In addition to all of the AEW I’ve been watching, I’m still just as obsessed with 1980s WWF these days. I’ve been re-reading through a lot of my old reviews, and surprisingly there are still a number of classic Coliseum Videos that I’ve not watched in many, many years or ever! After watching the terrible George the Animal Steele tape, I naturally got excited about 80s era Macho Man, and it was due time to give this tape another viewing. I haven’t seen this in forever, maybe last watching it as a kid? A lot of the 86/87 Macho Man matches are featured on other tapes and collections, so quite a bit of this is familiar. But I never get tired of it!
Despite the clunky name of this tape, it’s a perfect release for this early chapter of the Macho Man’s career, capitalizing on the success of one of the biggest and best villains of the era. When you look at all the Coliseum tapes they were releasing, it’s kind of interesting to see who did and didn’t get a tape and I wonder how those decisions came about.
Macho Man was on fire immediately upon his debut. The main event of Wrestlemania 2 is one of my favorite ‘what-ifs’ in wrestling, and in the past I suggested guys like Rowdy Roddy Piper or Big John Studd could have even got that main event shot against Hulk Hogan. While those are great choices, watching this tape, a strong case could certainly be made that it should have been the Macho Man Randy Savage. His late 85 feud with the Hulkster is red hot and the promos are top shelf material, fitting of a Wrestlemania main event. I think they totally could have went with Macho getting the shot at Mania and it would have been a five star classic.
Mean Gene is the host of the tape, really putting over the abilities of the Macho Man. He and Savage do voice overs introducing the various matches and segments on the tape.
1) WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned Rusty Brooks with the legdrop at the 36-second mark with a bodyslam and the legdrop; prior to the bout, Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth appeared ringside, with Savage having Elizabeth ask Hogan over the mic why the champion doesn’t wrestle anyone with credentials; after the contest, Savage attacked Hogan but Hogan quickly cleared him from the ring (10/22/85; Poughkeepsie, NY)
Things kick off with this rare Hulk Hogan squash match that is simply background fodder for the Macho Man to call out Hogan on ducking him. After Hogan easily destroys the gross looking Brooks, Macho attacks for a quick brawl, as they set up their big house show run for the fall of 85. Macho Man was definitely working like a Memphis heel at this point, but fuck, the guy was MONEY already. Everything about him screamed superstar.
2) Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) defeated WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan via count-out after Hogan hit the steel ring post shoulder-first at 8:33 when Elizabeth kept blocking Hogan from ramming Savage into the post; after the bout, Hogan put the challenger in a bearhug until officials and other wrestlers broke it up (1/27/86; Madison Square Garden)
They only show the last little bit of this match, but it was also featured on a Best of the WWF tape. The blood’s flowing and the intensity is sky high. You can feel the hatred between champ and challenger. Elizabeth is far more involved in Macho’s matches at this point, and blocks the Hulkster from hurting her man, allowing Savage to post Hogan and score the countout win, and the brawl continues with wrestlers racing out to seperate them as the MSG fans go nuclear. Fucking. Awesome.
3) WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan pinned WWF IC Champion Randy Savage in a lumberjack match at 7:36 after George Steele tripped Savage, allowing Hogan to hit the legdrop for the win; other lumberjacks included: Lanny Poffo, Danny Spivey, Ricky Steamboat, King Tonga, Tony Atlas, the Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Cpl. Kirchner, Les Thornton, Barry O, King Kong Bundy, Don Muraco, Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart (2/17/86; Madison Square Garden)
The MSG rematch from a couple weeks later. It’s another short, but explosive match in front of an electric crowd. Savage intentionally gets Hogan tossed out to his enemies, allowing guys like King Kong Bundy to get their shots in and squash the Hulkster against the post. I just love seeing heels working together to screw over a babyface! Especially when they’re working against the top draw. The action never lets up and the atmosphere is incredible for these MSG Hogan matches. The crowd loses their shit over every punch the Hulkster throws. Crazy ending, as after all the heel cheating, it’s George Steele who trips up the Macho Man and allows Hogan to hit the big leg for the pin!
A classic segment from TNT is next with the Macho Man being insane over Elizabeth being featured in a WWF Magazine and then flowers are delivered to Elizabeth on set. McMahon discovers that the box of flowers is filled with turnbuckle stuffing. Uh oh! Macho Man of course goes ballistic.
4) Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) pinned George Steele (w/ Capt. Lou Albano) at 4:06 with a double axe handle after Steele became distracted by Elizabeth (Saturday Night’s Main Event – 12/19/85; Tampa, FL)
I skipped this one, since I just saw it on the Steele tape.
A whole bunch of classic segments and highlights are up next, first with Mean Gene visiting the palatial estate of the Macho Man, which is an all-time classic. Next it’s the story of the Macho Man winning the Intercontinental Championship, including highlights of Savage’s historic win over Tito Santana in the Boston Garden. Wow, imagine if that title change happened at Wrestlemania 2? It’s fascinating to re-think all of these possibilities for classic PPVs. Macho appears as the new IC champion on Jesse Ventura’s Body Shop talk show, with Savage proclaiming that this title is his ticket to the top of the mountain.
5) Tito Santana defeated WWF IC Champion Randy Savage via disqualification at 9:28 when the champion grabbed the referee and threw him into Santana as the challenger had the figure-4 applied (3/16/86; Madison Square Garden)
The back half of this tape focuses entirely on Macho Man’s red hot feud with Tito Santana in the first half of 1986. Unfortunately, these matches are clipped for whatever reason, but you still get all the good stuff and they perfectly capture the insanity of Macho’s first title reign. Tito is crazy over with the fans in MSG and him and Savage have ridiculously great chemistry in the ring. These matches are just all action and brawling, almost an NWA style, which was such a drastic departure from almost everything else on the MSG cards in the early 80s. It’s crazy how much workrate started to improve post Wrestlemania 1, with the arrival of Macho, the Harts, Bulldogs, Steamboat, the Bees, etc. And the IC title really becomes the workhorse belt of the era. Anyway, fantastic match here, with Tito coming oh so close to regaining the title.
6) WWF IC Champion Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) pinned Tito Santana in a No DQ match at 18:52 with a roll over and using the tights for leverage; late in the bout, Savage knocked out the referee with a punch (4/22/86; Madison Square Garden)
More awesomeness from MSG! We only get to see half this match, but it’s still fucking awesome. Tito is hellbent on reclaiming his IC title and is unloading on the Macho Man. One thing about Savage is just how insanely great his selling is. Every punch he takes looks brutal, yet he shakes it off and comes back swinging. He’s never out of the fight, even when laying down for the Hulkster. Lots of craziness at the end of this, with the MSG fans losing their shit. Savage sneaks out another win against Tito, but this feud continues!
7) Tito Santana fought WWF IC Champion Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) to a no contest at 13:25 when Adrian Adonis interfered and attacked guest referee Bruno Sammartino before attacking the challenger; moments later, Sammartino attacked Adonis until Savage and Adonis double teamed Sammartino; eventually, Santana made the save with a steel chair (5/19/86; Madison Square Garden)
Third MSG battle in a row, and these matches are just ridiculously great. After all of Macho Man’s cheating and cheap victories, Bruno Sammartino is appointed as the guest referee and is taking NO SHIT from the IC champion! The fans of course are even more hyped, and Savage and Tito deliver yet another heart stopping classic. Just a balls out great match, and a highlight of this mid 80s period. Just as Tito looks like he finally has Macho’s number, suddenly a large ‘woman’ jumps in from the crowd, but it’s actually Adorable Adrian Adonis to cause the DQ! Bruno starts going to work, but gets double teamed by Savage and Adonis as things are completely out of fucking control! So great!
8) WWF IC Champion Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) & Adrian Adonis (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated Bruno Sammartino & Tito Santana via count-out at 9:40 after Savage dropped a double axe handle off the top onto Sammartino, who was on the floor ramming Adonis into the ring apron (6/14/86; Madison Square Garden)
The final match of this sadly too short tape, and of course it’s yet another thrilling chapter in this feud. Despite his age, Bruno looks in great shape and is still kicking ass in the ring. Gorilla Monsoon has a hilarious pre-match interview with Savage and Adonis, angering Savage by calling him out on his lying and cheating. Savage calls Monsoon a has-been in a nice touch. Adonis and Macho take all kinds of crazy bumps, and needless to say, the fans are fucking gonzo for Bruno and Tito. Surprisingly, the bad guys win by countout after Macho Man wipes out Bruno on the floor. This all sets up an insane steel cage rematch, which is unfortunately not on this tape.
Macho Man Randy Savage is fucking incredible. I love this mid 80s era and this tape perfectly captures his initial feud with the Hulkster and his intense rivalry with Tito Santana. Tremendous!
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