All good things must come to an end, and on this day in wrestling history Randy Savage made his final WCW appearance.
May 2, 2000 was an odd day as WCW was on the biggest downslide in the company’s history that lead to the end of the Monday Night Wars and WWE buying them.
To help garner ratings, WCW executives reached out to one of their former talents that helped make them a force in the wrestling world.
This Day in Wrestling History (5/2) – Randy Savage Makes his Final WCW Appearance
Randy Savage agreed to appear on WCW Thunder in the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee in what would be his final appearance for them as he wasn’t under contract and it was a one time deal.
The mindset of WCW at the time leaves a lot of head scratching in their wake with some of their decisions, like not promoting Savage being there to boost the ratings.
In many ways, it’s typical WCW as they often couldn’t get out of their own way, but the fact it ended up being Savage’s last appearance that makes this day in wrestling history a love/hate episode for many.
Missed opportunity
A great question many as is since Savage wasn’t under contract, why did the WWE use him in their Invasion angle following their purchase of WCW?
It’s a great question, and the answer may not be all that surprising.
The common belief is that he was riding out his contract like Goldberg, Kevin Nash, and Hulk Hogan, but that’s not the case.
It’s believed that he wasn’t brought back as Vince McMahon had a grudge against him for taking the Slim Jim account with him to WCW and costing Vince millions.
This isn’t farfetched as King Kong Bundy stated in a shoot interview that him taking a side deal put him on the outs with Vince and resulted in him being buried at the end of his first run and then when he returned a couple years later.
It’s worth noting at the start of the Monday Night Wars, Vince portrayed himself and the WWE as the underdog despite it being reversed and claimed poverty throughout.
It’s been said that he had trouble making payroll and some like Jim Ross said they were making peanuts as a result.
It may be true and it may not, but one thing for sure is they missed a great chance to bring Savage back to have matches with new opponents and be the head of the WCW-ECW Invasion storyline instead of Steve Austin.
As great as it would’ve been for Savage and the fans, in the end, it was a judgement call.
How would you like to have seen Savage close out his WCW and WWE careers? Let us know in the comments below.
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