Hulk Hogan On Reconciling With Randy Savage Before His Death, Their Year-Long Rivalry, More
WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan recently spoke with the WWE website to discuss his relationship with WWE Hall of Famer Randy Savage. The interview marked more than 25 years since The Mega Powers did battle in an emotional main event at WrestleMania 5 in Atlantic City, which saw The Hulkster capture the WWE Title from The Macho Man.
The piece noted that Hogan let his guard down for this interview to reveal the behind-the-scenes details about The Mega Powers, how they reconciled decades later, and why he misses his old friend. Hogan talked about what it was like working the year-long rivalry with Savage, something rarely done these days.
"Well, you know, first off when you work with Randy, it's intense," Hogan said. "The only other person that I could call at three or four o'clock in the morning to talk about wrestling and would even answer their phone is Vince McMahon. And that's how Randy was. Except Randy called me! 'Hey, brother. Got an idea.' So when you got in bed with Randy, you were in it for the long haul.
"Good or bad, brother. He's going to drag you through the mud whether you like it or not. And it was intense, because Randy was such a passionate person, and he was so in love with Elizabeth. Dude, I'm telling ya, the lines were so blurry with business."
Hogan was asked if he preferred Savage as a partner or as a rival. Hogan preferred Macho as a rival, because he was money in the bank and so good in the ring.
"Rival," Hogan said. "Brother, he was money in the bank. Everybody paid to see Randy and I go at it. I could wrestle him four times in a row at Madison Square Garden and sell every seat out. I'd much rather work against him, because he was so good in the ring."
Hogan was also asked where Savage ranks among all of Hogan's WrestleMania opponents.
"Damn. You know, you can't take anything away from that Andre match, brother," Hogan said of his legendary WrestleMania 3 moment with WWE Hall of Famer Andre the Giant. "That's a WrestleMania moment ? 93,000 people and Andre passing the torch to me. That match with The Rock, where I had been working for a different company, actually competing against this company, and coming back here as the dark horse. The crowd showed their loyalty, that was huge.
"But if I really, really, really had to go with consistency, friendship and always being there for me, Randy would be the favorite guy. That's why it was so tough when we had that blow-up when he got divorced. He didn't want to have anything to do with me for eight years. I just thank God that we got back together before he passed away."
Hogan recalled how he and Savage patched things up after an encounter at a local doctor's office, years later.
"We ran into each other at a doctor's office," Hogan said of their reconciliation. "I was on my seventh or eighth back surgery, and I couldn't pass an EKG because I was getting just jammed up with anesthesia every three or four months. They couldn't get my back right. My back was collapsing and they were telling my new wife Jennifer I'd never walk again and all of this craziness. Jennifer and I were sitting on those little seats in the doctor's office in Tampa and all of a sudden the door opens and in comes Randy. 'Yeeeah! Ooooh yeah! What's up?' I went, '[Gasp].'
"Freaked me out, scared me to death. And he goes, 'Hey, brother. What's up, Hogan?' He had that gleam in his eye and looked really healthy. He gained his weight back and he had a wedding ring on. I said, 'Hey, Mach, what's up with the ring?' He said, 'Hey, just married my childhood sweetheart.'"
Hogan continued and was asked how long this encounter was before Savage passed. The Macho Man passed away on May 20, 2011 at the age of 58 after suffering a sudden heart attack while he was driving with his wife.
"Probably three or four months," Hogan continued. "We talked on the phone a couple of times. I invited him over to have a barbeque, and really got back on track, which was cool.
"Later, I was with Lanny, his brother, at an independent wrestling show. He told me their mom wasn't doing so well with [Randy's father] Angelo passing away. So we had planned on having a barbeque at her house ? because I got along well with Randy's mom ? and try to cheer her up. So, Lanny and I called Randy from the arena. Three days later, he had the heart attack. It was crazy."