He was quite the character. I saw some of his pre WWF promos when he wrestled in his father's promotion. Very charismatic and talented, and you can see why Vince McMahon picked him up when he was raiding territories back in the day.
Savage was known as a perfectionist, a control freak. Someone who rehearsed his matches day in and day out until he and his opponent had the moves down cold.
Nice. And I knew there was some reason why I liked him so much, but I never really knew why. Now I know.
Where I grew up, there was a lot of baseball talent; athletically and mentally. Somehow teams from our region wound up in state finals a lot, but it almost never crossed the threshold into professional ball. The closest anyone I knew got was a guy I played street ball with, R. J. Loeber, who was drafted by the M's in 89 or 90, but never made it out the minors. I remember being the first pick in our town little league's draft after tryouts and I ended up with the worst team; they had gone 2-20 the season before. My presence only tacked on a few more wins, but it was step in the right direction for the team, which the following year (after I "graduated" to Senior League ball) they became the top team in the region for a few years.
Meanwhile I had dumped playing organized ball because of what I perceived as high politics among the coaches and league officials who were no more than parents trying to gain advantages for their own kids, naturally. Two years later the beginning of a series of grand mal seizures marked the end of any realistic aspirations I had of becoming a pro athlete in anything. Through all that, my saving grace was art and writing.
The real stories behind guys like him always turn out to be far more interesting then what they were known for. I think I appreciated his Macho Man character after his wrestling days because it segued into funny spots so easily. But the lesson from all this is the motivation to be great at something, even if it's not what you expected it to be.
He was quite the character. I saw some of his pre WWF promos when he wrestled in his father's promotion. Very charismatic and talented, and you can see why Vince McMahon picked him up when he was raiding territories back in the day.
Savage was known as a perfectionist, a control freak. Someone who rehearsed his matches day in and day out until he and his opponent had the moves down cold.
Another piece of my childhood, gone. Jeez
Nice. And I knew there was some reason why I liked him so much, but I never really knew why. Now I know.
Where I grew up, there was a lot of baseball talent; athletically and mentally. Somehow teams from our region wound up in state finals a lot, but it almost never crossed the threshold into professional ball. The closest anyone I knew got was a guy I played street ball with, R. J. Loeber, who was drafted by the M's in 89 or 90, but never made it out the minors. I remember being the first pick in our town little league's draft after tryouts and I ended up with the worst team; they had gone 2-20 the season before. My presence only tacked on a few more wins, but it was step in the right direction for the team, which the following year (after I "graduated" to Senior League ball) they became the top team in the region for a few years.
Meanwhile I had dumped playing organized ball because of what I perceived as high politics among the coaches and league officials who were no more than parents trying to gain advantages for their own kids, naturally. Two years later the beginning of a series of grand mal seizures marked the end of any realistic aspirations I had of becoming a pro athlete in anything. Through all that, my saving grace was art and writing.
The real stories behind guys like him always turn out to be far more interesting then what they were known for. I think I appreciated his Macho Man character after his wrestling days because it segued into funny spots so easily. But the lesson from all this is the motivation to be great at something, even if it's not what you expected it to be.