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Throughout its history, WWE has assembled some formidable teams consisting of highly successful individual wrestlers forming tag teams with immense star power. The Mega-Powers, comprised of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage, D-Generation X had Shawn Michaels and Triple H alongside Chyna and The New Age Outlaws, and now The Bloodline is composed of Roman Reigns and his cousins, The Usos. Another notable duo was formed when WWE brought together two larger-than-life characters with impressive accolades, The Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage. Though this partnership was very brief, there is much to discover about their tag team known as "The Ultimate Maniacs".
How The Ultimate Maniacs Were Formed In WWE
Witnessing the collaboration between Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior was a surreal occurrence, largely because of their complicated past with one another. Their history had been one of severe competition and in 1991, Savage was responsible for costing Warrior the WWE Championship. The two engaged in a major confrontation at WrestleMania 7, which could have resulted in Savage's wrestling career ending. As they were once bitter adversaries, it was unexpected to see them reconcile and work together.
Initially, the idea after their clash at SummerSlam 1992 was for The Ultimate Warrior to make a heel turn, setting up the next stage in the ongoing feud between him and Randy Savage, who were both prominent wrestlers at the time. Unfortunately, Warrior was known for having a strong sense of self-importance, and as the story goes, if he didn't want to do something, he would outright refuse to do it. Consequently, when asked to make the heel turn, Warrior declined, resulting in WWE altering their plans and creating a partnership between the two wrestlers instead. Savage's motivation to join the team came from losing a match. Despite defeating Ultimate Warrior and retaining his WWE Championship at SummerSlam, Randy Savage lost the title a few days later on Prime Time Wrestling to Ric Flair. Razor Ramon assisted Flair in capturing the championship from Savage, which ultimately led to Savage and Warrior joining forces.
RELATED: 10 Things You Should Know About Randy Savage's Wrestling Career In The 1980s
The Ultimate Warrior & Randy Savage's Performance As The Ultimate Maniacs
WWE has a long history of protecting its top stars, to make sure they never look weak and Ultimate Warrior was no different. He never experienced a straightforward, clean defeat on WWE TV during his career. However, when Savage and Warrior first teamed up, they suffered a loss against The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) at the SummerSlam Spectacular in 1992, before officially forming the Ultimate Maniacs following SummerSlam that year. As a partnership, they only participated in two tag team matches, and they emerged victorious in both of them. Even though short-lived, it really seemed like Warrior was committed to the success of the tag team.
Although many fans recognize him for his flamboyant tassels and extravagant attire, he altered his appearance after joining forces with Savage. Despite retaining the tassels, Warrior transitioned to wearing a singlet and donned sunglasses resembling those of "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Warrior even adapted Savage's entrance on one occasion.
RELATED: 10 Things You Should Know About The Ultimate Warrior's Wrestling Career In The 1980s
Why The Ultimate Maniacs Broke Up
The Ultimate Maniacs are a relatively obscure tag team group as they only existed briefly. The duo only had one televised match under the Ultimate Maniacs name, having debuted as an official faction in August 1992. Their last match took place just over a month later, signaling the end of their collaboration.
In their only title match, Savage and Warrior faced off against Money Inc. (Irwin R. Schyster and Ted DiBiase) for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Saturday Night's Main Event. Despite winning the match, the Ultimate Maniacs were unable to secure the titles as their victory came through count-out. Savage and Warrior's feud with Ric Flair was intended to lead to a tag team match against Flair and his partner Razor Ramon at Survivor Series 1992. However, at the event, Mr. Perfect teamed up with Savage instead, as the Ultimate Maniacs were no longer together.
Following Warrior's departure from WWE in 1992, Warrior and Savage never faced each other in the ring again. The tag team match that saw him team up with Randy Savage against Money Inc at Saturday Night's Main Event was his final tag team match in WWE. When he returned to the company in 1996, he only participated in singles matches before leaving the company once again.
