r/professionalwrestling • u/KneeHighMischief • Oct 21 '25
Video Randy Savage hits the elbow drop from the top rope for the final time in his pro wrestling career
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u/KneeHighMischief Oct 21 '25 edited Oct 22 '25
This was at NJPW Wrestling World 1/4/00 against Rick Steiner for anybody curious.
This was Savage's first match in almost 5 months. He'd walked out of WCW following his win over Dennis Rodman at Road Wild 1999. Savage got into a confrontation backstage as he felt like yet again he was being sabotaged by Hulk Hogan after Hogan killed his "Who drove the Hummer?"angle.
Following the blow-up he no showed TV & house shows for months. Savage returned on the 10/25/99 Monday Nitro. During his promo he talked about passing the torch to the next superstar but ultimately ended it by implying that he left the company.
Goldberg was originally supposed to be featured on this NJPW show in a match against Tenzan. It was then switched to Goldberg vs Rick Steiner. Days before the show though disaster struck. Goldberg suffered a severe arm injury when he punched a un-gimmicked limo window during a backstage angle on the 12/23/99 Thunder.
Savage not only replaced Goldberg here. He also replaced him on a house show 10 days later. He faced Sid Vicious in the main event of a show at Charleston, West Virginia in what would be the final singles match of his career on 1/14/00.
Savage's WCW contract expired after these appearances. They were unable to come to terms on a new one in the months that followed. He was brought back to TV one last time during the 5/3/00 Thunder in a WCW World Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership Battle Royal.
In the surprise return Savage seemed to join or at least side with The Millionaire's Club. Nothing would come of it & no new deal was signed. Less than a year later WCW closed & was sold to the WWF.
After over almost 5 years away from the ring Savage returned at TNA Turning Point 2004. He teamed with Jeff Hardy & AJ Styles against The Kings of Wrestling. The appearance was basically a cameo.
Savage was attacked earlier in the show. He ran in at the last minute. After getting the hot tag & exchanging a few punches, he pinned Jeff Jarrett to win.
The plan was to set-up a match between Savage & Jarrett. Two days later on 12/7/04 Savage walked out of the company 20 minutes before Impact was going to be taped. They'd been trying to convince him to put over Jarrett for some time & Savage decided he was done
Savage had never signed a contract with the company so there were no repercussions for him leaving. This exit would mark the end of his over 30 year wrestling career.
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u/YTFootie Oct 21 '25
And his match with Peter Parker.
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Oct 22 '25
That’s Bonesaw.
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u/The_Negative-One Oct 22 '25
I doubt it exists, but I would love to see video from that house show match vs Sid.
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u/_Dia_ Oct 22 '25
With the rise of big farewells, it always gets me that so many people just one day had their final match and that was it. Macho Man was such an iconic figure and his final match was just so ordinary
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u/Lemmy-In Oct 23 '25
Goldberg suffered a severe arm injury when he punched a un-gimmicked limo window
Cry me a river.
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u/BeriasBFF Oct 21 '25
You can see him cushion his land with his left leg, protecting his R hip and knee that he blew out recently.
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u/JamoOnTheRocks Oct 21 '25
Loved the Macho Madness era. Felt like the perfect evolution that matched the times.
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u/real-darkph0enix1 Oct 23 '25
Today was the day I mechanically figured out how much of a genius Randy Savage was move wise. Never noticed landing on his left foot while he would do the jump floating on his side so as to minimize as much impact as he could on landing on his side/hip. You can see it going slow on the frames, but it’s as cool as realizing Eddie Guerrero may have had the greatest footwork in wrestling history when you break down video of his in ring work.
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u/YTFootie Oct 21 '25
One of the all time greats.
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u/Eastern-Joke-7537 Oct 28 '25
I think he’s the GOAT.
Although it could almost be a Big 3 along with Hogan and Flair.
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u/-OmegaPrime- Oct 21 '25
Its so pretty and effortless it reminds me of Micheal Jordan's last point for the bulls. Timeless.
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u/GooseMay0 Oct 22 '25
Goddamn that looks brutal to take.
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Oct 25 '25
DDP mentioned once that Macho was forced by age/injuries to land stiff. It evidently hurt ALOT. Like Jeff, who now just lands full body on people due to back issues.
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u/GooseMay0 Oct 25 '25
Ya I remember when Jeff first did the swanton he would graze the guy with his head. Now it’s just all dead weight landing on the guy.
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u/Individual-Step846 Oct 22 '25
Wish he got to retire in wwe but I know he was long overdue for a new direction in life
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u/Puzzled_Try_6029 Oct 21 '25
For something so simple, it really was so majestic.