Hey, Readerland. Happy Rapture Day! Hopefully you get a ticket for the Heaven Bus! I'll miss you all! Anyway.
So, with the unfortunate passing of "The Macho Man" Randy Savage yesterday of a massive heart attack while driving (an autopsy is planned), I was saddened by two things: 1) That Macho Man was gone. One of the most entertaining wrestlers in recent history was gone; and 2) That NUMEROUS people were suddenly saying that Vince McMahon HAS to put Macho Man in the Hall of Fame now because he died.
Seriously? Come on, people. The man is DEAD and the best you can think to talk about is the political crap that kept him out of the WWE Hall of Fame? Give the man 24 hours of peace and THEN you can start your rantings against the evil that is Vince McMahon. Nevermind that Macho's WIFE OF ONE YEAR was in the car as well and was injured, albeit mildly. Doesn't she deserve some sympathy? Of course she does. She's a human being like the rest of us. Of course, some of these people are also the people who said that Gregory Helms deserved what he got in his motorcycle accident because he talked badly about Shawn Michaels. Maybe they don't count as people after all.
Now that my 24 hours are over, here's what I wanted to talk about, which is in fact does "Macho Man" Randy Savage deserve to be in the WWE Hall of Fame? On a personal level, yes he does. I think he was entertaining and charasmatic. He was a great wrestler and a fair-to-average color commentator. Granted, he was also a little off in the head, but really, he's a wrestler and we've kind of come to expect that.
But does he, from the point of view of the WWE, deserve to be in the Hall? Well, so far, the answer is no. What a lot of people seem to forget is that the WWE Hall of Fame isn't like the Baseball or Football Hall of Fame, where there are actual accomplishments taken into consideration for induction. The WWE Hall of Fame is possibly based on accomplishments, but not necessarily (see Ware, Koko B.). There has been a lot of debate about who should be in the Hall of Fame and who shouldn't be based on things like in-ring ability, promo ability (wrestlers and managers alike), number of championships held, amount of money made for the WWE by a wrestler, and so on. But here's the problem with these discussions: The WWE Hall of Fame IS Vince McMahon.
No matter how much of a businessman Vince is, he's still a human being. He still holds grudges. Look how long after the Montreal Screwjob (1997) it took for "The Hitman" Bret Hart to come back to the WWE. It was twelve years, however, he has apparently been on speaking terms with Vince since 2005. So, there was animosity on both sides preventing Hitman's return, but Vince is stubborn and proud and I wouldn't doubt that that pride had something to do with it.
In the case of the Macho Man, though, like my man Hustle over at Lords of Pain said Vince is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. (http://www.lordsofpain.net/columns/hustleispostingrightnow/Believe_The_HIPE_-_Year_2_Week_20_5_14_-_5_20.html#footnote-7 Get on the HIPE train, people. It's worth the ride.) If Vince decides to induct Macho NOW, he'll be looked at as trying to use Macho's legacy to make himself look better. If Vince decides NOT to induct Macho now, he's scum of the Earth. In this case, Vince can't win.
Rumors have been flying for YEARS that there was something bitter and personal between Vince and Savage, and this something has been enough for Vince to keep Macho from coming back to the WWE and inducting Savage into the Hall of Fame, despite two WWF championships, a WWF Intercontinental champioship, winning King of the Ring, four WCW championships, winning WCW's World War 3, being in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame, a match of the year with Ricky Steamboat as voted by both the Wrestling Observer and Pro Wrestling Illustrated, being PWI's Wrestler of the Year in 1998, and being in the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. That doesn't include his work before joining the WWF in 1985.
Now, wrestling has predetermined finishes, so all of those accolades (at least the titles) aren't as "legitimate" as, say, winning the Super Bowl of the World Series, but being a good enough wrestler to earn Match of the Year and being voted into two prestigious Halls of Fame shows you the caliber of athlete Randy Savage was. (By the way, it felt REALLY weird to type the word "was" right then.) So, what did Savage do or not do that makes Vince hate him SO much that he refused to bring him back?
I'm not going to pretend I know the answer, but there's the guess that Macho Man gave Vince his word that he wouldn't bolt to WCW when his contract ended and did exactly that. However, Bret Hart gave Vince a black eye and spit on him after the Montreal Screwjob and yet Vince called Bret when Bret had had a stroke and was in the hospital. Plus, a lot of wrestlers, including Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, did the same thing and they were still part of the crappy NWO reunion in 2002. However, the prevailing hypothesis is that Macho Man, back in the day, Macho Man took the virginity of an underaged Stephanie McMahon, Vince's daughter. I can see how that mind stick in the craw of the old man.
People fail to take a couple of things into consideration in the whole "Put Macho Man in the Hall of Fame" talk. The first is that the WWE is Vince McMahon's baby. The Hall of Fame is Vince McMahon's baby. Nobody except Vince McMahon decides who "should" and "should not" be in the Hall of Fame. If I had to guess, Vince will never let Randy Savage into the Hall of Fame. However, once Vince passes away, I could see Stephanie (and Shane, if he's back around) putting Macho in the Hall.
Secondly, Savage is in the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. See, while the WWE may be synonymous with professional wrestling, the WWE isn't the ONLY wrestling company. Some of them were really good, too. AWA, WCCW, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Memphis Wrestling. Oh yeah, and the NATIONAL WRESTLING ALLIANCE! Seriously. There are more wrestling groups than just the WWE. Okay, so Vince doesn't want to induct Macho for whatever reason. Fine. There are other groups who have.
Let's play "What If?" for a minute, though. What if Vince let's Savage into the Hall of Fame? Who do you get to induct him? Unfortunately, his father Angelo and two of his managers, Miss Elizabeth and Queen Sherri have already passed away. Well, you could have Savage's former friend/tag team partner/enemy Hulk Hogan. Wait, he works for TNA. Ric Flair? Nope. TNA. The Ultimate Warrior? *snort* Jerry Lawler would work, since they worked together in Memphis before Savage came to the WWF. His brother, "Leaping/The Genius" Lanny Poffo, who also wrestled for the WWF? I think, ultimately, you'd have to go with his Match of the Year partner, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Steamboat still works for the WWE as a road agent/producer/very occasional performer, so that works. The plu sside is that Steamboat has always been a class act, so you know he won't run on about himself and his family (I'm looking at you, Dwayne). He'll talk about Savage in the way that he deserves to be talked about: with respect.
I can hope that Macho Man will go into the Hall of Fame, but I'm not betting on it. Regardless, he will be missed. Rest in peace, Macho Man.
That's all I've got for now. Until next time, be awesome to each other. WWWYKI.
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