he found one of his cats, a black cat named Lefty, passed away inside of his barn, noting that the animal had been acting erratic as of late. The main eventer of the ‘Broken Skull territory’ has been Austin’s friendly cat named Pancho, who Austin noted was beside himself after losing Lefty.
‘The Texas Rattlesnake’ made plans to rectify that, noting that he’d be getting a new tag partner for Pancho in the near future. That came in the form of a little orange tabby kitten on Wednesday morning.
The kitten is only six weeks old, but clearly has a lot of energy. Austin shared a video of his new furry friend and it appears Pancho is more than appreciative of ‘Stone Cold’ merging the new ‘Mega Paw-ers’ together. In homage of such, Austin was sure to give the new kitten after the late great Randy Savage,
“Introducing Macho. Macho is from a town called Austin, Nevada. Thanks to @huntressdivine for finding him for us. Pancho is already getting used to him, although he is letting him know who the boss is. With Pancho mentoring him, He should be a helluva cat. He certainly has a lot of personality. And is not afraid of anything. He is about 6ish weeks old.”
While Austin didn’t appear at WrestleMania 40 as many expected, ‘Stone Cold’ has stayed very busy enjoying his life out of the limelight and a big partner in crime for that has been Pancho. Now we will have to wait and see the rising star of Macho moving forward.
Bret Hart famously left WWE in 1997 after an incredibly controversial exit. That departure still lives on in pro wrestling fandom, but it seems that the incident is water under the bridge for everyone involved.
The Montreal Screw-Job
The Montreal Screwjob went down during the 1997 Survivor Series match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. In the closing moments of the bout, there was a controversial and unexpected turn of events. Despite Bret Hart not intending to drop the WWE Championship in his home country of Canada, Vince McMahon, the owner, and operator of WWE at the time, instructed the referee, Earl Hebner, to ring the bell and declare Shawn Michaels the winner.
This decision, which was made without Bret Hart’s knowledge, stirred immense controversy and changed the landscape of professional wrestling. It became one of the most talked-about incidents in the industry’s history. Not only did it inspire the legendary “Bret Screwed Bret” promo before memes existed, but it also lives on in pro wrestling history.
The Aftermath of the Montreal Screw-Job
During an interview with Steve Fall, Earl Hebner opened up about his current relationship with Bret Hart. It seems that the two have mended their bridge after that controversial Survivor Series main event in 1997.
“I have a merch shirt that says ‘Damn right I did.’ And a lot of people want me to say, Can you write on it ‘I screwed Bret?’ I go, ‘No. I can’t do that.’ A while back, maybe three or four years ago, I would do it but Bret and I made up. And before my brother passed, we were at a house show, or indie show and he was there and he called us into the ring and he put us over like big time. So now Bret calls me now and then and I’ll call him and we got a good relationship back and I’m not gonna screw it up by writing something over a dumb ass shirt. It’s gonna destroy our friendship.
Earl Hebner was questioned about any concerns he had before reuniting with Bret and the possibility of Bret being upset with him.
“For a long time it honestly it bothered me. It was bad for me, you know, cuz I carried it with me for a lot of years. We met one time an airport, and I wanted to talk to him and he said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you.’ … I said, ‘can I talk to you for a minute?” He goes, ‘I don’t want to talk.’ I said okay, so I let it go and that was it. And as time went on, you know, it finally worked out well. We got to see each other [and] communicate.”
Working With Randy Savage
Earl Hebner went on to speak about some talent who weren’t so easy to work with. One of those people was “Macho Man” Randy Savage, because he was such a perfectionist, and Savage wrote everything out in his matches move-by-move.
“Well, from the old referees and today’s referees and today’s matches back then in there, it’s a world of difference. It’s not the same. It’s just it’s like old school and new school. You know and the old school you had to work and be smart because they never gave you everything. You know a lot of times back then I’d go in there and I go, ‘What’s the finish?’ They said, ‘just count.’ Okay. We did know the finish a lot of times. I mean 99 percent of the time. We knew the finish Some of the old guys just come through and tell you what it was. They said watch the match and count.”
“Macho Man. I mean when it comes to WrestleMania, he gives you a sack of papers that thick of the whole match way before it was ever gonna go on. I mean two weeks before WrestleMania and then he comes back and I’ll go, ‘damn, this is a joke here.’ But that’s how he was, he was a perfectionist.”
Steve Fall went on to note how Diamond Dallas Page wrote his matches out move by move before bell time. This caused Earl Hebner to reply, “Oh Randy was the same way about like TVs and house shows, you know same thing…If you screwed up he’d go, ‘What the hell’s going on here?'”
Earl Hebner is full of stories, and he was a part of pro wrestling history along the way. It’s also nice to see that he was able to mend some of those relationships that he tarnished along the way.
Earl Hebner’s book titled “Earl Hebner: The Official Story” can be purchased at this link.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had a legendary wrestling career, but he never got to step in the ring against his dream opponent.
The 10-time world champion shared the ring with some of the industry’s biggest stars, including Steve Austin, Bret Hart, John Cena, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle and countless others. For everything he accomplished in the ring, there’s one Hall of Famer he wishes he could have wrestled.
On Sunday, The Rock posted a photo on Instagram from his famed ‘Iron Paradise’ gym wearing a pair of flashy sunglasses. The shades may remind longtime fans of one Superstar in particular who was the ‘cream of the crop’ during his day.
The Rock & Macho Man Randy Savage
The Rock says the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage was always his dream match. He would have been honored to share the squared circle with him, but it never came to be.
Johnson was an full-time WWE Superstar from 1996-2004. Savage left WWE and was active in WCW through 2000, but their paths never crossed on television.
Back around 2000-2001, Randy Savage did an interview where he praised The Rock as a ‘general’ of the WWE locker room. “[He’s] a cool dude because of the fact that when he comes into the dressing room, he shakes everybody’s hand, he looks everybody in the eye, he doesn’t stir it up in the dressing room.”
The Rock has paid tribute to Randy Savage before, featuring him on his hit series, Young Rock. As seen below, the Great One remains a big fan of the Macho Man, who is widely considered one of the greatest all-around pro wrestlers in history.
Young Rock debuts this week on NBC and wrestling fans will likely be pleased to know that two iconic personalities from the industry will be portrayed on the show. The Rock took to social media recently to reveal who will be playing the roles of Vince McMahon and “Macho Man” Randy Savage on the show.
Kevin Makely’s IMDB credits include Badland and Zeroville. Adam Ray was the voice of Slimer in the 2016 version of Ghostbusters. He was also a cast member on the 2016 reboot of MadTV.
Young Rock Additional Cast
More cast:
Joseph Lee Anderson – Rocky Johnson
Brett Azar – The Iron Sheik
Robert Crayton – Warren Sapp
Matthew Willig – Andre the Giant
The Rock talks about Young Rock
After the show was announced, Rock posted a video to social media where he spoke about the show.
“We’re going to find the Rock wreaking havoc in the streets of Hawaii getting arrested,” Johnson said in the above video. “We were forced to leave the island and move to all places, Nashville, Tennessee. Those were the years that were very formative and helped shape me. The confluence of wild personalities that came in and out of my life during these times are just fascinating.”
The Rock also recently discussed Young Rock on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon:
Young Rock on NBC
Young Rock premieres Tuesday, February 16th on NBC. Here’s the official premise:
“As Dwayne Johnson runs for president in 2032, he takes a comedic look back at his extraordinary life through the outrageous stories of his family and youth that shaped him into the man he is today. He explores his childhood years living amid influential wrestling icons while his dad rose to fame in the business, his rebellious teenage years attending high school in Pennsylvania, and his football years teamed up with powerhouse players at the University of Miami. In his telling, Johnson explains that while his experiences have been larger than life, he remains a down-to-earth guy who still relates to the American people.
Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage had an on-again off-again friendship both on-screen and off. Hogan was recently interviewed by WWE.com about his year-long angle with Savage from WrestleMania IV to WrestleMania V. During the discussion, Hogan talked about having reconciled with his former Mega Powers teammate before his death.
“It was so tough when we had that blow-up when he got divorced. He didn’t want to have anything to do with me for eight years. I just thank God that we got back together before he passed away,” Hogan said during the interview.
Hogan then detailed the story of him and Savage reconciling just a few months before Savage died. Savage died on May 20th, 2011 at the age of 58. He suffered a heart attack and crashed his Jeep Wrangler into a tree.
“We ran into each other at a doctor’s office. I was on my seventh or eighth back surgery,” Hogan said of what sparked their reconciliation.
“We talked on the phone a couple of times,” Hogan continued. “I invited him over to have a barbeque, and really got back on track, which was cool. Later, I was with Lanny, his brother, at an independent wrestling show. He told me their mom wasn’t doing so well with [Randy’s father] Angelo passing away. So we had planned on having a barbeque at her house — because I got along well with Randy’s mom — and try to cheer her up. So, Lanny and I called Randy from the arena. Three days later, he had the heart attack. It was crazy.”
The “Macho Man” Randy Savage was famously intense, often blending the lines between his real-life and pro wrestling personalities. One common denominator existed between the two facets that comprised Savage and his well-documented jealousy: Miss Elizabeth.
Speaking with Steve Austin on his podcast, The Steve Austin Show, Hulk Hogan recounted an incident in Paris between himself and the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
“When I first met Randy, man, he was the best at everything. I loved working with him. The only really b***h we had was in Paris, France one night,” Hogan said. “Elizabeth was my manager, and we went to the ring in Paris. There were no steps. Elizabeth was probably 95 or 100 pounds soaking wet. So I reached over the top rope, reached all the way over where she’s standing next to me, and grabbed her by the armpits. I picked her all the way up, she had a dress on, and put her in the ring.”
Randy Savage took issue with this, claiming that Hogan had inappropriately touched Elizabeth whilst lifting her into the ring.
He remembered Randy saying “‘You son of a b*tch you grabbed her boobs’… We walk up and he grabs a headlock on me, but he puts that side headlock on me. I’m hanging in—I’m hanging in there—and I didn’t want my eyeball to pop out, so I grab his waist and I squeezed. ‘Randy, if you don’t let go, I’m going to dump you on your head.’”
“He was so pissed at me,” Hogan recalled. “The match sucked; we had a horrible match… We went back to the dressing room in Paris, and I walked in. I said, ‘Randy, we need to talk right now.’ I reached to open the door, and when I pulled the door I ripped it off the hinges. The door was so old and so rotted by termites… So, me and Randy went in the back and [he said] ‘Hey, man, I’m sorry I got mad.’ I said, ‘Randy, I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to touch her inappropriately – there were no steps.’ But I think the door is the thing that kind of cooled everything down, it was hanging on by a thread.”
Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage would ultimately feud after their Mega Powers tag team split because of Savage’s increasing paranoia and jealousy over Hogan and Elizabeth. The two would clash in the main event of WrestleMania V, with Hogan walking away victorious.
32 years ago today Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat and “Macho Man” Randy Savage stole the show at WrestleMania III. The Intercontinental championship clash between the two has long been heralded as one of, if not the greatest match in WrestleMania history.
Steamboat sent the following out on Twitter today in recognition of the anniversary.
Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat vs “Macho Man” Randy Savage – WrestleMania III
Steamboat also spoke to the WINCLY podcast in 2018 about the match.
“Randy and I never really got to work (before WMIII),” Steamboat said. “The first time was when we hooked up at WrestleMania, so we didn’t have a chance to have a bunch of matches under our belt to get ready for the big show and try some stuff.”
In storyline, Macho Man had damaged Steamboat’s throat by hitting him with the ring bell from the top rope onto the guardrail below. Several vignettes were shown featuring Steamboat learning to speak again on WWE programming.
“Everything that was put together for the match was strictly based on our gut feeling on the story we were trying to tell. We tried to make it a championship match and that’s the bottom line.”
One of the stories surrounding this match was that Savage wanted it entirely planned out in advance. Steamboat would later say this was a far cry from how he was used to doing things at that point.
“We took notes on a legal pad, a yellow legal pad, and, God, I can’t remember how many steps we had, but once we got the match down, I’ll give you an example, at night, I would get with Randy and say, ‘okay, number 32 is this, this, and this. Tell me the rest of the match.’ And he would go, ‘number 33 is this, this, and this. 34 is…’ and we would quiz each other back and forth, back and forth, just so we would have it.”
Ring of Honor World Champion Jay Lethal did an interview with Mat Elfring of Gamespot recently where he discussed his Macho Man impression and how Randy Savage and his brother Lanny Poffo loved it.
Jay Lethal gained popularity due to his persona inspired by ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, which he called ‘Black Machismo.’ He revealed how when he first spoke to Randy Savage and came to know that Randy loved his impression:
“The first time I spoke with [Macho Man Randy Savage], now I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t believe it was him because I can do a pretty good Macho Man impression, and I’m sure other people could too. I’m sure that I know a couple people who can do one.”
“So, when I was talking to him on the phone, deep down inside, I thought this could be somebody else playing a trick on me. Until Lanny [Poffo] actually confirmed that it was his brother. But he loved it. He said he didn’t watch it on TV but he did watch some of the stuff, he pulled my stuff up on YouTube and he absolutely loved it.”
Jay Lethal also talked about how he had talked with Randy’s brother Lanny Poffo and how their hilarious but sweet interaction took place.
“He loved it so much that at the All In pay-per-view, the days before Starrcast, big signing, there was so much to do. Well, I had a signing with Lanny, we were at the same table and he told me, ‘One of the things that I miss the most about my brother is, just sometimes at random times he would just yell at me. So if you could, just at random times throughout this signing just find a reason to yell at me I would love it.’”
Jay Lethal had revived the Black Machismo character at All In and not only that, he also came to the ring accompanied with Lanny Poffo, which made for a really memorable moment. Last night, Jay Lethal defeated Cody Rhodes at Final Battle to retain the ROH Championship. You can check it out by clicking here.
One of the longest-running unsubstantiated claims in pro-wrestling history is the infamous “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Stephanie McMahon rumor. Savage’s brother Lanny Poffo recently addressed the rumor on the first episode of his new podcast, The Genius Cast.
Longtime fans have probably heard the urban legend that Randy Savage had a liason of sorts with an underaged Stephanie. The rumor has been discounted by countless wrestlers over the years, but it persists to this day. Some fans still believe it’s the reason Savage was never brought back to WWE after his departure in 1994 and why the company waited so long to induct him into the Hall of Fame. According to Poffo, he doesn’t know if there is any truth to the rumor. Even if he did know, however, he wouldn’t tell. Poffo did offer up a theory as to why the rumor has persisted as strongly as it has over the years, however.
Lanny Poffo On Randy Savage Stephanie McMahon Rumor
“I don’t know and if I knew I wouldn’t tell you because Randy was very very private and I have absolutely no idea if that happened,” Poffo said “I’ll tell you what did happen. Triple H did an interview on a magazine and they said ‘what do you think of Hulk Hogan and the Macho Man’ and he says ‘well they’re great but they are dinosaurs.’ Well, evidently Hulk Hogan didn’t mind being called a dinosaur.”
So Poffo’s theory is that Savage mentioned Stephanie on his diss-track to Triple H just to get even with Hunter calling him a dinosaur.
“I have absolutely no idea if the urban legend is true. Like I said if I knew I wouldn’t tell you. It’s none of anybody’s business. There’s only one person who knows for sure and that is Stephanie. Randy is not here and she’s not talking,” Poffo continued.
Click Here to listen to Episode 1 of Lanny Poffo’s The Genius Cast podcast.
The Starrcast convention is underway in Chicago. The multi-day convention features numerous fan interactive sessions including one last night with Eric Bischoff and Bruce Pritchard.
Both Prichard and Bischoff have weekly podcasts with Conrad Thompson (convention organizer) where they relive their times as key figures for WCW and WWE respectively.
At last night’s “Monday Night Wars” panel, Bischoff and Prichard shared the stage and both reflected on “Macho Man” Randy Savage’s departure from WWE in 1994.
Bruce Pritchard and Eric Bischoff on Randy Savage in 1994
According to Bischoff, Savage approached him in 1994 saying that Vince McMahon didn’t want him to wrestle anymore. Vince had given him a job at the commentary booth instead and Savage wasn’t happy. According to Bischoff, Savage told them he wanted to wrestle but Vince wouldn’t let him.
“Essentially (Randy Savage) told me, he said ‘Vince didn’t want him in the ring any longer. He wanted to retire him to the announce booth,'” Bischoff said. “Randy called me and said ‘I’m not ready to give it up in the ring, is there a spot for me?'”
Furthermore, Bischoff continued to say that Savage’s contract was “almost free” until 1997 as it was covered by his Slim Jim endorsement deal.
Meanwhile, Prichard’s story is that Macho Man had recently moved to Connecticut at the time in order to work in the office. Savage told them he didn’t want to take bumps anymore and was looking at the next 20 years of his career.
“He was saying different things to different people,” Pritchard said. “If he had told us ‘hey I want to go back and I want to be on the road, I want to work, put me in a major program’, to have Randy Savage involved in something – that would have made a big world of difference.”
“Randy expressed to us he didn’t want to take bumps anymore,” Pritchard continued.
WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat recently spoke with our friend Raj Giri of WrestlingInc to promote his appearance at PCW ULTRA’s May The 4th Be With You event from Wilmington, California.
Steamboat discusses his legendary WrestleMania 3 match with Randy Savage, how influential it was, how the match was put together as well as the one thing he would change in the match. He also discussed what today’s wrestlers seem to be missing in the ring. Here are the highlights:
Not expecting how influential match with Randy Savage would become:
“I did know [about winning the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 3], yes. I was told by Vince [McMahon]. Of course, it’s very rewarding, but truth be told, Randy and I never knew that it was going to escalate the way it has over the years and still be talked about 31 years later. We wanted to actually just steal the show that night.”
Working with Randy Savage for the first time:
“Randy and I never really got to work [prior to WrestleMania 3]. The first time was when we hooked up at WrestleMania, so we didn’t have a chance to have a bunch of matches under our belt to get ready for the big show and try some stuff. Everything that was put together for the match was strictly based on our gut feeling on the story we were trying to tell. We tried to make it a championship match and that’s the bottom line.”
How they got around to putting the match together:
“I didn’t realize it then, it was only later, that with the number of guys coming up and talking about the match, and I’m going back years later, and how we kind of changed the blueprint of how you put together a match because of all the false finishes in that match. And the false finishes to me is what made it a championship match. He’s trying to hold onto the belt and I’m trying to win it from him. I think if my memory serves me, we had 21 false finishes in a match that went about 17 minutes.
The hard part is when you’re caught up in all the action, all the drama, and the story that you’re trying to tell, is trying to remember 21 false finishes in the sequence that it was laid out. I was really stressed out before that match. I kept going through the match and all of the false finishes over and over and over in my mind, but, God, that was hard to do because customarily you would understand back then, a lot of the matches, we called it in the ring.
Nothing was really set up from A to Z like this one. We took notes on a legal pad, a yellow legal pad, and, God, I can’t remember how many steps we had, but once we got the match down, I’ll give you an example, at night, I would get with Randy and say, ‘okay, number 32 is this, this, and this. Tell me the rest of the match.’ And he would go, ‘number 33 is this, this, and this. 34 is…’ and we would quiz each other back and forth, back and forth, just so we would have it.”
What he would add to the match:
“If I was to add something to that match, it would have been this one moment to which I would have come off the top rope with my dive, which was my finish and I would have had a 1-2 count and Randy kick out just so the fans could have a little curve ball thrown in there. Back then, you never really prostituted your finish, but I think it would have fit. It would’ve worked. You see it sometimes in the main events today, a guy’s finish, especially with two top guys, and the other guy kick out only later on in the match to be caught in the finish again and for it to work.”
What today’s performers are missing:
“What I see lacking is two guys hooking up in the locker room and going over their match and lining things up, but what’s missing is being able to tell a story. Every match should have a story in it and I see a lot of that lacking. I see a lot of guys doing a lot of good stuff, and I call it stuff, filling in the blanks in their match, but the stuff doesn’t tie in. It’s not related. The phrase that I use a lot is you’ve got to connect the dots and keep connecting them up to the finish. And a lot of guys out there are doing stuff just for the sake of doing stuff.
And I say, ‘a lot of you guys are throwing away moments.’ I see a guy crashing through two tables and 15 seconds later they’re running around chasing each other and I said, ‘oh my God, you just crashed through two tables! What are the fans thinking when 15 seconds later, you’re in the ring chasing each other?’”
You can check out the interview on WrestlingInc by clicking here.
If you’re a fan of WWE’s curated “Collections” of themed matches and angles, then we have some good news for you. As reported on Saturday by Steve Coulson of WWE Network News, Monday (November 7th) will see the release of two new additions to the Collections bucket: Austin vs. McMahon Part II and Randy Savage: Cream of the Crop. Here are the official descriptions for each collection:
Austin vs. McMahon Part II:
One of the greatest rivalries of all time rages on as the next chapter in the saga between the tyrannical Mr. McMahon and the defiant Stone Cold Steve Austin unfolds. Beginning with WrestleMania XV, follow The Rattlesnake and The Boss throughout their journey of ups and downs, Black Weddings, Greater Powers, celebrations, farewells, and more, culminating with the stunning fallout from WrestleMania X-Seven. Relive these unforgettable matches and moments in this exclusive WWE Network Collection!
Randy Savage: Cream of the Crop:
Get ready to freak out and let the madness begin with this WWE Network Collection celebrating the storied career of Macho Man Randy Savage. From unforgettable moments and interviews, to both rare and classic battles against Macho Man”s greatest rivals, there is only one place to find these eclectic moments from the Hall of Famer”s legendary run in sports entertainment!
Former WWE Superstar “The Genius” Lanny Poffo appeared on Sean Waltman’s X-Pac 1,2,360 podcast this week and shed some light on the final years of his brother, the late Macho Man Randy Savage. Here are some highlights of what Poffo said about:
Randy reconciling with Hulk Hogan shortly before his death:
“About a month before Randy died. My brother took my mom to the cardiologist, and the nurse said, ‘Hulk Hogan is here.’ Randy said, well keep him there. So Randy goes in there and gives him a hug or something. Here’s your scoop in the midst of all this drivel. Randy had a ‘blank you’ list a mile long, right? It seemed like the last two months of his life he went around making amends to everybody that he ever had any problem with, including Hulk Hogan. Let me tell you what. Even at the worst it was a love/hate relationship. Even at the worst, because Hulk was the Babe Ruth of wrestling and anybody that was lucky enough to be in his shadow for a moment was instantly catapulted to success. That was Randy in 1985, and they just clicked personally, professionally, inside the ring, outside the ring. But you know things happen.”
Randy Planning To Return To WWE & Wanting To Work With Shawn Michaels:
“Randy had a very bad leaving with the WWE. It was right about the time Randy was on the announcing table, right? You were there, the 1-2-3 Kid, and doing fantastic for yourself. Well Randy started watching and getting the bug back, you see what I mean? He started getting that, maybe I’m not too old. Maybe I can have one more match. He was always known for his match with Ricky Steamboat. So he thought that he could possibly start a little something with Shawn Michaels, and then have a two year program, then have the showdown at WrestleMania. His intention was to have a Hair vs. Career match, where Shawn Michaels would shave his head or Randy would give up his career and go to the announcing booth. Randy would drop the match, go back to the announcing booth, but he wanted to end his career with a better match than he had with Steamboat.”
Lanny offers inside insight on two infamous matches:
“When Bruno Sammartino defeated Buddy Rogers, that was a shoot. Bruno walked over, put him up on a bear hug, he said, give up or I’ll break your back. Yeah Buddy had heart problems. Or that’s what he said. You see what I mean? Listen, I got the story from Buddy and Bruno, and I know whose story had the hole in it, OK? Before that, you know what happens when a guy becomes a megastar, he doesn’t want to lose, right? So you got Argentina Rocca against Buddy Rogers and Vince McMahon, Sr. wanted Buddy to win. Rocca didn’t want to lose. So Buddy was a very charming guy…Well Buddy said, OK Daddy, here’s what we’re going to do, and he’s real charismatic when he spoke and he’s charming too, you know—makes you fall in love with him. He says, I’ll win the first fall, you win the second fall and the third fall, two out of three match. So he goes out there, wins the first fall and everybody goes home. The fans go home, the referee goes home, Buddy goes and leaves. He told him there was going to be a two out of three match…and it was just a one fall match.”
How he felt about Hulk Hogan inducting Randy into the WWE Hall of Fame:
“First of all, I didn’t choose Hulk Hogan. Secondly, if I were given a choice I would’ve picked Hulk Hogan. That would be the final olive branch. I personally love Hulk Hogan. I know Randy really did too. Some of the trouble was because of the [Miss] Elizabeth thing.”
Debunking a rumor about Randy & Elizabeth:
“They were on [the WWE Randy Savage DVD] saying Randy locked Elizabeth in the locker room. I happen to know this was false because I was there. See what I mean? First of all, Elizabeth didn’t want to be taking a shower with Brian Knobbs…Put yourself in her shoes. These wrestlers were not the Boy Scouts. They were using people’s suitcases for toilets.”
– “Macho Man” Randy Savage’s brother Lanny Poffo shared this awesome story on Facebook this week:
Randy rescued a one-armed kitty about six months before he died. His wife still owns the cat who was named JYC, in honor of his fallen friend, JYD (Junkyard Dog)
– Prior to facing Natalya tonight at WWE Payback, WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte threw out the first pitch at today’s Chicago Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves game at Wrigley Field (with Ric Flair by her side).
– In this video, WWE Hall of Famer “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan talks about “Macho Man” Randy Savage and how his wife was close with Miss Elizabeth since they traveled together. Duggan also says he enjoyed working with Savage in WWE since he could brawl and fly.
Speaking of Miss Elizabeth, today marks the 13th anniversary of her passing. On May 1, 2003, in Marietta, Georgia, live-in boyfriend Lex Luger called 9-1-1 to report that Elizabeth was not breathing. She did not respond to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and paramedics rushed her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. A medical examiner listed her cause of death as “acute toxicity”, brought on by a mix of painkillers and vodka. She was 42-years-old.
– NXT head writer Ryan Ward has been moved to the SmackDown writing team, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. No word yet on who will be replacing him. WWE has already taped NXT TV through WrestleMania weekend, so we’ll see next month if the there are any noticeable changes.
– WWE is already booking talent for this summer’s Global Cruiserweight Series. Several top independent wrestlers have already been contacted about participating in the series.
– Former UFC fighter Matt Riddle recently spoke to the Orlando Sentinel regarding reports that he could be headed to NXT in the near future. Riddle, who has received a WWE tryout and currently wrestles for EVOLVE, said:
“I haven’t heard anything. I’ve heard the rumors, and I’d love to do it, but I don’t know. Right now, I’m too focused on EVOLVE, and ecstatic to see what comes next.”
– There is an online petition for a statue of the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage to be erected in his home city of Columbus, Ohio.
At a couple different points tonight, the official WWE Games Twitter account tweeted these animated GIFs to hype Tuesday’s release of the Hall of Fame downloadable content pack for WWE 2K16, which is out this Tuesday:
It was already known that 1991 versions of Ric Flair and Tatsumi Fujinami plus a relevant match replay mode were in the Hall of Fame pack, but they had two matches that year. It seemed like it made more sense for 2K to base it off their match from Superbrawl in St. Petersburg, Florida, but from the above footage, it looks like they didn’t. Instead, 2K picked the OTHER Flair-Fujinami match, from the NJPW Tokyo Dome show that year, which is known as both WCW Japan Supershow and NJPW Starrcade ’91 In The Tokyo Dome. So that means that the arena that comes in the pack is an ersatz Tokyo Dome, faithfully recreated by 2K Sports. They can’t call it that (and I don’t believe WWE games ever name real venues), but 2K does a great job with the presentation of the arenas and this should be no exception.
Here’s the full lineup for the DLC pack, which, if this is any indication, should also include at least two more WCW arenas and some early ’90s WWF arenas along with period appropriate versions of the wrestlers:
“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts
Rikishi vs. The Rock
Alundra Blayze vs. Paige
Larry Zbyszko and Arn Anderson vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ric Flair
The Bushwhackers (Butch Miller and Luke Williams) vs. The Natural Disasters (Typhoon and Earthquake)
The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) vs. Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray)
WWE Hall Of Famer Scott Hall recently spoke with the folks at Title Match Wrestling about why he didn’t receive as many world title shots as others did, as well as the back-story behind an incident involving Ultimate Warrior during his WWE run.
“I was doing whatever was asked of me,” said Hall of not being put in many world title matches. “I looked at it as being a team player, whatever the team needed me to do on pay-per-view. Whether it was being on first or being on last.
Hall was also asked about some major reshuffling that took place prior to WWE Survivor Series 1992, as significant roster changes prevented the originally scheduled line-up from taking place.
“It was supposed to be Flair and I against Warrior and Savage. Warrior had a history of holding Vince up for money before pay-per-views to get his guarantees, and Vince called his bluff. They had to substitute for Warrior, so they brought Mr. Perfect in,” Hall said.
“I was told prior to the match I was going to break Randy’s leg and retire him. But when you have a substitute, you have to feature the substitute, so I think I got PerfectPlex’d and Flair got PerfectPlex’d.”
Former WWE Superstar “Leapin'” Lanny Poffo, who also had a run in the company as the character, “The Genius,” recently posted a new video where he takes some high-ranking political figures to task regarding some of their recent decisions.
Embedded below, listed as simply “a poem by Lanny Poffo,” is a video that shows Poffo, real-life brother of the late WWE Hall Of Famer “Macho Man” Randy Savage (Randy Poffo), talking about current United States President Barack Obama, as well as 2016 U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
– WWE averaged 4,948 paid fans to live events in the month of July this year, not including the WWE Battleground event. The numbers are in line with the average in July of 2014, as that month averaged 4,948 as well, however in July of 2013 the average was 5,544 and the average in July of 2012 was 5,464.
– Based on main events for the WWE live events, Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE title drew an average of 4,813 paid fans. Kevin Owens vs. John Cena matches drew an average of 6,583 paid fans. By comparison, the Cena vs. Bray Wyatt headline matches in the summer of 2014 drew 6,000 paid fans.
– WWE shipped 137,000 DVD units in the month of July in 2015, which was down 25 percent from 182,000 units shipped in July of 2014, 231,000 in July of 2013 and 357,000 in July of 2012.
– The most-shipped WWE DVD in the past nine months was WrestleMania 31 with 109,000 units sold, followed by WWE Slam City with 101,000 units, WWE Attitude Era Volume 2 with 66,000 units, The Rock vs. John Cena with 65,000 units and The Randy Savage Story with 62,000 units.
Sports Illustrated’s “Extra Mustard” blog has a new featured article on the passing of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, which features comments from Piper’s longtime friend and work associate, fellow WWE Hall Of Famer Bret Hart.
Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On Roddy Piper helping his career: “I would be a footnote in this business without Roddy Piper. Roddy took a shine to me and took me under his wing. Maybe it was because I was a Canadian kid like he was, but he protected and looked out for me right from the start from the first time I met him.”
On rumors that Bret and Roddy were related: “Roddy’s last name was Toombs, and I told him my dad had family with the same name on his side of the family. Roddy was from around the Saskatoon area, and my dad was from Saskatoon, so we toyed with the idea that we might be blood-related.”
“As it turned out, when Roddy and my dad got to compare notes when he came to Calgary, we determined there were two different spellings—Toombs and Tombs. So we weren’t related, but from the very first day that we always wondered about it, Roddy always called me, ‘Cuz.’ We never called each other Roddy or Bret, we always called each other ‘Cuz’ right up until he died. Along with my brother Owen and Jim Neidhart, the closest guy to me in the business was Roddy.”
On Roddy and Randy Savage being leaders of the locker room: “Roddy and Macho Man were leaders in the dressing room. think of guys like Hogan, they never did anything for anyone. Hogan came to his private locker room with the star on the door and no one was allowed to knock on the door.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Ricky Steamboat recently appeared as a guest on the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On memories of Dusty Rhodes as the booker in the Carolinas: “I have mixed memories with Dusty. Part of it being business when I was actively wrestling and he was actively wrestling and then later on when we were both coaching and teaching at the WWE school for the up and coming wrestlers. Understanding the business part of it, he was doing a job he had to do and at the time that it was in the Carolinas back in 1984. When you are the booker or the match maker and you are also still actively wrestling, most of the guys that were bookers around most of the country at that time were no longer actively wrestling and not penciling themselves into matches. I didn’t come to realize this until a couple of months ago. I was in the Carolinas and Dusty was the new booker and Dusty was wrestling as a babyface. The way he was writing for me being one of the top baby-faces in the Carolinas and having a ton of matches against Ric Flair and it just being smart business, he was using me in a way that with him coming in, whoever I couldn’t beat he would beat. The fans would say well “Ricky couldn’t beat him, but Dusty could beat him.” So Dusty was so much better and it sort of left a bad taste in my mouth and that’s another reason why I left the Carolinas for the WWF.”
On his all-time favorite match with Ric Flair: “It wasn’t taped and we had wrestled each other so many times in Charlotte at the Coliseum. George Scott who was the booker at the time said I don’t care how you do it but you are going to put Flair over tonight. We’ve had so many one hour Broadways that we had to make it something hot. Going sixty minutes all the time, twenty-five or thirty minutes would really shock these people. But we ended up going fifty-five minutes plus and the fans were thinking we were going to go with a draw again. We had one minute left in the match before it was going to become a draw and here comes (Steamboat) making his comeback, I’m pinning Flair over and over again, with fifth-teen seconds left and Flair in the corner I charge him, he lifts my feet up and puts his feet on the second rope in the corner and the ref counts three as the announcer is counting 5,4,3..two seconds left and Flair wins by cheating with his feet on the ropes. There was a lull in the building with the fans looking at us and then they just erupted and started throwing stuff at Flair and Flair looked at me and said “we got them tonight” and rolled out of the ring.”
On adapting to different in-ring styles: “I learned early on as a babyface you had adapt to their style. Ravishing Rick Rude had his own style and his own way with a little bit of some Ric Flair-isms. But I always learned to adapt myself. A lot of guys would say that I was like a damn chameleon. It doesn’t matter who you are in the ring with, you can adjust and adapt. I could have great matches with Blackjack Mulligan, with him at 6’8′ 340 pounds and who was nowhere near the pace of a Rick Rude or Randy Savage, same as Greg Valentine, he worked very much like his father.”
On knowing you have chemistry with your opponent: “I would say yes, but I don’t know how many guys would be able to agree with me. There are certain guys that you know when you lock up with each other that after the first couple of minutes you know there is something there . But it’s a double edged sword because believe me there were a couple of guys that we locked up and couple of minutes later I didn’t want to be in the ring with him. You can feel greatness in the ring. You can get two guys that gel together and it’s just like poetry or a work of art.”
On Jake “The Snake” Roberts and the infamous DDT on Saturday Night’s Main Event: “Pulling the mat away and exposing the cement floor and being dropped in the DDT is very dangerous and it ended up being dangerous for me that night. I’m going to say it was a timing issue. If my memory serves me right whenever Jake would suck you in and pull you underneath his arm he would always look at the crowd for a moment and then drop you. In that moment you show that this is the end for this guy and he would have a little snicker on his face and a little bit of an attitude and then drop you. But as soon as he sucked me in he dropped me and I was waiting for that pause. The unfortunate thing that happened is that what everybody suspects when he does do the move YES when it happened my head did meet the cement and they took me away with a bad concussion. Part of my head swelled up so bad and ballooned out and I know I got in front of the camera with it but I cannot find any pictures of what my face looked like because it looked distorted.”
On the rematch that never happened with “Macho Man” Randy Savage at WrestleMania IV: “In the locker room I was looking at the brackets. Randy of course goes on to win the championship. In the first round I had Greg Valentine and I was just assuming I’m going to get a win over him and Randy and I will have a return from the WrestleMania 3 match and the fans will be very very curious in wanting to see that. It was a big surprise to me that it never came out that way. I never went to Vince or any of the upper people in the company to ask why because I wasn’t that kind of guy. I always felt that whatever I was asked to do that my ability in the ring would speak for itself. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of politics in our business and there were guys that have the boo-hoo face because they weren’t getting there hand raised that night. Wins or loses didn’t matter to me, my worry was did the match get over? That was my priority. So I didn’t know who was going to win the championship, I just knew I wasn’t. I thought I would be with Randy in the second round and return the honors and that we were going to tear it down and GOD help the ones that follow that match.”
Check out the complete interview at Podomatic.com.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry Lawler recently spoke with Crave Online to promote his new WWE DVD and Blu-ray set. Below are some highlights from the interview.
On what he misses most about the territory days: “Probably the fun of the camaraderie you had with the other wrestlers. You spent a lot more time with those guys than superstars get to these days. The spontaneity of territory wrestling [was] to me a little more fun than it is now. The travel now is brutal even though you’re flying. But back in the territory days, you drove to the town you were wrestling in and then drove home after the matches. There was a lot of fun on the road, a lot of ribs, and a lot of practical jokes.”
On his memories of the Poffo outlaw promotion and if he had any favorite memories from when he worked with Randy Savage: “That was another situation, as you know if you’re from Lexington (KY). Lexington was kind of the headquarters for the Poffos, which of course Randy Savage and his brother, “Leaping” Lanny Poffo, their real last name was Poffo, and their dad Angelo Poffo. They started up their own company. That was just one of the things that happened back in the day.
The established company would call it outlaw wrestling … They would have matches in Lexington and then the following week my company would come and have matches in Lexington. You were kind of in a promotional war and it was kind of like the Monday Night Wars except on a smaller scale. The Poffos, they were kind of underfunded so they were hanging on by a thread there towards the end before they finally just called it quits because they were losing money on a weekly basis and they came to us and said “hey, let’s try to work together a little bit.”
… One of my favorite memories of that is when Randy Savage knew that we were wrestling in Memphis and I would leave my home in Nashville like at noon and drive down to Memphis for the matches that night. One Monday, Randy Savage brought a camera crew down to my house in Nashville and he gets out of his car and they’re filming him and he says, “This is Jerry Lawler’s house. Lawler come out here” and he’s banging on my door and he says, “Look at this. This coward Lawler is afraid to come out and face me.” He’s cutting this big promo knowing that I’m not home, of course. Then they went back and showed it on their television show and made it look like he came down to my house and I was afraid to come out. Then he and Bill Dundee actually crossed paths at a truck stop and they came to blows and got in a fight.
They had to be pulled apart or something there so it was a pretty heated rivalry but finally, because of financial reasons, Randy’s dad came to us and said “Look we can’t continue on so is there a possibility of us working together and having some matches together in co-promotions?” and that wound to me and Randy Savage having a match at Rupp Arena. We sold out Rupp Arena, 23,000 people which, at the time was unheard of, in a Loser Leaves Town match. Right after that was when Randy started in the WWE.”
On the best advice he could give to newcomers in the business: “That’s one of the things I’ve had over the years. A lot of people come to me and ask for advice and I always tell them man, it’s so hard for me to try and tell you what will work for you or what you should do because everybody is not only different. Everybody got into the business in a different way and all of their circumstances are so different so it’s hard to give that umbrella type advice.
I always just say, and this is the main thing and I think it’s really worked for me, I don’t know if it works for everyone else but I always just say “Don’t take yourself too serious.” Don’t take anything you do in this business too serious. It’s not life or death. It’s entertainment. Have fun with it. If you do like I’ve done to do something for a living that you have fun at, you’ll feel like in the end you never had to work a day in your life.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair recently spoke with the folks at the Inside The Ropes podcast about a number of topics. Below are some highlights from the interview.
On his recent comments about getting back in the ring: “Physically I’m more than capable but it’s a cosmetic issue now so I’d need time to prepare. I’ve always wanted to manage Dolph Ziggler but ya know if they were to ask me to get back in the ring tomorrow my answer would be yes and I could work with anybody. I’ve actually worked with Ziggler before when he was in the group (Spirit Squad) I love all those kids. I think I’ve had enough of Brock Lesnar, I don’t think I could do that one again. I don’t think I could take 17 German suplexes. I could work with any of the kids but I don’t think that’s going to happen, I just meant I’m physically cleared to go out there and bounce around or drop an elbow on a sports coat. I’d love to be a part of it again.”
On The Undertaker’s legacy and saluting Flair during his retirement: “First of all, I think the world of him personally. He’s a wonderful person. On top of being one of the top ten performers of all time, he’s got the greatest gimmick in the history of the business. When I first started coming to Europe with him in the 90’s, I had no idea. There were ten thousand people dressed up like The Undertaker. I had no idea how much of an impact he made over here. I was very surprised he did that. Not because he doesn’t respect me but he just doesn’t come out in public. You know you’re never gonna see him at the front row at the Hall of Fame. He’s backstage listening to every work. It’s not that he’s not in attendance, he’s back there with Vince. He’s a wonderful guy.”
On his memories of his match with Randy Savage at WrestleMania 8: “It’s funny because it was just an average match. There was so much tension at that time between Randy and Liz. As a matter of fact, that was the last time they were together, they split the next day. It was just very uncomfortable. Not working with Randy or Liz individually, they’re great people but there was just tension between them and that was the last time they worked together there. I thought the match was OK but it could’ve been better and it wasn’t out individual abilities there was just a lot going on behind the scenes that people weren’t aware of. I felt bad. I was honored to be a part of it and be in a main event at WrestleMania but there was so much going on behind the scenes that I felt bad for everybody involved.Not for me, but they were going their separate ways and it was difficult. He cared for her a great deal.”
– CBS Radio announced today that Booker T’s “Heated Conversations” podcast has been picked up by the Play.IT network, the same company that broadcasts Taz’s podcast.
– WWE has announced a second NXT live event for Philadelphia on Friday, May 15th due to overwhelming demand for the first live event the previous night.
Due to OVERWHELMING demand, a 2nd NXT Live! in #NXTPhilly has been added on Fri. May 15! Tix go on sale Fri. at 10AM! pic.twitter.com/fNbc8u6bOh
– WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat recently spoke with Title Match Wrestling about Randy Savage’s WWE Hall of Fame induction, their legendary WrestleMania match, feuding with Ric Flair and more.
