Randy Savage vs The Undertaker (partially found footage of professional wrestling dark match; 1991)

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The Undertaker executing Old School onto his opponent.

Status: Partially Found

On 30th July 1991, professional wrestlers Randy Savage and The Undertaker competed in a dark match following a WWF television taping. Occurring in front of 7,756 in attendance at the Civic Center in Portland, Maine, the Macho Man ultimately picked up the victory. It was the first of only three singles matches between the two wrestlers, with none of them being televised.

Background

A feud between Randy Savage and The Undertaker emerged when the Deadman and Jake Roberts ruined Savage and Miss Elizabeth's wedding reception at the 1991 SummerSlam, having placed a python in one of the wedding gifts.[1] During this time period, Savage was fresh off a babyface turn, while The Undertaker was still into his first year with the WWF.[2][3][1] Despite the carnage that ensued at the event, Savage and Undertaker seldom actually competed against one another in singles and tag team competition.[4][1] Between 4th December 1991 to 4th January 1992, Savage teamed with Hacksaw Jim Duggan to face Undertaker and Roberts in five tag team encounters.[5][4][1] Aside from losing the 4th December event by disqualification, Savage and Duggan won the other four matches.[4][1][5] In early-1992, Undertaker turned babyface and feuded with Roberts, beating him at Wrestlemania VIII.[5] He would later team with Savage in a few house show matches in 1992 and 1993.[4]

Amazingly, a singles match between Savage and The Undertaker almost never materialised.[6][7] Sources indicate that during a house show circuit from 30th July to 2nd August 1991, The Undertaker was scheduled to face The Ultimate Warrior.[6][7] However, Warrior was unable to attend the events.[6][7] Thus, Savage substituted as Undertaker's opponent.[6] The 30th July match occurred following a television taping.[4][6] Cage Match states that the match occurred following a WWF Wrestling Challenge taping, but WWE claims it followed a WWF Prime Time Wrestling recording, which is backed up by a Prime Time Wrestling logo being present in available footage.[4] In front of 7,756 fans at the Civic Center, viewable clips of the match showed Savage performing a diving axe handle outside the ring onto the Deadman's back, while Undertaker executed a jumping clothesline, a chokehold, and Old School on the Macho Man.[8] In a match, therefore, featuring the greatest hits from both, Savage picked up the victory.[4][6][8]

The Undertaker quickly avenged his loss by defeating Savage at a house show at the Moncton Coliseum on 1st August.[4][6] In a rubber match held the following day at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, the Macho Man again came out on top.[4][6] Thus, Savage was victorious in a short-lived, untelevised feud, boasting a 2-1 singles record over the Deadman.[4] Savage would leave for WCW in 1994 and wrestled his last match in 2004, having never returned to the WWF/WWE.[2] Considering how both wrestlers became legends long after this brief feud, it has since been cited as a dream WWF encounter that the majority of fans never got to witness.[1]

Availability

The 30th July match was professionally filmed as part of the WWF Prime Time Wrestling taping, but was left untelevised.[4][1] On 18th November 2015, WWE uploaded "5 Undertaker matches you’ve never seen before: 5 Things" which provided a few highlights of the bout.[9] The fact footage had been uploaded gave fans hope that the match would fully resurface.[10][9]

Three years later, WWE released "Randy Savage Unreleased - The Unseen Matches Of The Macho Man", consisting of a three-DVD set containing 41 obscure matches from the Macho Man's career.[11][10] Strangely, however, none of Savage's matches with The Undertaker were included in the set.[11][10] To this day, none of the three matches have been fully released.[1][10] Nevertheless, the possibility of a public release does remain considering WWE has uploaded rare encounters as part of its "Hidden Gems" collection on the WWE Network.[12]

Gallery

Videos

Footage of the 30th July 1991 clash (0:55-1:07).

Randy Savage and Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs Jake Roberts and The Undertaker on 4th December 1991.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 The Sportster detailing the Savage-Undertaker dream match that most never witnessed. Retrieved 12th Apr '23
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pro Wrestling Historical Society biography on Randy Savage. Retrieved 12th Apr '23
  3. ↑ WWE's Undertaker biography. Retrieved 12th Apr '23
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 Cage Match listing the matches featuring both Savage and Undertaker. Retrieved 12th Apr '23
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Wrestling Inc detailing Roberts and Undertaker teaming and later feuding with one another. Retrieved 12th Apr '23
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 Wrestling Forum listing the Savage-Undertaker singles matches, and noting Savage replaced Warrior in them. Retrieved 12th Apr '23
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Wrestling Figs discussing the Savage-Undertaker singles matches. Retrieved 12th Apr '23
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Cage Match summarising the 30th July 1991 WWF Wrestling Challenge taping. Retrieved 12th Apr '23
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Freakin' Awesome Network discussing the 5 Things video featuring footage of the 30th July match. Retrieved 12th Apr '23
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Wrestling Figs discussing the lost Savage-Undertaker matches and how none were included in the three-DVD set. Retrieved 12th Apr '23
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Cage Match detailing "Randy Savage Unreleased - The Unseen Matches Of The Macho Man". Retrieved 12th Apr '23
  12. ↑ WWE Network News detailing WWE's "Hidden Gems" collection. Retrieved 12th Apr '23
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