WWE
This Saturday is Macho Man Randy Savage’s birthday. Three-and-a-half years ago Savage suffered a heart attack while driving his wife home from breakfast, passing away almost instantly. If he was still with us today, he’d be 61 going on 62.
While the spotlight never shone quite as brightly on Savage as it did on his friend and great rival, Hulk Hogan, it’s hard to think of another man who personified pro wrestling (specifically 80s pro wrestling) so completely. Ask the average person to imagine a pro wrestler and a good portion of them will immediately summon up memories of fringed jackets, kaleidoscope cowboy hats and promos cut by a man who sounds like he’s halfway through passing a kidney stone. Randy Savage was wrestling, and his life was as improbable, conflicted and frequently amazing as the sport itself.
Strap yourself in because we’re going back to THE DANGER ZONE with 10 madness-inspiring facts you might not know about Macho Man Randy Savage…
1) Randy Savage owes his career to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not (believe it or not). Randy Savage (real name, Randy Poffo) was the son of Angelo Poffo, a successful pro wrestler in his own right. Angelo won a version of the NWA US Title back when that really meant something, but probably his most lasting contribution to wrestling (aside from fathering Randy and his brother “Leaping” Lanny Poffo) was innovating the neckbreaker, which he used to finish most of his matches.
Angelo didn’t have any particular interest in wrestling or desire for the spotlight early in life, but that changed when he had a brush with fame while serving in the US Navy in 1945. For whatever reason Angelo got it in his mind that he was going to beat Ripley’s official world sit-up record, and over the course of 4 hours and 10 minutes he did it, doing 6,033 straight-legged, elbow to knee sit-ups (6000 to break the record, and 33 more for every year of Jesus’ life). Angelo was left exhausted and bloody (that many sit-ups will wear the skin right off you back) but for his feat, he was awarded his first ever championship belt.
Carrie Pratt/Poffo Family
Angelo would spend the rest of his career chasing more championships, an obsession he would pass down to both his sons. Would Angelo have gone into wrestling if he hadn’t managed to beat a Ripley’s record on a whim? Possibly, but he may not have, depriving us of some very talented second generation stars.
2) Young Randy almost made it in Major League Baseball. Randy was a natural athlete growing up, but the pro wrestling game wasn’t what he wanted to pursue – baseball was his first love, and he was good. Randy was signed by several Major League Baseball teams in his late teens and early 20s, playing for the farm teams of the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox.
Poffo Family
Shocking proof that Randy Savage’s hair wasn’t always completely terrible.
Unfortunately Randy’s baseball dreams were destroyed when he badly separated his shoulder during a collision at home plate. Being extremely determined (and a bit insane) Randy forced himself to become ambidextrous through sheer force of will, but it wasn’t enough. Any hopes of making the big leagues were scuttled. Thankfully, Randy’s backup plan panned out pretty well.
3) Randy was first dubbed “Savage” by Ole Anderson. Quick, think of a wrestler that’s the complete, diametric opposite of Randy Savage. You may not have thought of ol’ “your dad’s less interesting friend” Ole Anderson, but he’s a pretty good choice, and yet Randy Savage owes one of the least flashy wrestlers ever a major debt.
WWE
“Yeah, I’m not sure how I ended up on TV either.”
Savage teamed with Ole back in the 70s when he was still just Randy Poffo, and later worked for him when Ole became booker for Georgia Championship Wrestling. It was in GCW that Ole decided to replace Randy’s real last name, which was kind of doofy if we’re being honest, with Savage, because that’s how the kid wrestled (Savage was mentored by the original Sheik and early on, violent, bloody brawls were a specialty).
4) And the first person to call him “Macho Man” was his mom. Okay, so we know where “Savage” came from, but what about the Macho Man nickname? Probably came from all the ladies he was escorting to the Danger Zone, right? Haha, no. It actually came from his nice Jewish mother. As Randy’s character started to come together in the late 70s, he called up his mother Judy and asked her to put together a compilation of possible nicknames for him…
“I saw the term ‘Macho Man’ in a magazine and just put it on the list. A few days later, Randy called me from and said, ‘What’s a Macho Man?’ I said, ‘I have no idea.’”
Maybe Randy never found out, because his character certainly never matched any conventional definition of macho. But hey, thanks Randy’s mom!
Poffo Family
Thankfully for the Macho Man gimmick, Randy didn’t stick with the Daisy Dukes for long.
5) Savage dealt with another wrestler pulling a gun on him in the most badass way possible. During the late 70s, Angelo Poffo, frustrated with the lack of push his sons were getting, decided to created his own promotion called International Championship Wrestling where the Poffo boys could shine. Back in the 70s all wrestling promotions had specific territories they stuck to, but ICW was an “outlaw” promotion, spilling over into other territories and directly competing with numerous promotions under the NWA banner. The outlaw thing wasn’t just an image either – top ICW stars would often show up at competing shows, make trouble and cut unscripted promos on the rival talent. If Randy Savage popped up unannounced at your show, it was best to find a way to slip out of the arena quietly, lest things get ugly in the parking lot. The situation became so tense, ICW’s rivals in Memphis began arming themselves just in case the Poffos decided to make wrestling a little too real.
Poffo Family
You don’t mess with the Poffo mafia.
One night Randy and the entire ICW crew bought tickets to a Memphis show promoted by Jerry Jarrett and word began the circulate that they planned to rush the ring and attack one of the company’s top stars, Bill Dundee. In an ironic twist, whatever plans the ICW guys had were derailed when a completely separate riot broke out, ending the show (pro wrestling used to be SERIOUS BUSINESS people).
Some months later, in 1982, Dundee and Savage ran into each other in a parking lot and got into it. Things quickly escalated, Dundee ran to his car to grab his gun and Randy, well, Randy earned his The Madness nickname right then and there. According to several accounts, Savage grabbed the gun out of Dundee’s hand and pistol-whipped him with it, breaking his jaw and putting him out of action for six weeks. Dundee, on the other hand, claims Savage injured him with a punch before he went to get the gun, and ran off once the firearm was procured, but that’s just what a guy who got pistol-whipped by his own guy would say, isn’t it?
Bill Dundee
The whole story improves immeasurably if you imagine Savage in full regalia and Dundee wearing this hat.
But hey, time and money heal all wounds. Not long after the gun incident, ICW folded and Savage would go on to have a lengthy, memorable feud with Jerry Lawler in Memphis. No matches with Bill Dundee though. Gee, wonder why?