Randy Savage Unreleased: The Unforseen Matches of the Macho Man

Freak out, freak out, oh yeahhhhh…..sorry I could not resist, but kicking off an entry with that iconic catchphrase means it is time to cover a Macho Man home video collection. In 2018 WWE gave Macho Man the ‘Unreleased’ DVD treatment, a line of several DVD match collections containing entirely never before released on home video matches. I already covered one on here several months ago dedicated to Hulk Hogan, so it would only seem appropriate to cover another one dedicated to his Mega Powers partner, Randy Savage. Like the Hogan DVD, it has a gratuitously long title in the form of Randy Savage Unreleased: The Unseen Matches of the Macho Man (trailer). If you are into these ‘Unreleased’ sets, then check back here later this year as there are two other semi-recent installments I plan on knocking out by the end of this year.

Randy Savage Unreleased is jacked with content at three discs tallying up nine hours of material. There is a total of 41 (!!) matches and 9 promos spanning Macho’s career in WWF and WCW from 1985 through 1999. Also interspersed every several matches is one of 10 newly recorded panel discussion segments with Corey Graves, Bayley, Sean Mooney and Diamond Dallas Page. The panel discussions are not throwaway one-to-minute quick takes, but instead each are nearly several minutes each where all four panelists reminisce about each stage of Macho’s career with Mooney and Page both having pivotal on-hand accounts for how Savage was at that point backstage too. Page has detailed memories of his classic WCW rivalry with Randy and recounts a story I was all ears for about a voice mail he left for Macho on Thanksgiving. Hearing Bayley’s love for Randy was an interesting perspective to take in since she states she was not aware of him until his WCW years. Corey Graves’ passion for the 1993-as-hell Macho Man rap music video rubbed off on me as I never saw it before this collection and I will link to it here so you can have it forever imprinted into your mind as well.

Obviously I am not going to dissect each and every one of the 41 matches included here, but I will point out some highlights. In general, the quality of matches is fairly solid, and even though a fair amount of the first nine matches are in Macho’s early years with mostly quick, dominant encounters they were still a delight to watch his character evolve from coming out with a cape to adding in his vintage 80s bandana and ring robe and seeing his then-wife Miss Elizabeth join his side. Some early things that caught my eye were Macho’s first TV match in June of 1985 against Aldo Marino where the hype of Randy being the ‘hottest free agent’ attracted all of WWF’s managers to ringside to scout him in action. One of Jesse Ventura’s few WWF matches is here where he tags with Macho Man shortly before he succumbed to a career-ending injury not too long after signing with the WWF.

I dug Savage’s first matches on here against formidable competition like former tag champ and Mark Henry manager, Tony Atlas and unearthing a high quality 1986 WWF match against the hidden gem of 80s WWF enhancement talent in one Scott McGhee. When it shifts into his Intercontinental title run, there is a good rematch included with Ricky Steamboat that had a red hot crowd and countless near falls and another good match against Steamboat where he teamed up with Honky Tonk Man against Steamboat and Hogan. His WWF Title run era features must-see WrestleMania-rematches against Ted Dibiase and Hulk Hogan.

Of all of Randy Savage’s flamboyant ring attires, the one I fondly remember the most was his over-the-top cowboy hat and full body attire complete with tassels. I had no idea until going through this collection that he started rocking that classic look midway through his two year run as the ‘Macho King’ with Queen Sherri by his side. The only notable match in this collection from that run is another WrestleMania-rematch with the mixed tag bout with Macho King and Sherri against Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire. There are nearly a dozen matches from Savage’s final few years in WWF after his reinstatement, but only three truly standout. One is a unique trios pairing that has Randy teaming with Piper and Jim Duggan against Ric Flair, Undertaker and Jake the Snake, while the other is another tag bout with Randy teaming with the Dead Man to take on Ric Flair and Berzerker. Seeing the chemistry between Savage and Undertaker was something special to say the least. Lastly, Savage has a heck of a bout with a post-Red Rooster, Terry Taylor in one of the better technical matches on the set.

There are a few key WCW matches to point out in here from the eight included. One is where he is part of the teaming with the Hulkster against the Dungeon of Doom and hitting all the classic Mega Powers spots, including hitting an elbow on Hogan to wake him up after he succumbed to a sleeperhold. There is an awesome Nitro match on here against Ric Flair…which has a cruddy finish unfortunately, but everything else leading up to it is the best wrestling in this entire set. The most peculiar match on here is Savage wrestling on a C-tier weekend morning WCW show, {Pro} where he takes on Kurasawa and has Hulk Hogan by his side too in a strange twist. I am guessing Savage and Hogan must be tight with Kurasawa because these two were making huge money for limited dates in WCW and to have both of them appear in this weekend morning show match is a head scratcher…..it would be kind of like tuning in to Main Event now and seeing Brock Lesnar wrestling. The final match in the set was a surprisingly delightful schmoz of a mixed tag match with Savage and Madusa teaming up with Ric Flair and “Lil Naitch” himself, Charles Robinson! I expected the worst going in considering this was in 19990 when WCW was beginning its downward ratings spiral in its last couple years, but the four pull off a lot of entertaining spots and salvaged a heck of a performance.

Randy Savage Unreleased is a fairly strong compilation of matches and promos from Macho Man. I would say about a third of it is skippable, and there are a few teases of intriguing match-ups that wrapped up far too quick thanks to poor booking, like a WCW contest against Curt Hennig for example. I have no idea why there were two ho-hum matches against Mr. Hughes included either. That is almost to be expected of these ‘Unreleased’ collections, and seeing Savage’s character, moveset, attire and personality evolve from beginning to end is also fascinating in and of itself. I am glad we got a fair smattering of vintage Macho Man promos throughout his career, with his campaigning reinstatement speech and the aforementioned music video standing out the most of the bunch. Having a break from the 41 matches with the occasional promo and panel discussion segments are appreciated breathers from the action, and the panelists all bring a lot of classic Macho Man stories and memories to the table. This all adds up to Randy Savage Unreleased: The Unseen Matches of the Macho Man being a must-see for any Randy Savage aficionado.

Past Wrestling Blogs

Best of WCW Clash of Champions
Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2
Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3
Biggest Knuckleheads
Bobby The Brain Heenan
Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes Yes Yes
DDP: Positively Living
Dusty Rhodes WWE Network Specials
ECW Unreleased: Vol 1
ECW Unreleased: Vol 2
ECW Unreleased: Vol 3
Eric Bishoff: Wrestlings Most Controversial Figure
Fight Owens Fight: The Kevin Owens Story
For All Mankind
Goldberg: The Ultimate Collection
Hulk Hogans Unreleased Collectors Series
Impact Wresting Presents: Best of Hulk Hogan
Its Good to Be the King: The Jerry Lawler Story
The Kliq Rules
Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul Heyman
Legends of Mid South Wrestling
Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story
Memphis Heat
NXT: From Secret to Sensation
NXT Greatest Matches Vol 1
OMG Vol 2: Top 50 Incidents in WCW History
OMG Vol 3: Top 50 Incidents in ECW History
Owen: Hart of Gold
RoH Supercard of Honor 2010-Present
ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery
Scott Hall: Living on a Razors Edge
Shawn Michaels: My Journey
Sting: Into the Light
Straight Outta Dudley-ville: Legacy of the Dudley Boyz
Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology
Superstar Collection: Zach Ryder
Then Now Forever – The Evolution of WWEs Womens Division
TLC 2017
TNA Lockdown 2005-2016
Top 50 Superstars of All Time
Tough Enough: Million Dollar Season
True Giants
Ultimate Fan Pack: Roman Reigns
Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe
War Games: WCWs Most Notorious Matches
Warrior Week on WWE Network
Wrestlemania III: Championship Edition
Wrestlemania 28-Present
The Wrestler (2008)
Wrestling Road Diaries Too
Wrestling Road Diaries Three: Funny Equals Money
Wrestlings Greatest Factions
WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2015
WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2015
WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2016
WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2016
WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2017