New from WWE, 'Randy
Savage Unreleased: The Unseen Matches of the Macho Man' is a three disc
DVD set that provides die-hard Macho Man fans with a glimpse at some
rare matches never before released on DVD and, in a few cases, matches
that have never aired anywhere. Covering the entirety of Macho's run in
the WWF from his debut in 1985 to his departure in 1994, the set also
touches on his time at rival promotion WCW and in total has over forty
matches on offer. These are interspersed with clips from a round-table
discussion hosted by Corey Graves (a self-confessed Macho Man fanatic),
with guests Bayley, WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page and legendary
WWF announcer Sean Mooney, providing anecdotes about the Macho Man, as
well of context for and remembrances of his legendary career.
The
first disc contains some of the most interesting matches on the set,
although many are short affairs with the fledgling WWF Superstar Randy
Savage mostly facing enhancement talent, but it's an era of the Macho
Man's career that is rarely highlighted. It's great to see the Macho Man
at this point, already in his prime and being treated as such in his
WWF debut against Aldo Marino (a young Ricky Santana) as the WWF's
ensemble cast of managers come out mid-match to watch the promotion's
newest hot prospect have his hand raised in victory, and to vie for his
contract. There's also a short match against perennial jobber Mario
Mancini and another against a young Paul Roma, before the set talks
about Macho's decision to have Miss Elizabeth as his manager and how
that changed the dynamic of the character.
While
a lot of fans will have seen Randy playing the bad guy with his
cartoonishly unhinged 'Macho King' persona, perhaps they'll be less
familiar with the early incarnation of the Macho Man, who cowardly puts
Miss Elizabeth in the line of fire and routinely demeans her in public,
which drew great ire from crowds at the time. This we see in the next
few matches, as Randy faces more enhancement talent such as Scott McGhee
and Troy Martin (a young Shane Douglas), teams with Jesse 'The Body'
Ventura, puts in a good shift against the up and coming Tony Atlas and
defends the WWF Intercontinental Title against Pedro Morales. Next, the
set turns to Macho's famous rivalry with Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat
and we get treated to a never before seen house show version of their
fantastic Intercontinental title match from WrestleMania 3.
The
set then fast forwards a year to Macho Man as Undisputed WWF World
Heavyweight Champion, defending his newly won title against Ted DiBiase
in a steel cage. Savage, now a huge fan favourite, has changed his
attitude towards Miss Elizabeth by this point, far more complimentary of
her ability as a manager and the role she plays in the Macho Man's
success. The next match is a largely forgettable title match against
Akeem (who the ring announcer introduces as One Man Gang), that's
notable for the fact that it came from the WWF's first ever visit to
France. Although broadcast live on Canal+ in France, this is the first
time the match has been internationally available and, while not a great
match, the crowd are electric and the scale of the celebration for
Macho's victory to close out the show is impressive.
Disc
two picks up shortly after the implosion of the Mega Powers, Macho Man
is once more somewhat reviled by large portions of the crowds and in the
first match on this disc he defends the WWF Intercontinental title
against a wildly popular new superstar in the Ultimate Warrior from a
1989 house show in Chicago. Next, the set covers the introduction of
Sensational Sherri as the Macho Man's new manager and, over the course
of the next series of matches, we see the much more direct influence
Sherri had in Randy's bouts compared to Elizabeth. Firstly, there's an
entertaining WWF title match from Toronto that sees the Macho Man go one
on one with Hulk, before a somewhat less exciting match vs Brutus the
Barber Beefcake. The Macho King vs Hercules match is surprisingly fun,
but is followed by a farcical mixed tag with Macho & Sherri vs Dusty
& Sapphire, with Miss Elizabeth.
The set
covers Macho Man's feud with Jake 'The Snake' Roberts and subsequent
forced retirement, which leads into his campaign to be reinstated by WWF
President Jack Tunney. The next match is a never before seen six man
tag from December 1991, as Savage teams with Roddy Piper and Hacksaw Jim
Duggan against the team of Ric Flair, Jake Roberts and The Undertaker!
Then, another never before seen match as the Mega Powers reunite for the
first time in two years to take on Jake Roberts and The Bezerker. We
jump forward post-WrestleMania VIII to now two-time WWF World
Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage teaming with The Undertaker to face
Flair and The Berzerker, before heading onto a solid pair of singles
matches against Razor Ramon and Terry Taylor to close out disc two.
Disc
three starts with the absolutely '90s-riffic 'Gets Your Heart Pumping'
music video WWF produced for the Macho Man, as well as some great blue
screen outtakes from its production before getting on with the matches.
Unfortunately the quality isn't terribly high in this last gasp of
Randy's WWF career, after a solid match against Yokozuna there's a
plodding singles bout against Lex Luger, an entirely forgettable match
against Mr. Hughes, a Macho & Perfect vs Hughes and the awful Giant
Gonzalez and a short match from Monday Night RAW with Randy taking on
Fatu before the set heads into WCW territory. Randy's WCW work was a
mixed bag, and there's not exactly many 'must see' matches in this
portion of the collection, but still a few cool bouts here and there
such as Randy vs 'Stunning' Steve Austin, or taking on Kurasawa (a young
Manabu Nakanishi) or facing off against Sir Robert of Eaton.
Overall,
while this set most definitely can't be considered a 'best of', it's a
solid accompaniment to the WWE's other Randy Savage DVDs 'The Randy
Savage Story' and 'Macho Madness - The Ultimate Randy Savage
Collection'. It's great that newer fans can get a taste of the earliest
days of the Macho Man in WWF, as well as seeing him at the peak of his
abilities and the matches on offer from later in his career provide a
few nice highlights and some notable oddities. Also, it's cool to see a
bunch of promos and video packages here, including the great 'Macho
Lifestyles' segment that saw Mean Gene take a trip to Randy's home for a
candid interview. I'm not a huge fan of the round-table format and
think a 'talking heads' approach with a greater cast of characters
would've been better, although Corey Graves does a good job as host and
DDP and Sean Mooney both provide some great insight.
'Randy Savage Unreleased: The Unseen Matches of the Macho Man' is available now on DVD from: https://www.wwedvd.co.uk/
