Savage worked a triple bill against Hogan at MSG. Many thought he'd be the one to finally defeat Hogan for the strap. After beating Hogan by count-out and disqualification, Pro Wrestling Illustrated had a cover story that read "Randy Savage proves, Hulkamania is Dead!" That was also Savage's key statement in interviews about upcoming matches with Hogan. Finally, Hogan got the better of Savage in their blowoff battles, which were usually lumberjack matches.

Although Savage did not manage to dethrone Hogan for the World Heavyweight Title, he eventually did catch up with Tito Santana. In Boston Gardens, Savage used a small barbell from his trunks to knock out the Latin sensation for the three count and win the belt in February of 1986. Santana had a long series of rematches with Savage, and many thought he'd regain the belt once again, just like Santana did when Greg Valentine won the belt from him. But Savage was far and away the best worker in the promotion in those years, and it would have been ludicrous to take the gold away from him at this time.  Santana did have many fantastic matches with Savage, as both were fabulous workers at the time.

In Erie, for instance, Santana actually won their first encounter when Savage intentionally hit the referee to cause his own disqualification to keep his belt. Their rematch was another Lumberjack Match, and Savage managed a clean pinfall on the former two-time champion. The results were similar in other towns where the men met, but as I said, and it definitely bears repeating, they were fantastic matches and both men were at the top of their game for the series.

So with Santana finally out of the way, Savage needed a new opponent to challenge him for the Intercontinental Title. Here's where Savage's treatment of Miss Elizabeth finally came in. They must have known they'd use it for an angle or feud some day, and they finally pulled the trigger on it with George "The Animal" Steele. You read that right. Vince McMahon was trumpeting the "beauty and the beast" line for this one. So one day George, who had just recently turned babyface and was now managed by the babyface Lou Albano, comes out to ringside to admire Elizabeth's beauty. Elizabeth, playing the consummate babyface, didn't have the heart to give him the brush-off, while Savage, playing the ultimate heel, gets mad at Steele for looking at his girl.

One week, George had the nerve to bring flowers to Elizabeth, which Savage took great exception to. He ran out of the ring, took the flowers, and smashed them into Steele's face, and beat the man up for his troubles. The ensuing feud was more about Elizabeth's affections than the Intercontinental Title, although the title was on the line for most of their matches. They usually ended in the same way, with George being distracted by Elizabeth somehow, and Savage getting the pin thanks to it (although Elizabeth's distractions were always unintentional). Their feud went on for a long, long time (too long I would argue). Many of their matches had the stipulation that if Steele won, he'd not only win the I-C title, but also Elizabeth as his manager. However, he never did get past the "Macho Man." The feud began before WrestleMania 2, where they wrestled and saw Steele stand in Ricky Steamboat's corner for their climactic battle at WrestleMania 3.

Which brings up to the last leg of Savage's initial heel run. Savage had a battle for the I-C title on television one week against Ricky Steamboat. And you know, that was the great thing about an Intercontinental Title defense on TV back then. You knew if the title didn't change, something big was going to happen. And it did. Savage, like most heels, hated to be shown up in a match. So when Steamboat got the better of him for the majority of their match, he blew up and attacked Steamboat. He dropped "The Dragon" on his throat on the steel barricade on the outside.

As if that wasn't bad enough, he sent Steamboat back into the ring, grabbed the timekeeper's bell, and plowed it into Steamboat's throat! Steamboat was injured and out for several months. Immediately afterwards, Savage was interviewed by then broadcast journalist, Bruno Sammartino, and Savage actually bragged about his actions, which prompted The "Living Legend" to attack Savage and start them off into a feud. But that was just to keep Savage occupied until WrestleMania where Steamboat would comeback and get his long awaited shot at the Intercontinental title. In the meantime, Steamboat was shown on TV in voice therapy and making slow recoveries day-by-day to remind everyone of why they were fighting. When WrestleMania 3 finally came around, the two men had the best match in WrestleMania history (well actually they wrestled the same match they had in arenas for months, but it was a great match, so why split hairs).

I'll be joining my other Kayfabe Memories comrades in the theme month of talking about enhancement talent.