Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 7

1 Asbury Park Press April 3, 1989 A7 WMWBi? Fans wonder: Did Hulk tame the Savage breast? By BETH WHITEHOUSE Press Staff Writer AV vN. I I 'rL- 1 ll 1 i ATLANTIC CITY The crowd was enraged. Randy "Macho Man" Savage had done the unspeakable, even for him. The 248-pound brute had purposely tried to hit the elegant Miss Elizabeth, his former manager. Miss Elizabeth had been standing neutrally at ringside, wringing her pretty little hands over the two men who were fighting for the World Wrestling Federation championship and the right to claim her as manager.

But when Hulk Hogan picked Savage up and threw him from the ring, Miss Elizabeth rushed to help the Macho Man. It was then the ungrateful wrestler first tried to hit her. Minutes later, he lunged at her again and she backed away, causing even Donald Trump to stand up from his ringside seat so he wouldn't miss the action. "You bully," someone yelled, and the crowd went wild with Savage hatred. Two police officers had to escort Miss Elizabeth from the arena to safety before Hulk Hogan was able to finish off Savage.

His victory ended nearly 20 minutes of hair pulling, body slamming, knees in the groin, and whipping each other into the ropes. Because Miss Elizabeth had been led away, the crowd couldn't see her reaction to the match's outcome. All the fans know, according to Cary Albert of Baltimore, is that good triumphed over evil when Hogan beat Savage at WrestleMania the climax of the World Wrestling Federation year. The Trump-sponsored WrestleMania drew 20,313 people yesterday afternoon to the Atlantic City Convention Hall, adjacent to the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. Many paid $150 for a seat close to the ring.

World Wrestling Federation officials estimated 1 million others watched the three-and-a-half hour show it included 14 wrestling matches and appearances by thoroughly obnoxious talk show host Morton Downey Jr. and rap singers Run DMC through pay-per-view and closed-circuit programming. Although the grudge match was the day's highlight, other popular bouts pitted Andre the Giant against Jake "The Snake" Roberts (Andre was disqualified after he hit the referee); the Ultimate Warrior against Ravishing Rick Rude (Rude won the Intercontinental Title); and the Red Rooster against Bobby "The Brain" Heenan (after Heenan bragged extensively at a prematch press event about what he would do to the Rooster, the Rooster humiliated Heenan, crushing him in less than a minute). Although fightgoers got to see blood Hulk Hogan suffered a blow to the forehead that drew it, and whether it was real or fake blood was anybody's guess the crowd seemed to revel in the ugliness, and some people wanted more. "I wanted to see Randy (Macho Man) smack Elizabeth and the Hulk go nuts," said a disappointed Christine Cotgreave, 37, of Long Island.

"That would have made Hulk go crazy. That would have just ended it right there. It just would have been fun to see him not hurt her but just smack her." Mrs. Cotgreave said it was her idea to bring her family to Atlantic City for Wres- i Associated Press Randy "Macho Man" Savage has Hulk Hogan in a headlock in yesterday's bout. personality clashes between wrestlers is what draws people to the fight, fans said.

For example, the Savage-Hogan feud over Miss Elizabeth began at a Feb. 3 match, when Savage and Hogan were working together to beat another tag team. Savage accidentally crashed into Miss Elizabeth, knocking her unconscious, the World Wrestling Federation's program says. Hogan left Savage alone to fight the two men while he carried Miss Elizabeth to the first aid room, infuriating Savage and leading him to jealously accuse Hogan of being in love with Miss Elizabeth, who was then Savage's manager (and, incidentally, is his real-life wife). The question Who is right, Savage or Hulk? is what leads people like Albert, 28, to say Hogan's win was a triumph of good over evil, not just one large, sweaty wrestler over another.

Savage deserved to lose, Albert said, because of how he reacted when Hogan tried to help Elizabeth, and his jealous behavior since Feb. 3. "If he really loved her, he wouldn't care who came to her aid as long as someone helped her," Albert said. And yesterday, Savage got what Albert and many other wrestling fans thought he deserved. tleMania, and she spent $750 to get tickets for herself, her husband and three sons.

'It was worth it," she said. "I like the physicalness of it, the brutality," said Michael Wilno, 40, Trenton. And when Jake the Snake was wrestling the 7-foot-4-inch, 520-pound Andre the Giant and got him tangled and trapped in the ring ropes, the crowd yelled, 'Get the snake! Get the (Roberts keeps his more than 6-foot-long boalike snake in a bag at ringside, and Andre reportedly is terrified by it.) If the matches sound more like showmanship than sport, it's because they probably are. Fans said yesterday they believe the wrestlers really don't try to hurt one another, and the winners likely are decided beforehand in some back room. But they don't care, it's still great entertainment, they said.

"It's a show. They're not out there to hurt each other. That's not to say those guys aren't athletes I wouldn't want to meet them in an alley but they do it for the bucks," said Allen Quille, who came up from Baltimore for the event. "It's no worse than watching soap operas," said Jim Menducci, 31, Phillipsburg. "But soap operas are immoral.

There are no bedroom scenes in a wrestling match." The soap opera aspect the feuds and I I a V' Lacey woman wins Oscar contest Finding a voice at 'Eleventh Hour' Television Robert CTPflllQQ lyNcws," takes a topic of metro-New York interest and slowly unravels it for a half-hour. By the time "The Eleventh Hour" is up, you really haven't got everything, but you've heard ideas. "Nightline" tells you what to think; "The Eleventh Hour" lets you think. "We go on the assumption that when people turn on 'The Eleventh Hour' they have an attitude about the news," said Lipsyte. "They've listened to 'All Things they've read a paper.

They're sophisticated, not just intellectual; there's no socioeconomic statement here, but they're making a choice to find out something more about this amazing area." Friday, some TV weathercasters chatted with Lipsyte about their failings and foibles. Tonight, the intelligentsia's fave, baseball, gets a going over. "Tuesday we have another sports show," said Lipsyte dryly. "It's a one-on-one with Mayor Koch." Part of the appeal of "The Eleventh Hour" is its imperfection. A show before the last Mike Tyson fight had Howard Cosell rambling about obscure moments in his life.

The media-savvy Schwartz told Lipsyte on See HOUR, page A8 we're paying top prices to be in their, fantasy, aren't we?" Mrs. Peters tripped up only once, in the best supporting actress category. She selected incorrectly Michelle Pfeif-fer for "Dangerous Liaisons." Of the other entrants, the majority of readers selected five, six and seven categories correctly. Surprisingly, a substantial number of readers chose dark horses Jodie Foster and Geena Davis, who won best actress and best supporting actress Oscars, respectively. Again surprisingly, quite a few readers selected Martin Scorsese as best director for "The Last Temptation of Christ," although most pundits believed Scorsese had no chance of winning.

Most readers chose Dustin Hoffman as best actor, and were right, with Gene Hackman the second-most chosen, and Tom Hanks a distant third. The majority of readers correctly chose "Rain Man" as best picture, with "Mississippi Burning" and "Dangerous Liaisons" second and third among readers' choices. As for me, I chose six out of 10 correctly. Ah well, there's always next year. was devoted to theater-going.

Her parents were friendly with Hollywood scriptwriters, among them, Laura Burke, who visited the family in its New York home. "Celebrities have always interested me because movies, theater, and TV have given me a lot of joy in my lifetime. I follow them in The Press. My neighbor brings me The Press, coffee and a roll and I spend Sunday morning avidly reading it" Of last week's Oscar telecast, Mrs. Peters thought the trio of Michael Caine, Sean Connery and Roger Moore (who presented the best supporting actor award) was the evening's highlight "I thought those three gentlemen were outstanding" and said she admired the women's gowns "I just thought they were spectacular." Mrs.

Peters said she admires the acting of Meryl Streep and added that she was a big fan of the late Susan Hayward "I thought she was a delight." Although the movies have given Mrs. Peters many hours of enjoyment, she has a practical attitude about their appeal. "Well, it's la la land out there, and NEW YORK It is edging so close to 3 o'clock that the minute hand has palpitations. That's when the big boomers from the "MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour" are to take over the main Channel 13 studio from the fledgling local broadcast, "The Eleventh Hour." But the pistons didn't fire just right on the taping with mediaad guru Tony Schwartz. It was just one of those je-ne-sais-quoi moments.

Executive producer Steven Weinstock and host Robert Lipsyte knew it didn't work. It was too choppy, too boring. And, heaven knows, what a public affairs show, especially one on public TV, doesn't need is a big dollop of boring. So they persuaded Schwartz, who leaves his Manhattan studio-town house about once a millenium, to do the rare half-hour interview over again at the 11th hour when the "M-L" folks were chomping at the studio kliegs. But "The Eleventh Hour" is like that: a little timely, a little disorganized, a little probing, a little je ne sais quoi.

By ELEANOR O'SULLIVAN Press Movie Writer And our winner is Mrs. Hel-muth Peters of Lacey Township. Mrs. Peters, with nine correct choices in the Asbury Park Press' second annual "You Pick the Winner" Oscar contest, wins a night on the town, including dinner, limousine service and a movie opening. Press readers were asked to make their choices from 10 categories in the 61st annual Academy Awards.

No entrant, out of 625 ballots received, chose all 10 correctly. Mrs. Peters was among several entrants who chose nine correctly, and in a random drawing, her ballot was selected. Special T-shirts will be awarded to 100 contestants who picked the most winners. "I read all the movie reviews and everything that I can absorb about the movies, the stage and celebrities; I'm that into it," Mrs.

Peters said. "My friends call me up if they want a little data on the movies. Some call it trivia. I don't. I'm a buff." And Mrs.

Peters has been a buff for 30 years. She grew up in a family that "We're still finding our voice; still trying to make the form fit the content," said Lipsyte of the 3-month-old show. "We're not 100 percent sure WHAT we're trying to do here." What "The Eleventh Hour" does, for sure, is buck current TV convention. It is about as slick as wheat germ in a Count Chocula age. It is putting on "slow news" nightly at 11, when the network affiliates are zapping the pre-bedtime heart rate with fires and murders.

It is cozy and cajoling when its nearest successful network model, "Nightline," is cold and demanding. But it is also the best thing going at 1 1 p.m. Each night, Lipsyte, who had columns on sports for the New York Times and politics for the New York Post before reporting stints on CBS' "Sunday Morning" and "NBC Night-.