Wrestling legend "Macho Man" Randy Savage was a huge part of WWE's golden era, but he left the company in 1994 and ultimately never went back.
"Macho Man" Randy Savage was one of WWE's biggest stars of the 1980s, until he left the company in 1994, never to return. One of an elite class of professional wrestlers to cross over into being a mainstream pop culture icon, Savage is someone most have likely at least heard of, even if they've never actually watched a wrestling show. While Hulk Hogan led WWE to the top from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s with the strength of his 24-inch pythons, Savage was always near his level of popularity and notoriety.
Unlike Hogan, who was WWE's resident all-American superhero, Savage was a true wildcard. Even when he was nominally on the side of good, Macho Madness always reigned supreme, with Savage prone to going off on anyone who looked at him or his manager Elizabeth the wrong way. Savage - who later played Bonesaw McGraw in Spider-Man - became the go-to favorite for those drawn to the darker edge of wrestling characters who found The Hulkster a bit too wholesome for their liking.
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Savage had classic feuds and matches with Hogan, Ric Flair, The Ultimate Warrior, Ricky Steamboat, Ted DiBiase, and more during his nearly decade-long WWE career. By 1994, though, it was rare to see Savage don his multi-colored gear and step in the ring, as he spent most of his time providing color commentary alongside boss Vince McMahon. The problem was, Savage still felt he had a lot to offer inside the ring, and wanted to go back to wrestling full-time. This led him to join Hulk Hogan in rival promotion WCW, becoming a main event star again in the process. Savage and McMahon had grown close personally over the years, and to McMahon, this was a betrayal. McMahon held a grudge and didn't want to work with Savage again.
While that might seem like a weird justification for McMahon to not want to do business with Savage going forward, especially since Hogan jumped to WCW as well but later returned to WWE, Savage is said to have promised McMahon he wouldn't follow Hogan. McMahon took Savage at his word, and felt that Savage had lied to him. This makes a lot more sense than the widely spread online urban legend asserting that Savage was blacklisted by WWE after he was caught having sex with a teenage Stephanie McMahon. It's unclear where exactly that rumor started, but there's never been any concrete evidence to support it.
In the 2010s it became very common to see Vince McMahon and WWE mend fences with lots of formerly exiled performers, including Bret Hart, The Ultimate Warrior, Bruno Sammartino, and Jeff Jarrett. It's likely the same would've happened for Savage had he not tragically passed away in May 2011 at age 58 after having a heart attack while driving. Not long before his death, Savage had signed on to appear in WWE video games for the first time in over a decade, beginning with WWE All Stars. This showed he was open to working with WWE, and reports at the time alleged there was a dialogue between the two sides about fully welcoming the "Macho Man" back into the WWE fold. Savage would be posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015, and has continued to be playable in most WWE video games released since his passing.
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Michael Kennedy is an avid movie and TV fan that's been working for Screen Rant in various capacities since 2014. In that time, Michael has written over 2000 articles for the site, first working solely as a news writer, then later as a senior writer and associate news editor. Most recently, Michael helped launch Screen Rant's new horror section, and is now the lead staff writer when it comes to all things frightening. A FL native, Michael is passionate about pop culture, and earned an AS degree in film production in 2012. He also loves both Marvel and DC movies, and wishes every superhero fan could just get along. When not writing, Michael enjoys going to concerts, taking in live professional wrestling, and debating pop culture. A long-term member of the Screen Rant family, Michael looks forward to continuing on creating new content for the site for many more years to come.