Savage Summer: The Sweepstakes for the ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage

Brian Damage

In the summer of 1985, things were really heating up in the World Wrestling Federation. Vince McMahon’s national expansion was well underway, Hulkamania was running wild and a wrestler deemed the ‘top free agent in all of professional wrestling’ had his sights on the WWF. The free agent in question was none other than the ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage. After his father’s ICW promotion folded and fresh off a big run in the Memphis territory where he faced the likes of Jerry Lawler and the Rock N Roll Express….Savage was lured to the big spotlight of the WWF.

McMahon knew he had a once in a lifetime talent in Savage and made sure WWF fans around the country were aware of it. The Macho Man was given the rock star treatment with announcers, interviewers, wrestlers and managers were all singing his praises. His debut match lasted a little over three minutes with Savage making quick work of his opponent. After the match, all of the WWF’s top managers including Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan, Jimmy Hart, ‘Classy’ Freddie Blassie, Mr. Fuji and ‘Luscious’ Johnny Valiant all swarmed the ring vying for Savage’s attention.

It became abundantly clear, that all of them wanted the services of this top free agent. Savage made an appearance on Piper’s Pit, in which ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper and ‘Cowboy’ Bob Orton fawned over such an impressive physical specimen. You could actually hear cheers in the Mid-Hudson Civic Center. Fans were starting to buy into the Macho Madness hype.

Randy Savage was a special guest on WWF’s interview program Tuesday Night Titans. A few of the managers (Hart, Heenan and Blassie) were there in attendance to try and lure the Macho Man to their stable. They each had an allotted time to make their pitch to sign Savage. Bobby Heenan promised Savage would make money and shop at the finest stores in Beverly Hills. He would rub elbows with movie stars and drive in limousines all day and all night. Jimmy Hart promised to be a low budget manager, who wouldn’t charge Randy an arm and a leg like Heenan would. Bobby Heenan responded to Hart’s offer to Savage by asking, “Do you want to shop in Beverly Hills or at Kmart?”

Freddie Blassie made perhaps the most enticing offer to the Macho Man by promising whatever the other managers were offering him…Blassie would up it by 25 percent. He also reminded the other two managers that he was the only one making an offer who actually managed a world champion in the Iron Sheik. Blassie then promised not to charge Savage one cent, until he made him into a world heavyweight champion. The Macho Man was extremely impressed and it seemed that Blassie had the inside edge to win his services.

The entire back and forth between all the heel managers was done to perfection. You could see how every one of them would screw the other just to be able to manage this hot commodity. It was so well done, that the company would recycle it a few years later with “The Battle for Bam Bam Bigelow.”

It was finally decision time and the Macho Man, as per usual, had all of the managers gathered inside the ring for his big announcement. Would he choose the Brain? The Mouth of the South? Would he go Classy or choose the dastardly Mr. Fuji? It was all going to finally be revealed. Considering Randy actually played pro baseball earlier in his life, why not throw everybody a curve ball? He made everybody look towards a door with a bright spotlight shined on it.

It wasn’t going to be Bobby Heenan, Johnny Valiant or any other manager in the ring as his new manager…no….it was whomever was behind the door. When the door opened, a striking, beautiful woman walked out. Her name was ‘Miss Elizabeth’ and she was in fact going to be Savage’s brand new manager. The ooh’s and aah’s from the fans in attendance were immediately smitten with this vision of beauty.

The reaction was so much positive, that it supposedly changed the direction of where Vince McMahon wanted to go with her storyline. Reportedly, McMahon wanted Miss Elizabeth to be a heel character. Someone who would not only distract Savage’s opponents with her looks, but also get involved by interfering and aiding her real life husband. A mix between Gorgeous George and Miss Betty and Jimmy Garvin and Precious.

That’s apparently what McMahon initially wanted…until he heard and saw how all the male fans were drooling over her. So while Savage remained a heel, Elizabeth remained the innocent beauty behind the brawn. As history would soon tell us, that combination worked out quite nicely for the pair in the ring. And the rest as they say…is history.