Happy Birthday, Randy Savage

Missin' u, Macho Photo Credit: WWE.com

Today is the anniversary of Randy Savage's birthday. He would have turned 61 today, but he left this mortal coil May 20, 2011 after suffering a heart attack behind the wheel of his car. Much like Eddie Guerrero's passing, the Macho Man's death really screwed me up emotionally, enough so that I dedicated an entire week to him on the blog after he died. My only regret is that I didn't spend the entire month upkeeping this site as a tribute shrine to Savage.

Barely any other performer had the emotional impact on me in such a short time of being a fan of his as Savage did. Nearly as soon as he departed WCW, he was out of wrestling for good, save a few random appearances on indies, reunion tours, or in TNA here and there. He was at peace with being a regular guy, which was odd to me given how much of himself he seemingly put in every performance, no matter how trivial it seemed to the narrative. He's the one wrestler who earned a victory lap, and just as soon as he and Vince McMahon seemed to start reconciling enough to allow Savage one on the stage where he became most famous, he was gone.

I don't need to rattle off Savage's accomplishments in wrestling, but I will because goddammit, the man was one of the most special performers of all-time and should be praised from the top of every mountain for his work (again, I won't speculate on him personally because I didn't know the man). He was arguably the first Mr. WrestleMania, and he and Ricky Steamboat definitely had the first Mania Classic match. I won't say Shawn Michaels-as-the-Mania-ace wouldn't exist without Savage, but HBK knew which lead to follow when he charted his own big stage legacy. Even before hitting the WWF, the Macho Man, along with his rogue promoter father Angelo Poffo and brother Lanny, innovated the invasion angle, which led to a super hot feud with Jerry Lawler. He dragged a classic match out of the Ultimate Warrior, established wrestling weddings as cool, absolutely made Diamond Dallas Page, and provided the world with the greatest wrestling music album ever, Be a Man.

If I had a vote on some imaginary "Greatest Wrestlers Ever" ballot, I can't imagine myself picking anyone but Randy Savage as my number one. The man, more than anyone except Andy Kaufman, got pro wrestling better than anyone else if body of work is assumed to be a reflection of aptitude. I'm sad that he's gone, but I'm happier for having been able to watch at least part of his career. Happy birthday, Macho Man.