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TJR: Rest in Peace, Macho Man (Why Randy Savage Mattered)

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It’s a normal Friday. At work, not much going on. Spending a lot of time on Twitter and Facebook having fun, talking wrestling. Then I read this tweet from TMZ’s Harvey Levin: “Macho Man Randy Savage dies in a car accident” and a link to this article: Randy Savage dies. He had a heart attack while he was driving and he died “when he veered across a concrete median … through oncoming traffic … and collided head-on with a tree.” They took him to the hospital, but he died due to the injuries. His wife, Lynn, was a passenger in the car and was treated for minor injuries. He was 58.

I’m genuinely, profoundly sad by this. I had just heard an interview with his brother Lanny Poffo (aka The Genius in WWE) about how Savage was truly happy with his new wife that he married last year. That put a smile on my face because I know he’s somebody that has had a lot to deal with in his life. I heard this two days ago. Now this? Sigh.

The one way I’ll remember Randy Savage is as the guy that made me a wrestling fan when I was a young kid flipping through the WWF shows on a Saturday. His charisma, his promos, his in-ring ability, that voice that we will never forget – all of those things made Randy Savage special. He wasn’t the biggest guy, but he was somebody that truly stood out as a special talent and his greatest gift will be the lasting impression he left on fans like me. Anybody that’s in their 20s or older and watched as a kid knows what kind of impact Macho Man had on the business. If you’re younger than that, search for videos of him and watch how good he was. You’ll see what I mean. He was a special talent in every way imaginable and the impact he left on the business will be felt for generations to come.

I wrote a tribute column to Randy Savage last July. I’m going to post it below. I’m not going to edit any of it. The title seems fitting even today because I called it “Why Randy Savage Mattered” and it should give you an idea of what that man meant to me as a fan of professional wrestling.

In my opinion Randy Savage is one of the few professional wrestlers that had all the gifts. He was gifted in ring, had so much charisma, memorable promos, major drawing power and he worked his ass off while doing it. People should truly study his tapes to learn. He was a master of the art of pro wrestling.

Rest in Peace, Macho Man. We love you. We miss you. And we will never forget you.

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Why Randy Savage Mattered
By John Canton
Original Posting July 10, 2010

In the business of professional wrestling there are many things one can use to give examples of having “it.” What exactly is “it?” It’s a combination of things although there’s no specific definition. To me, it means a performer has a combination of talents ranging from an ability to work in the ring at a high level, the talent to cut a meaningful promo, a look to him that is unique, the ability to sell tickets (very important to a promo) and then that aura which makes that person stand out from the pack. Not everybody has all of those things. As a WWF fan growing up in the 80s (I didn’t get to see Ric Flair in the NWA where I lived) you know who had those attributes better than anybody else on the roster? “Macho Man” Randy Savage. The first wrestler I could ever say was my favorite. The guy I could point to and say: “He’s the reason why I’m a fan.” That’s what Randy Savage is to me.

There are five moments/feuds that stand out to me in Savage’s career. Not surprisingly, they all happened at WrestleMania. Also not surprisingly, they happened with five different opponents. See, that’s what make somebody special. The ability to have those great moments not with just one person, but with several. These moments feature an all-time great performer stepping up on the biggest stage. Let’s take a look at them.

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