Honky Tonk Man (Challenger) vs Randy Macho Man Savage (Champion)

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match live from the Philadelphia Spectrum Macho Man Randy Savage Vs Honky Tonk Man 18/10/1986

[@lpri]

The Spectrum, what a venue! And Miss Elizabeth was fine. Can't believe this was 1986. We are 2024 now

[@glenncooney3959]

Ultimately, Macho Man did use the Intercontinental Championship as a passport to the WWF Championship. Thoroughly deserved.

[@jimodirakallumkal5351]

When macho had all his hair. What a look, what charisma, what a performer, what a champion, and what a HUMAN !

[@jb-vb8un]

his interview line , " do you believe me ........ I ... BELIEVE ME " - - BOTH MACHO & A GUY NAMED MICHEAL P.S. HAYS could make ya thinj they really WERE nutz

[@jlover911]

not sure Savage had all his hair but still more than Hogan

[@Megatron-sl5us]

This was when Honky was the face of a hero. Both men were great wrestlers and entertainers.

[@dougmedina4619]

They were both great on the mic!

[@s.salazar6364]

Don't think I ever saw Honky fumble his lines - and Savage, nuff said!

[@RogueBurn]

Randy "Macho Man" Savage was a total package. He had the talk, presence and the talent. He must have made a mint.

[@willisapril]

Same with Ted Dibiase

[@thetruth72667]

Used to hate dibiase when I was a kid but now I can’t explain how much respect I have for him cause he was beyond incredible! He’d take macho’s over the top sling shot & completely flip around on his head! His compact punches he’d drop on an opponent, I mean I can go on cause he was that good! Hey so was Honky since he’s on screen right now. They could get the crowd on fire with hate, as could macho. Macho my favorite ever The GOAT!!

[@glennarcher6]

Just picture all those camera flashes going off when he flew from the top rope against steamboat at WM3

[@lenwennerberg1631]

Wow, a heel Macho Man vs. a babyface HTM. Crazy !! 👍

[@WrestlingwithPaul]

Oh yeah!

[@ronsharer2986]

@@WrestlingwithPaul Honky just could never get over as a babyface. He knew that from the start but that was Vince's idea.

[@MrSniperfox29]

@@ronsharer2986 The funniest thing the interviewer buries him before the match even starts by calling him a "poor man's Elvis"

[@jonathanduplantis1403]

Not really, this was the turnaround

[@lenwennerberg1631]

@@ronsharer2986 When he turned heel it was pure gold. He drew INSANE heat.

[@jonathanturbide2232]

Thanks for sharing this obscure gem from the Spectrum, that venue is my favorite! Love that Philly crowd! 👍

[@christophersuswal9544]

Miss the days of watching the Sixers and Flyers on Prism

[@frankpfaff9675]

Prism. only reason to get that channel back then was for Sixers and flyers home games.

[@Willy2000ization]

Same place where they film the Rocky Balboa versus Apollo Creed rematch

[@jbjjones767]

A fan touched honkeytonks head as he walked to the ring, his hand is probably still stickey 35 years later

[@itsjustnopinionok]

I saw that

[@gioknows]

My two favorite wrestlers of all time. They were so much fun. Special bonus seeing Miss Elizabeth as well. There wasn't a better time for the WWF.

[@stacyhamilton2619]

Than Autumn 1986? There were many much better times. Sivi Afi, Cpl Kirchner, Danny Spivey in 86 vs Snuka, Slaughter, Windham in 84. Giant, Big, Super Machines in 86 vs Andre, Mulligan and Masked Superstar in 84. Jimmy Jack Funk in 86 vs Terry Funk in 85. Moolah in 86 vs Wendi Richter in 85. Fat and on drugs JYD in 86 vs less fat and less drugs JYD in 84. Lame face Honky of 86 vs awesome heel Honky of 87. Tonga Kid or Tama? Lame face Rougeaus or awesome heel Rougeaus? 86 Flower Shop 🌺 and Piper's Pit vs 84 & 85 Piper's Pit? WrestleMania 2 may be the worst of all time.

[@christiancharles2866]

@@stacyhamilton2619 Wrestlemania 2 was garbage definitely

[@christiancharles2866]

@@stacyhamilton2619 87 WWF good especially wrestlemania 3

[@stacyhamilton2619]

@@christiancharles2866 WrestleMania III was great! The rest of 87? So-so.

[@christiancharles2866]

@@stacyhamilton2619 3 is one of the best. Wwe now is so bad, haven't watched WrestleMania since like 20.

[@untitle161]

I remember when The HTM came to the WWF as a babyface. But didn’t know he had a match against Macho Man for the IC title while HTM was a babyface and Macho Man as a heel.

[@Jman417]

Rest in Peace Randy and Elizabeth.

[@MafiaKingfishNOLA]

Honky Tonk Man was a great heel in the WWF but as a face he never got over. Savage was awesome. He could wrestle. He could talk. He could pretty much do it all in the wrestling business. Even as a heel Savage got more cheers than the Honky Tonk Man ever did.

[@andrewdrennan9436]

He really didn’t want to be a face, but he let McMahon find out.

[@CatsClaw44]

Because Honky us a natural heel and was probably rge hottest heel in the world for a year

[@CatsClaw44]

@@andrewdrennan9436 Exactly

[@binko969]

Honky Tonk Man, Wayne Farris is 1st cousin to Jerry the king Lawler

[@ollieoxox1975]

​​​​@@binko969they favor each other, especially when Lawler has the Mutton Chops sideburns and Jimmy Hart is about 92 these days 🎻 👑 📢 😁

[@frankpfaff9675]

Honkey tonk man is part of one of the greatest pops in WWF history when he put out an open challenge at summerslam 1988 after beefcake was "injured" and got beat in 30 seconds by the ultimate warrior after holding the IC belt for 14 months. One of the best 4 minutes of footage of old school wrestling. You dont hear crowds pop like that anymore unless someone from the past comes back like Edge did last year.

[@stevendrumm4957]

Honky held the IC Title for nearly 15 months.

[@frankpfaff9675]

@@stevendrumm4957 yes he did. I just heard many times 14 months but when you look at the dates it was closer to 15. I just like what he did for the business by putting warrior over. To me the guy played a great heel and was a class act all the way. I always like the honky tonk man. His tag team with valentine should have went over the harts for the tag titles in fall of 90 as well.

[@JLvatron]

Honky's excuse was amazing after losing the belt to Ultimate. "I said I'd fight Anybady! ...I didn't say I wanna fight-chew."

[@DeadKoby]

HTM....... gotta love the guy.... spent his whole career up to this point as a heel... then Vince wants a face. When returning to form, HTM became the G.IC.OAT.

[@lennyschneider674]

Who else gets chills watching Macho's entrance? Legendary stuff

[@barrystewart5946]

Used the same music as a heel, face and back to heel. Such a legendary performer.

[@hilarypalm-bradich3468]

I get chills because of that and because he was caveman primal smoking inferno hot. RIP my Superman. Fly high upstairs gorgeous one. He was my idol and I was an 11 yr old girl obsessed in 1988

[@ElizabethzW.]

when you heard pomp and circumstance you knew it was going to be an good match!

[@thetruth72667]

Still don't know how he would jump from the top rope down to the floor!?! That's a 15ft plus drop man! He was so fuckn incredible on the mic, on the mat, his look, his presence, his personality.....you get it. He was so so so good that they had no choice but to turn him baby face. They tried like hell to keep him a heel to. I'm talking bout having him crush one of the biggest baby faces throat with the ring bell sending him off on a stretcher while berating Elizabeth but it didn't matter. Gorilla Monsoon the biggest face commentator would never say anything good about a heel but when macho made his entrance to WrestleMania 3 Monsoon had to say "listen to the ovation for the macho Man" cause he was undeniable! The commentators were laughing here when he yelled @liz lol! He was the best period!!!! Everybody say OH YEAHHH!!!

[@breal1183]

Damn this is rare. IC Champ Savage vs new Baby Face Honky Tonk. Great stuff. Thank you!

[@pjay12467]

Only on Prism. Damn that’s old school.

[@stephenhershey1414]

They need a Spectrum Wrestling section on Peacock!

[@voidbrothers278]

What an amazing upload! Also; feels a little bit strange, because at this point Randy Savage was a heel that was getting more and more popular (having a slight setback in "face popularity" bacause of the setup to his feud with Steamboat), while Honky Tonk was a face that everybody hated, right? This feud was done perfectly a year later, with the face-heel roles reversed. Honky was a great heel. Macho was great, period. Thanks again for the upload.

[@justinuptonn261]

Yea this was a weird time for both of them. Savage always had a large chunk of fans that cheered for him even when he was at his most dastardly heelish (Steamboat throat attack) and Honky flopped as a face but was an all time great heel.

[@gshort78]

"Honky was a great heel. Macho was great, period." - perfectly said!

[@ollieoxox1975]

My grandma loved the Macho Man and used to say the Hunky Tonk Man , so funny, great memories watching wrestling with grandma not smartened up.

[@TommysHouseOfMunch]

It will never be this good again

[@gst013]

Luckily it got a lot better than this through the next decade plus 😅

[@IceDragon1377]

Wrestling is so shit today.

[@IceDragon1377]

@@gst013 agreed, but it died for me after the attitude era.

[@del7538]

12 months later the roles would be completely reversed.

[@Dad-Gad]

Mach was the greatest all around talent ever imo , mic skills , ring ability and athleticism and star power .

[@alexh8613]

Honky Tonk Man as the face and Savage as the heel. Damn, that was a long time ago

[@adamrobinette139]

Nothing would bury a face Honky Tonk Man faster than the not heel dude, interviewing Savage, calling him a 'Poor Man's Elvis' literally right before his TV debut.

[@forestgeorge8855]

Cal Rudman was a music expert and he just went into business for himself. Watch him do color with Dick Graham in 1980-81.

[@ericdale4641]

I believe the poor man's Elvis was actually Roy Orbison

[@andrewdrennan9436]

@@ericdale4641 Roy Orbison’s chops were light years better than Elvis Presley. It wasn’t even close.

[@ronaldtabaday2530]

honky tonk man is the greatest INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION OF ALL TIME...

[@lloydsharpe7641]

Whenever people talk about the Mt. Rushmore of professional wrestling nobody ever mentions Randy Savage. Why? He is one of the best of all time.

[@JosephJohnson-kg5yr]

He gives the best promos

[@AntonioFarina-qt4qv]

He's the greatest of all time in my opinion

[@dlaird8]

Greatest match up of all time. Macho Man vs Honky tonk was too much fun.

[@RealArtfulDodger]

Mel Phillips, you won't see the intro on the WWE network if this match is on there.

[@kaufman4life]

I have to say, despite his crimes, he WAS a good ring announcer

[@dmahoney661]

I remember watching Prism as a kid and I went to my first wrestling show at the Spectrum.

[@TranslatedAssumption]

HONKY TONK MANIA IS RUNNING WILD

[@pwnedddddd]

a year later this match got much more crowd heat.

[@AceGoodheart]

How I miss the old school promos. This is what got a wrestler over with the fans back in the day. Fans got to see the true charisma/personality of the wrestler. This was entertaining. Today, they work off a script so we don't really see their true character which makes it dull and boring.

[@WrestlingwithPaul]

I agree with this 100%

[@t-max7261]

Lol @ 2:16 “I believe me too!” That and referee Joe Marello nearly falling off the apron as he enters the ring

[@KasumiRINA]

As if you could tell apart what Randy, Warrior, Flair or other coke-fueled wrestlers would roar into the mic.

[@maremia666]

Lord Alfred Hayes saying marcho man cracks me up and I'm English 😆

[@canttouchthis6439]

Wwf back then was great its to well polished and showbiz like today

[@CatsClaw44]

It's funny how Honky turned heel a few months later and was the hottest heel in the world.

[@DTW-bx2vy]

Come on, who hasn't done a Macho Man impersonation in all honesty?

[@JLvatron]

Or a Honky Tonk!

[@Hollywoodin2001b]

The Honky Tonk Man is the greatest intercontinental champion of ALL time!

[@ronniesteele1633]

I hope this channel grows with the deception of the network!

[@RealArtfulDodger]

Good luck, it's KZbin, there is no freedom here. They actively delete copyrighted material.

[@freighttrainsahpassing9790]

Of all the belts in wrestling history that IC belt was my favorite !!!

[@gregamania1327]

I love Honky’s original music.

[@Rometiklan]

I remember when Honky Tonk Man was over at Stampede Wrestling. Teamed up with Dr. David Schultz and then turned on him when JR Foley brought him over to his stable. HTM was pretty good on the mic with his little jingles like "Diamond rings and limosines! I'm a rich girl's lover and a poor girl's dream! Blood's gonna flow like wine! Gimme that fresh roll of $100 bills, J.R.!"

[@hattorihanzo2275]

Hopefully there was no boys harmed by Mel Phillips on this night.

[@kingsports1113]

😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦🤦🤦🤦🤫🤫🤫

[@stevespencer8230]

Love how the announcers push this as a first meeting when these two probably wrestled dozens of times in Memphis

[@binko969]

Referee Joe Marella’s father was Gorilla Monsoon

[@craighaley1658]

Not a surprise they were quick to turn Honky heel. The audience was not showing him the love.

[@OGimperial97]

Shout out to Kal Rudman, I never saw him until today, but I'm impressed.

[@dagdogg]

2:53 The referee trips on the top step going into the ring.

[@ownknow8161]

*😂😂 You can hear the people in the crowd laughing at him. 😂😂*

[@MrTees-yl2hn]

Kind of odd how at several points Honky Tonk Man is treated as a “mystery man who no one has seen, or heard of before” but yet somehow, some way has ended up in a match for the Intercontinental Championship.

[@evanobrien7316]

Maybe this was when honky was a baby face at the very start of his career

[@evolute99]

House show program. Honky is the man from Memphis.

[@duaneshank6788]

I get what you're saying. Why the hell is a newcomer getting a title shot already

[@robertcoggeshall3071]

@@duaneshank6788 probably to see how good a worker he was against one of the best workers, Randy Savage.

[@jeffpoirier4374]

Incredible wrestling by Savage.

[@OceanbornAngel]

I remember when it was Honky Tonk Man who clocked the Macho Man in the head with his guitar.

[@jordancartwright7719]

Great upload! Never knew this existed,

[@philaman1972]

The match itself lasted about 7 minutes, although this clip is 15 minutes long.

[@TONYGILLEY]

Oh WOW, I had no idea they met before their more famous encounter! You could hear the boos towards HTM from the smark Philly crowd as he entered the ring, but what's odd is that he was slowly winning them over before he was counted out.

[@steveparish4209]

Best promo guy ever, Macho Man

[@marywise7661]

elizabeth and macho will to me at least always be wrestlings best couple ever

[@jamarrogers2985]

I love how he always labeled it The Intercontinental HEAVYWEIGHT Champion...he's the 🐐🐐🐐🐐

[@RyWilsonGaming]

i know what you mean. i've thought the same thing for a long time. howard finkel was the only one who ever said it like that and never heard this guy say it until now.

[@Eddie-oc2se]

He did call it that!

[@lawrencestimpson6669]

Honky Was the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time.

[@peterisnardi1197]

HTM didn't really want to be a babyface, he'd had a lot of success with the Elvis gimmick in Canada as a heel and couldn't understand why Vince wanted him as a babyface...

[@RealArtfulDodger]

Vince of all people, it's puzzling why he couldn't see a southern Elvis wrestling gimmick would not get over as a face in a northeastern based promotion at the time? This is a guy who dislikes southern people more than most BTW.

[@johngallagher72]

Vince tried to ram him down our throats as a face ..he would get booed out of the building.

[@TONYGILLEY]

@@RealArtfulDodger Elvis impersonators work well to varying degrees in Las Vegas. Elvis impersonator in wrestling...as a babyface? In a rather comical way, it's actually quite comforting to know that Vince being tone-deaf to his audience has always been there. It's a pity that he's not quick to adjust or alter course NOW like he was in the past.

[@MrSmitty1074]

@@RealArtfulDodger Vince put "The Rebel' gimmick on Dick Slater as a face. smh

[@TONYGILLEY]

@@MrSmitty1074 It was a different time in the '80s.

[@JMFabiano]

The interviewer burying the face HTM....LOL...

[@jbjjones767]

Mach man dropping the powerful names including Vince mcmahon the announcer

[@jbjjones767]

If that was a Saturday morning interview they would of dubbed it out

[@mrveritas700]

She was pure class...

[@dlracer2]

Macho man was the greatest. Period

[@davejohnson7583]

I never saw this match and I’m from philly but I do remember HTM first came to wwe he was a face but he wasn’t getting over so they turned him heel after that he won the ic belt because steamboat had a problem with Vince and a legend was born tall about right place right time

[@Kenny-hv9mm]

Honky Tonks theme music sounds like a song that could be sung on an episode from Fraggle Rock.

[@Realistic316]

look at Honky’s ring attire LOL

[@kingsports1113]

Facts I boo him too

[@luisquinones7335]

The Honky Tonk man eventually wins the I-C championship a year later

[@rainerseifert2945]

Thanks 👋🏻

[@WrestlingwithPaul]

You’re welcome 😊

[@t-max7261]

Great upload! Thanks!

[@gqloc6768]

You people aren't so bright. Vince knew what he was doing with HTM. He wanted him brought in as a face to turn heel from the fans hating him instead of as a heel right off the bat. It adds on to the character. The same thing happened years later with Rocky Maivia. The fans despised him and Vince knew that too and made the transition at the right time. I've watched since I was a kid and I believe back then, I could've been a great agent in back or like a Eric Bischoff. There's more to it and was way better back then than the garbage today.

[@auntfloyd9408]

I think HTM holds the record to this day for IC belt tenure. I heard it on RAW not long ago.

[@andrewdrennan9436]

No way that number is being broken. Comparatively, the IC Title changed hands three times while I was typing this.

[@freighttrainsahpassing9790]

...and I think Macho Man's reign is 2nd !!!

[@scottaznavourian540]

Macho with a quasi shoot comment about the ic title *supposed* to be a stepping stone to the world title..

[@willisknapick4405]

Intercontinental champ? That's impressive! Elizabeth needs more camera time 😂.

[@JLvatron]

Macho beat Honky by countout, because he knew there was no way he could EVER out-wrestle the Tonk in the ring!!

[@stramey8866987]

I didn't realize Macho was the heel til he used Liz as a human shield.

[@user-ee3fy1sx7s]

Love Kal Rudman "Sort of a poor man's Elvis Presley."

[@jimmyolsen5897]

Randy always had the best coke and most beautiful woman

[@kingsports1113]

N e pills

[@jimodirakallumkal5351]

He never did the yayo

[@jimmyolsen5897]

@@jimodirakallumkal5351 hahahahaha hahahahaha

[@bernardrobertgilbride603]

The greatest Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion of all time! Randy Machoman Savage

[@innocentbystander72]

The greatest Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion was the Honkey Tonk Man. He had the longest reign and held the belt longer in that one reign than anyone else ever did. Plus he is cool he is cocky he is bad.

[@MrLuckytrucker21]

Hard to believe Vince wanted honky-tonk to be a babyface when he first entered the WWF!

[@crushthewrestlingchampion4669]

I like macho man Randy savage in wrestling

[@giuseppemastropaolo264]

RIP Macho Man And Elizabeth 💜 and Lord Alford

[@rodzor]

interviewer Kal Rudman RIP referee Joe Marella RIP announcer Dick Graham RIP 🙏

[@heyyou9693]

9:55 Savage once again way ahead of his time.

[@markfry4304]

"I LOVE YOUR TIE"!

[@hectorlopez1069]

That belt was beautiful.

[@markbowman6655]

Was HTM still a short lived WWF baby face at this point?

[@TBone2000Man]

Macho man was great for sure

[@jb888888888]

Randy looks like he's wearing a facemask in the thumbnail, but I guess it's just a shadow over his beard.

[@jerryalexander8803]

The way Honky Tonk turned heel is very similar to the way WWE did the Rocks heel turn

[@msm1876]

Honky Tonk joined the Nation of Domination and wanted to kill whitey? 😂

[@jerryalexander8803]

@@msm1876 What!? 😂😂🤦🏾‍♂️

[@mikedbz8530]

@@msm1876 HTM turned heel because the crowd hated him as a face. Same as The Rock once they went to Chicago for Wrestlemania 13.

[@msm1876]

@@mikedbz8530 yeah, I know! I was just goofing around, LOL!

[@MrSmitty1074]

@@mikedbz8530 I remember the popularity vote with Jesse Ventura. It was hilarious!

[@jerryalexander8803]

Honky tonk man was the first Rocky Maivia

[@metalfromthearchives]

Ohhhh yeah!

[@BeeBumper]

"Alright Macho let'sh danche"

[@thomasroedgaard117]

Randy Savage the GOAT

[@brianstrutter1501]

Not even close. HTM kicked his butt here for the most part

[@paulpatane2439]

What year was this? I think 87,before WM3. I don't think HTM was in WWF in 1986

[@PopMofo1997]

Since when does the IC champion enter the ring before the challenger!?🤔😋

[@IslandBoy-808]

This is the Macho Man we're talking about.

[@krantzbucks]

Wwf liked having heels enter first regardless of who had the title

[@65if2007]

HTM as the babyface and Savage as the heel.

[@Cyclopsmaster1172]

Good match

[@Nash55ppp]

The pre-heel Honky Talk man.

[@robertcoggeshall3071]

Hated honky tonk as a heel. Here he was a face against Randy. Surprised macho didn't pin him, even though he won by countout.

[@freemanlacroix674]

Who remembers the 1-900 # to call and say if you approve of Honky-tonk man?

[@randquadrozzi5850]

I actually liked the honky tonk man but macho man was the Most entertaining wrestler ever.

[@zman8340]

Macho at his peak . Wish he never veered from the version .

[@americanmade175]

Sorry Ric Flair fans but Macho Man is the goat!!!