5 Reasons Randy Savage Was Better As A Babyface (& 5 Why He Was Best As A Heel)
If there’s one thing pretty much any wrestling fan can agree on, it’s that Macho Man Randy Savage is great. He’s a fantastic wrestler, one of the most over-the-top personalities in the history of the sport, and a fine spokesperson for Slim Jims. Despite being loved by fans, he wasn't always a fan favorite. Savage has worked as both face and heel, whether he was harassing Ricky Steamboat or turning on Hulk Hogan in WWE, or joining Hogan and the nWo in WCW.
Related: 10 Pieces Of Randy Savage Fan Art That Are Simply Stunning
So which is the superior Randy Savage alignment -- is he an awesome heel, or an undeniable babyface? There are pretty good reasons for both, but so let’s evaluate.
10 Babyface: Countdown to Heel Turn
One of the best parts about any Macho Man Randy Savage babyface run is that it’s basically a countdown to Macho returning to the dark side, and that’s great.
Savage went from trying to kill Ricky Steamboat with a ring bell to teaming with Hulk Hogan, and it was a matter of time before the ever-volatile Savage would let his worst qualities take hope and explode The Mega Powers. In other words, great fuel for even more drama.
9 Heel: Redemption Story
There’s a flip side, of course. Randy Savage being a heel creates a possibility for a redemption story. After all, fans can better identify with someone who’s trying to be good rather than someone who just inherently is good.
After turning on Hogan, Savage was a heel for two years before losing a Retirement Match to Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VII. The post-match where Miss Elizabeth returns to fight off Queen Sherri led to one of the great emotional moments in pro wrestling -- Randy Savage reuniting with Miss Elizabeth, facilitating a face turn.
8 Babyface: Protected Miss Elizabeth
Poor Miss Elizabeth. There’s no valet, manager, or woman in wrestling who had it as bad as her. She was just this pleasantly pretty lady working in an era full of excessively violent maniacs, so she was constantly in danger, like a real-life Princess Peach. The entire Jake Roberts feud alone involved him literally trying to murder her.
Related: Hulk Hogan Vs. Macho Man: 10 Things About Their Long-Time Rivalry You Never Knew
But when Randy Savage was a babyface, he could be trusted to watch out for her, as he was at least an excessively violent maniac who was in her corner. Sure, the real babyface move would be to tell her to stay far away from any building with The Honky Tonk Man in it, but still.
7 Heel: Overprotective of Miss Elizabeth
With a heel turn, you can take certain aspects or qualities already present in a babyface and tweak them so that they’re negative.
Randy Savage is a perfect candidate for that -- he’s always striving to protect his girlfriend as a babyface, so what if, as a heel, he’s actually overprotective and jealous? It’s the whole basis of the Mega Powers Explode angle -- Hulk Hogan was being too chummy with Miss Elizabeth, so Savage’s protectiveness turned into bitter overprotectiveness, and Savage turned on his bro.
6 Babyface: Teaming With Hogan
Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan forming The Mega Powers was a big moment in late ‘80s WWE that certainly lived up to the tag team name. This was two of the biggest stars of the World Wrestling Federation -- and former rivals! -- forming a united front to blow little kids’ minds and make lots of money.
They ended up teaming up again as heels later in their careers over in WCW, but it was really something electric when they did it in their primes.
5 Heel: Fighting Hogan
Despite the supergroup vibes of The Mega Powers, Hulk and Macho did not always get along in real life, and that shoot tension can lead to some great kayfabe work under the right circumstances.
After two years as a team, their relationship broke down and Savage turned on Hogan, setting up a pretty awesome match at WrestleMania V chock full of pathos and personal beef. Never mind that Hulk Hogan won, it was still awesome.
4 Babyface: Better For Slim Jims
‘90s kids remember the insane ads for Slim Jims that would air on TV during any time an impressionable youth would be watching. Some kids would be bored out of their stulls, stuck doing homework at the library or whatever, then this living inflatable tube man comes in and starts biting into sticks of meat so hard the computers would explode.
Related: Macho Man's 5 Best (& 5 Worst) Attires
Randy Savage’s destruction of property to ensure kids didn’t die of boredom and had more than the daily recommended value of sodium intake is nothing if not babyface behavior.
3 Heel: Savage/Steamboat
Heel Savage is responsible for one of the greatest matches WWE ever put on -- Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania III. It’s the actual best match of the show, a meticulously planned classic where consummate babyface Steamboat took on heel Savage for the Intercontinental Championship.
It’s a defining match for the IC strap and remains the yardstick by which many WWE matches are judged.
2 Babyface: Fans Love Macho Man
Try as WWE might, they can’t really control how a crowd reacts to a wrestler, and fans will ultimately appreciate a wrestler who is really, really good at his job.
Randy Savage spent a good chunk of the ‘80s as a heel in WWE, and eventually -- like more recent examples like The New Day, Steve Austin, and CM Punk -- crowds started to realize that Savage was awesome. Sometimes you have to give the crowd what they want, so Savage needed to be a face because the fans were ready for it and willing to accept it.
1 Heel: He Was a Great Heel
As much as it’s nice to cheer for the guy you like, it’s just as (if not more) fulfilling to see a wrestler do their job really, really well.
While Randy Savage was easy to cheer for, he was also the kind of talent that excelled at being a heel, and it would have been a shame to waste those talents. After all, wrestling always needs great heels, or else fans would have less reason to cheer for Hulk Hogan.
Next: Hulk Hogan Vs. Macho Man: 10 Things About Their Long-Time Rivalry You Never Knew
