On a recent edition of his “The ARN Show” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson discussed Randy Savage leaving WWE for WCW, his WrestleMania 3 match with Ricky Steamboat, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On whether Randy Savage was the total package: “I don’t know what the weaknesses would be, if there were any. You got any? I don’t see any. I mean, the guy was in shape, he took care of his body, he was a businessman. I mean, if you’re talking about a character, he had a full character. You know, though there was no doubting who the Macho Man was, that’s for sure.”
On Savage scripting out his WrestleMania 3 match with Ricky Steamboat: “And the fact that he was able to put something from start to finish along with Steamboat — you know, you had to have the other guy be able to pull that off too. To be able to put that together and pull it off, the way he already had it organized without really playing to the fans, and their reaction? I mean, they must have stuck to the script, I think. It’s amazing.”
On Savage being recognizable: “I don’t think there’s a soul on Earth that saw Randy on TV and went, ‘Who is that?’ I mean, it was just too high profile. He had too many years under that WWF umbrella, WWE. He just — you knew who Randy Savage was. And hey, if you think the Slim Jim commercial didn’t take his profile up another notch? You know, we kind of laugh at it, but of course it did. I mean, those commercials were everywhere. It’s just, if you’re on TV and your face — that’s the thing about wrestling. You don’t have a football helmet on, you don’t have a baseball hat on. You don’t have a hockey helmet on. It’s your face. And that’s what they see, and you zoom in on that face and that’s why professional wrestlers who have been on TV for a while are so visible, and so memorable. You’re zeroing in on their mug.”
On whether Savage was still a needle mover in WCW in 1994: “Oh, yeah. I mean, it was five years later, so what? I mean, people remember. People still remember — I go to these signings and stuff, Paul is like, ‘They saw you yesterday.’ You know, they remember. You know, they can tell you stories, they can tell you matches. They can [say] ‘Thank you for my childhood, and when I was eight years old, I hated your guts because I liked this guy over here.’ I mean, wrestling fans, when they tune in, they remember. It’s part of their childhood/life. And it’s not like they went to Randy Savage, ‘Well, I didn’t, I thought he was too old.’ He walked in in shape, ready to go.”
