Plot Synopsis

With his team from American Savage, Ric Savage -- the former professional wrestler and now modern-day relic hunter -- visits battlefields and historic sites to unearth and sell bits of American history. At each new site, Savage convinces homeowners to let his team use state-of-the-art metal detectors and heavy-duty excavation equipment, and then negotiates a deal to divide the revenue of found artifacts, including items with great historical and cultural significance like a late 17th-century British Carronade naval cannon, a 5-million-year-old Megalodon shark's tooth and a 19th-century Kentucky long rifle. The American Savage team, which digs as much as half a million dollars worth of historical artifacts out of US soil each year, is comprised of: recovery expert Rue Shumate; battlefield historian Bob Buttafuso; Ric's wife, Rita, who manages the business; and their 25-year old son Giuseppe, who provides tech support. Spike presented a sneak-peek episode of this series, as AMERICAN DIGGER, on Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 11pm ET, and aired the official series premiere two weeks later on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 10pm ET. This series returned for its second season on Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 10pm ET, with a new title, SAVAGE FAMILY DIGGERS, featuring only the Savage family -- Ric and his wife Rita and sons G and Nick -- searching for relics in a different city each week, including New Orleans, LA; Savannah, GA; Boston, MA; Miami, FL; and Memphis, TN.