Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

WWE Macho Man - The Randy Savage Story Blu-ray Movie Review

Oh yeah, snap into this release.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 19, 2014

There's just not enough appreciation for the true skill and dedication of the professional wrestler. Praise the Hall-of-Fame baseball player, awe at the legendary basketball player, rack up the fantasy points with that top quarterback, or try and keep up with the best skater on the ice, but it seems like, outside of the really deep inner circles of wrestling and wrestling fandom, there's nowhere near enough tips of the hat and recognition that wrestling is more than lifting weights, jumping off ropes, and sounding good behind the microphone. No, even the lowest-rung wrestlers, the jobbers and the people who sort of just come and go or fill in slots, are generally superb athletes and highly trained in the art of safe violence and making wrestling look good, feel authentic, and draw audiences. Take Randy Savage, an über-talented baseball player whose career on the diamond never quite worked out and who reinvented himself into a top professional wrestler, invited to the big time not just because of a family history in the business but because of unparalleled dedication to reshaping his body for the job, to molding the persona suitable for the audience, and meticulously laboring to make every match the best he and his opponent could perform. In the retrospective Documentary Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story, the late professional wrestler and television and voice icon's life and career are remembered in a way that truly goes to show that there's so much more to wrestling, that it takes a once-in-a-generation talent to rise to the top and stand up against, and in many ways surpass, the sport's top legends.

Macho Man.

The Documentary proper, which runs 1:34:06 (it's tied in length to the disc one matches, making it part of the larger 3:21:05 runtime; disc two main matches clock in at 2:47:46), looks back at Randy Mario Poffo's young life, including his relationship with his physically-fit father and Randy's time as a can't-miss baseball prospect. When baseball didn't work out, he turned his sights to wrestling, reshaping his physique and enjoying his quick ascendancy towards the top in the then-WWF. It follows his burgeoning relationship with future wife "Miss Elizabeth," their Pay-Per-View main event wedding, and their quick separation thereafter. The program looks at Randy's costumes, character schtick, and dedicated perfectionism inside and outside the square circle. Also appearing are classic matches with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and Ted DiBiase, his growing mainstream popularity and association with Hulk Hogan as both friend and foe, and his promotional work with Slim Jim snacks. It looks at his departure from the WWF to the rival WCW following a hiatus from the ring and time at the announce table, his work with Diamond Dallas Page, and his retirement and untimely death on May 20, 2011.

While the documentary doesn't achieve the level of "groundbreaking" -- it's more often than not a simple rehash of Randy Savage's life and career with good, but not necessarily new or eye-opening information -- it does play well and serves as a fitting tribute to one of the most popular WWE superstars of them all. The film is constructed of a blend of new and vintage interviews, featuring a selection of superstars, including Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart, and Randy's younger brother Lanny Poffo and his mother Judy. The film also features a selection of sound bytes from Savage himself, sourced from an old 1993 sit-down. It plays well and with a cadence that's eerily entertaining considering the film bookends with images from and discussions of Randy's untimely 2011 death in an automobile accident. It's as much a salute as it is a linear retrospective, adding depth and meaning to the movie that might have otherwise been absent in a more nuts-and-bolts telling of the Randy Savage story, though certainly not hearing from Randy himself, this far removed from his career and with time to think it all over, is certainly a loss for the wrestling community and the world at large. It's also an accessible picture, one in which a baseline knowledge of wrestling will help but it's not so filled with nuance that newcomers won't feel alienated. Even today, long since departed from the ring, long away from the announce table, years since he last snapped into a Slim Jim, his legacy hangs over the professional wrestling landscape and his iconic image and trademark guttural voice remain seared into the public conciseness, and this excellent release only reinforces his greatness and reminds its viewers of what's missing in the world now that he's only a part of it in the collected memories of his fans, friends, family and fellow wrestlers.

Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story contains the following matches:

Disc One:

• WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Superstars -- November 1986.
• WWE Intercontinental Championship Lumberjack Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Bruno Sammartino. Boston Garden -- February 1987.
• WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Maple Leaf Wrestling -- February 1987.
• Career Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Harley Race. Philadelphia, PA -- September 1987.
• Six-Man Steel Cage Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage & Strike Force vs. Honky Tonk Man & Hart Foundation. Boston Garden -- March 1988.
• WWE Championship Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase. Boston Garden -- July 1988.
• WWE Championship Harlem Street Fight Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Bad News Brown. Maple Leaf Wrestling -- January 1989.
• WWE Championship Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan. Madison Square Garden -- April 1989.

Disc Two:

• Career Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Miami, FL -- January 1990.
• WWE Championship Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Shawn Michaels. Munich, Germany -- April 1992.
• WWE Championship Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior. SummerSlam -- August 1992.
• WWE Championship Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair. Hershey, PA -- September 1992.
• WCW World Television Championship Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Arn Anderson. WCW Saturday Night -- January 1995.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair. SuperBrawl VI -- February 11, 1996.
• Las Vegas Sudden Death Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Diamond Dallas Page. Halloween Havoc -- October 26, 1997.

WWE Macho Man - The Randy Savage Story Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story features new HD video and older SD video alike. Much like other WWE Blu-ray releases, the program contains SD material up-converted to 1.78:1 but occasionally retains the original 1.33:1 ratio. The matches are all presented in their original 1.33:1 ratio. The older material, whether reformatted for HD screens or remaining in their original broadcast shape, suffer from a myriad of technical bugaboos but look just fine considering their age. The newer HD footage presents nicely, with clean, accurate details and well-defined colors, with special attention to outdoors that showcase building façades and baseball field dirt and grass, for example, all revealing those rich HD textures and balanced colors. Interviews with ex-wrestlers and Randy's brother and mother also feature excellent skin and clothing details and natural colors with only minimal, barely noticeable traces of banding, blocking, or noise. In terms of the new content, this is about as good as anything the WWE has released, and the SD footage is on par with other up-converted SD material on Blu-ray.

WWE Macho Man - The Randy Savage Story Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story features the usual WWE Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and for as few as the requirements are for this presentation, the lossy track satisfies. There are some good examples of front-stage imaging and direction-specific placement in the opening seconds, with voices moving from one speaker to the next across the front. That's the extent of the track's heavy lifting. Music clarity suffices and enjoys proper, unobtrusive placement. This is primarily a dialogue-intensive presentation, however. Narration and new interview clips enjoy rich, pristine accuracy. Older elements are a little harsher but never come up lacking in raw intelligibility. The older 1993 Savage interview clips feature a light overlying hiss but are otherwise sonically satisfactory. This track demands little and produces little. It's just fine in its own context.

WWE Macho Man - The Randy Savage Story Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story contains four matches and a number of "stories," which are effectively deleted scenes, on disc two under the "Blu-ray Exclusives" tab.

• WWE Championship Lumberjack Match: Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan. Madison Square Garden -- February 1996.
• Winner Is the King of WWE: Randy Savage vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Madison Square Garden -- October 1989.
• Career Match: Randy Savage & Sting vs. The Blue Bloods. WCW Saturday Night -- September 1995.
• Career Match: Randy Savage vs. Booker T. Nitro -- December 1997.
• Ambidextrous?: Another blurb about Randy's baseball career.
• Card Shark: A discussion of Randy's playing card prowess.
• Fearing the Savage: Randy's reputation causes some problems with a match he planned on crashing.
• Getting Into the WWE: A story of Randy's arrival at the WWE.
• Snake Fixed?: A slithery story about Randy's paranoia.
• A Safety Net: Randy is a stickler for details and pre-planning matches and the story of one match that was not detailed ahead of time.
• Hundred Dollar Bill Guy: Randy's family's frugality detailed.
• Jerusalem: Bret Hart remembers traveling through Israel with Randy.
• Highly Competitive: Randy's and Lex Luger's competitive nature in fitness and nutrition.
• No Days Off: Randy's dedication to the business compared to that of Shawn Michaels.
• Cowboy Hats: A look at one of Randy's signature costume details.
• Part of the Team: Another story from Randy's time with Slim Jim.
• Shifting Gears: Randy hits hard in the ring.
• Very Generous: Randy shares his time for other people's benefit.
• Thanksgiving Call: Diamond Dallas Page remembers calling Randy on Thanksgiving day.
• Walking Away: Dusty Rhodes remembers Randy's departure.
• Michael Schmidt: One of Randy's fan shares his memories of dressing like Randy on Halloween and collecting authentic Randy attire.
• Macho Tip: Randy's friend Amanda Marcus remembers his generosity.

WWE Macho Man - The Randy Savage Story Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The WWE has been hit-or-miss lately with the wrestler-specific releases, dazzling with titles covering the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, sort of hitting with The Ultimate Warrior, and completely missing with Sting (the matches are great, but the complete absence of a deeper retrospective documentary is a major flaw). Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story returns to that well-rounded place where the feature film is just as impressive as the matches, where the story outside the ring is told as well as Randy tells his own story in the ring. Perhaps not quite the absolute, definitive Macho Man collection but brimming with content and featuring a well paced and engaging feature film, this is certainly a must-own for all wrestling fans and hopefully a release that will serve as a basic Documentary/match collection template moving forward. WWE Home Video's Blu-ray release of Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story provides solid video, fine audio, and a nice collection of extra matches and deleted clips. Highly recommended.