WWE: Macho Madness - The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection

Introduction

Of all the memorable professional wrestlers of the 1980s, there may only be a handful more easy to recollect than Randy "Macho Man" Savage. A two-time WWF (now WWE) champion, Savage is instantly recognisable with his high-speed wrestling, his outrageous interviews, and even his somehow-apt theme song "Land of Hope and Glory".
 
This three-disc retrospective has been a long time in coming - apparently due to a lot of ill-feeling between Savage and WWE chairman Vince McMahon - but that's made up for in some part with nearly 9 hours of footage available here. Presented by Matt Striker and Maria, those 9 hours surprisingly do not include the customary documentary.
 
 

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. A warning at the beginning of the DVD suggests that there "may be imperfections" in the video due to it being archive footage, but while some of the footage hardly showcases the pyro-laden WWE of today, it does look excellent for material of this type. It's hardly like so much non-WWE wrestling of that era, which survives in poor quality if it survives at all.
 
 

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, which is mildly disappointing given that the American DVDs use Dolby Digital 5.1. It's a negligible issue for a DVD of this type of course, but there's also the feeling that the European region 2 release is paying the price for having to cope with the additional German language track.
 
The audio itself has a thoroughly clean sound, and commentary, crowd noise etc. is always easily heard beside the other.
 
It should be noted that there are minor censorship issues, as WWE are not permitted to use the phrase "WWF" (a legacy of a lawsuit with the World Wildlife Fund), and some entrance theme music has been changed due to licensing issues.
 
 

Extras

There are some great extras here to compliment the footage in the main feature. The first is a look at the "wedding" of Savage and valet Miss Elizabeth (in reality, the two were married years earlier and this wedding, in 1991, came in what would be the final years of matrimony), which is just about as cheesy as you can get in the soap-opera world of wrestling, but somehow still manages to push some of the correct emotional buttons.
 
There's also a look at the debut of Elizabeth, and also the "Coronation of the Macho King", as Savage accepts the title of "King" of the WWF, following his defeat of "King Hacksaw" Duggan.
 
Finally, there are a number of promos (interviews) here, including some of Savage's most memorable segments. A unique talker, Savage's wild-man persona is believable throughout.
 
 

Main feature

With the surprising lack of documentary here, the matches are the selling point of this DVD, and they certainly don't let anyone down.
 
The high points of the DVD come in Savage's matches with Ricky Steamboat (Wrestlemania III), Hulk Hogan (Wrestlemania V), the Ultimate Warrior (Wrestlemania VII), and Ric Flair (Wrestlemania VIII), but there's plenty more to offer here than just the matches from wrestling's biggest show of the year. Of particular note is the fantastic 1992 match with Shawn Michaels from Sheffield, England, which is one of the best bouts of Savage's short title run in that year. There's also a very interesting match with a soon-to-retire Bruno Sammartino here, with Sammartino showing the fire which made him one of the biggest stars in all of wrestling, amazing given the fact that he was 52 years old at the time, and had never recovered from a legitimate broken neck suffered in a match with Stan Hansen in 1976.
 
The 1990 rematch with Hulk Hogan (featuring James "Buster" Douglas as second referee) is a lot of fun, as is the 1997 Falls Count Anywhere clash with Diamond Dallas Page in WCW. A shockingly fun match is the bout with the late Yokozuna, which is more quickly paced than anyone could have imagined.
 
The other bouts are also far from duds, and the two WCW bouts with Ric Flair are very watchable, as are the 1985 bouts with Steamboat and Hogan, and the two contests with Ted DiBiase in 1988. If you need mention of the worst bout available, it's by far the Savage & Sensational Sherri mixed tag team contest with Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire. But mercifully, it's short and not as insulting as it had every right to be.
 
 

Overall

Overall, The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection is a tremendously fun 8 ½ hours of professional wrestling, from one of the most exciting performers in the modern history of the industry. For fans of the "Macho Man", this collection is a must-have. For fans of wrestling, it should "only" be towards the top of your shopping list.