I don't know who this guy is
Simply put, he is one of the best wrestling performers of all-time, and he was big back when wrestling was actually good (late 80s/90s). In fact, after the Big Four of Hogan, Austin, Rock and Flair, I'd put Savage in the next tier of all-time greats.
You'd rank him that high? I don't get that.
Absolutely. Actually, he was probably the original Mr. Wrestlemania (although he was never arrogant enough to call himself that, unlike that d-bag Shawn Michaels). Almost every year, you could count on Randy Savage to deliver the best Wrestlemania match and/or be the talk when it was over:
III: his match with Ricky Steamboat is generally regarded as one of the best matches ever
IV: dominated by winning four matches to win the WWF title, although this WM probably didn't have one single great match
V: he lost to the title to Hogan, but looked like a million bucks doing it, as he made that match great
VI: this is the one exception, as he was stuck in a silly mixed tag with Sherri, Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire
VII: the retirement match vs. The Ultimate Warrior, a match that was awesome in every way possible (and the post-match stuff that went on turned Savage from a despised heel to a guy everyone loved again, in a matter of minutes)
VIII: tremendous match with Flair, which saw Savage win his second WWF title
It is hard to compare newer guys (from the mid 80s on) to older guys like Sammartino, Thesz, etc., but aside from Hogan, Austin, Rock and Flair, whom would you put above Savage? Not saying he is 5th best for sure, just that he is in that next tier with guys like Bret Hart, Michaels, etc. His matches were always great, the fans always either totally loved him or hated him, and very few wrestlers had the amount of emotion that were in most of his matches.