Book Randy Savage's Run from October 1992-October 1994

[auph10imitated]

I think we all agree Randy Savage was criminally misused in his final two years in the WWF, how would you have used him better?

[WWHHHD]

I personally would job him out to Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Razor, etc.

[somsta]

Oct 17, 2014 17:50:32 GMT -5 WWHHHD said:

I personally would job him out to Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Razor, etc.

Add Giant Gonzalez, Doink, Johnny Polo, Bam Bam, 1-2-3 Kid, Diesel, Adam Bomb, Taker, Volkoff, IRS, Mabel, Billy Gunn, and Fatu to that list and I agree. Basically he'd be my new Koko B. Ware. Get as much as you can out of him putting new stars over then show him the door.

[dangerousdanpotato]

It was tough going as a fan from 92 to 93. A lot of my friends dropped off as the WWF roster became more and more unrecognisable. Randy was really THE guy to go to for transitioning during this period, but they marginalized him for some reason. He was still over as hell and was the champ up until September. I thought he was booked fine at Survivor Series, but I'm not sure what he did up until the Rumble? He was well used in the Rumble match (except for the whole trying to pin Yokozuna debacle) although maybe a singles match with Razor would have been more logical (had they not shoved Razor straight into a title match).

Bret was sorely lacking a legit challenger having won the title in a non-televised bout and defending it against the likes of Berzerker, Virgil, Papa Shango and Shawn Michaels (having an amazing year but only freshly crowned as IC champ and not really viewed as a WWF title threat by fans). No disrespect to Yokozuna, but he was new blood, and going over an established veteran like Randy would have been an amazing torch-passing moment for Bret and the WWF. I would have gone face vs. face at WrestleMania IX.

I'd have Savagem feud with a major heel throughout the summer - maybe have him put over Bam Bam who started strong but seemed to suffer for a lack of strong face opposition in '93.

I'd have liked to have seen Savage booked stronger in the 94 Rumble, at least to the final 5. I mean - it's Randy Savage!!! Still arguably the biggest name in that match. The Crush feud that followed was pretty decent IMO. Summer '94 he could maybe have finally feuded with and put over Shawn who didn't seem to be doing all that much besides tagging with Diesel.

I also wonder if at some point he could have put over Lawler to legitimise him with the casual WWF fans? King just kind of turned up and was supposed to be a big deal, but I could never accept him as anything more than a weird little annoying porky man. I know they had some spats and a match on Raw, I believe, but a full-fledged feud might have been pretty decent.

[Digital Witness]

I think we're working with the right idea here.

I would have put him against Razor while he was still heel, Shawn Michaels and Diesel, I think a brief Lawler feud would have been good. The big one for me though is Savage vs Bret, but how do you work that? I can't see Savage as a heel in that time frame. He certainly could have done it, but I just can't picture it. Bam Bam vs Savage in a David vs Goliath type feud could have worked.

So after he's done feuding with Flair in late 92/early 93, I'd do this:

1993:
Feud with Razor for the first quarter of the year.
Move onto Bam Bam after King of the Ring.
Brief feud with Yokozuna in late 93.

1994:
Feud with Jerry Lawler going into Wrestlemania.
Feud with Michaels/Diesel after Mania where Savage puts over Michaels big.

I can't think of a send off though, perhaps Crazy Bob Backlund takes him out with the Crossface Chickenwing?

[Nickybojelais]

Survivor Series '92 keep him tagging with Perfect vs Flair & Razor

After that they branch off into two singles feuds (Perfect with Flair and Razor and Savage)

Royal Rumble '93 Randy Savage and Razor Ramon interact in the Rumble Match

Savage faces off and defeats Razor on Raw the week after Flair loses the Loser leaves town match to Perfect (thus wrapping up the Flair/Savage storyline)

Wrestlemania 9 Randy Savage faces Jerry Lawler

Easy set up prior to Wrestlemania with Lawler making disparaging remarks about Savage on commentary (Lawler was announcing on Superstars at the time). Adds another high profile match to the Wrestlemania card and gives Lawler the proper Wrestlemania match he deserved earlier in his career.


(Will add my thoughts on the 2nd half of '93 after I've had a longer think)

[Digital Witness]

I think Savage/Lawler would have made Lawler seem like a legit threat and they could have got an extended run out of Lawler as an upper mid card/possible main eventer. If they didn't go with the Backlund angle, could they have pushed Lawler in a similar role holding the belt until the Rumble and losing to Diesel in convincing fashion? They could have had Lawler get that Memphis heat for a few months and make the fans really want Nash to rip Lawler's head off.

[Clawley Race]

Wins RR 93 instead of Yoko. (Yoko feuds with Undertaker. We might not have a streak)
Loses to Bret at WM9. (No Hogan)
Feuds with HBK until SS 93, loses to him. (Hart loses to Yoko, sets up WM 10 to go have the same open/close)
Not sure for WM 10...maybe have him beat 1-2-3 Kid in a great match or vs Diesel.

[auph10imitated]

Survivor Series 1992:
Randy Savage and Bret Hart vs Ric Flair and Razor Ramon
I would have had Jack Tunney punish Shawn Michaels for his actions against Sherri and make him captain a SS Team against Marty Jannetty (Shawn, Martel & The Beverly Bros vs Marty, Tatanka & High Energy) and that leaves Bret Hart to step up as Savage's partner.

Royal Rumble 1993
Bret beats Flair in the title match and Savage wins the Royal Rumble lastly eliminating Razor Ramon and earning a shot at Bret Hart.

Wrestlemania 9
Randy Savage vs Bret Hart with Hulk Hogan as the Special Guest Referee, I would have a heelish Savage unable to trust Hogan going into the match ultimately leading to his downfall, you have two of the past stars and the new star who then celebrate together.

King of the Ring
Bam Bam Bigelow deats Randy Savage in the semi finals, this angle begis when Savage makes the save for Sensational Sherri. Bam Bam does several numbers on Macho leading up to the PPV etc

Summerslam 1993
Randy Savage and Sensational Sherri defeat Bam Bam and Luna, Sherri's last match and send off.

Survivor Series 1993
After Bret defeats Hogan at Summerslam I would have him then transition into a feud with Yokozuna, I would have Savage be one of the people Yoko injures as a sign to Bret, then Savage would be on Bret's team vs. a Yoko team, I would have Bam Bam on Yoko's team to tie up the previous angle as well. Yoko's team goes over looking dominant ready for Bret vs Yoko at the 1994 Rumble. As Savage moves on..

Royal Rumble 1994
Competes in the Rumble, but a feud with Shawn Michaels begins after Survivor Series. Have some interaction between the two at the Rumble, maybe even have Savage cost Michaels the IC Title on the card

Wrestlemania 10
Shawn Michaels defeats Randy Savage in a Ladder Match when Diesel interferes, no IC Title on the line though. Savage then goes crazy afrer the PPV (like when he did after Crush) but this time on Diesel. This leads to a Diesel (and Shawn) vs Savage (and Razor) feud in the spring.

Summerslam 1994
Randy Savage defeats Diesel, I would have Diesel getting the upper hand all through the spring and give Savage his win at Summerslam, when Shawn's interference backfires (as it did wioth Razor) before spending the next month on commentary before leaving.

[Deleted]

Jobbing Savage to the whole roster would not have put anyone over. It would have just turned Savage into enhancement talent. For a two year span, you plan one or maybe two Savage programs with one or two guys who you want to put over, protect him as much as you can during the program, then have him put the other guy over in the end. That is the only way to do it.

I would book Savage in the role of the old timer in a "new generation" trying to prove that he can still hang with the younger guys. I give him clean wins over midcard guys to bulk him up as a legit contender. Then, I put him in a program with Bret. He gets a fall on Bret at Survivor Series or maybe a victory while pulling the tights at Summerslam, then he has a great match with epic story telling and puts Bret over at Mania. Then, I move him right into a program with Shawn Michaels, this time as the face. He picks up a few clean wins over Shawn, but Shawn finds an edge and claims that he knows how to beat Randy. Savage reluctantly agrees to a third match, confident that the result will be the same, then Shawn beats him clean. Finally, at WM they have a final match with a big story behind it where Shawn beats him clean again.

[Mid-Carder]

Oct 18, 2014 3:05:11 GMT -5 auph10imitated said:

Wrestlemania 10
Shawn Michaels defeats Randy Savage in a Ladder Match

This would have been incredible. In my view, the two greatest of all time.

[dav]

I would have had him turn Heel and beat Bret for the belt at WrestleMania IX, building up challengers for him to take on at WrestleMania X.

[Clawley Race]

I think it would have been hard to turn Savage heel in 1993-4. He was fresh off of one of the biggest face turns of all time, and WWF was getting to the point that they didn't really have people over enough as faces to get the crowd to boo Savage. Maybe Bret Hart as World Champion.

[Deleted]

Winning the 1993 Rumble and facing Bret at WM 9 is the only thing I can think of. Savage just looked terribly old and out of place by 1993 in the WWF. They were going in a different direction, so having Savage as an active performer, and in the mid-card no less, would not have benefitted him or the company. He was much better off in WCW where the older wrestlers were valued and put at the top of the card. Savage in 1993 feuding with Crush was not terribly memorable, so I don't think there was much they could have done with him as long as they were pushing the New Generation gimmick.

[mizerable]

Oct 18, 2014 3:05:11 GMT -5 auph10imitated said:

Wrestlemania 9
Randy Savage vs Bret Hart with Hulk Hogan as the Special Guest Referee, I would have a heelish Savage unable to trust Hogan going into the match ultimately leading to his downfall, you have two of the past stars and the new star who then celebrate together.

The only thing missing is an emotional Bruno Sammartino clapping proudly with tears in his eyes.

[2CSultan]

Oct 17, 2014 17:57:11 GMT -5 somsta said:

Oct 17, 2014 17:50:32 GMT -5 WWHHHD said:

I personally would job him out to Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Razor, etc.

Add Giant Gonzalez, Doink, Johnny Polo, Bam Bam, 1-2-3 Kid, Diesel, Adam Bomb, Taker, Volkoff, IRS, Mabel, Billy Gunn, and Fatu to that list and I agree. Basically he'd be my new Koko B. Ware. Get as much as you can out of him putting new stars over then show him the door.

Why would you job him out to get everyone over? Each time a big star jobs, he loses credibility as a star, thus not giving the shine to the guy you're pushing.

[steamboat1]

Never loses the title back to Flair. Defends at the Rumble against Ramon, then loses clean to Bret at Wrestlemania. Goes on to feud with heel Lex through 93, while Bret feuds with Lawler for the belt.

[Deleted]

Thank you, I now have another fantasy booking project to add to my list.

[DjZonk]

I'd go with a Savage and Bret Hart match at Mania 9, then get Yoko ready, Shawn in 1994.