How An Iconic Role In Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Ended Randy Savage's Wrestling Career
William Smith
Published Mar 27, 2026
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- History has been kind to Randy Savage's legacy in a number of regards. Though he passed in the spring of 2011, his memory lives on over a decade later as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Moreover, ongoing marketing agreements between WWE and Slim Jim have invited callbacks to The Macho Man's legendary promotional work with the beef jerky company, including showing his image in ad that aired during WWE SummerSlam 2023. In an unrelated development that nonetheless also indirectly touches upon Savage's legacy, the Spider-Man film franchise has enjoyed continued success in recent years. Between 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home bringing back Tobey Maguire's version of the superhero who crossed Savage's Bonesaw McGraw and the latest movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse getting a warm reception from moviegoers this summer, it's worthwhile to take another look back at Savage's part in the series and the real-life effects of his role.
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Professional wrestlers have a pretty interesting history of crossing over into the world of superhero movies and TV series. As just a few examples from recent years, fans have seen Batista as Drax the Destroyer, The Rock as Black Adam, and John Cena as Peacemaker. “Macho Man” Randy Savage has also been a part of this when he took part in the 2002 hit movie, Spider-Man. Directed by Sam Raimi, Savage was a part of a cast that also included Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man, Willem Dafoe as The Green Goblin, and J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson.
RELATED: 10 Movies & TV Shows In 2022 Featuring Pro WrestlerIn the film, Rami demonstrated his understanding of pro wrestling as Savage portrayed Bonesaw McGraw, who Spider-Man faces off with in a steel cage match in the movie. However, a legitimate injury suffered on the set led to the end of Savage's career in professional wrestling.
UPDATE: 2023/08/14 16:28 EST BY MICHAEL CHIN
History has been kind to Randy Savage's legacy in a number of regards. Though he passed in the spring of 2011, his memory lives on over a decade later as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Moreover, ongoing marketing agreements between WWE and Slim Jim have invited callbacks to The Macho Man's legendary promotional work with the beef jerky company, including showing his image in ad that aired during WWE SummerSlam 2023. In an unrelated development that nonetheless also indirectly touches upon Savage's legacy, the Spider-Man film franchise has enjoyed continued success in recent years. Between 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home bringing back Tobey Maguire's version of the superhero who crossed Savage's Bonesaw McGraw and the latest movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse getting a warm reception from moviegoers this summer, it's worthwhile to take another look back at Savage's part in the series and the real-life effects of his role.
Spider-Man Goes One-On-One With Randy Savage
In Raimi’s film, fans witness the origin story of how Peter Parker became Spider-Man, tracing from when he was bitten by a genetically-altered spider to facing off against his foe, The Green Goblin. Once he develops his powers, he competes in a wrestling promotion called NYWL. He does this in order to win the $3,000 prize so that he can purchase a car to impress his high-school crush, Mary Jane Watson. He makes his way to the ring, donning sweatpants, sneakers, and a mask. On his way to compete, he is degraded by Bonesaw’s assistants, The Bone-ettes. He also sees one of Bonesaw’s challengers taken out on a stretcher. It is here where “The Human Spider '' officially becomes Spider-Man and also finds himself competing in the ring against Bonesaw McGraw in a steel cage match.
RELATED: 10 Movies You Forgot Had A Wrestling SceneSpider-Man must last in the ring with Bonesaw for three minutes in order to win the match. He is scared, describing how he did not sign up for a steel cage. While Bonesaw tries to go on the offensive, Spider-Man manages to dodge him, jumping to the top of the cage and delivering a homophobic remark towards him. After this, McGraw runs towards the cage, but Spider-Man jumps down and uses his webs to evade attacks. However, when Bonesaw is given a chair by one of the Bone-ettes at ringside, he starts to beat Spider-Man with it. He throws him against the cage, but Spider-Man’s strength begins to come into play. He kicks Bonesaw in the face a number of times and then flips him over his body into the cage, knocking him out for a three-count. Spider-Man ends up defeating Bonesaw and becomes the new NYWL champion.
The Macho Man Randy Savage Suffered A Neck Injury During Filming
The scene is one of the most well-known in Raimi’s trilogy of movies for the beloved comic book character. However, it also unfortunately saw an injury that led to the end of Savage’s in-ring career. During the scene where Bonesaw flipped over and into the cage, he suffered a bad landing on his neck in the ring, seen in the movie. Savage had done his own stunts for the film and had suffered a legitimate injury during it. This injury led to the end of Savage’s in-ring career as a professional wrestler. Although Savage was in the movie for a short period of time and his character did not return in the future installments of films based on the web-slinger, fans remember his role in the movie fondly. It was a precursor to one of the most important moments in the Spider-Man mythos where Peter Parker finds Uncle Ben dead after letting his future killer walk past him.
The Forgotten Final Chapter Of Randy Savage's Wrestling Career In TNA
Randy Savage did wrestle again following his appearance in Spider-Man. The version of Savage who appeared for TNA in late 2004 was positioned as a rival to top heel and reigning champion Jeff Jarrett. Savage looked stiff, with limited mobility. Jay Lethal has spoken to pitching to The Macho Man that he should deliver an elbow drop off the top of a steel cage during this run, only for the legend to tell him he couldn't even attempt the move off the top rope again.
Savage's run was highlighted by teaming with Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles against Jarrett, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash at Turning Point 2004. Rumors suggested that Savage was in line to challenge Jarrett for the NWA Championship, but wound up leaving the company instead when he disagreed with his character's creative direction.
Wrestling And Comics Continue To Be A Match
Savage’s appearance also makes his character a part of the multiverse of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Raimi’s universe being established as canon in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. He is also not the only former WWE competitor to be a part of the MCU, with Batista being a part of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise as Drax the Destroyer.
In addition, other wrestlers have expressed an interest in joining the MCU as well, such as Paul Wight wanting to play Kingpin in DareDevil and Bianca Belair wanting to play Storm from the X-Men. In addition, Cena and The Rock are both members of the DC Cinematic Universe.
With their impressive physiques and athletic talents, there's little doubt the crossovers between wrestling and superhero media will continue for years to come. Much like his high-flying offense, intensity, and character work, Randy Savage was ahead of the curve in this regard with his iconic performance as Bonesaw McGraw. As unfortunate as it is that The Macho Man's work in this role injured him, he at least had one last crossover appearance to solidify his legacy with a mainstream audience.
