The Untold Truth Of 'Macho Man' Randy Savage

Even in the over-the-top world of pro wrestling, the late great Macho Man Randy Savage managed to be larger than life. A showstopper among showmen, he spoke in low, raspy rumbles and thunderous roars. He dressed like an angry rainbow and rained elbow drops from the top rope. A lesser wrestler with similar attributes might have been given the gimmick of a cheesy TV weatherman who called himself "The Mad Meteorologist" and forecast losses for opponents. But not Randy Savage — he was the "Macho Man," a self-made character whose irresistible charisma, dazzling athleticism, and extreme peacockery fit perfectly in the squared circle.

Savage went toe-to-toe and promo-to-promo with some of greatest performers of all time, and no matter the outcome the audience was always the true winner. In the WWE he had timeless rivalries with the likes of Ricky Steamboat, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and his Mega Powers brother Hulk Hogan. In WCW he had fantastic battles with Diamond Dallas Page, Sting, and former WWE foes like Hogan and Ric Flair. But here we examine the human behind Macho Man Randy Savage. Did he have admirable qualities? Yeah. Did he have serious flaws? Yeah. Was he as crazy as he seemed on TV? Oh yeah!

Long before Randy Savage became a big-league wrestler, he was a Minor League baseball player. He had wanted to play America's game since he was 7 or 8 years old, per Sports Illustrated. Though not the most elite athlete, Savage was unbelievably motivated. If someone set a bar for him, he wanted to go miles above it. In a telling anecdote from junior high, he was tasked with completing 100 sit-ups in gym class, so he did more than 1,000.

Baseball and sit-ups ran in the family. Savage's father, Angelo, played college baseball and dreamed of going pro. Angelo also set a world record for sit-ups — 6,033 in four hours and 10 minutes — while in the Navy. A teammate of Savage's, who played with him for the St. Louis Cardinals' minor league affiliate, also claimed in an interview with Sports Illustrated that Savage had a habit of doing "like, 1,500" sit-ups every morning. In addition to having iron abs, he had an iron will. When he suffered a severe injury to his right shoulder, he chucked a ball against a wall 1,000 times a day with his left arm.

Savage's physical abilities and otherworldly willpower greatly impressed Pete Rose, who would would go on to appear in multiple WrestleManias. It's unclear if Rose thought Randy Savage was a sure bet for baseball, but he considered the future Macho Man a "super athlete." Even so, Savage never made it to the major leagues, which turned out to be a blessing for wrestling.

In March 1988 Macho Man Randy Savage reached the mountaintop of the WWE, winning the world title at WrestleMania. By that time he was a beloved babyface. But just weeks before his crowning achievement, the Morning Call reported that the soon-to-be-champ was being sued for attacking a fan on the street.

Back in May 1986, David Peschel drove home after a wrestling show and saw Savage driving a Mercedes. He stopped Savage at a red light and asked for an autograph. According to Peschel and eyewitnesses who were in his car, Savage hoisted him into the air and slammed him on the ground, fracturing Peschel's back and bruising his ribs. Then he stood over the injured fan, flexed, and said, "How's that for an autograph, boy?" A policeman noted that the fan was "hurt and dazed." Savage slammed the accusations, claiming he pushed Peschel "at most." They settled out of court.

The fact that this happened back in 1986 is incredibly relevant. At the time Macho Man was arguably the most savage villain in the WWE. Per CBS Sports, his character was a dastardly bastard who infamously "crushed Ricky the Dragon' Steamboat's throat." And as wrestling great Kurt Angle noted, Randy Savage "never broke character." He was so consistent that Angle believed the man born Randy Poffo "started thinking he was the Macho Man" in real life.

Between his outrageous outfits, incredible in-ring psychology, and meticulous match-planning, Macho Man Randy Savage always had the potential to put on show-stealing matches. But between matches he was deeply paranoid about people stealing his wife, Miss Elizabeth. That made life complicated for George "the Animal" Steele, who literally tried to steal Elizabeth as part of a storyline feud with Macho Man. Though Steele's infatuation was scripted and he was a married man, Savage went ballistic anyway. "Honestly, Randy was the most jealous man I ever met," Steele told ThePostGame. During matches Steele would "stare, owl-eyed, at Elizabeth" or caress her hair, and a rabid Savage would "blast [him] with a chair" or "hit [him] with a haymaker that could have taken a Clydesdale to its knees."

Steele wasn't the only wrestler who grappled with Macho Man Randy Savage's insane jealousy. Speaking with Sports Illustrated, Hulk Hogan explained, "If you even looked at Elizabeth the wrong way, then holy sh*t, Randy would freak out." "Mean" Gene Okerlund called Savage a "loose cannon" who made a lot of wrestlers uneasy. But they didn't dare complain to Vince McMahon for fear of seeming weak. The person who suffered most was Elizabeth, whom Savage locked in dressing rooms to keep her away from other guys. Understandably, she couldn't take his deranged behavior, and in 1991 — just months after their onscreen characters married — Elizabeth and Savage divorced.

The year before Macho Man Randy Savage died was an emotional roller coaster. In May 2010 he tied the knot with Barbara Lynn Payne, a woman he first dated in 1972, per Bleacher Report. Two months before saying "I do," he said goodbye to his father, Angelo. Savage absolutely idolized his dad and was adamant about sharing Macho Man's success with the man who raised him. He funded trips to Europe for his parents and purchased a Cadillac for Angelo on his 70th birthday. When Savage renovated a weight room at a prep school, he stipulated that the room had to be named after Angelo.

As Angelo got older, dementia took hold, so Randy Savage had a special toilet and walk-in tub installed in his folks' home. But not even Macho Man's muscles and limitless love were strong enough to stop Father Time. His mother, Judy, described how painful it was for Savage to see his lifelong hero deteriorate: "Randy prayed for [Angelo] to die because he suffered so much. But when he did die, Randy went home and punched holes in the walls."

Macho Man Randy Savage dripped with charisma and intensity, but the thing that dripped from him most was probably baby oil. He coated his muscles in so much oil before matches that his wrestling name could have been "Exxon Val Diesel." While that probably helped every bicep and pec flex stand out, it didn't sit well with Andre the Giant, who dwarfed Savage like an oil tanker and wasn't afraid to throw his weight around in the ring. "Andre hated baby oil," according to Savage's brother, Lanny, "but Randy wouldn't stop wearing it. He stubbornly said Andre's gimmick is being a giant and mine is baby oil. He never backed down from Andre, and they never got along because of it."

Because Macho Man Randy Savage didn't back down, he got beaten up during matches. In a clip from HBO's documentary Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan recounts how Andre "just beat Randy to death." He pulled Savage's hair and slapped the crap out of him, which seems like a harsh reaction to something you put on infants' skin. But according to Andre's daughter Robin Christensen-Roussimoff, the giant didn't ravage Savage over baby oil. The real issue, she said, was Savage's use of steroids, which Andre detested. In one interview the giant discussed the devastating effects of steroids on wrestlers' bodies. Witnessing that must have been especially frustrating for Andre, whose body grew uncontrollably on its own, causing debilitating health problems.

Whenever Macho Man Randy Savage was on camera, it was almost impossible not to focus on him — partly because his clothes typically contained more colors than a crayon box, but mostly because his unique speaking style and animated hand movements were naturally entertaining. Even now if you need a little excitement you can watch him snap into a Slim Jim in an old commercial or snap opponents in half in a classic match online. So it's unsurprising that Macho Man was cast as fictional wrestler Bonesaw McGraw in 2002's Spider-Man. Though it wasn't a huge role, seeing him compete against Peter Parker was pure magic. And behind the scenes he apparently made a memorable impression.

Castmate Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead fame had a trailer adjacent to Savage's. In a 2015 interview he claimed that when Savage wasn't playing Bonesaw, he did some vigorous bonesawing in the bedroom. Savage apparently had his girlfriend on the set, and Campbell said he could hear them having what sounded like "animalistic sex," which we can only assume ended with a prolonged "Ohhhh yeah!" Sadly, the film left a lasting mark on Macho Man Randy Savage, who injured his neck while performing a stunt. His brother told Bleacher Report that after landing on his head mid-flip, Macho Man could no longer properly turn his head and had to turn his body instead.