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A new video has been released featuring “Macho Man” Randy Savage promoting the upcoming WWE All-Stars video game. This is big news since Randy Savage has been persona non grata in the WWE for years. Will this finally lay to rest the urban legend about Savage and a teenage Stephanie McMahon?

The commercial stars Randy Savage cutting a vintage “Macho Man” promo to push the upcoming video game. The game plays in the background which features several versions of Randy Savage. From what I can see by the ad, Randy Savage will be a big if not the focal part in the upcoming video game. This would be the first time a WWE video game will include Randy Savage since the 1990s. Savage looks more Santa Claus in the ad than the Macho King but it is still fun seeing Savage back in the WWE fold.

Randy Savage has not been a part of the WWE since October 1994 when he left the WWE to sign with rival WCW. With the emphasis on the WWE Hall of Fame over the last few years being bigger than ever, Savage’s name has come up numerous times for obvious reasons. However, Vince McMahon reportedly had such a deep grudge with Savage that staff had become terrified of even bringing up Savage’s name as a suggestion to the Chairman of the Board. Vince is known for his vendettas but this is a guy that did business with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff after WCW died and has reportedly reached out to Ultimate Warrior for the Hall even after being sued by the Warrior. Having a deeper grudge with Savage over guys like Hogan, Warrior, and Bischoff just never made a lot of sense. That is why all of this has led to one of the biggest urban legends in all of pro wrestling.

The urban legend that has floated around pro wrestling circles for the last several years revolves around Randy Savage and Stephanie McMahon. Legend has it that there was some kind of indiscretion that occurred to between Savage and a very young Stephanie. Nobody has ever confirmed this other than several close friends of Savage mentioning that they have heard the rumors but none ever confirming this actually happened. Other than something as traumatic as this, the blackballing of Savage over guys that have done much more to try and harm Vince never made any sense.

Hulk Hogan was actually asked about it on his radio show. He responded, “”What’s that got to do with anything, I mean Stephanie’s a grown woman,” asked Hogan. “You know, Macho, his name has never been uttered again out of Vince McMahon’s mouth, and I’ve been back several times – the SummerSlam’s with Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton, the big RAW anniversary – and you’re right brother, ooh yeah, that Macho Man’s name has never been mentioned. If that’s true, maybe that’s the reason he never went back there. I’ll do a little digging around.”

We’re still waiting Hulk.

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A bridge was slightly rebuilt when the WWE produced a Randy Savage DVD last year entitled Macho Madness: The Randy Savage Collection. Unlike the Ultimate Warrior’s DVD who Vince also had a personal vendetta with, this DVD was fairly complimentary to the former WWE champion (and got him sued). It should be noted that Savage did not appear in the DVD or do any promotion for the home video.

A second step to rebuilding the bridge came over the summer. Mattel announced that they would be releasing a Randy Savage action figure as part of their “Defining Moments” series over the summer of 2010. Savage cut a promo promoting the figure in his WrestleMania VII outfit. The action figure marked the first Randy Savage WWE figure in 15 years.

WWE Defining Moments Randy Savage – Wrestlemania 7 Collector Figure Series #1

Seeing Randy Savage in a commercial that will air all over WWE programming tells me that the gate has been lifted and Vince McMahon has welcomed Randy Savage back into the fold. No announcement about Savage going into the WWE Hall of Fame has been made but I think it is fair to say after seeing this commercial it isn’t a matter of if, it is a matter of when. With Shawn Michaels going in this year, that takes Michaels, Hogan, Flair, Steve Austin, and Roddy Piper off the table of future inductees. Randy Savage, the Ultimate Warrior, and The Rock are the only real headliners left unless Bruno Sammartino changes his mind. The induction makes sense for business and is more deserved than 75% of the inductees in the Hall.

Regardless of the game it is just great to see Randy Savage back in the WWE fold. At some point it would be nice to see Hogan back as well but I don’t see that happening for a few years. For fans like me that grew up in the 80s, Savage was a big part of childhood as wrestling fans. Next to Hogan and Warrior, Savage was the third biggest pro wrestling star of that golden era of the WWE. It would be nice to see him show up live on RAW for a fitting tribute or play the role of ambassador to the company.

As for the video game, the game will mix legends and current WWE superstars including The Rock. it looks great but so did Legends of WrestleMania. I am a very casual gamer but I must say that I was stoked about Legends when I saw the commercial. Unfortunately after playing the game for 10 minutes I have to conclude that it was one of the worst video games I ever played in my life. It was beyond horrendous and probably available in a $5 bin somewhere. WWE All-Stars may look great but I’ll believe it when I see it after the debacle known as Legends of WrestleMania.

WWE: Macho Madness – The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection

Pre-order WWE All-Stars Video Game for Xbox 360 and PS3

See some of Randy Savage’s classic Memphis matches on the Classic Memphis Wrestling – All Roads Lead to Memphis DVD

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