‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage is known as a bombastic man, but the star was also extremely meticulous about his craft.
The legendary wrestler is known for his over-the-top persona, but according to a feature on Savage from back in 2015, he was a lot more intentional than most believed. Speaking to Sports Illustrated at the time, WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat recalled their clash at WrestleMania III. While Steamboat said he was fine calling (or planning) a match in the ring live, Savage was much different.
“It was probably around mid-January, early February when we started putting this match together,” Steamboat said. “To be upfront with you, my old-school nature allowed me to call 90% of the match in the ring. But Savage, unlike anyone I’ve ever worked with in my career, wanted to have every step—A-B-C-D-E-F-G—planned out.”
Steamboat went on to say that, in order to prepare for the big match, the two began meeting in the ring during house shows to work, and would literally take notes after matches to compare and make for the best match. “We fought on house shows to prepare for WrestleMania, and we talked about things that worked and didn’t work in the ring. We both had those yellow legal tablets, and we started making notes. Randy would have his set of notes and I would have mine,” said Steamboat. “Then we got everything addressed—number 1, number 2, number 3—and we went up to number 157. Randy would say, ‘OK, here is up to spot 90, now you tell me the rest.’ I would have to go through the rest, then I would quiz him. I’d never planned out a match that way, so it was very stressful to remember everything.”
Savage’s brother explains why the legend planned matches so heavily
The planning ended up working. The pair’s match at WrestleMania III is often regarded as one of their best matches ever, respectively. The bout, which was for the then-WWF Intercontinental Championship, saw Steamboat defeat Savage in an epic match.
Savage’s brother, Lanny Poffo, also corroborated the story. In a video, he explained why Savage planned things so meticulously, noting that back then, wrestlers were constantly watched, and he didn’t want people to see them talking in the ring, as it ruined the realistic look of it. Poffo even specifically referenced the match between Savage and Steamboat in his talk, saying it proves why this level of planning worked so well.
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