Better Good Or Bad: Macho Man Randy Savage

[The Brain]

In my last thread I asked if you preferred Roddy Piper as a face or a heel. I mentioned that most guys that spent more than a few years in the business had worked as both throughout their career. With that in mind I’ve decided to take that idea and make this a series of threads (until I get bored with it which could happen at any time). This time we’ll talk about another wrestling legend. Macho Man Randy Savage. When I think of the Macho Man I think of him as a face first but he’s probably better known as a heel. He certainly excelled at both.

I think of Savage as a face because the Mega Powers forming on Saturday Night’s Main Event in October 1987 is one of my earliest significant memories in wrestling. When those two joined forces Savage immediately became the number two face in the company right behind Hulk Hogan. When it was time for Hogan’s four year title reign to come to an end Savage was the man to take over. Hogan presented the title to Savage at WrestleMania IV which was basically endorsing him as the temporary new face of the company while Hulk to a short hiatus. Fans loved Savage as he was a worthy successor to Hogan’s throne.

Just because I think of Savage as a face first doesn’t mean I think he was best as a face. For as good as he was as a face I think Savage was probably at his best when he was playing the unstable heel. Before he became one half of the Mega Powers Savage was a hated man. He would frequently verbally abuse the lovely Elizabeth which did not win him many fans. A little more than a year after the Mega Powers formed they had a nasty break up when Savage became insanely jealous of the friendship that Hogan and Liz developed. Savage did a great job of playing a nut case which is something he couldn’t do as well as a face.

Here is another man who played both roles really well. Whether playing the good guy or the bad guy Savage always brought an unmatched intensity to all his feuds and matches. Which Savage did you prefer; the honorable champion who stood up for his woman or the unpredictable basket case who cared only for himself?

 

[Miko]

I prefer faces, so when I like someone generally I want them to be face, but thats just my bias, all I remember is that when I was little I used to sit in front of my mates old WWF videos and go nuts for Savage, obviously the videos were playing at the time, not a total loon.

In retrospect he was also an awesome heel, but its too late my vote has been cast.

 

[mrhexum]

Man... this one was kinda tough, but, I voted face.

As was stated. Savage was awesome in both roles. To me though, the way he would work the crowd (the finger swirl, etc.) just fit better as a face. I also think that his in-ring style and flashy gear are more of a face kind of deal too.

He did, however. have plenty of great moments as a heel though, crushing Ricky Steamboats throat, leading to one of the best matches of all time. His insane jealousy over Elizabeth...

But to me, Randy was just better as a face... probably because he was so well liked.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

This one was even tougher than the Piper one earlier but I had to go with face on this one.

Savage was a fantastic heel but at the same time he was so different and so charismatic that it was very difficult not to like the guy, even when he was a heel.

His sequined robes, that unmistakable husky voice, his work rate inside the ring, his look and overall charisma just made it so unbelievably easy to cheer for him. Macho was one of my all time favorites, just listening to this guy do a promo has me on the floor laughing, the guy literally spoke with such intensity you thought he was gonna have cardiac arrest in the middle of his promo or spontaneously combust. You just believed every word he said and even though he acted like an insane maniac you were completely enthralled by his words and actions and could always show sympathy towards the guy even when he turned heel against Hogan.

You could understand why he was so upset at Hogan and why he felt the need to turn on him. Even when he was a heel I just found it extremely difficult not to cheer for him and I was between the ages of 3 and 6 during this time. For that reason I have to go with his work as a face because even as a heel I just couldn't hate the guy, he was too good and too damn likeable.

 

[Big Sexy]

Savage was tremendous at both but for me I enjoyed him more and thought he was better as a heel. His feud with Steamboat culminating at Mania 3, feud with Hogan culminating at Mania 5, and feud with Warrior culminating at Mania 7 all came with Savage as a heel and those to me are his 3 best feuds.

I loved him winning the title at Mania 4 and the beginning of the Mega Powers. I was also big on he and Elizabeth reuniting and his feud with Jake the Snake. His feud with Flair was also great and all of this came with him as a face. However, I just don't see his face work trumping his heel work. Great at both, but better as a heel.

 

[c-note]

Savage is one of those few cases that works just as good both ways....for example, piper was good as both, but heel piper takes face piper any day of the imo...savage however, could pull both off with ease, which is one of the reasons why he's such a legend...funny thing is he never changed his promo or wrestling style to adjust to the character, he was just himself and either u loved him, or hated him

 

[Tree Of Woe]

I think he played a much better heel, although I think he might have spent more time as a face. Heel Randy Savage is the Savage I was first introduced to when he was fueding with Ricky Steamboat.

 

[RicoLen]

At the risk of this sounding like spam because it's so short I'm simply going to say this:

His face turn brought tears to my eyes.

OK I'll elaborate. Savage was a hatable heel. Really I hated him when I was little and he was the heel, and when he was a face I loved him. Spent more time as a face, and I loved wrestling as a whole because of Savage as a face. When he turned face as WM7 he made a moment in WWE history that will never be matched. No couple will ever evoke the amount of emotion from the audience that Macho Man & Liz brought out when they got back together once Savage lost his career match.

 

[boozinjedi]

I think he played a much better heel, although I think he might have spent more time as a face. Heel Randy Savage is the Savage I was first introduced to when he was fueding with Ricky Steamboat.

And it was heel Savage that led to the epic battle with Steamboat,It was heel Savage that led to some his greatest matches.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

savage was amazing whatever he was doing, but I am surprised at all the face votes, I truly thought he was at his absolute best as a heel. The mega powers were awesome and got me watching wrestling, but it was their break up that turned me into a lifelong fan. Savage was brilliant as a heel and like others have said, his best feuds were with him as the heel. When he was with Sherry, it worked well, even the Macho King was great, he did a great job being the arrogant snake in the grass.

 

[jtolliver23]

Savage was great both ways, no doubt about it. I seriously just got done watching the Macho Man DVD like last week, and his matches were phenomenal, and no matter whether he was face or a heel, he did a great job doing either. But, honestly I loved him much better as a heel, and they didn't mention this much in the DVD, but I think his time claiming to be the Macho King and wearing a crown to the ring with Queen Shelley(I'm not sure that's right, for some reason it sounds wrong, but it's all that is coming to mind right now, correct if it's wrong) was fantastic. And the way that time as Macho King ended with Elizabeth coming back to him was great too, but I enjoyed his time as a heel much more, especially as the Macho King.

 

[d3thRoW]

To me his best work was as a heel...as a kid i can remember really hating him for costing the Warrior the title at the '91 Royal Rumble. His feud with DDP really helped get Page over as a legit top guy too. All around one of the best to ever do it on either side.

 

[DERO1979]

This one is a no brainer for me. What were the feuds/matches that defined Savage's career?

Feud with Hogan, feud with Warrior, the whole Macho King thing....When I think of Savage I think of him double crossing Hulk Hogan on Saturday Night's Main Event. That defined him.

Definitly like Savage better as a bad guy and felt he was more effective as one

I also forgot to mention his feuds with Ricky Steamboat and George the Animal Steele. Both as a heel

 

[GameOver]

haha i mentioned this in the Rowdy Roddy one, Savage is another one that was good enough at both, though as a performer i feel he shined as the 2nd best heel and "wrestler" only taking a backseat to Dibiase (speaking only of the WWF) and an unselfish one at that.

as a heel his, Promo's were better/more intense, his in ring was more technical/brutal and his personality fit the bill

As a face he seemed to struggle more to not lose the plot and go nuts. and also as a face his matches were more of him being beaten the crap out of and somehow managing to pull out a win as opposed to him putting on a wrestling clinic as a heel

He was hopeless on commentry though that part deeply dissapointed.

 

[harrythem]

I found it really hard to vote on this one, as heel or face, was superb.

In WWE, as a face, his feuds with Hogan, Jake Roberts and Ric Flair were brilliant. He also did great things setting Yoko up as a top guy as well as trying to give a rub to Crush (what a waste of Macho that was).

As a heel in WWE his feuds with Warrior and, especially, Hogan were the stuff of childhood dreams. He was great again.

In WCW his heel work really helped move DDP up to main event for a while (even if DDP didn't have "it" to stay up there) and, again, his face work was pretty good (can't remember any stand out feuds apart from Flair).

So, he worked great as both to me. but I pick heel just because his heel run in WCW did more for the company than his face run did.