Randy Savage’s Bizarre Run in TNA Was His Last

The “Macho Man” Randy Savage, who passed away suddenly in 2011, is remembered as one of the best wrestlers of all-time. From his in-ring talent, to his charisma, and those one-of-a-kind promos, Savage was unlike anyone else. From the mid 80s to the early 90s, only Hulk Hogan was a more popular WWE superstar. Savage had a decent run in WCW as well, but as his time in World Championship Wrestling ended, it looked like his career did as well. Five years later, though, Savage made a shocking return with TNA Wrestling. A month later, Savage was out of the promotion and never wrestled again.

Randy Savage Left WCW and Had a Memorable Role in ‘Spider-Man’

• Savage left WWE in 1994 and jumped ship to World Championship Wrestling.
• His last WCW match came against Dennis Rodman.
• He acted alongside Tobey Maguire as Bonesaw McGraw in Spider-Man.

Despite how much Randy Savage meant to WWE, Vince McMahon decided it was time to move on from the aging veteran. Unwilling to have someone else dictate his career, Savage jumped ship to WCW in 1994. There, he won more world titles and succeeded as both a babyface and a heel in the nWo. In 1999, as WCW was beginning to crumble, so did Randy’s time with the company. After a match with Dennis Rodman that year, Savage all but disappeared, making a few in-ring appearances but never wrestling there again.

Could a match against a basketball player be how it all ended for the Macho Man? For five years, it certainly looked like it. Instead, he turned to a career in acting. There were some bad TV guest parts and a cameo in Ready to Rumble. Then came the role that got him a lot of mainstream attention. In 2002, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man took the world by storm and launched the comic book superhero movie craze. Early on in the movie, Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker, in a test of his skills, has a steel cage match with a wrestler named Bonesaw McGraw. Savage is only in the film for one scene, but it lasts several minutes, and his infectious personality shines through.

The Macho Man Took on TNA’s Kings of Wrestling

• Jeff Jarrett wanted Randy Savage to be a TNA brand ambassador.
• Savage never signed a contract with TNA.
• The Kings of Wrestling consisted of Jarrett, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall.

In 2004, Randy Savage returned to wrestling for one last run. It wasn’t with Vince McMahon’s WWE. Rather, it came in the much smaller TNA Wrestling. In his My World With Jeff Jarrett podcast, TNA co-founder Jeff Jarrett explained how Savage landed in the startup promotion. His father, Jerry Jarrett, asked Jeff to reach out to him.

“From the very beginning conversations I had with Randy, and my dad had with Randy, was, ‘Hey, Randy, we want you part of the product. That doesn’t have to say you’re gonna wrestle every month, or one time, or five times. You gotta tell us what you want to do. We want you to be a brand ambassador.’ And he just wasn’t real sure, obviously, where we were going to go.”

Negotiations were “hot and cold” because Jarrett said Savage’s head wasn’t in it. Jeff Jarrett could never get Randy Savage to sign a deal. What we did get were a few bizarre appearances which marked the end of the Macho Man’s time in the ring. In the fall of November 2004, the heel faction known as the Kings of Wrestling (consisting of Jarrett, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall) had taken over the promotion, when an unlikely hero arrived to say the day. At TNA’s Victory Road PPV, the heels celebrated another beat down in the ring as a backstage camera focused on the legs of someone getting out of a car and walking toward the ring. The lights went down, and there, standing in a spotlight, clad all in back, was Randy Savage. The show ended with him pointing at the group. A week later, he attacked them on Impact. Then came his last ever match.

Savage’s Last Match Happened at TNA Turning Point 2004

• A storyline saw Savage kidnapped and missing most of the match.
• His partners, AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy, carried the action.
• Savage got a pinfall win over NWA Worlds Champion Jeff Jarrett.

Randy Savage’s wrestling career ended on December 5, 2004 at the Turning point pay-per-view at the age of 52. The next to the last match was a six-man tag with the Kings of Wrestling taking on the babyface group of AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, and the Macho Man. With Savage now older and not in ring shape, a storyline was created to keep him out of the ring for as long as possible: Savage was kidnapped and nowhere to be found. Styles and Hardy battled alone until, of course, Savage emerged just in time in the last minutes. After getting a tag from Hardy, Savage took the fight to the bad guys, taking them all out by himself. He didn’t do much, and it was an awkward match, but in the end, the good guys prevailed.

Randy Savage’s last wrestling match should have been in the spotlight of something like WrestleMania. However, like so many wrestlers, he didn’t get the perfect ending. The Macho Man’s career, long past its expiration date, ended with a whimper in a weak last appearance. Still, in his final match, the Macho Man could say he pinned the NWA World Champion. As someone who once wrestled in NWA and was a three-time NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Champion early in his career, it was a fitting full circle moment.