“I Offered Randy Savage Half A Million Dollars” – Jim Herd
Former WCW Executive Vice President, Jim Herd, has revealed that World Championship Wrestling attempted to snag Randy Savage years prior to his 1994 debut.
Jim Herd is one of the most contentious personalities in the history of professional wrestling. During his time in charge of WCW, he was responsible for the exit of talent such as Ric Flair and The Road Warriors who disagreed with how he ran the company as well as being the man who didn’t see any stock in the tremendous Midnight Express.
Though revolutionary in his attempt to compete with Vince McMahon by introducing the same type of character concepts his opposition had seen success with – The Hunchbacks tale is a story on its own – Herd alienated the core NWA audience with creations such as Big Josh and The Ding Dongs.
However, now the legendary name has opened up about his time in charge of WCW and the fact that the company attempted to sign one of the greatest wrestlers in the world at that time – and arguably in history – Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage.
Speaking to AdFreeShows, Herd made the startling revelation that Savage was on his radar years prior the company actually securing his signature:
“Savage was so popular with young kids. We tried to get Savage from Vince. [Jack Petrik] was at this meeting, and he couldn’t go any higher, although I would have. I offered him half a million dollars and Petrik shut it down. Petrik was my boss, through Turner, and I would have gone higher. I thought he would have revolutionized our younger viewer and Petrik didn’t want to bust the budget.”
In hindsight, maybe it was best Randy Savage stayed with the World Wrestling Federation during the Herd administration (1989-1992) considering the many tales, which Herd disputed, about wanting to turn Ric Flair into a Spartacus type gladiator.
Randy Savage would find great fame in the WWF in the late eighties and early nineties, winning the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Tito Santana on February 8, 1986, and becoming a two time WWF Champion when he cracked Ted DiBiase in a tournament final at WrestleMania 4 in 1988 and against when he rolled over Ric Flair at WrestleMania 8 in 1992.
He signed with WCW in 1994 after being demoted to the announce desk by Vince McMahon, believing he had another run as WWF Champion in him.
Credit for the interview: AdFreeShows
h/t for the transcription: Fightful