BY MIKEY MIGO
This past week “Macho Man” Randy Savage passed away. He was 58, a year into a new marriage, and seemingly in a good place in his life. He was just starting to get back into the WWF/WWE circle of things via video games and action figures. If you had asked most “insiders”, they’d have said Savage was a shoe-in for the WWE Hall of Fame this upcoming year. That’s what was going on at the end.
I don’t want to talk about that. I want to talk about the past. Randy Poffo graduated from Downers Grove North High School in Illinois and then went to Southern Illinois University and graduated in 1971. He played minor league baseball after being drafted at 18 for the Cardinals. He bounced around from there to the Reds to the White Sox. He finished up with a batting average .254, 16 home runs, and 66 RBIs. He went on start training in wrestling in 73 and the rest is history. He was one of the best wrestlers of all time. He was one of the best WWF Champions of all time. He rocked the Intercontential Title, the World, and even the Tag. He main evented historic shows and he became embedded into 1980’s pop culture. He was the slim jim guy and to me is the most impersonated persona when it comes to “stereotypical wrestler”. The slogans of “Oh Yeah!”, “Dig It!”, and the like have become part of normal every day talk. In WCW he extended his career and put on some great work there too. To really go into the details of Randy Savage’s wrestling career you pretty much have to talk about the history of wrestling. He is as intertwined into wrestling as a Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron is to baseball. He IS an icon.
On a personal note, I’ve always been a fan of “Macho Man”. I’ve seen a lot of people go off on facebook about how he was their favorite wrestler. Maybe they’re being honest, but it’s hard not to be cynical about it. To me, I look at it as that this man gave me hundreds of hours of entertainment, he has made me laugh, made me smile, made me cringe, and has provided a roller coaster of emotions. His presence was strong in my childhood and I’m not going to forget that. I had two discussions about a hypothetical “Pro Wrestling Mount Rushmore” and despite one disagreement I’m in terms with the fact it would HAVE to be Hogan, Austin, Rock, and Savage. Disagreeing makes you dumb. Don’t be dumb.
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