On the 10th anniversary of his death, 10 awesome Macho Man moments

Savage was betrayed by Crush (R.I.P. to him also) in late 1993, and the two engaged in a feud that culminated at WrestleMania X in 1994. It was a Falls Count Anywhere match, and would be Savage’s final WWE appearance as a competitor. But prior to that, Savage cut this promo while being interviewed by Vince McMahon (who was then still appearing as an announcer). A super-serious Savage delivered one of his best promos ever in the build-up to WrestleMania X.

It’s probably the best match Savage was ever part of, and showed that he could wrestle with the best of them. Ricky Steamboat entered as Savage’s challenger for the Intercontinental Title, and The Dragon emerged victorious in a showdown that has since been labeled one of the greatest ever.

The encounter, which earned Match of the Year honors from both Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Wrestling Observer, was the first time the intercontinental belt changed hands at a WrestleMania, ending Savage’s 414-day run as champion. It’s still the third-longest IC title run in WWE history behind The Honky Tonk Man (454 days), who ended Steamboat’s run that June, and Pedro Morales (425 days). An argument could be made that Savage’s run, along with this match, is the reason the title is viewed as a stepping stone to a world championship run.

In the same year that Savage was named the ninth-best wrestler of all time during the PWI years, he made a rap song dissing Hulk Hogan. The song, titled “Be A Man,” was also the name of an entire 14-track album. Sputnik Music gave the album a 1.0, calling it “awful.” However, the Hogan diss, which begins with Savage saying, “Hulk Hogan, Hollywood Hulkster, whatever they call you, I’m coming after you, you coward,” is amazing.

Bars of note? Why not the first four?

Hot diggity damn Hulk, I’m glad you set it off (set if off)

Used to be hard Hulk now ya done turned soft

Doin’ telephone commercials I seen ya

Dancin’ in tights as a ballerina

And there’s this interview, in case you thought this was a joke.

People were able to witness two of their favorite wrestlers join forces on the October 3, 1987 episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event. Until their eventual breakup as a high-profile duo, Hogan and Savage were one of the most famous teams never to win the tag championships and broke up in their build-up to WrestleMania V in 1989, where Hogan eventually defeated Savage for the WWE Title. But, at least when they teamed up, it was a landmark moment in wrestling lore. They officially used The Mega Powers following an episode of Superstars after they formed under the name.

And, just, you know, it’s one of the great handshakes in handshake history. It’s probably how you’ll shake the hands with someone you haven’t seen since before COVID once y’all meet again.

“Fight me, or I’ll destroy the earth!”

Savage and his distinctive voice (we’ll get to that later) made multiple appearances on cartoons, because why wouldn’t you invite this dude to voice over somebody on a kid’s show? Savage, voicing a character named Rasslor, a cosmic being, on an episode of Dexter’s Laboratory titled “Dial M for Monkey: Rasslor.” The episode first aired on May 5, 1996.

Savage and Miss Elizabeth, his in-ring manager and real-life wife, had a complex relationship both on-screen and off. But what is perhaps their most notable moment is, at least, a positive one.

Savage lost a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VII in 1991. Sherri Martel, Macho’s manager during his split from Elizabeth, was ringside with Savage for the bout but turned on him following his loss to Warrior. Miss Elizabeth, returning on camera after several months, emerged to defend Savage, leading to their famous public reunion at the sold-out Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, making for one of the most emotional moments of old-school wrestling.

Savage also voiced a character named ‘Gorilla’ on an episode of King of the Hill called “Bill, Bulk and the Body Buddies” that first aired on May 13, 2007. “No agony, no bragony,” was the famous line he uttered as Billy, who was down on his back, exhausted from prepping for an Army physical.

In outdoing Mike Breen calling a three-pointer, there was also Gorilla exclaiming, “YEAH, THREE. HERE COMES JACK. YEAHHH” in a card game.

It’s arguably his signature promo, and one of the best mic moments of professional wrestling history, and it’s hilarious. Savage’s Cream of the Crop promo aired on the May 11, 1987, episode of Prime Time Wrestling. He had lost the Intercontinental Championship that year at WrestleMania III’s aforementioned Steamboat showdown, but he would soon rise to the top, much like cream, winning the world title a year later at WrestleMania IV.

If you watched wrestling, if you’ve watched Slim Jim commercials, or even if you have ears, you’ve probably heard this before, and VICE’s Dark Side of the Ring perfectly captured what made Savage’s voice so special: It was real, and it was something you always wanted to mimic.

Some could do it extremely well, and others simply don’t have it in them, but if you’ve heard Savage speak, you’ve likely tried to imitate it at least once in your life.

Savage’s first WWE Championship victory came in the main event of WrestleMania IV in 1988, where he took down “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, who had tried buying the title from Andre The Giant nearly two months earlier. After winning the title, Savage was joined in the ring by Miss Elizabeth and Hogan, who would form the basis for drama leading into the next year’s WrestleMania, where he dropped the belt to Hogan. Though he would win the title back years later at WrestleMania VII, beating Ric Flair, this was Savage’s most popular run as world champion.