For this day in wrestling history, we’re remembering Miss Elizabeth who left us on May 1, 2003. We tend to remember the stars of professional wrestling more than anyone else, but Elizabeth Hulette, better known as Miss Elizabeth to wrestling fans, made her mark as one of, if not the first valet to gain mainstream attention. She didn’t wrestle, but she was as integral to Randy “Macho Man” Savage’s career as she was his life, and professional wrestling would be poorer if she hadn’t been involved.
Early life
Born in 1960, the First Lady of Wrestling hadn’t planned on becoming an icon and revolutionize the business when she graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in communications and began working in the offices of International Championship Wrestling (ICW).
It was there she met Randall Poffo, Randy Savage. According to her family and friends, it was love at first sight between the two. They were married in 1984, and the WWE worked that into their storylines during the latter part of their run with the promotion.
Though she never stepped into the ring as a competitor (the closest she came was to pull Sherri Martell off of Savage following his loss to the Ultimate Warrior in a career ending match. It reunited the pair storyline-wise), her presence had been the center of some of the greatest storylines in the promotion’s history. The WWE has been chasing that success with storylines with couples ever since.
Final years
Elizabeth spent her final years managing and dating Lex Luger. Days before her death, he was charged with battery for allegedly giving her two black eyes. Then on May 1, 2003 she passed away from a drug overdose. She was 42 years old, making this day in history a tragic one.
Luger was arrested for drug possession after the police searching his home and found various amounts of drugs and alcohol. He was never charged with her death, as it had been ruled accidental.
On Primetime with Sean Mooney, Luger went into detail about what happened the day she died.
(special thanks to prowrestlingstories.com for the transcript)
“I had spent the day with my son, and later spent the night watching movies with Elizabeth, popping some pills, drinking some vodka…” He continues, “Right before I called 911, she was standing next to the microwave and I was heating us up some Boston Market meatloaf and mashed potatoes, one of our favorites. She had gotten up to the microwave to help out and I told her, “I got this, Liz. Sit down, I got this.” Once he took her the food, Luger saw that she was unresponsive and thought she had fallen asleep. “One minute she was fine standing next to me at the microwave, the next minute I thought she was sleeping on the couch and I told her, ‘Hey Liz, wake up, eat your grub.”
When she didn’t respond and he saw her pupils dilated, he called 9-1-1. The paramedics were there in minutes and he believed she’d be fine.
Explaining further on Mooney’s show (special thanks to wrestletalk.com for the transcript, he said, “I was sitting out in my front yard and they told me that she didn’t make it. So, I remember, when they went through my place, they found all the drugs and alcohol. That was part of my lifestyle back then. They arrested me on drug possession… people talk about what was the low point because I remember thinking about they take your shoelaces, they take everything from me when you get checked in the jail.”
This was nothing but a tragedy for all those involved, and her death continues to haunt Lex Luger. Sometimes, this day in wrestling history is never forgotten.
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