Miss Elizabeth
| Elizabeth Hulette | |
|---|---|
| File:ElizabethHulette.jpg | |
| Born | November 19, 1960 Frankfort, KY |
| Died | May 1, 2003 Marietta, Georgia |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Miss Elizabeth Elizabeth, The First Lady Of Wrestling |
| Billed height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) |
| Billed weight | 115 lb (52 kg) |
| Debut | May 1985 |
Elizabeth Hulette (November 19, 1960 – May 1, 2003), known best as Miss Elizabeth, was a professional wrestling manager and valet in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. Miss Elizabeth gained fame during the middle to late 1980s.
Career
Early life
Hulette was originally from Frankfort, Kentucky. She graduated from Franklin County High School in 1978, and held a communications degree from the University of Kentucky. It was while working at wrestling matches for International Championship Wrestling that she met "Macho Man" Randy Savage, who she would marry in December 1984. Her relationship with Savage led to a prominent on-air role as his manager, regarded by many as paving the way for a wave of female manager and valet roles in professional wrestling.
World Wrestling Federation
Elizabeth had her first major role in a wrestling angle, during Savage's feud with George "The Animal" Steele in the World Wrestling Federation during 1986. During their match, Steele immediately fell in love with Hulette, angering Savage and leading to a series of classic matches. Their feud - one of the WWF's most popular of the 1980s - carried on for more than a year, thanks to the feral Steele's continued crush on Elizabeth.
By most reports, Savage was extremely protective of Elizabeth backstage, usually forcing her to wait in a locked room while he dressed for matches, and only allowing her to come out when it was time for her to accompany him to the ring.
Hulette also figured prominently in Savage's 1986 feud with Hulk Hogan and - after Savage turned face in 1987, as Savage's feud against The Honky Tonk Man was instigated by Honky's constant harassment of Elizabeth. She was instrumental in forming The Mega Powers during Savage's match vs. the Honky Tonk Man (which aired on NBC's "Saturday Night's Main Event" in October 1987). Savage was about to defeat Honky when Honky's allies - Bret "the Hitman" Hart and Jim Neidhart - began to interfere and made the match a three-on-one assault. Eventually, Honky attempted to strike a prone Savage over the head with a guitar, but Elizabeth stepped in harm's way. Honky managed to avoid hitting Elizabeth, but shoved her to the mat and completed his assault on Savage. Meanwhile, Elizabeth scurried to the back and persuaded Hulk Hogan to rescue Savage. Hogan easily cleared the ring (with help from Savage once he regained his bearings). The two looked at each other uneasily, before Hogan shook Savage's hand. The new friends, along with Elizabeth, celebrated in the middle of the ring.
Elizabeth was a major part of the uneasy Savage-Hogan relationship, and her presence led to the team's falling out during a 1989 tag team match airing on a prime-time NBC special, where the Mega Powers, accompanied by Hulette, wrestled against the Twin Towers (Akeem "The African Dream" and The Big Bossman with Slick. During the match, Savage was thrown onto Hulette, knocking her unconscious on the outside of the ring. Seeing this, Hogan scooped her up and carried her to the backstage area for medical attention while the match continued. Upon his return to the ring Hogan was greeted with anger from Savage for having abandoned him in the midst of a match. Savage went so far as to slap his partner and leave the ring area. Hogan carried on and won the match single-handily, but when he exited the ring to the backstage area he was attacked by his former partner, turning Savage heel.
Savage remained a heel for several years, eventually taking on Sherri Martel as his manager and dubbing himself "The Macho King," after winning the 1987 King of the Ring tournament. When Savage and Martel began a heated feud with "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire, Hulette came to their aid and joined forces with them. This came to a head in Wrestlemania VI where the two couples were engaged in the WWF's first mixed tag-team match. Hulette grabbed Martel by the hair from outside the ring when she attempted to help Savage double-team Rhodes. While the two women faced off, Sapphire took advantage of the situation and quickly knelt down behind Martel just as Hulette pushed her, causing Martel to lose her balance. This gave Sapphire enough room to pin Martel for the win. After this, Hulette was absent from WWF television until WrestleMania VII, when Savage lost a retirement match to The Ultimate Warrior. Upon his loss, Sherri began berating him, and eventually began kicking the defeated man until Elizabeth, who was sitting at ringside, entered the ring and defended Savage. After Sherri retreated, Savage and Hulette were reunited in what many consider to be one of the most emotional moments in the history of professional wrestling.
The couple had a heavily promoted on-air wedding at SummerSlam 1991 in New York's Madison Square Garden, and she figured prominently into Savage's brutal feud with Jake "The Snake" Roberts that fall. However, their relationship only lasted another year, with their divorce becoming official in 1992. According to Hogan, Savage blamed him for influencing Elizabeth to seek a divorce from Savage. Hogan's side of the story was that as he was preparing to film the movie Mr. Nanny, Hogan's wife Linda asked if she wanted to help babysit their children while Hulk was in Miami filming Mr. Nanny. Apparently, Elizabeth did not bother to return home to Savage. and she sucked on macho man's little pee-pee
World Championship Wrestling
In January 1996, Miss Elizabeth would once again return to wrestling as a valet for Savage. She would later turn against Savage and become Ric Flair's valet in the Four Horsemen. She later turned against Flair and joined the nWo alongside Savage and Hogan. She soon parted ways with Savage once again when Savage joined The Wolfpac and joined Lex Luger. WCW released her from contract in August 2000.
Death
On May 1 2003 in Marietta, Georgia, Luger called 9-1-1 from his home and reported that Elizabeth was not breathing. The 911 operator told him to give her mouth to mouth resuscitation but she did not respond. Paramedics rushed her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. She died at the age of 42.
Police launched an investigation because, two weeks prior to her death, Lex Luger had been arrested on charges of domestic violence. Police found pills of hydrocodone and alprazolam (Xanax) as well as anabolic steroids, testosterone and sazien in the home Luger and Hulette shared. The subsequent autopsy showed that Hulette died of an accidental drug overdose mixing the medications with vodka. Luger was cleared of any wrongdoing in connection with her death, but was charged with felony drug charges. In her honor, a slide show of her career was shown on WWE SmackDown!
Trivia
- Aside from her marriage with Savage, Elizabeth was also briefly married to a non-wrestler. She married Cary Lubetsky, a South Florida attorney, in December 1997. The couple got married at the Cuban Hebrew Temple in Miami Beach. The marriage was short-lived as the couple got a divorce in 1998. She later began a relationship with Luger that culminated in the couple living together.
- Prior to her release from WCW in August 2000, Elizabeth was making $156,000 a year.