Most people, when they hear the song “Pomp and Circumstance,” will think of graduation—of hundreds of robes and caps plodding together in unison. But all self-respecting professional wrestling fans immediately think of something quite different. They see a loud, muscular, dangerous looking dude. They hear a gravelly, deep voice that alternates between screaming and hissing. Visions of flying elbows dance in their heads. Because “Pomp and Circumstance” is "Macho Man" Randy Savage’s entrance music. And there was no one more badass, more unique, more charismatic, and more talented to ever lace up a pair of boots.
This year, the WWE is correcting a longstanding wrong. They’re inducting Savage into the WWE Hall of Fame, and paying tribute to a man who, along with Hulk Hogan, shaped professional wrestling into the global phenomenon that it is today. In honor of the late high flyer, we’re taking A Look Back at Randy Savage’s Hall of Fame Career—the matches, promos, commercials, and feuds that made him an '80s and early '90s icon. He was taken from us way too soon, but the beat goes on.