Thoughts of a Sports Addict: Good-Bye Macho Man

Thank you for the comments on my last entry, and I'd love see even more on this one.

Very few times in life do you meet someone or see someone on t.v. that you truly believe is going to live forever. You know that no one can live forever, but there's just something about the person that makes you believe they will never get older. It's usually a person that you don't see on a regular basis and maybe haven't seen in many years. You know the years are going by, but memories don't age, and every time you think of them they are the same age that you remember them at.

Macho Man Randy Savage was one of those guys for me. He was one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and someone that I grew up watching and idolizing. In my mind he will always look like this:

Unfortunately, people do age and Macho was no exception. Out of the public eye since 2004, he had stopped dying his beard and hair, dropped the flashy outfits and sunglasses, and ditched the cowboy hat. More recent pictures of Savage were less flattering with a clearly aged Savage, now 58, although he still had the charisma that made him famous. He now resembled Santa Clause more than the Macho Man I remembered.

After doing some digging, I found that this new Macho Man Randy Savage had just gotten married and was fully at peace with his life. For those of you that don't know, Savage's first wife was the First Lady of Wrestling Miss Elizabeth. The two were wrestling's perfect couple until their divorce in the early nineties. Unfortunately Miss Elizabeth would pass away in the early 2000's from an accidental drug overdose.

For over 30 years the Macho Man Randy Savage entertained me and millions of others around the world by sharing his incredible talents. Whether it was on the mic or in the ring, Randy Savage was world class and always a cut above the rest. He was one of the greatest characters in the history of professional wrestling, appreciated by more than just wrestling fans as evidenced by the respects paid by Sportscenter, PTI, Around the Horn, CNN, FoxNews, and many other national media outlets. A whole generation of kids grew up in the 80's and 90's watching the Macho Man, with his trademark catch phrase of "Oooooooohhh Yeahhhhhh" and his advice to everyone to "Snap into a Slim Jim". If you haven't tried to do an imitation of the Macho Man's trademark voice, then you're one of the few.

So now, I end this blog with some links to a sampling of some of the greatest hits of the Macho Man. First, his legendary match with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat at Wrestlemania III in front of 93,000 people. If matches aren't really your thing, check out some of his greatest promos. He pulled off the intense, crazy guy better than anyone. And as you can see, even 7 years after leaving the spotlight, and less than a year before his passing, the man still had it.

RIP Randy Poffo aka Macho Man Randy Savage. Thank you for making me believe in you when I was a little kid, you were the best.