Dark Side of the Ring (2019) s01e01 Episode Script

If you were to try to package
intensity and electricity,
and just pure explosiveness
into one package,
that would've been
the Macho Man, Randy Savage.
Oh, my God. Macho Man.
It's a stick of dynamite that is lit
and the fuse has gotten very short.
A 100 percenter.
He's gonna come at you with 100%.
The Macho Man Randy Savage.
He was loud.
-The cream of the crop!
-He was colorful. He was intense.
-Oh, yeah!
-Miss Elizabeth was not.
Elizabeth was an icon and role model
for so many women.
Her character brought a lot
of feeling and emotion to matches.
Elizabeth, I love you!
Randy "Macho Man" Savage
and Miss Elizabeth were royalty,
and their romance captivated
audiences around the world.
It's Bonnie and Clyde.
It's Romeo and Juliet.
They were the first, you know,
male-female package
that was created
in that new WWF model.
They were the first and the best.
Dysfunctional as it may have been
in some respects, but I saw it.
It's a love story.
On this episode, art imitates life
as we examine a fictional love story
surrounding a real-life marriage
that explodes beyond the ring
with tragic consequences.
Well, first tell us who you are.
-I don't want to.
-Okay.
Look at how ripped I was.
Look at that belly. Good God.
I was in fighting shape there.
My name is Bruce Prichard. I have
worked in the wrestling business
for about 45 years.
First time I met Randy Savage
was in 1987, in Houston, Texas.
Randy got
into the wrestling business,
was a second-generation wrestler.
His father, Angelo Poffo,
one of the greats.
And Angelo had a wrestling territory.
It was considered, back in the day,
an "outlaw wrestling" territory.
Can't do nothing against Macho Man.
Number 1 professional wrestler!
-Complete mental insanity, yeah!
-You're a champion, Randy.
You'll go down in history
as the greatest, the greatest
I broke this chair by sitting down!
Then all of a sudden, it's time
for Randy Savage to appear.
Jimmy, the best thing
you can do is stand back
and let the Macho Man talk.
Nothing you could say
I couldn't say better.
There was a period
in the wrestling business where,
if you were crazy on-screen,
you were crazy off-screen.
You had to live your gimmick.
And Randy played crazy really well.
He lived it 24-7.
Personally,
do you think it'd be okay
if I came out that Randy
was a bed-wetter?
What was it like growing up
with Randy as a brother?
He's the same
as any other alpha male,
except his dial is not only past 10,
but it's broken
and it's gone off the hinges.
I was upstaged every day,
but I knew it was getting over,
so proud to be holding the rope.
He had a dream that he could be
a villain, a bad guy, a ruffian.
He wanted to be an antagonist
'cause he felt he had more creativity
than just being the pawn
of the villain.
Randy would take a lot of risks.
He would say, "You gotta stare
into a candle for two hours."
Staring at the candle for about
two hours. Get my head together.
Some people loved him,
some hated him.
But everybody respected him,
because that kind of athleticism,
you have to buy into it.
So this is my autograph table.
This was another night everybody
was drinking too much wine.
And right here is that little saying,
never know what he meant by it,
but that's what Macho
carved into the table
and he used to say,
"Whatever it takes!"
I'm Linda Bollea,
married to my ex-husband
professional wrestler, Hulk Hogan,
for 25 years.
Oh, that was back when
we loved each other. The olden days.
So Miss Elizabeth,
we ended up being friends
because I was really
the only other female on the road.
Elizabeth was
from Frankfort, Kentucky.
Good upbringing.
She addressed her mom as "Mother."
And she said, "We were broke.
My dad left early.
It was just me, my mom, and brother.
Money was always tight."
There was a gym called
Sin Thé Sport Center,
and Randy worked out there,
and then, one fine day,
a new girl came,
and that was Elizabeth Hulette.
Randy was in the gym
about six in the morning.
She's working the front desk.
He comes in. She goes,
"Oh, my, your eyes are so red."
He goes, "You should see 'em
from this side."
I looked at Liz and said,
"That did it for ya?
That one line, like, reeled you in?"
My name is Scott Oliver Hall.
I also was wrestling
as Razor Ramone, the bad guy.
If I was a chick, I'd bang Randy.
I thought he was cool as hell.
Randy would tell the story
it was love at first sight.
"Yeah, she saw me and fell in love.
What more she could want?"
Liz would always be like,
"Yeah, it took a little while
to get used to it."
She was beautiful, phenomenal,
and she was excellent.
What a nice person too.
And I think that came across
on television.
Elizabeth got involved in ICW
as an announcer,
and helped with the editing.
It was a mom-and-pop shop.
We did everything.
And she was adaptable and brilliant
and very quick to learn.
Their first wedding
was in Frankfort, Kentucky,
at the home of Elizabeth's mother.
And that was about six months before
Randy made his debut with WWE.
This is gonna be a Jimmy Hart one.
The Mouth of the South, Jimmy Hart.
The sun is shining. Life is great!
There's Randy and myself and Hulk
when I managed them
for a few matches.
Rest was history.
He goes, "How's New York?"
I said, "Great. They saw your tapes.
They want you in New York."
The Macho Man, Randy Savage,
who is quite the competitor,
making his
World Wrestling Federation debut.
Vince and Linda McMahon
had come to Florida
to get the contract signed
before WrestleMania 1.
Is that Vince? Oh, my gosh. Whoa.
Vince went around every territory
and took the very best,
made you bigger than life.
Vince was taking it
to a whole new level
none of us were ready for
or even knew about or used to,
and we were all in
for a big huge learning curve.
When Macho came onboard,
Vince was like,
"We really want your character
to have a valet,
a woman, a manager."
Randy probably said, "Look,
I want to come up here
and I think I can make you money.
Can we work a spot for Liz
because she's gonna go with me
on the road."
Randy, if he loved somebody,
whether his brother
or Liz or whoever,
he was gonna be very loyal to them.
Macho Man is at his peak right now,
and we gotta know who the manager
is gonna be.
They fell in love with her.
-Stepped into wrestling history.
-Here she comes.
Liz was very demure, very quiet,
gentle soul.
The person and the character
were the same.
As far as the persona
of the Macho Man
and the package
of the Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth
was they were two opposites.
And Randy, so intense,
and Elizabeth, so subdued.
They wanted you to love Elizabeth
and hate Randy.
Picture of Elizabeth.
No picture of the Macho Man.
That's very, very, very bad,
Elizabeth.
Randy would bring her out.
She'd stand at ringside.
He'd get in the ring, circle around,
"No, stand here!"
The people were hating Randy
for brow-beating the beautiful girl.
Like, "You can do better!
Get away from him."
And there would be times
Randy would give Liz a look
and just turn his head
and give her those eyes,
and she would almost be subservient.
-Macho Man Randy Savage, right?
-That's right, Randy.
Shut up and keep polishing.
If I lose tonight, it's your fault!
Each time he did, they just,
"You sorry son-of-a--"
And that's exactly what they wanted.
And you want Liz to see the light.
But Liz, underneath this,
you're seeing, man,
she loves her man.
You infer that Randy mistreats her,
but he never really does.
He's just a little intense.
By the spring of 1987,
Elizabeth and Randy are red hot
and about to make history in front
of a crowd of 93,000 fans.
WrestleMania 3 was, at the time,
the largest indoor attendance record.
I mean, the largest gathering indoor
of any event in the world.
Oh, Jesus.
It was unbelievable, man,
90,000 people.
I had Alice Cooper with me.
I mean, the electricity
from the crowd was just unbelievable.
I mean, your skin is crawling
and feels like your hair is growing.
The Randy Savage-Ricky Steamboat
match, WrestleMania 3,
people consider
one of the greatest matches.
Two of the greatest athletes
I have ever seen in my life.
All the athleticism, all the drama,
all that excitement
It killed him
he could never surpass that match.
He was a perfectionist,
and perfectionists are never happy.
The thing with Savage
I learned later,
when working with Savage
was trying to hold him down,
because he always wanted
to give more.
Well, sometimes
you can give too much.
Two years after their debut,
Randy and Elizabeth
are taking the WWF by storm,
but a surprising twist
in their storyline
would propel them to the top
of the wrestling world.
I pulled out a bunch of pictures
that had Liz and Randy.
This is sweet.
There's Randy and Liz
at the condo.
We were just hanging out in Florida.
Polaroid picture, Macho.
A picture of Elizabeth, so sweet.
Macho Man kept Elizabeth
in the dressing room.
Nobody really knew her.
Then one night,
Macho came into our dressing room
and said, "Where's Linda?"
And, ah, "Liz needs
some help with her hair."
And she had her hair
kind of like coiffed
and tightly curled and church girl,
and I said,
"Bitch, you need
to just bring that stuff out."
I started getting her hair teased up,
stacked it out.
She's like, "Oh, I like that."
Once we realized, I live in Tampa,
"You live in Tampa?"
"I live in Clearwater. Largo."
We lived in this area, so we thought,
"Hey, let's all get together."
When we did get a few days off,
I could call on her and she me,
and go shopping,
or we could hit the beach.
It was great 'cause at least you had
somebody to do something with.
Hulk would have big parties
and invite everybody.
Randy and Liz would go to it.
That's when she was the happiest,
when she could be around people,
be herself.
We'd be out barbecuing
in the backyard.
Terry would lay it out,
"Here's how I want to run it."
Randy'd throw in some ideas.
Liz would go along with whatever,
talking about the "angle."
The hotter the heel,
people after a while
will begin to respect you.
And Randy was so good,
he was hard to boo.
The audience liked him.
Randy Savage was
really catching on as a baby face,
and people had grown
to really love the Macho Man.
By the end of 1987,
the fan's love for Randy Savage
inspires a revelation
in Vince McMahon,
a partnership
with the company's top hero
to create a team unlike anything
pro wrestling has ever seen.
The two biggest names in wrestling
are gonna combine forces,
the madness in Hulkamania
combining forces with brother.
With the madness and the mania,
they got powers. Yeah!
Who's gonna match up?
By the summer of 1988,
Hogan and Savage,
with Elizabeth as manager,
appear invincible,
destroyed challengers.
The only place left to turn
is on each other.
We knew we'd have
the mega powers explode.
You create the mega powers
for the mega powers to explode,
especially when one
is a paranoid schizophrenic,
and the other
is the all-American dude.
And what is the easiest thing
for two men to argue about?
A woman.
Summer Slam '88.
Randy hoists Liz up on his shoulder
and when he does,
there's like a little slip,
Hulk puts his hand up to steady her.
"Freeze it! Look at how long
his hand is on Elizabeth, huh!
Nobody touches Elizabeth, uh-uh."
Hulk, "Say your prayers,
take your vitamins.
Here's the American flag."
And here's Randy going,
"I don't think you're as truthful
as everybody thinks you are."
They don't realize that,
underneath, he's been boiling.
You got lust in your eyes
and in your black heart
for Elizabeth!
Randy is the jealous raving lunatic,
and Hulk is the best friend
trying to screw his friend's girl.
Picked her up and put Elizabeth
where she has never been before,
on top of another man's shoulders!
It's easy for him
to blow it out of proportion
because you can tell
the jealousy side.
He's blinded by love and by rage.
He's paranoid.
He's got the championship,
the whole world on his back,
everybody trying to knock him off,
his best friend.
Not only to knock him off,
to take my girl.
That played off Randy's paranoia,
and it was real, so made it work.
The Twin Towers, Big Boss Man
and Akeem
against Randy and Hulk,
the Mega Powers.
But there was a point in the match
where Randy took a bump out
and ended up taking Liz out.
Hulk sees that she's hurt,
carries her back to get her help.
"You're hovering over the bed.
How dare you!
I'm out there fighting for my life,
but you're more concerned about her.
It all makes sense now!"
When you take a look
at the Madness' eyes,
all you're gonna see
is complete and utter rage!
Match made.
What corner is Elizabeth gonna be in?
People wondered,
did Randy really control her
in and out of the ring? Absolutely.
Randy. Very protective of,
my God, you have no idea.
I mean, he would get visibly upset
with anybody
that tried to talk to her
or carry on a conversation with her.
He just did not like it.
When they would be getting ready
for an event,
we didn't want any malfunctions
with wardrobe,
so he would literally take the tape.
and like wrap it
all around her whole body.
The other big thing, because
she was in a short dress,
was getting into the ring,
entering the ring over the rope,
and go over the second rope?
Should go under it.
This was huge for Randy
because this was his wife.
Loved and respected her.
He didn't want
anybody making fun of her.
He was in charge of that relationship
and she was just the tag along.
And I think that
that started to grow on her.
I think that started
to just unnerve her.
That may have been
where a lot of the issues started.
In WrestleMania 5,
are you gonna be
in the Macho Man
Randy Savage's corner?
When you take real-life situations
and put it in front of the camera,
it's great
because it's usually relatable.
No, no.
However, when you take
your real-life feelings
and put them on camera
and make it a part of a storyline,
'cause they don't know you,
they don't know what you guys do
when the doors shut at night.
They have no clue.
But they know you're really married
and what you said on TV,
you sorry son of a bitch.
Life imitating art.
And sometimes art imitates life.
Then you get really fucked up.
Being on the road 24-7
with your spouse,
it's not an easy task.
You know, Elizabeth, as his wife,
had those same duties as I did.
I did travel
with Randy and Liz a lot,
and their relationship was that
of a married couple on the road.
They didn't go out and party.
They went to bed,
and they had their privacy.
You'd get back to the room.
She'd scrub blood off boots
like I did to have Terry's,
from their wrestling match.
You'd put the wrestling boots
in the bathtub and wash them off,
'cause they had to wear them.
He probably wanted to get laid,
and I'm sure she probably didn't.
Maybe she did and he didn't.
Then, her, unlike me,
she has to think about herself.
What the hell dress
is she gonna wear?
I had my wife involved a while.
Brutal having your wife
around the guys.
They did practical jokes
that were cruel.
I'm telling ya, they used
people's suitcases as toilets.
There were no boundaries.
I mean, cutting somebody's hair off
while they're passed out.
I wouldn't want my wife around that.
The pattern,
Randy wanted to keep Elizabeth
away from "the boys"
as much as possible.
You know, there's--
I don't blame him, really.
Randy being so intense and watchful
over her, she couldn't have freedom.
And I think you can't smother
somebody all the time like that.
Elizabeth wanted to leave the road,
and she wanted Randy to quit.
Randy wasn't done.
Randy was still enjoying it.
I knew she needed more socialization
and, and more friends,
and she missed having
the normal life,
but Liz, apparently, was looking
for something more
than I realized at the time.
By 1990, an exhausted Elizabeth
asked for some time off the road,
and the WWF seized this
as an opportunity
to reinvent the Macho Man
into a new kind of villain.
We did Randy as the heel.
We made Randy the Macho King,
and thought that Sensational Sherri
to be his manager, another female.
Make her the queen.
Sherri was a women's wrestler,
Guys loved working with Sherri
because she was tough as nails.
Queen Sherri adds a new dimension
to Macho Man's character,
but fans demand
to see wrestling's first lady back
in her rightful place.
Every day Randy spent with Sherri,
everybody said, "Where's Elizabeth?"
I mean,
the people hungered for Elizabeth.
Randy was looking
to take the summer off.
He and Liz were looking
to spend time together
as husband and wife,
not being on the road all the time.
So the idea was, at WrestleMania 7,
to have a career match
with the Ultimate Warrior.
Warrior lost, he was gone.
Randy lost, he was gone.
We'd shown, earlier in the night,
that in attendance was Elizabeth
in the crowd, sitting in the 4th row.
And when Sherri started
to kick Randy and go after Randy,
Liz made her way to the ring
and pulled Sherri off,
and Liz is there fighting
for her man, and people were
are slowly applauding, and you see
grown men with tears in their eyes
That's emotional.
That's good stuff. We got them.
It was-- They felt it, you know,
and people could feel that too,
the getting back together,
back to the one you really love.
Elizabeth
Will you marry me?
Despite being married
in real life for 7 years,
kept secret from fans,
Randy and Elizabeth's characters
finally tied the knot
on live television
on August the 26th, 1991.
Oh, yeah.
And they were excited.
I mean, they were like two kids
planning for their wedding.
Was the first time
you saw Macho Man break down,
have a human emotion
other than anger.
You saw him actually happy,
and you saw him emotionally care
for someone outwardly,
which you had never seen before.
Liz and Randy are having
this beautiful wedding ceremony.
Now cue the devil.
And at the reception, bullshit.
Putting the snake
in the box and all that,
that kicked it off.
Fourteen, fifteen-foot king cobra.
Look at that son of a bitch.
Beautiful, beautiful fucking animal.
Randy came to me and said,
"So tonight I hear we're gonna do
something a little different, hm?"
I'm like, "Yeah.
A snake's biting ya."
And he's like, "Yeah, so
Is the snake been fixed?"
"Fuck, yeah!
It's a fucking cobra, you dumb shit!
Of course it's been fixed!"
"Maybe it has and maybe it hasn't.
How about the snake
biting you first?"
"Fuck you, man.
I ain't fucking let--"
"Oh, oh,
you don't want it to bite you.
If you won't let the snake bite you,
that tells me it hasn't been fixed."
I mean, he was
dead fucking serious, man, so
I got the snake, rolled up
my pants leg, and let it bite me.
And he's like, "Don't move.
Don't take no pills.
Don't take no antidote, no serums,
no fucking nothing, brother."
Fuck! For like 20 minutes, man,
he's like, "I guess you're okay.
How do you feel, man?"
"Pissed off now,
to be honest with you."
Time for that snake to bite,
I got the snake out
turned my back to him,
and I fucking paint-brushed
the shit out of that snake,
pissed it off.
Whenever I turned around,
that snake was just, "Agh!"
You know, he was ready.
And I got him close to Randy
and he latched on
and would not let go.
I mean, the time
that you seen it on television
was nothing in real time.
It went on forever. Vince wound up
sending Elizabeth down,
"Get the snake off of him.
Get it off! Vince said now!"
Like, "I'm fucking trying!" Pulling
on the snake, it wouldn't let go.
It's just chewing on him.
And it's like anything else.
First time it's done,
it shocks people.
The visual. Bottom line is
nobody ever felt sorry for Randy.
They felt sorry for her.
And it's not a good situation.
Like with me,
whenever I slapped Elizabeth,
and then they tried to go home
to see her family.
Grandpa on the porch says,
"You're not coming in this house.
You promised us you'd always
protect our little girl."
The only way he could gain access
back into their home
was basically kicking my ass
and getting even, so to speak.
You know, these are
Tennessee folks, bro, you know
Wrestling's real. People are fake.
State of their relationship
when they were getting married?
I would say tumultuous.
On the verge of breaking up.
So Terry had been cast in a movie.
It's called Mr. Nanny.
It required us to be down in Miami
for about 8 weeks, so Liz called
and goes, "When will you be home?"
I said, "Going back the next week."
She's like, "Oh.
Randy, can I please go?"
I heard her on the phone,
"Can I please go?
To help Linda with the kids.
To go see them and hang out
with Nick and Brooke in the pool."
He's like, "Well, only if you're
gonna be babysitting
and you're with Linda."
She flew with us. So much fun.
She helped me unload the kids.
We were hanging out.
We were gonna go out to dinner.
I said, I'll get ready.
Do whatever,
back from your workout,
and 7:30, I'm thinking like,
aren't we gonna do our makeup
and hair together, always did,
so I'm knocking on her door
and I see the light is on.
I can see under the door,
but she's not answering.
I'm like, "Where's Liz?"
In 1992, leaving her husband
Randy Savage behind,
Elizabeth travels alone to Miami
to stay with Hulk Hogan
and his wife Linda.
Terry had to film the next morning.
The next day goes on.
I see her at the pool, like,
"Where were you? We were worried."
And she's like, "I met this
other gentleman in the building
and he has an extra room here,
and he thought
maybe I'd want to take it."
The way I heard the story was
Liz wanted away from Randy,
so she contacted Hulk's wife Linda
and went and stayed with them.
Meanwhile, Randy is freaking out
'cause he doesn't know where
the love of his life is.
Randy kept calling my room
wanting to talk to Liz,
and I was like, "Liz is not here."
I didn't say she had her own room.
I said, "She's not here.
I think she's with friends."
He goes, "Where?"
I was like, "Not here."
Randy was like,
"I'm gonna fly down. Don't tell her
because I don't like this.
She's never missed my calls.
She should be answering,
should at least be calling me back."
Three hours later, he lands,
comes in, blazing in the door,
blazing guns and fire,
looking for Liz.
And I'm sitting there,
and he's like, "Where's Liz?"
I was like, "Randy, look.
I don't know."
He's like, "What?
Where do you think she is?"
You know, "Who was she with last?
What did you guys do?
I'm gonna go find Liz and I want you
sitting here in the chair,
and if you leave this chair
and you smarten her up
tell her I'm looking,
you're gonna hear about it."
I'd never seen Randy like this before
because I'd never even seen them
argue or fight. I really hadn't.
So him and Terry went out.
I didn't know what was going on.
I knew I wasn't leaving the chair.
And I guess he found her.
Terry came back to the room
and said, "They're sorting it out."
So they got in their rental car
and drove home
and he basically told Terry, like,
"Liz is not coming back to Miami
and there's no more hanging out.
Party's over. This is ridiculous.
You just went too crazy."
I think Randy felt, you know,
again, life imitating art,
that Hulk was taking Liz's side.
The beginning of the end for them,
but for Randy and Hulk too.
Randy thought that Hulk
had something to do with it.
I've been with Hulk for 39 years.
Hulk had nothing to do with that,
shooting the movie.
I think that, when you separate
and like she's at home
and he's on the road, that
all of a sudden,
it's a newfound freedom
and that's a whole brand-new life
on both parts.
It was just a normal day.
I was home with the kids.
Beautiful day out,
and this is probably like 5, 6 weeks
after we wrapped filming
and we left Miami.
Hard line phones. I'm in the kitchen.
I'm giving Nick a bottle,
and it's Liz. I'm like, "Hey, Liz!
God, I miss you.
How are you?" You know
And it was like dead silent
on the other end.
I was like, "Liz?"
She's like, "Linda
I left Randy."
She sounded like she was
at a gas station or something.
I could hear cars on the freeway.
Like, "Oh, my God."
She goes, "I left him."
And I said, "Oh, my God.
Can I come help you?
Can I talk to you?"
I need to talk some sense
into this girl.
She wasn't home,
goes, "I'm halfway to Miami.
I'm going back. I met
some people there. I got a place."
She goes, "Just promise me,
don't tell Randy I'm on the road."
She had a convertible,
a red Cadillac.
The mental picture
in my mind was her,
like a country music video,
with two suitcases in the back,
just driving her convertible to Miami
with the wind blowing her hair,
probably feeling free and relieved
of the constant submission
that Randy had on her.
It wasn't that he was trying to do it
out of being mean.
It was just his protective way,
but she had just had enough
of that suppression.
When Randy and Liz split up,
you could tell there was a change
in the Macho Man.
He was a little drawn back.
He really wasn't as intense as he was
when they were together.
Once she was gone,
he really kind of just went silent.
He lost all he didn't really care
about the business.
It was like the lights are on,
but nobody's home.
Sad, but yet, there was that exterior
that was, "Okay, I've gotta move on."
I think Randy was tormented.
He had all the money,
all the stuff,
but he always, he was never--
He was always so wound up,
and I'm thinking
"Mach, like, you've made it, bro."
What's missing? What's it gonna take
to make you happy?
One day, we were sitting in the car,
ah, waiting for Vince to come down,
taking forever,
and Vince gets in the car,
shuts the door and says,
"Gentlemen, Randy Savage
is now the proud property
of World Championship Wrestling."
And we're like "What happened?"
WCW was owned by Ted Turner,
the competition to the WWF.
Ted Turner had started
to try and lure talent
from the WWF over to WCW.
Hulk Hogan was the first talent
that made the big jump.
Randy Savage,
he's interested in coming over.
Because at WWE, Randy had been
put out to pasture by Vince McMahon.
Vince McMahon said,
"Randy, you're too old.
Your gimmick's over, shtick done.
Be a color commentator."
And that hurt Randy.
I didn't want to reinvent a wheel
I believed already worked.
And by the way,
when Randy Savage came over
-Wanna light up your life?
-Yeah!
Snap into a Slim Jim!
$750,000 a year of Slim Jim money
came with him,
and Slim Jim wasn't interested
in changing Randy Savage.
WCW has given the Macho Man
a renewed career,
but his nature won't allow him
to leave his one true love behind.
Randy called her up
and said, "Come on in.
Be part of the storyline,
make money."
He's divorcing Elizabeth,
but cares about her enough
that he gets her a 250-grand contract
just to stand around and look pretty.
She wasn't even on camera much,
but he wanted her looked after.
Except this time, she was the villain
and Randy was the baby face.
She had changed so much.
She wasn't like the same quiet girl.
More talkative.
So I said, "What's happening?
Are you dating anybody, or?"
She goes, "Well, I'm seeing Lex."
And I go, "You're like seeing Lex?"
I go, "Lex is married."
And she goes, "I know.
That's the problem."
I go, "Liz, that's not good."
Lex Luger was oftentimes considered,
you know, the second coming
of Hulk Hogan.
Lex had a million-dollar body,
and he had a great look.
Lex Luger is one of the top names
in professional wrestling history.
He's easy to hate because
there's nothing wrong with him.
She was head over heels over him.
I could tell that.
Paired together
as part of a wrestling storyline,
Elizabeth and Lex Luger's
professional relationship
evolves into a secret love affair.
They were a happy couple.
They'd work out together,
spend a lot of time together.
They were being a little bit sneaky,
but adjoining rooms and stuff.
You can't help
who you fall in love with,
and I always liked Lex and Liz.
And hey, if you guys make
each other happy, go for it.
So when the ideas
started bouncing around
about blurring the lines,
if you will,
between scripted and reality
with regard to Elizabeth's
relationship with Randy
and their marriage and divorce.
Randy, she's your ex-wife.
At least you owe her this much, man.
I was shocked at first that Randy
would entertain some of those ideas.
I'm really lost
and I need you, and I'm--
I don't think I can reach you.
He was still
very protective of Elizabeth,
but in a much different way.
He watched Lex like a hawk.
It wasn't just a relationship.
Lex was married, and he had kids.
Everybody knows that
that's gonna end badly.
"Where are you living? Apartment?"
She's like, "No, he's
he's got another place
he's keeping me in.
But it's in the same complex
where he and his wife live."
I go, "Oh"
I said, "This is not good!"
It was pretty apparent also
that they were both--
They were pilled up.
They were just
spending too much time
doing too many drugs.
I've never witnessed her doing
any kind of drugs or pills,
and in fact,
when we'd go out and drink,
she'd have two glasses of wine
and be already feeling it.
I'm like, "Oh, it's time to go home."
Thing is, Liz doesn't weigh 270
like me and Lex.
Liz, Liz weighs about 85 pounds,
so she's taking same amount of pills
that a 300-pounder's taking.
You know,
they had some kind of a fight.
She fell down the stairs
and ended up with two black eyes.
In April of 2003, squad cars respond
to a domestic disturbance
at the home of Lex Luger.
The police notice
Elizabeth has bruised eyes.
She denies the injuries
are from Luger,
but she eventually admits
that he did hit her.
Luger was charged with battery
and released on bail.
I thought, falling down the stairs
gave her two black eyes? Hm
Talk about the idea of getting
Lex Luger on your podcast
and what you wanted
to talk to him about.
When Nick, my producer and co-host,
suggested, you know,
that we bring Lex on,
you know, I was, I had
mixed emotions because I, I still
Honestly, Lex, I'm sorry,
but I still had some resentment,
even during the time
we were making the call,
but Lex rose to the occasion.
He was, he was brutally honest.
I, I'll never forget
VOICE OF LEX LUGER
It was actually early morning hours,
we were having just an evening
watching movies together
and she came back and had,
sipping on some vodka
and popping pills and, literally,
before the 9-1-1 call,
I realized she'd stopped breathing.
What I want you to do, I want you
to go and see if she's breathing.
I can't tell.
Please send somebody here
-who knows what they're doing.
-I understand that, sir.
I have somebody on the way,
but if she's not breathing,
you need to help her breathe.
You need to find out
whether she's breathing.
Go over to her. Sir?
-Oh, my God.
-Lay down.
And check to see if she's breathing.
Look at her chest, if it's rising.
It doesn't look like it is.
I'm scared to death.
Terry called me and he just said,
"Really, really bad news.
Liz is dead."
And, like, when he said that,
I just felt like somebody
poured a bucket of ice on me.
Oh, I was at home in Atlanta.
Heard on the morning news.
I was pissed.
I was pissed because I saw Lex
manipulating and exploiting
a vulnerable person,
and using prescription drugs
to do it.
They told me Elizabeth passed.
I thought she'd make it
and go to the hospital,
then heard she didn't make it.
Then, I was arrested
on, I think, 17 felony counts,
and all the drugs in my house.
Thought I had the drugs
under control,
but ended up having--
getting control of Elizabeth and I,
and the tragedy of that,
to witness that firsthand,
it was a very dark time,
without a doubt.
I knew he was telling the truth,
was being honest
and accepting responsibility.
I look at him so differently now.
I respect him, which I never thought
I'd hear myself say.
I want to ask you
about Miss Elizabeth,
you know,
her loss and everything.
Earlier in your career, you guys
helped each other out in your career.
Yeah, we were actually married,
and we got a divorce,
which happens in life sometimes,
and we had separation,
we had closure.
But really feeling real bad for her
and her family.
And a situation where we hadn't seen
each other in about maybe 5, 6 years,
but we had closure and we said
hello and everything was all good.
Feel bad for her family.
Elizabeth tragically passed away
at the age of 42,
but grieving fans would have no idea
that this epic saga
was approaching its final chapter.
This is my brother getting married
for the second time
to the lovely Lynne Payne-Poffo.
In 2010,
seven years after Elizabeth's death,
Randy Savage finds love once again.
He weathered the storm
through his divorce
and he was finally on his feet.
He was remarried and, and
just starting
to kind of really enjoy his life.
When Randy retired from wrestling,
he was able to devote a lot of time
to the Special Olympics.
That was his passion.
And he enjoyed his final years
as a sedentary person.
I was supposed to go to San Jose.
American Airlines stopped in Dallas.
I turned on my phone.
There was a message,
and it said, "This is Largo Medical.
Your brother and his wife
were in an automobile accident.
She's banged up, and your brother's
in critical condition,"
but the way they said it.
I got a call that morning
from Lanny,
"Jimmy." "Yeah, Lanny?
I didn't have time to call."
He goes, "I'm coming home."
"Why?"
His voice was shaky.
"Guess what,"
he goes, "I just got a phone call.
My brother just got killed."
We want to share breaking news
regarding
Randy Macho Man Savage.
You may know him well.
He is a pro wrestler.
We have just confirmed that
Randy Macho Man Savage died.
From the Florida Highway Patrol,
a car accident.
I was on my way to the airport
to leave Clearwater
when I got the phone call
from Hulk, or Terry.
Crashed into a tree and died
as a result of a heart attack.
It's hard to believe.
Even now, doing this interview,
hard to believe it's true.
He was so full of life.
He was so full of energy, brother,
it's hard to imagine he's not here.
We're going to the site
where my brother lost control,
and you'll see the tree.
Still a few flowers,
although they've taken some down.
It's been 7 years, you know.
I judge people by the way,
for example, Randy treated my kids.
Oh, and that was it for me.
If I start thinking
about that too much, I'll cry.
He went out of his way
to be really, really good to kids,
and that's how I judge people.
He loved Brooke and he loved kids.
I'm sure he probably would have said
yes at any time
to have kids with Liz.
It's a shame Liz
isn't in the Hall of Fame.
She was called the First Lady
of Wrestling for a reason.
She was the first significant
female star who never wrestled.
Because he had her at his side
made him even more special
because she was so special.
She was the first female
that was depicted in a powerful role.
She was beautiful, quiet,
but she was class.
Elizabeth was class.
Maybe a boy named Timmy
would come up with his father,
and they say,
"May I have your autograph, sir?"
And he'd say, "Whoa, yeah.
Here's the deal, Timmy.
I'm gonna sign your autograph,
but you do something for me."
"Well, what's that?"
"How ya doing in school, Timmy?
How you doing in school?
Your best?
'Cause Timmy, I'm gonna sign
your autograph,
but if you don't do well in school,
your best every single day,
it's gonna be
real, real bad for you."
Randy and Elizabeth,
greater than the sum of their parts,
were undoubtedly key
to each other's legacy.
Fans had never before experienced
a more emotional
and relatable storyline
on the complexity of love.
Together they transcended
television
and, well, wrestling too.
Even after the divorce,
they had love and respect
for each other.
They were true, true celebrities
and icons.
Not one person on earth
doesn't know who they were.
From a wrestler's point of view,
she's one of the greatest performers.
While both passed too soon,
they left an epic love story
that will last long
after they're gone.
To me, Randy Savage is
on the Mt. Rushmore of wrestling.
Could perform, could do
an interview, had the right look.
He was the Macho Man.
He was an innovator, a creator.
And he made the business better,
in my opinion.
I would call Randy Savage
one of the all-time greats.
And the real human being,
Randy Poffo,
was really a very good man
and a loving man.
A lot of art imitating life.
Sometimes in the world,
what really happens,
it's not really planned.
After you roll with it,
you turn into that character
or that dilemma that takes place.
I think people will always think
of her as Miss Elizabeth,
the one that'd been with Randy.
Don't remember her
with somebody else.
It just doesn't seem right.
That's what we were fed,
what we believed.