Elizabethan Poetry or An Ode To Miss Elizabeth

I was struggling to write this episode so I turned to poetry for inspiration. The poem was Maya Angelou’s CAGED BIRDIt is a poem that sounds like an allegory to the victims of morbid jealousy–the kind of extreme jealousy I can only assume Elizabeth Hulette struggled with for years; the kind of jealousy I grew up seeing firsthand. 

My father constantly questioned my mother over her whereabouts. He did it when she returned from food shopping, or picking me up from school, or returning from her long hours of work at the local sewing shop. She was a seamstress by trade. When her answers weren’t to his satisfaction, he’d stand on a corner with a pair of binoculars watching her comings and goings.

My father must’ve thought he was invisible, but I saw him many times, and everytime I did I felt embarrassed for him and disgusted by his behavior. I may have been only ten, but I knew exactly what he was up to. 

When my mother had had enough of his accusations and innuendos, she beat him with a wiffle ball bat. I was standing in the doorframe of our apartment, unseen by either of them, as I watched my kneeling father beg my mother to stop. She was mentally completely out of reach and unwilling to bargain with her accuser. It was the first time I’d seen a grown man cry while trying to fend off a savage beating. They never knew I’d seen what I’d seen. 

Years later, while in my forties, I became a direct victim of this kind of morbid jealousy. What happened to me? My wallets and cell phones were searched when I wasn’t around. Female coworkers, friends and passerbys became suspects. If a woman happened to walk by me, I was accused of leering at her like a pervert.

Unable to stand anymore of the accusations and innuendos myself, I bailed out of the sick relationship as fast as I could. It took a lot of willpower to run. For a whole year, I believed if I just hung in there, things would change for the better. 

Everybody has a breaking point; my mother had hers; I had mine, and Elizabeth Hulette had hers. Elizabeth Hulette was the ring manager and real-life wife of Randy “THE MACHO MAN” Savage. Wrestling fans the world over knew her as the lovely “Miss Elizabeth”. 

Miss Elizabeth

Elizabeth Ann Hulette was born on November 19, 1960 in Frankfort Kentucky. You could hear the southern accent in her soft speaking voice whenever she was allowed to utter a few words. You’d have to listen to her dulcet Southern tones on Youtube when she was an announcer for the fledgling ICW wrestling organization in Kentucky.

Her role during many a “Macho Man” promo was to stay silent and stand by her man. Randy and Liz first met in a Kentucky gym, where their romance blossomed and turned into matrimony.

By 1985, the married couple had made their way to the WWF, and Miss Elizabeth was now a prominent part of the “Macho Man” storyline. Thing was Elizabeth played fan favorite to Randy’s chauvinistic villain. You could see it in fan posters like “ELIZABETH IS MORE MACHO THAN RANDY” and “NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY.”

Fans couldn’t get enough of her. She was the epitome of the Southern belle–classy as classy can be, charming and elegant. No wonder she was called the First Lady of Wrestling. This was back in the day, before showing lots of cheesecake in wrestling was in vogue.

Always wearing classy women’s clothing and always respectable, Miss Elizabeth captured the hearts of many fans, including mine. I had such a crush on her, growing up, I hated the way Macho Man Savage treated her. But that was the point, right? That was the genius behind Vince McMahon’s storyline.

Fans hated Macho Man’s caveman treatment of Elizabeth so much he became the ultimate villain. The jealousy and outright abusiveness Macho Man displayed toward Elizabeth riled-up the fans as much as anything else the Macho Man could do to egg them on. But how much of this gimmick was actually real? Wasn’t this just a case of art imitating life? It turns out that may have actually been the case.

During one of the many late-night TV show skits the WWF was fond of aping, Vince McMahon introduced Randy and Liz as one of the most unique guests because “the manager of the wrestler is more popular than the wrestler”. Randy comes out onto the stage and rips up a Hulk Hogan poster.

Elizabeth, in a sparkling purple dress and matching gloves, apologetically looks on as the poster pieces flutter about and the audience boos. When they’re seated, McMahon plays up the storyline and goads Randy by saying: ” Do you take offense to the fact that the vast majority of fans certainly…well, that they applaud Elizabeth…and many boo you…do you take exception to that?”

To which Randy replies: ” THIS LADY RIGHT HERE! This woman right here is the Macho Man Randy Savage’s property. NOBODY MESSES WITH THE MACHO MAN RANDY SAVAGE’S PROPERTY. As minute as she is to MACHO MADNESS, no one messes with my property!”

Take that as you will: an act that adheres to the storyline Vince concocted or a glimpse into the real-life nature of Randy and Liz’s relationship, there is no doubt this is a shocking attitude to hear nowadays. Just look at Elizabeth’s face as Randy points to her when he says property the first time. Is she acting? I don’t know. I see the sting of that description in her reaction. I see hurt. I feel reality biting me in the ass. Do you?

Real-Life Jealousy

According to hearsay, Randy Savage was as jealous in real-life as he was in the ring. Word is he kept Miss Elizabeth locked in the dressing room for hours at a time when he wasn’t with her to prevent other wrestlers from approaching her. I heard this during shoots by Bobby Heenan and Brett Hart.

Both wrestlers openly stated Randy was very much the jealous Neandethal he played in the wrestling ring. Listen to Brett Hart as he spills his take on the nature of the Randy and Liz relationship: 

I believe Brett Hart but I don’t know if this is the truth. Many wrestlers have asserted the same. You could certainly see how this kind of jealous behavior can drive a wedge between a couple. I have certainly seen it. The word is Elizabeth Hulette made her break from Randy in 1992, when she went to live with Hulk Hogan and his wife, seeking refuge from her sheltered existence with Savage.

One year after their on-screen marriage ceremony during SummerSlam 1991, Randy and Elizabeth finalized their divorce. Long hours on the road, a partying lifestyle, and Randy’s constant jealousy in and out of the ring had finally taken its toll on their real-life six-year marriage. Elizabeth Hulette , once the caged bird, was free to be herself. 

In the mid-1990’s, Liz and Randy reunited in the WCW, where Liz once again became Randy’s manager. As short lived as that reunion was, it served as the meeting ground for Liz and Lex. Lex is Lex Luger, the blond-haired muscle-bound wrestler once thought to be the natural heir apparent to Hulk Hogan.

Their relationship proved to be as destructive as that of Liz and Randy. Rumors of alcohol and drug abuse by Lex and Liz ran rampant in wrestling circles. The rumors culminated with the actual demise of Elizabeth Hulette, as she was found dead on May 1, 2003 at Lex Luger’s home in Marietta, Georgia of a drug and alcohol overdose. She was only 42 years old. 

Because a few weeks earlier police had responded to the Luger residence as a result of an alleged altercation between Liz and Lex, a blackened eye on Elizabeth was attributed to the earlier altercation. Lex Luger has denied the claim, attributing Elizabeth’s blackened eye to a freak dog-walking accident Liz suffered while walking their dogs.  

I don’t know what to believe. You can make a determination for yourself. What I will say is this: Elizabeth Hulette was a huge part of Randy Savage’s success. She and the Macho Man brought a pageantry to wrestling that hadn’t existed before. It was the closest thing to a Camelot as wrestling could ever have. It was Beauty and the Beast, Frog and Prince rolled into one.

It made for great storytelling, great drama, and even better wrestling. The sad part is that it ended tragically for real. And now, for the First Lady of Wrestling, for a lady she truly was, the CAGED B.

Read the Caged Bird poem, by Maya Angelou.

Hi everyone.  My name is Ariel Gonzalez, originally from Brooklyn, now living in the Garden State and I have a new podcast called “Wrestling With Heels On.”

On the podcast, I get to reminisce about my favorite wrestling bad guys from yesteryear.  Light on stats and heavy on nostalgia, this little trip down villainy lane gives me a chance to visit the dark corridors of my wrestling soul, and it’s also fun to have a podcast.

Wresting With Heels On podcast hosted by Ariel Gonzalez artwork (presented by Sports History Network)
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