Who is: Who was Randall Mario Poffo?

Friday, July 18, 2008

Who was Randall Mario Poffo?

Who is Randall Mario Poffo? The world knows him better by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, He is a second-generation professional wrestler; his father Angelo Poffo was a well-known wrestler in the 1950s and 1960s, who was featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not! for his ability to do sit-ups for hours on end.[10]

Savage was recognizable by wrestling fans for his distinctively deep and raspy voice, his ring attire (often comprising sunglasses, a bandana or head band, flashy robes, and a cowboy hat), intensity exhibited in and out of the ring, and his signature catch phrase ("Ooh yeah!").^[1] The WWE has said of Savage, "There has never been a Superstar more colorful than 'Macho Man' Randy Savage. His style—perfectly punctuated by his entrance music, 'Pomp and Circumstance'—has only been outshined by his performance in the ring."^[2]

On May 20, 2011, Savage was killed in a car accident in Seminole, Florida, after apparently suffering a heart attack while driving.

(November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011)

Randy's brother Lanny had a moderately successful career as a wrestler, too, most notably under the names "Leaping Lanny Poffo".

Did you know this Macho Man Trivia?

Randy first broke into the business in 1973 during the fall and winter of the baseball off season.[3] His first wrestling character, "The Spider Friend", was similar to Spider-Man.[3] It is interesting to note that he would appear as a wrestler in the first Spider-Man film in 2002.

His name change from Randy Poffo came at the suggestion of Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) booker Ole Anderson, who said that the name Poffo didn't fit someone who "wrestled like a savage".[3] During this transition from Poffo to Savage, he also toyed with the idea of wrestling as a blue clad medicine man named "The Big Geno", rumors were spread of a drug problem during his first few matches, as was common with early independent wrestlers, and Savage quietly put to rest the short lived Geno.[3] To this day Savage refuses to answer questions regarding The Big Geno and, eerily enough, he seems to become visibly shaken when this pseudonym is brought up.[3] When he decided to abandon his baseball career, he became a full time wrestler working with his brother and father.[3] Savage wrestled his first match against Midwest territory wrestler, the "Golden Boy" Paul Christy. Randy worked with his father and brother in Michigan, the Carolinas, Georgia, the Maritimes, and the eastern Tennessee territory run by Nick Gulas.[2] is a former American professional wrestler and actor Savage is best known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and most notably World Wrestling Federation (WWF). For much of his tenure in the WWF, he was managed by his real life wife, "Miss Elizabeth" Hulette.[3]

Savage became instantly recognizable by wrestling fans for his distinctively deep, husky voice, colorful attire (often comprised of sunglasses and a bandanna, gaudy robes and/or a cowboy hat), intensity exhibited in and out of the ring, his catch phrase "Oooh, yeah!" and his strange interviews which often digress into cryptic nonsense.[3]
Savage is a six-time world champion, with four WCW title reigns and two WWF title reigns. In WWF, he was a 2 time WWF Champion,[4][5] a 1 time Intercontinental Champion [6][5] and the winner of 1987 King of the Ring tournament.[7][5] In WCW, he was a 4 time WCW World Heavyweight Champion [8][5] and the winner of 1995 World War 3 battle royal.[9][5]
Savage was born in Columbus, Ohio to Angelo Poffo, an Italian American, and Judy, a Jewish American.[10]
He was (born November 15, 1952), he graduated from Downers Grove North High School in a suburb near Chicago, Illinois. Randy Poffo attended Southern Illinois University and graduated in 1971. After college, Randy was a minor league baseball catcher in the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago White Sox farm systems.[1] He injured his natural (right) throwing shoulder at one point so he learned to throw with his left arm instead. When Poffo played for the St. Petersburg Cardinals minor-league baseball team in 1971, one of his teammates was Keith Hernandez. The team was managed by Jimmy Piersall.[11]

Savage provided the voice for the character, Rasslor, on the Dial M For Monkey segment on an episode of Dexter's Laboratory. He has also lent his voice to the online cartoon College University in which he voiced himself. He also appeared in an episode of the television program Space Ghost Coast to Coast, entitled "Piledriver." In the episode, Savage supplied the voice of Space Ghost's grandfather, a former professional wrestler. Zorak commented, "That sounds like Randy Savage," and the character also referenced Elizabeth, his brother, "Leapin'" Lanny Poffo, "Wildfire" Tommy Rich, and Haystacks Calhoun.
Savage beat out rival former wrestler Goldberg

as the casting choice to appear in Spider-Man

(2002) as the underground wrestler "Bonesaw McGraw."

The original character from the comics is named Crusher Hogan. It was his "Bonesaw McGraw" character that has inspired fans of Clarkson University Hockey to bring the Bonesaw to hockey games to use as an intimidating gesture to the other teams as well as support the Golden Knights team. An entire website has been devoted to this cause, www.bonesaw.org.[96] In 2005, he provided the voice of Sasquatch in the Nickelodeon show The X's. He appeared on The Jeff Foxworthy Show as himself and played pro wrestler James "Pretty Boy" Carter on the

His character's financial bankruptcy and physical injuries led Dwight (Nick Von Esmarch) his long-time fan, to rethink his own options between a college education and a passion for wrestling.
Savage played a prison inmate who was forced to fight other inmates in a cage in the episode "Fight or Die" of Walker, Texas Ranger. In 1999, Macho Man appeared as himself on Mad About You in "Separated Beds." In the episode Savage wrestles "Gorilla Boy" (Marvin), and wins only after Ira, Marvin's manager, tells him to bite Marvin on the back of the foot, his Achilles heel. Savage responds by asking, "Is he basically a clean guy?" before he bites Marvin. Marvin's mom then attacks Savage resulting in a brawl in the ring. He also acted in an episode of The Weird Al Show.
In 2007, Savage appeared in the King of the Hill episode, "Bill, Bulk and the Body Buddies." He was also briefly shown in Family Guy in the episode "The Cleveland–Loretta Quagmire."
Television
When Phil Hellmuth did an interview on Sirius Satellite Radio recently, he said that Savage will be on the next season of VH1's The Surreal Life along with Playboy Playmate Tina Marie Jordan and rock musician Peter Steele. This has been verified by Savage himself in a press release, though VH1 has not released the official cast list yet.
He was the celebrity spokesman for Slim Jim snack foods in the late 1990s and still is noted for this today. His catch phrase in the ads was "Snap into a Slim Jim, oh yeah!"