The Untold Truth Of Miss Elizabeth

It's fair to say that women's wrestling wouldn't be where it is today without the contributions of Elizabeth Hulette, or Miss Elizabeth as she was known for most of her career in the wrestling business. Although she was primarily used as a valet, she came along at a time when it was very rare to see women play a key role in pro wrestling programming. And play a key role she did, as she accompanied her real-life husband, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, to the ring for most of his time in WWE (and later, for a stretch of his tenure in WCW). She is rightfully remembered to this day as the "First Lady of Pro Wrestling," and industry stalwarts such as Booker T believe she deserves a place in the WWE Hall of Fame (via 411Mania).

Sadly, Elizabeth died at a very young age, passing away at the age of 42 from an accidental drug overdose on May 1, 2003. One can only speculate the ways in which she could have contributed to the business if she was still alive today, but she still left behind quite the legacy as one of wrestling's first bankable female on-screen talents. And while "shoot" interviews with contemporaries and shows such as Vice's "Dark Side of the Ring" have told us a lot about Elizabeth's life on-camera and behind the scenes, including her turbulent marriage with Savage, there are several lesser-known facts about her that fans may find interesting.

In most cases, pro wrestlers start out as wrestling fans, watching their heroes on television and at live events during their childhood and teenage years, then training for an in-ring career and eventually getting a chance to compete in front of audiences. It's much rarer for non-fans to eventually enjoy huge success as competitors, but when it comes to valets, it isn't that uncommon for them to be unfamiliar with pro wrestling at the start. That was the case with Kentucky native Miss Elizabeth, who told the Miami Herald (via Solie.org) that she "really didn't know anything" about wrestling when she first entered the business in the early 1980s. "I hadn't seen that many women involved in it, other than the hardcore female wrestlers, something I really never aspired to be," she continued.

Indeed, women's wrestling was largely a novelty during those days, but Liz found herself a role as an on-camera host for veteran wrestler Angelo Poffo's Kentucky-based promotion, International Championship Wrestling, as noted by Bleacher Report. It was there where she met one of the owner's sons, Randy Poffo, a former minor league baseball player who had taken to the squared circle after injuries ended his career on the diamond. Elizabeth and Randy got married in 1984, and one year later, both of them were in the WWE, with Liz simply going by "Miss Elizabeth" and managing her husband, who, as you all know, retained his now-iconic ring name of "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

For most of her run in WWE, Miss Elizabeth was a beloved babyface, and that's how fans generally remember her best. Heck, you can even say she was a face all throughout her WWE run — even when she was managing "Macho Man" Randy Savage as a heel, she didn't do anything that was outright villainous. But when she followed her now-ex-husband Savage to rival company World Championship Wrestling in 1996, that changed quickly as she turned heel on the Macho Man and helped Ric Flair win the WCW World Championship at SuperBrawl VI (via Bleacher Report). After briefly co-managing Flair and the rest of the Four Horsemen, she then turned on the Nature Boy and became a member of the New World Order — another bad-guy faction, albeit one that was taking the wrestling world by storm as "cool," badass heels.

Elizabeth's turn to the dark side in WCW wasn't without criticism, with WhatCulture observing that it was "uncomfortable" to watch her do heelish things with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, announcer-turned-nWo-manager Eric Bischoff, and eventually, Savage himself. But even if she didn't seem eager to take part in all those shenanigans, WCW continued booking her as a villain even as nWo-mania petered out; notably, she went on to manage her future real-life boyfriend, Lex Luger, in the company's final years.

Most fans are aware of Miss Elizabeth's eight-year marriage to "Macho Man" Randy Savage and her later relationship with Lex Luger but don't know much about her personal life during the years in between. However, a Miami Herald report (via Solie.org) noted that Elizabeth was married to a South Florida attorney named Cary Lubetsky in the late '90s, around the same time she was "moonlighting" at her friend's boutique, Vertigo South Beach, during her days off from WCW. The couple first met at a gym through a mutual friend and would tie the knot in December 1997. "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," Elizabeth told the Miami Herald.

While Elizabeth seemed very optimistic about the future and her plans to start a family with her new husband, the union didn't last very long. Citing Lex Luger's appearance on former WWE reporter Sean Mooney's podcast, Pro Wrestling Stories wrote that he and Liz, who were both still married at the time, started flirting with each other around 1999 before entering an extramarital affair. Elizabeth and Lubetsky divorced soon after, allowing her to move into Luger's home in Marietta, Georgia.

We did mention above that Miss Elizabeth was primarily used as a valet. The operative word is "primarily," as she did get to see some in-ring action during her time in WCW. Not surprisingly, this all happened during the promotion's last few years of existence, when questionable booking decisions and storylines were par for the course and wrestlers were turning heel or face willy-nilly — truly, this was a far cry from the WCW that annihilated WWE in terms of ratings in the "Monday Night Wars" just a few years earlier.

According to the Internet Wrestling Database, Elizabeth had three career matches, and interestingly, her debut match (if you could call it that) was against male wrestler Meng on the November 22, 1999, episode of "WCW Nitro." However, as this YouTube clip shows, Liz spent the entirety of the match in a cage, and just as Meng was about to break her out of the cage and wrestle her, Sting ran in with a baseball bat, attacking Meng as the referee called for the bell and declared the match a no-contest.

Elizabeth's other two matches were against female opponents. On the May 8, 2000, "Nitro," she had another no-contest against Daffney that featured a ton of interference, and later that month on "Thunder," she lost via disqualification to Rhonda Singh after Lex Luger ran in for the save. As Daffney and Singh were legitimate wrestlers, it's no surprise Liz was booked in a way that allowed her to avoid taking serious bumps — though WCW, in what was one of many ill-conceived attempts at shock value, had Chuck Palumbo run in and attack Liz and Luger with a baseball bat as they embraced in the ring.

Most narratives surrounding Miss Elizabeth's relationship with Lex Luger (real name Larry Pfohl) have suggested that they were heavily involved in drug and alcohol use. Luger himself admitted this on "Prime Time with Sean Mooney" (via Pro Wrestling Stories), explaining that the "'work hard / play hard' mentality wound up catching up to me with the play hard." He also touched on Elizabeth's tragic death, as he clarified that neither of them had "anticipated" overdosing. However, Liz and Luger's relationship had another dark side to it — alleged domestic abuse on Luger's part, as suggested when he was arrested less than two weeks before Elizabeth's death.

On April 19, 2003, police arrived at Luger's townhouse and arrested him after he and Elizabeth apparently got into a physical altercation, according to 1Wrestling. Officers reportedly found Elizabeth crying with both of her eyes bruised, a cut lip, and a bump on her head. It isn't clear what provoked the fight, but Luger was charged with misdemeanor battery and later on released on a $2,500 bond; these charges were eventually dropped after Elizabeth's death.

For his part, the veteran wrestler claimed in an interview with Hannibal TV that it "wasn't a physical thing" – Liz supposedly got the marks on her face while she was walking their dogs about a week before the incident. "If I were to sock 150 lbs Elizabeth, I'd be afraid I'd kill her," he said in a separate interview. "That's the stupidest, most ridiculous rumor that I could ever imagine being portrayed!"

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.