Skip to content
Sports
Link copied to clipboard

DVD Review: 'Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story'

I rarely review WWE DVD releases because I rarely get my hands on them in time, but I will share my thoughts on Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story for two reasons.

Firstly, I actually got a chance to watch the documentary within a timely manner. Secondly, a documentary on the life and career of Randy Savage (real name Randy Poffo) is worth going in-depth about.

Right off the top I believe that this is one of the better documentaries that the WWE has ever produced. It is right up there with the ones the company has produced about CM Punk, Paul Heyman and Extreme Championship Wrestling.

If there's one thing the WWE has improved on during the last decade or so is the quality of its documentaries. The company consistently knocks these out of the park. Their countdowns are a different story.

The reason why I like this one so much because it was more than a simple timeline of Savage's life. It was a look at the man behind the madness, so to speak.

The WWE did a lot of digging to gather what I guess it believed was the true essence of not only Savage the wrestler, but Poffo the man.

Savage's life and talent was celebrated, but the documentary was also sad in a lot of ways. It was sad because Savage is no longer here to tell his story and take his rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame, which is not 100 percent credible until he is inducted.

Personally, it just feels weird to me that a man so full life is no longer here to live it. Savage's wrestling persona was so larger-than-life, that it felt like he would never die.

Despite that sad aspect, there is a lot to be happy about in this release.

Here are some quick observations upon watching the production.

Lanny Poffo brought balance

Whenever all of the people interviewed seemed to be in agreement about something when it came to Savage, his brother Lanny Poffo brought balance the narrative.

A prime example of this was when seemingly everyone recounted how Savage would lock Miss Elizabeth in a room during his matches, so that she couldn't mingle with the other wrestlers.

A lot of people said that this was the case, but Lanny Poffo denied that ever happening and said that Miss Elizabeth was able to whatever she wanted during his matches.

Another example was when everyone seemingly agreed that Savage was a paranoid, insecure guy, especially when it came to Miss Elizabeth.

Once again, Poffo was there to bring balance to the narrative and said that his brother was not paranoid and insecure, but that he wouldn't take any nonsense from the sometimes-nonsensical wrestlers.

Lanny Poffo always came of to me as a pretty honest guy and his involvement in this project was essential not only because of his ability to articulate himself, but also because he would provide checks and balances to the story being told.

Very vague on the Stephanie McMahon subject

There has been a long-running rumor throughout wrestling circles that Savage had an affair with an underage Stephanie McMahon before he left the WWE, which would explain his exile from the company and absence from the Hall of Fame.

The rumor was sort of addressed, but it was sort of wasn't. It was kind of hinted at, but left to ether, which is where I guess the WWE wants to leave it. I can't blame the company for that decision.

But the specific reasons why Vince McMahon has had something against Savage for so long seem to be something more than just the way he left the WWE.

No Vince McMahon

One of the reasons why we didn't get a definitive answer on that subject was because Vince McMahon himself didn't appear on the documentary.

Instead of setting the record straight, we're still left to wonder what really went wrong between these two.

Wrestled under a mask while playing baseball

Although it was against the rules of his contract, Savage began wrestling under a mask in Florida as "The Spider."

Savage seemingly didn't care that if was caught that his contract could have been voided.

WrestleMania III match was highly scripted

Savage was a stickler for preparation and he was more than prepared to face Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat at WrestleMania III.

Steamboat recounted meetings with Savage where they would go over every single moment of the match instead of calling most of it in the ring.