Host "Mean Gene"
Okerlund:
"A little later on tonight we'll take a revealing look into the
last few tumultuous years of Elizabeth's life. But first up, in honor of her
memory, we would like to pay tribute to the woman who was truly the "first
lady of wrestling", the woman that the whole world fell in love with back
in 1985. Miss Elizabeth. |
Vince McMahon:
"She had certain qualities that we have never seen before and no doubt ever
will again, and she was a very, very unique and very special human being and
she brought those qualities to life just being basically herself." |
Hulk Hogan:
"She had an unbelievable presence, the camera really liked her. |
Howard Finkel:
"When she debuted back in the mid 80's, that was ground breaking, and it certainly
led to where we are today with a lot of the other divas that we have in this
company." |
Gerald Briscoe:
"When I think nowadays of WWE divas, the first person that comes to mind is
Miss Elizabeth. I think all the divas now have a piece of Miss Elizabeth in
them, because she helped pioneer where these ladies are today." |
Vince McMahon:
"Elizabeth was one of the first female managers. She didn't have a lot to
say, and so much of what she said was really in her eyes and in the way she
conducted herself as a professional. She had this quality that made you as
the viewer want to empathize with her. I mean little girls wanted to grow
up and be like Miss Elizabeth." |
Stephanie McMahon:
"Well I was very young when I first met Miss Elizabeth, and to a degree I
somewhat idolized her. She was elegant, she was classy. When she came to the
ring she wore sequined gowns, she was always sweet and supportive of her man,
and backstage Elizabeth was a very real, sweet person." |
Gerald Briscoe:
"Miss Elizabeth did a lot of charity work with me in Florida, and everytime
that she would step of of that car, I mean she was on the money. She could
communicate with people, and I think her upbringing of being a little Kentucky
woman and her childhood, I think had a lot to do with that, and I think her
parents did a tremendous job of teaching her respect. She respected everybody
that she touched."Bruce
Prichard:
"The way that she conducted herself in the arena as a character,
was a lot in the same way she conducted herself in real life."
|
Stephanie McMahon:
"The fans watch superstars in the ring and the fans can tell what that superstar's
really like. Elizabeth connected with the audience, her sweetness just shined
through. The audience fell in love with Elizabeth. Elizabeth just connected." |
Stephanie McMahon:
"I think about the ultimate love story with her and Randy Savage. As the little
girl watching this romance unfold on wrestling was just the greatest thing
in the world for me."
Bruce Prichard:
"My personal
favorite memory of Elizabeth is when her and Randy got married in Madison
Square Garden at Summerslam."
Steve Lombardi (WWF's Repo
Man):
"You can call that the wedding heard around the world, because that
was the first time we had ever married anyone in the ring, it really touched
a lot of people sentimentally."
|
Vince McMahon:
"I can see her hoisted on Randy Savage's shoulder, doing a couple of pirouettes,
or something like that and the music playing, and the big smile on her face
and she's giving back to the audience as much as she's receiving and even
more. That's my vision of Elizabeth and that more than anything else is the
moment that stands out for me." |
| "Mean Gene"
Okerlund then went on to other subjects, but later he returned to end the
show with a video clip that further investigated the life and tragic death
of Miss Elizabeth. |
|
Commentator:
"While Elizabeth outwordly was a beautiful happy woman, apparently her personal
life was filled with turmoil."
Hulk Hogan:
"I really don't
know what made Miss Elizabeth happy. A lot of people may think that being
in the business she seemed happy but I don't know if that's true. I don't
know if she ever really found it, because she was always, the passenger when
I was around, she was never the driver."
Commentator:
"Her on screen
character was that of a damsel in distress, ironically that is exactly what
she became in her real life. Elizabeth's real life marriage to "Macho Man"
Randy Savage eventually became a mirror image of their on-screen relationship."
|
Vince McMahon:
"In the marriage she was in, both professionally as well as personally, she
was smothered to a certain extent. In terms of her marriage to the "Macho
Man" Randy Savage, he was overprotective both as the character you saw on
television and in real life."
Hulk Hogan:
"She relayed to
my wife in several different situations, she felt overprotected, that it was
overprotection to an obsession in some different cases."
|
Commentator:
"Was Savage and Elizabeth's relationship love or an obsession? Whatever it
was it wasn't working. In 1992 Elizabeth and Randy filed for divorce (owow
- they were married in 1991.), following their divorce Elizabeth continued
to manage, but soon after decided to take a break from the World Wrestling
Federation." |
Hulk Hogan:
"She kept in contact with my wife once in awhile. I think she was kind of
like searching, I don't think she really found a groove, I don't know if she
ever really became happy or found that place she really wanted to be."
Commentator:
"Elizabeth stayed
out of the wrestling spotlight for more than four years. In 1996 Hulk Hogan
introduced Elizabeth into the WCW."
|
Vince McMahon:
"When Elizabeth left here, I daresay, life probably changed for her. And I
don't know any of the particulars other than when she was here there was a
very caring environment, you know we all look out for each other and it's
one big family, and when she went to WCW as it was known then, it wasn't the
same family, it wasn't the same caring. She probably was looked different
upon than she was when she was here, she was probably looked at as a commodity,
like anything else. I'm not saying that's horrible, but it was just a different
environment altogether, and I guess life just didn't turn out to well." |
Commentator:
"WCW is where Elizabeth first began to work with Lex Luger. Their on-screen
relationship became something more. While the details of their relationship
are still sketchy, it is known that less than two weeks prior to her death,
Cobb County police responded to a domestic disturbance at Lex Luger's home
on Sunday April 19th." |
Commentator:
"According to police reports, when authorities arrived, Elizabeth's right
eye was beginning to swell. There was a bruise forming above her left eye
and she had a contusion on her lower lip. Elizabeth then initially denied
that bruises were received from Luger, but eventually conceded that Luger
had indeed hit her. Elizabeth requested that no charges be filed against Luger,
but authorities had no choice but to arrest Luger, and charge him with battery." |
Commentator:
"Then on May 1st Lex Luger called 911 at 5:30 in the morning."
Lex Luger:
"She's laying
in the floor. I tried to pick her up.. I tried to..."
911 Operator:
"Okay,
what I want you to do. I want you to go over and see if she's breathing."
Lex Luger:
"I can't tell. Please send somebody here who knows what
they're doin'."
911 Operator:
"I understand that sir. I have somebody on the way
but if she's not breathing, you need to help her breathe. You need to
find out whether or not she's breathing. Go over to her... roll her...
put her..."
Lex Luger:
"Oh my God. Please send somebody..."
911 Operator:
"Listen
to me. You have got to help her..."
Lex Luger:
"I'm trying. I've been trying to help her."
911 Operator:
"Lay down
and check to see if she's breathing, look at her chest, see if it's rising."
Lex Luger:
"Doesn't look like it is. I'm scared to death."
The clip went on to report
that investigators, when searching Luger's house, found more than 1000 illegal
pills and that Lex Luger was charged with 14 different drug possession counts,
13 of which were felonies.
Vince McMahon:
"It's really
unfortunate to have two individuals who had such wonderful careers, both Lex's
as well as Miss Elizabeth, and to have the two of them winding up together
in this tragic situation. It's really unfortunate... The irony of the innocence
of Miss Elizabeth, juxtaposed to the way that she died, there's a message
there somewhere. I don't know what exactly it is, other than falling from
grace and not dealing with it, if that's what it was... not having a purpose
in life beyond our business, if that's what it was... I'm not too sure what
the message is, but it's something that performers in our business have to
learn from, so that they do not repeat the same mistakes that were made by
others before them.
|
Gene Okerlund:
"This story continues to develop. As we told you earlier, authorities have
yet to declare an official cause of death. But as reported by the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, on Thursday May 8th, Lex Luger told authorities that
Huelett drank two glasses of Vodka and proceeded to take some medication for
her back pain. Then while sitting on the couch eating a plate of food she
began to choke.
Luger tried to remove the food from her mouth, and
perform CPR, but was unsuccessful. By the time the emergency crews arrived,
it was to late and she was later pronounced dead at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
Truly a tragic ending to a wonderful woman." |
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