OOHHHH YEAAHHHH.
It’s no secret that during the 80s, seminal wrestlers Andre the Giant and Macho Man Randy Savage had quite the feud going on. However, the rivalry wasn’t all for the sake of entertainment.
Off-camera, there was a major feud between Andre and the Macho Man, mostly due to ridiculous things like baby oil.
Per Maxim:
[T]he hate was real between the Macho Man and his giant rival. On Wednesday, Macho Man’s brother Lanny Poffo offered an explanation why to the Tampa Bay Times:
“Andre hated baby oil,” Poffo said. “But Randy wouldn’t stop wearing it. He stubbornly said Andre’s gimmick is being a giant and mine is baby oil. He never backed down from Andre and they never got along because of it.”
Brilliant. And easy to understand. It would be hard enough to toss around a muscle bound brute like the Macho Man. Trying to do it when he was lathered up like a swimsuit model must have made it nearly impossible.
Okay, now, that’s cute and all: a big, burly man trying to pin down a hypermasculine showman coated in baby oil. But outside the ring, the troubles continued:
At a panel discussion at last year’s New York City Comic Con, Andre’s daughter Robin offered another explanation for the tension between the two stars: Steroids.
“He had no tolerance,” she said and the Macho Man loved them. After Savage was caught using, Andre put him on his shit list and that’s where he remained.
There’s a pretty big difference between using an in-ring gimmick like baby oil to piss off your rivals and taking it to the next level outside the ring by using steroids. Maybe Savage felt inadequate compared to the hulking, 7’4″ Andre the Giant, but, like, c’mon guys. Wrestling, despite what you may think, isn’t real. This isn’t professional baseball—you really don’t need to rely on ‘roids to bulk up. Although, that may have explained Randy’s, you know, overall demeanor.
(h/t Maxim)