Before Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage died in a car accident on May 20th, he was lucky to have done well enough to avoid the small-time wrestling circuit late in life. You know, the kind of badly-attended, poorly-planned event that takes place in a high school gym and the performers are lucky to walk away with $20 for their efforts. Like the ones featured in The Wrestler.
Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage Tribute Show An Epic Disaster
Which brings me to the Randy “Macho Man” Savage tribute show held at Port Richey’s All Sports Arena outside Tampa.
Among the issues that plagued the show...
- Billed as a fundraiser for All Children’s Hospital and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, neither hospital claimed to be involved with the show, nor did they approve usage of their names or receive any money from the event.
- Eight star names were used to promote the event, only half showed up. One of the no-shows included Savage’s brother, Leapin’ Lanny Poffo, who says he never agreed to attend in the first place
- The band that played the event was not paid.
- 150 people showed up, paying $5-$10 each, yet no one saw any of that money except for promoters, despite the fact that the money was advertised as going to the aforementioned hospitals.
- “The Legend” Ox Baker flew in from Connecticut for the event expecting only to be reimbursed for his flight. As you might imagine, he was not.
- As the wrestlers and fans revolted during the event, promoter Dino Puglia announced he was having a cardiac emergency and took off. This was midway through the evening.
RIP, Macho Man.
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