Review for Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story

OHHHHH YEAAHHHHH! The Macho Man Randy Savage Story is exactly what a Superstar DVD set should be. It is the type that I usually gush all over and everything that Sting's should have been. Included is a full length documentary covering the whole of the life of Randy Poffo, better known to all of us as Macho Man Randy Savage accompanied by two disks of amazing matches.

The documentary interviews multiple people including his mother, brother The Genius Lanny Poffo, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan and many more. With his sad death in 2011 all comments from Savage are archive and it is sad that before his death he did not reconcile with WWE like Bret Hart and Ultimate Warrior. That being said the coverage is amazing looking at his early career in baseball, transition into wrestling and appearance in the WWE.

It is in WWE where he became a superstar in the truest meaning of the word. Unlike a lot of people who get thrown straight into the main event, he worked his way up through some amazing matches for the Intercontinental Championship (when the belt actually meant something). they of course talk about his great match against Ricky Steamboat at Wrestlemania 3 which many (myself included) regard as the greatest match of all time. What is fascinating is hearing Steamboat talk about how that match was mapped out move for move and you see Savage's notebooks of that match. This is crazy preparation, but if the result is perfection, I am not going to argue.

His run with the WWE Championship and relationship with Hogan and Miss Elizabeth is explored with Hogan trying to absolve himself from all the issues. Many confirm that Savage was a control freak with Elizabeth, which lead to their divorce.

Also looked at is his move to commentator in WWE which he disliked and resulted in him moving to WCW. This is a move that many claim hurt Vince McMahon more than any of the other defectors. Oddly, McMahon is not interviewed, though if the rumours of Savage backstage are to be believed you can understand why. Finally, they cover his death and everyone's reaction to it. This was a sad moment for the wrestling business with many declaring him as 'one of the good ones'.

One thing you will notice from the matches is the lack of classics and so before anyone starts complaining go back and buy Savage's previous set which included all of his classic matches. This one includes a mixture of rare matches and some classics from his time in WWE and WCW.

Match-wise they include the infamous 'throat crushing' match between Savage and Steamboat, which is a great match and a wonderful setup for their Wrestlemania match. They also include a match between them that could almost be viewed as a rehearsal for that classic match.
Rare matches against Bruno Sammartino and Harley Race are interesting to see, though not exactly the finesse of many of his matches. Six Man Cage match between Savage and Strike Force against the Honkytonk Man and Hart Foundation is a brutal if slightly confusing match. Like most multi-man tag matches I never understand what the point is, but certainly an entertaining match.

As WWE Champion he defends against Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase and Bad News Brown both are fine, though nothing special. Though you can certainly see from the crowd reaction that the fans really did love him as much as Hogan. A match between him and Hulk Hogan when he was a heel was pretty good and it showed why their feud was so good.

Also included is an amazing match against Shawn Michaels and when you hear how he had wanted to work with him for a year long program, based on this match you have to wonder what the office was thinking for not allowing it. There is also great matches against Roddy Piper and Ric Flair which I had never seen before. One of the big highlights for me was the inclusion of his Summerslam match against Ultimate Warrior. This was the Summerslam from the UK and though I do wish it had a better ending it is a sight to behold.

Finally there are three matches from WCW which are almost as good as anything he ever did. A simple match against Arn Anderson showed that Savage when he went to WCW still had the heart and talent to put on an amazing match. His cage match against Ric Flair is also pretty good and it is interesting to see a match from them in both companies. Final match is a wonderful match against Diamond Dallas Page and when you watch this match you can see just why he was such an asset in no matter what company he was with. This was the PWI Feud of the Year that made DDP that main eventer that he became.

Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story is a simply wonderful documentary accompanied by a wonderful array of rare matches from Savage's career. If you want to see his greatest matches I would recommend buying both sets. This one will give you the story behind them and the previous one will let you enjoy it. This is a perfect set and one that I would happily watch again. Dig it?!