The 1st part of the Dark Side of the Ring tells the story of a personal favourite of mine Macho Man Randy Savage but focuses more on his girlfriend Miss Elizabeth. Most wrestling fans probably know most of the history of Savage and Elizabeth but as someone who watched wrestling growing up and thought it was real, I never knew the story behind their relationship. Savage and Elizabeth met while he was an up and coming wrestler and she was a TV announcer, they soon fell in love and married only after 6 months of being together.
On-screen, Savage was paranoid, overprotective and an over jealous partner, he would threaten anyone who even looked at her. During their time together on screen, she was the object of affections from many other wrestlers which caused feuds including famously with Hulk Hogan. Unfortunately, life sometimes imitates art and Savage was as controlling and overprotective of Elizabeth in real life. The documentary talks about their relationship outside of the ring. Hulk Hogan ex-wife was close friends with Elizabeth and tells stories of how when Savage was on tour, he would need to know exactly where she was.
Eventually, Elizabeth had enough of Randy controlling ways and divorced in 1992. Despite the divorce, it’s clear that Savage still cared for Elizabeth and when he moved over to WCW in 1996, he got Elizabeth a job there.
Elizabeth would go on to meet wrestler Lex Luger who was married with kids. They would do a lot of drugs together which made for a volatile relationship and he was involved in a domestic dispute when Elizabeth was found with bruises, cuts and bumps. Luger was charged with battery and released on bail. A few weeks after the incident on 1st May 2003, Elizabeth was found dead in the townhouse they shared from a drugs overdose. The coroner rules her death was accidental. Savage was devastated when he heard the news, but he eventually moved on remarried, only to die of a heart attack in 2011 while driving.
I never really knew much about what was going on behind the scenes between Savage and Elizabeth. Savage was a larger than life character with his attitude and the way he talked would have me in stitches laughing. This was a fascinating insight into their relationship, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of wrestling or like me, was a fan of wrestling and remembers these characters fondly.
Its currently available to watch on Channel 4 On Demand.
Hybrid Rules.
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