Savage vs. Michaels

[klunderbunker]

So the other night i was watching Macho Man's DVD and there's a rare title match against Shawn Michaels, who at the time was below what Miz is now. It made me chuckle to think about how Shawn would one day become the bigger star of the two. Then I got to thinking: is he?

Shawn Michaels and Randy Savage both will (or in Savage's case should) be in the WWE Hall of Fame someday. Both are some of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Both have resumes that most wrestlers would kill to have. Both have stolen more Wrestlemanias than most people have competed in. Both have been known to have backstage issues (Savage being a nutcase in the latter half of his career, Shawn being too high to walk at times). Both also have been considered the biggest star in the company at times (Savage was in the Summer of 92 when Hogan was gone). But at the end of the day, who is the better wrestler? When I say wrestler, I mean all around: in ring abilities, resume, mic skills, and anything else that I'm forgetting.

 

[Lancer]

This is a hard decision to make because I like both performers pretty equally. They both have led storied and memorable careers, and both have created many impressive and entertaining matches and moments to remember.

My vote here goes to HBK. Despite his inflated ego, his involvement in the Montreal Screwjob, and all of his other shortcomings, there's no denying his all around talent.

There is no need to list the plethora of 5-star caliber matches he has been involved in over the years. His willingness to effectively sell (in Hogan's case, over-sell) just about every move his opponents give him makes his matches seem believable. You would think the amount of damage he has accrued over the years would have shortened his career somewhat, but alas, no. He continues to put his body on the line in every matchup. Plus, his ability to tell a complete story from start to finish (even in 60-minute Iron Man matches, by god) has the fans glued to the action.

Of course, his promo ability is second to none, therefore making his feuds that much more interesting to watch. Give him half the credit for making the Y2J-HBK feud last year so phenomenal. Most really believed he was gonna hang up the boots for good (crying faces in the audience at SummerSlam, ha), but, as the feud continued, you knew he had a new sense of direction in taking Jericho out. Just seeing him practically beg to have the Unsanctioned Match at Unforgiven had some of my casual fan friends suspend their disbelief of wrestling for a moment.

Randy Savage was no slouch in the ring either (WM3 with Steamboat, of course), but most of his promos, especially in the latter part of his career, made him seem like a nut. And please forgive him for his commentary on Raw during that stint. I think these two guys are pretty much on par with one another, but in terms of storytelling and overall passion for his feuds, my vote goes to HBK.

 

[Mark0820]

Savage. I'd rather watch a Savage match any day of the week. Savage was main eventing when Hogan was around. HBK was an upper mid carder until after Bret left. I'll say that again, Savage was main eventing when the biggest star in wrestling's history was in his prime. The only thing HBK has on Savage is mic skills.

 

[CKDaimen]

It all depends on if you think Shawn Michaels is the best of all time (in the categories that were laid out - in ring ability, mic skills, resume, etc), which I do. If you consider Michaels the best of all time then he would beat out anybody. I think that most people should definitely have Michaels in the top 10 of all time, hands down. I don't know if Savage makes that cut. Savage is the guy who got me into wrestling so I'm not taking anything away from him, he was also amazing to watch in every capacity and is a true legend, but I think Michaels would make more Top 5 lists than Savage would, and I simply have Michaels at #1 because nobody tells a story in the ring like him, period. So I would have to go with Michaels.

 

[samboisdead]

As far as who is the bigger star that is easy. Macho Man has the Slim Jim commercials, he was in Spiderman, and has been on numerous television shows. This alone makes him a much bigger star because almost everyone knows who the Macho Man is but outside of the wrestling world I bet you could find alot of people that would be like ...HBwho? I am going to guess or at least hope the thread poster is young because if you were actually watching wrestling when Macho was big you wouldnt even ask that question. The truth is actually when Hogan came back Macho Man was way more over than him. It has always been my opinion that Hogan used the stroke he had back then to force Macho heel. If that hadnt happened I think Mach Man popularity and merchandise might have hit the level of Hogan/Austin numbers. Wrestling well that one is a little harder. They are both incredible. Honestly I cant remember ever seeing either have a bad match. Both missed significant time in the prime of their career had injurys or whatever not taken place who is to no what more we might of seen. Both were considered inovators at the begining of their careers. Macho Man probably had an easier time making it big that Shawn for the fact that he had a dad and brother who were both big in the sport already so Shawn gets a point there for coming from no where to make it. Also Macho was much bigger in his prime as far as muscularity goes so I am going to give Shawn another point for being one of the rare little guys of the time to really get huge. Personally if you told me I could onyl ever see one of the twos matches again I would choose Shawn. My opinion on this matter well I think it will be hard for anyone to argue with me who was a bigger star as far as wrestling skill goes well thats going to be an opinion of the writer because they were both incredible and you could make valid points either way. As far as mic skills I hear Macho Man get dissed alot but you have to rember it was a diffrent era and promos were diffrent back then. I loved the fact that Savage came off as a nutcase it created a whole new marketing gimmick for him rember Macho Madness? I really belived he was pissed off and if i was locked in a room with him I would have been legit scared. Plus I have heard that Macho was a little crazy. In my opinion in most of his promos he really belived what he said especially when it involved Liz. Plus most of the guys of that era had promos styles like this anyone remember Jimmy Snuka sounding like he was drunk and making no sense at all everytime he grabbed the mic. Well if you were their I bet you wouldnt have dared leaving the room and missing one word he said. I actually miss the old style over the top insane promos of yesterday but they have become sort of a joke of the modern day and wouldnt work today. Shawn well on the mic his only equal may be Flair. He makes you belive everything he says and it always seems like the world will end if he doesnt win. I guess this one again would be opinion because modern day people are going to say Shawn old school people are going to say Shawn couldnt have made it with his promo style in Savages day.

 

[Mark0820]

It all depends on if you think Shawn Michaels is the best of all time (in the categories that were laid out - in ring ability, mic skills, resume, etc), which I do. If you consider Michaels the best of all time then he would beat out anybody. I think that most people should definitely have Michaels in the top 10 of all time, hands down. I don't know if Savage makes that cut. Savage is the guy who got me into wrestling so I'm not taking anything away from him, he was also amazing to watch in every capacity and is a true legend, but I think Michaels would make more Top 5 lists than Savage would, and I simply have Michaels at #1 because nobody tells a story in the ring like him, period. So I would have to go with Michaels.

I don't. In terms of ring work, I'd put several ahead of him. Savage is one of them. Resume goes to Savage every day of the week. Savage gave his best no matter who he faced off against. When HBK doesn't get his way we get HBK/Hogan.

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

I admire both. Shawn Michaels calls himself Mr. WrestleMania now. I think you would have a hard time finding someone who had a better string of matches in the first ten WrestleManias than Macho Man. Shawn Michaels, especially in the last string of Manias since his return, has done the same thing: stolen the show. They are both so alike in that regard, it is insane. That being said, I call it a toss-up. I can't pick between either of them. Both will be remembered for a long time to come.

 

[SwimminInIndy]

The only thing HBK has on Savage is mic skills.

Macho's interviews were definatly more entertaining though. I was watching the Savage DVD the other day and just going through all the mic work.

The "Cream of the Crop" interview is just classic. He had like 5 or so creamers and kept pulling them out, and even put one on his head for a second.

That being said, I'll take Shawn.

 

[Super Crazy]

My vote goes to Macho Man Randy Savage. The man was amazing during in tenure in WWE. He just oozed charisma every time he touched the microphone. I always loved watching his promos. His on screen personality was so intense. I mean when he wanted you to feel his emotions, you could really feel his emotions, even with his unique voice.

I loved watching Randy Savage's matches. As I have said about many others, he isn't the most technically sound wrestler, he couldn't put on a wrestling clinic even if his life depended on it. But the man sure could tell a story in the ring. Sure Shawn can tell an amazing story in the ring ,but both men have different styles, hell Shawn uses Macho's elbow drop off the top rope for crying out loud.

Savage also, was able to main event while Hulk Hogan was just coming fully into Hulkamania. The man was the only one able enough to have enough star power to be able to draw, even while Hogan was around, which is probably the most difficult thing to do. Michaels only started to really main event when Bret left and I'd have to say, it was probably more then likely due to Bret leaving. But anyway, I prefer Savage to HBK , and I marked out huge when the Randy Savage DVD came out. I mean sure the man became a real nut case, but he was excellent in his golden days.

Long live the Macho King!!

 

[Kliq]

I am actually pleased to see arguments for both as I was starting to think people were getting a little anti-Savage. I'm not exactly sure how stating that Savage was main eventing when Hogan was biggest, because obviously there has to be someone else to compete against who would be pushed as such. What you actually need to look at would be if Savage was in his prime and HBK in his, which would have been the bigger star? I can see storylines where Savage the face and HBK the cocky heel, and Savage the big bad heel and HBK the young face, as they've both played both.

I think the opinions on Savage being the better in-ring man come from soley a nostalgic point, because personally I cannot see the two being in the ring together and Savage's moves and in-ring storytelling be any greater than HBK. As for promos and mic work, that is hard to tell because they both have such different styles and were at their best at completely different periods of time when the over the top Savage work would have been considered too exagerated in HBK's period, and Shawn's stuff would have been odd in the late 80's early 90's as well.

I love both of these guys, but I personally feel the better overall man is Shawn Michaels simply because I prefer his in-ring style and mic work, but I can certainly see why some people would feel the Macho Man is the greater of the two. Great thread, because it really makes me wish to have seen more of these two together. :]

 

[The Brain]

This is a tough call. Both men are unbelievably talented. As someone said before, Savage was Mr. WrestleMania for the first ten years as Shawn is now. Even though I was a little Hulkamaniac it was always Savage's mathces I looked forward to the most. Same goes for Shawn ever since Savage left in 1994. These two are about as close to equal as it comes.

I think Savage is the bigger star. When Savage walked through that curtain you knew a star had just entered the arena. He had an amazing presence on camera. I can't quite describe it. I guess it's that "it factor" we hear so much about. I'm not saying Shawn isn't a star, but I don't think he's on Savage's level when it comes to star power. My grandma has heard of Macho Man Randy Savage. If I mentioned the name Shawn Michaels she wouldn't know if I was talking about WWE, MLB, NFL or something else.

I do like Shawn's matches better. I love Savage's matches too, but I like the Shawn's a little more. Shawn does have an advantage since we've all probably seen a lot more of his matches (at least in WWE, I didn't watch much WCW). In Savage's day there were only four ppvs a year. Two of them did not offer singles matches. The big stars didn't wrestle on tv every week. I have had the opportunity to see Shawn a lot more so he has more matches that stand out.

Like I said these two are about as equal as it comes. I'll take Shawn's matches, but Savage is the bigger star.

 

[lamo78]

It is close in my opinion. HBK had Sherri, Macho had Elizabeth. Liz was hotter. Macho wins.

 

[TonyLegend13]

Macho Man had Sherri also when he was the Macho King and she was Queen Sherri. I'm going say Savage was the bigger star. I still impersonate Savage to this day. His promos are just more memorable to me that HBK's

 

[E.Quipped]

I have to go with HBK on this one.......bigger star and matches.....one of his WM entrances saw him come to the ring on a ZIPLINE! That was crazy for back then! Taking nothing away from Savage, b/c everyone knows he had several top notch feuds culminating in memorable PPV & SNME matches, but when it comes to staying power and longevity it's HBK all day. Outside of the few years HBK missed due to his back injury, he's been running strong in WWE since WM5 now....showing little signs of slowing down. And his last few Mania's have been classics...the storylines leading up to the match AND the matches themselves. I'm still a huge Savage fan, but his overexposure during his WCW stint dimished his star power for me. Think about it, HBK got to the top of the ladder, retired (the back injury, not the "lost my smile" deal) came back, reinvented himself, and climbed the ladder again. HBK gets my vote.

 

[ohb200303]

Put Michaels is my top 10? uuhh let me see: (1) Bret Hart (2) Mr. Perfict (3) Chris Benoit (4) Chris Jericho (5) Randy Savage (6) Steve Austin (7) Dean Malenko (8) Tajiri (9)Mikey Whipreck (10)Kurt Angle ... sorry.. no Micheals.. but that's WRESTLING ABILITY.. I laugh at the fact that Michaels is considered in the top 10 of WRESTLING. I can think of so many other WRESTLERS that are better than him.
Michaels is like Flair and Jeff Hardy. He's a spot man. Hell, half of ECW (and no not Vince's ECW)are better WRESTLERS than HBK. And I KNOW I will be given TONS of crap for this. But oh well. The man is OVER RAITED.

 

[The Brain]

Put Michaels is my top 10? uuhh let me see: (1) Bret Hart (2) Mr. Perfict (3) Chris Benoit (4) Chris Jericho (5) Randy Savage (6) Steve Austin (7) Dean Malenko (8) Tajiri (9)Mikey Whipreck (10)Kurt Angle ... sorry.. no Micheals.. but that's WRESTLING ABILITY.. I laugh at the fact that Michaels is considered in the top 10 of WRESTLING. I can think of so many other WRESTLERS that are better than him.
Michaels is like Flair and Jeff Hardy. He's a spot man. Hell, half of ECW (and no not Vince's ECW)are better WRESTLERS than HBK. And I KNOW I will be given TONS of crap for this. But oh well. The man is OVER RAITED.

You are supposed to take everything into consideration not just "wrestling ability." To even compare someone like Mikey Whipreck to Shawn Michaels is laughable.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

I don't. In terms of ring work, I'd put several ahead of him. Savage is one of them. Resume goes to Savage every day of the week. Savage gave his best no matter who he faced off against. When HBK doesn't get his way we get HBK/Hogan.

HBK/Hogan was Hogan's fault. Hogan only gives back to his friends and sometimes he didn't even do that. Not saying Shawn hasn't done that but Hogan gets a pass from a lot of people even though he was the biggest jackass when it came to giving back.

Now as far as the topic goes, I am grateful that I had the chance to watch both of these guys when they were in their prime. Both are/were tremendous wrestlers but IMO the edge goes to HBK.

When Shawn was main eventing you knew what you were going to get. Which was a great match. The style of his opponent didn't matter. Vader, Bulldog, Foley, Razor, Nash, Hart and UT. He was able to carry anyone to a decent match. Savage was not as gifted in that department. What got Savage over was his bigger than life persona. His Jekyll and Hyde persona. You didn't know what was going to happen next with him.

As far as mic work goes I think it's about even. Shawn had a way of making everything seem so real. But Savage as a heel was just as awesome. The guy just sounded like he was going to pop a blood vessel.

As far as who was the bigger superstar, Savage was. He had the commercials and was able to ride Hogan's coattails. As far as who was the better wrestler, like I posted above HBK. There was just that something special about his matches. While I liked Savage you knew once Hogan came back Savage was going to be in his shadow. Which is why I was extremely happy that Hogan was gone when Shawn got his chance. He already tried holding Hart back.


I don't care when they held their titles because it really doesn't matter. Same with their egos. Just about everyone in wrestling has an ego some are just bigger than others.

 

[TLC]

This is a very hard topic seeing as both are great, but too me i gotta choose Shawn Michaels seeing as i just love him, he's simply amazing, not that randy isn't he is awesome to but i was never around when Macho man was ruling so i never knew what it felt like so i think its gotta to Shawn. I Simply prefer Michael's matches more than Randy's so all around for me its Shawn.

 

[Xcaliber2001]

I have to say HBK. Overall mic skills, wrestling, etc. And I think the thing that people are forgetting is how much Shawn has done for the WWE in the past 5 years. Everybody talks about his ego but without HBK there would be no Randy Orton or Batista. He is not in wrestling for himself. Since 2002 he held the world title once for a month. He goes out there for the fans and developing new talent. He's doing something that I never saw the Macho Man do and that's help evolve other talent. Macho Man was part of the problem at WCW when they wouldn't support upcoming talent.

Plus when HBK's "ego" was a "problem"...he and Vince were on the losing end of the Monday Night War and he was trying everything he could to keep WWE in business. Without him we would be watching TNT every monday night and Wheel Chair Wrestling would be in full force.

 

[TheIconHBK]

2 of my fave all time wrestlers i loved to watch savage back in the original hogan era
wm3 against steamboat wm 7 against the warrior and wm8 with flair are 3 of savage's best matches particually in story telling
but overall i think HBK is slightly better and more memorable so many stand out wm matches and since hes been back from his injury has put a lot of guys over
which to be fair dont remember savage doing much
so love both guys but is HBK overall for me

 

[WunNightStan619]

Shawn Michaels is not even my favorite wrestler, but i will say this. Shawn Michaels is the singel greatest Sports Entertainer in westling history. He may not have been as big a star as savage, but as far as mic skills, performance in the ring, i really dont think many ppl are in Shawns league. Ill say Randy Savage was the "shawn michaels" of his time, but Shawn is in a league of his own. Just some of the things he wud do on live television was classic/priceless, Not taking anything away from Savage but i tihnk Shawn was better period...whoever sed HBK is a spot man is off there nut. In most matches he's in Shawn carries the entire match. Now-a-days Shawn isent what he used to be, but HBK in his prime cannot be touched as an ALL AROUND sports entertainer as far as wrestling, ring performance mic skills etc...

 

[Slam Master]

The Macho Man used to like to rehearse and plan out every aspect of his matches in his ring that he had at his Florida home. HBK would go out there, call everything besides a few spots that Pat Patterson or someone would come up with for showmanship.

HBK flied higher, bumped harder, chain-wrestled, cut promos at the same level just different style. I don't know who put Savage in the top ten of wrestling ability, he was a showman like Michaels. There's only so many times Savage can do the double axe in one single match before it gets old. He's great, don't get me wrong, but Michaels efforts almost alone kept the WWF alive during the nWo and Nitro rise in 1996. Savage had the opportunity to take advantage of Hogan's success(Savage lost to Hogan at WM4, and HBK lost to Hogan at Summerslam 2005) so they both lost to him. Michaels He outperformed his opponents and most of the time the person you remember out of an HBK match is what Michaels did.

 

[Liberace]

I can tell you now many despised Shawn Hickenbottom replace the h with a u know what! Many never liked him especially in montreal with the screwjob incident but many didn't like him when he went solo and broke up the tag team Midnight ROckers anyways
liek the fan had on his sign HBgay those were the chants at the bell center but not as loud as the "you screwed brett" chants that my friends and I started!
He claims he is Mr Wrestlemania which is a total lough he never started WM if anyone should be called that is Randy"Macho Man"Savage he started his Wrestlemania2 debut -up to WM10 not shawna michaels!
He is no showstopper or mr wrestlemania in my books he is not a technical wrestler either like Bret Hart he got better over the years but these 2 fought long time ago
RANDY SAVAGE beat SHAWN MICHAELS long time ago when he had sensational sherri with him in his corner
So there is your answer RANDY SAVAGE

 

[Hulkamaniac]

Are people really saying Shawn is good on the mic? The man is a great in ring performer, and he can especially take a bump, but his mic work is robotic unless he's making penis jokes. He can cut humorous promos...sometimes, but he can't cut a real promo

 

[Innovator_Of_Offense]

Can't cut a REAL promo? Are you kidding me? Michaels/Jericho feud leading into summerslam last year. The entire storyline leading into his no holds barred encounter with Vince at WrestleMania Shawn is an undeniable contender for best mic skills in the game today.