Miss Elizabeth: Pro Wrestling Trailblazer!
Thanks to Peter Moshonas and Janni Nielsen for this article!
From the January 1999 (!) issue of Wrestling World -The Good, The Bad
And The Beautiful-
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Miss Elizabeth Pro Wrestling Trailblazer!
Story by Jim Varsallone
Before Miss Elizabeth, the only women involved with pro wrestling were
women who stepped into the squared circle themselves. They were rugged,
tough and weighed between 170 and 350 pounds (73 and 160 kilograms).
Then came the lovely Elizabeth who actually helped change the face of
pro wrestling, opening the door for ladies to become valets and
managers.
With two little words, the lovely Miss Elizabeth broke the hearts of
many. Elizabeth Hewlett (That is her real name), the former wife and
current manager of pro wrestler Randy Savage (Randy Poffo), said "I Do"
and married Cary Lubetsky (Elizabeth's new husband), a South Florida
attorney. Aventura residents, they exchanged vows in December 1997 at
the Cuban Hebrew Temple in Miami Beach.
Elizabeth quotes "My life right now is better than I ever dreamed it
could be. The idea that I have a really nice, wonderful, stable home
life with a great family, and I can go away and do the fun stuff once or
twice a week, then come home and have a normal life is incredible."
While working for the World Wrestling Federation from 1985 to 1990,
Elizabeth spent five to six days a week on the road. Managing her
real-life husband, Randy Savage kept them together, but the travel and
grind still took its tool.
Elizabeth quotes "I want to have kids, I want to lead a normal life."
She is beginning to lead a normal life with Cary Lubetsky. Cary is a
native of Long Island, he completed undergraduate studies at Conrnell
University and graduate from law school at Tulane University. He has
been practicing law in South Florida for six years and currently working
for Holtzman, Krinzman, Equels, Furia in Miami.
Carl Lubetsky quotes "Of course, I watched wrestling. Who hasn't? I
saw her on TV. We've all seen her on TV."
During her WWF tenure, Elizabeth could be seen worldwide on various WWF
programming through syndication on many independent TV stations, as well
as cable TV and even NBC on the monthly "NBC Saturday Nights".
Hey, but she is more than just a pretty face. Elizabeth is a graduate
of the University of Kentucky, with a degree in Communications. A
sports aficionado, she had her eye on a career in news or sports
broadcasting. Her life changed when she met the Macho Man. She's been
involved in pro wrestling with him since 1985, beginning in the WWF,
under the direction of Vince McMahon Junior.
Elizabeth quotes "I got started in wrestling because Randy and I were
married. It just sort of happened. We just fell into place and it
really took off. It had a life of its own for me."
Divorcing the Macho Man, Randy Savage and leaving the WWF in 1990, Elizabeth switched
gears and worked for an off-shore powerboat racing show on cable TV's
ESPN Network. She moved to South Florida in 1992 and, through a mutual
friend, met Cary Lubetsky while working out at Olympia Gyn in Aventura.
Elizabeth quotes "We do live a very normal life. We play golf on the
weekends. We work out at the gym. We go out to dinner."
Before meeting Lubetsky, Terry "Hollywood Hulk Hogan" Borllea and Randy
"Savage" Poffo (her ex-husband) called Elizabeth to see if she had any
interest in returning to pro wrestling. Both Hogan and Savage had left
the WWF for rival WCW, and they attemped to recruit some familiar names
and faces.
Elizabeth quotes "When they called, I think I answered before I really
thought about it. Bacause of the travel and being away from home is
different when you are single, which I was at the time. It wasn't so
bad then, but once I got engaged and planned to get married, it was
harder to leave home."
So, Elizabeth travels on a very limited basis with WCW, allowing the
newlyweds to spend plenty of time together. On Mondays, Elizabeth is
working somewhere across the country on WCW's highly-rated cable show
"WCW Monday Nitro on TNT", live from 8:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. Elizabeth
work on some Sundays (Pay Per View) with her peers (Sting, Hogan, Hall,
Luger, Savage, Nash, Hart, etc) and sharing the spotlight on the event.
Elizabeth quotes "It's still fun. You just can't explain it. It's a
shock to me to think that the whole microcosm of people who were
involved in wrestling that many years ago (in the WWF) are still on top:
Hogan, Savage, Roddy Piper, Mean Gene Okerlund. It's amazing."
Using the divorce as part of the storlyline in WCW (when she joined the
Four Horseman), Elizabeth managed Savage's rivals, Flair and Hogan. It
wasn't too long, however, before she reunited with the Macho Man, Randy
Savage.
Elizabeth quotes "He is great at what he does, and working with him is
tremendous. We remained friends after the divorce, and I will always
consider him one of my best friends."
When the NWO split recently, Elizabeth eventually sided with Eric
Bischoff and Hogan. Randy "Macho Man" Savage, on the other hand,
aligned himself with Nash, Luger, Konnan and Sting in the NWO Wolfpack.
So, they are members of opposing forces once again.
Elizabeth met Randy Poffo, a former Major-League baseball prospect in
the St. Louis Cardinal's organization in the Sports Center at the
University of Kentucky. (Did he meet Mark McGuire during his baseball
days?) They both got married in 1982 and they became the hottest thing
in pro wrestling since the drop-kick, the clawhold and HULK-A-MANIA!
A flamboyant Savage resembled a wild man in the ring, taking lots of
risks, working extremely hard and brutally beating the opposition. With
Savage acting like a beast, Elizabeth's role became easily identified.
A beauty, the lovely Miss Elizabeth won the hearts of fans which helped
to elevate the status of the overly, aggressive Macho Man. She didn't
say or do much, more or less just standing there and looking pretty.
And that was enough.
Elizabeth actually helped changed the face of pro wrestling, opening the
door for ladies to become valets and managers. Previously, if a woman
participated in pro wrestling, she stepped into the square cirlce.
These tough ladies trained hard to become pro wrestlers. A tatoo, a
scar and some form of muscle mass helped enhance the image.
As a valet/manager, a woman didn't have to look mean, lift weights or
weigh a ton to receive a shot at the big time. To name a few, former or
current, valets/managers are Baby Doll, Sunny, Woman, Francine, Sable,
Jacquelyn, Precious, Beulah, Debra McMichael, Missy Hyatt, Sister Sherri
and Marlena have to give Elizabeth credit in some degree for their place
in pro wrestling history.
Elizabeth quotes "I really didn't know anyting about pro wrestling. I
hadn't seen that many women involved in it, other than the hard-core
female femal wrestlers, something I never aspired to be. All of a
sudden it seemed to happen, and I was in it. It became bigger than I
ever imagined."
Nowadays, Elizabeth is more than just a showpiece, combining the past
and the present. She kicks and opponent, rakes his eyes, chokes him and
even clubs him with one of her high heels.
Elizabeth quotes "It is so much fun to get involved. There is a kind of
freedom to it. Before, to stand there and not be able to react was very
difficult. Now I'm having a great time!"
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End of Interview
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