The battle royal snub was the beginning of the end of Savage's relationship with Vince McMahon. By 1994, Mach was spending more time as an announcer than a wrestler. He was just past 40 years old, but still felt he could compete. Lanny Poffo recalled to Bleacher Report that his brother "felt he never had a match as good as the Steamboat match" but thought he could recapture that magic with Shawn Michaels. "Randy wanted to do a two-year program building up to a match with Shawn at WrestleMania. Randy would lose, retire, and go back to the announcer's table." This proposal was shot down since the Federation was in the middle of a "youth movement."
Mach decided to take his talents elsewhere when his contract expired, which in that era meant the competing World Championship Wrestling. Even so, breaking off his decade-plus relationship with Vince was daunting. Bruce Prichard, who was Vince's right hand man in that era, revealed on his podcast Something to Wrestle (transcribed by 411Mania) that "Randy had to get drunk to call Vince and tell him [he was quitting]" only for an irritated Vince to call him back the next day. The two did indeed talk the next day, when Savage made it clear he was gone.
The WWF never referenced talent leaving, much less going to other companies, but McMahon broke his own protocol and offered Savage an emotional goodbye on commentary the next week. This velvet divorce did not stay so civil backstage: when Macho Man left for WCW, he took his Slim Jim sponsorship with him — often reported as a million-dollar deal. Attempts to transfer the sponsorship to WWF star Bam Bam Bigelow did not go through, and WCW reaped the benefits while Vince had another reason to dislike Savage.
