Randy

Randall Mario Poffo, (born November 15, 1952), better known by his stage name "Macho Man" Randy Savage (and alternately Randy "Macho Man" Savage), is a professional wrestler who achieved prominence in the World Wrestling Federation and later World Championship Wrestling. He has also performed under the names "Macho King" and " Macho Man." [ Early career [ Before he started his full-time wrestling career, he was a minor league baseball catcher in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system. He injured his natural throwing shoulder at one point, so he learned how to throw with his left arm instead. 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. His brother Lanny Poffo had a moderately successful career as a wrestler, under the stage names Leaping Lanny Poffo and The Genius. In the early 1980s, Angelo Poffo ran the "outlaw" ICW promotion in the mid-American states that featured his sons Randy and Lanny. The promotion competed with Jerry Lawler's Memphis promotion (later the USWA). Eventually, the Poffo promotion disbanded and Randy and Lanny entered the Memphis scene. [ World Wrestling Federation [

Randy Savage, along with "Mega Powers" partner Hulk Hogan In June 1985, Savage signed with Vince McMahon's WWF and soon became a top heel. He made his pay-per-view debut at The Wrestling Classic on November 7, 1985, where he defeated Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat among others on his way to finishing runner-up to Junkyard Dog in a sixteen man tournament. He eventually beat Tito Santana to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship at the famed Boston Garden in January 1986. Savage wrestled in what is widely considered to be one of the greatest matches in North American wrestling history when he faced Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat at WrestleMania III in the Pontiac Silverdome. The match was the culmination of a long and bitter feud between the two and featured tremendous athleticism and in-ring storytelling. After nineteen two-counts, Steamboat pinned Savage to end his reign as Intercontinental Champion. The match was an extremely choreographed one, as opposed to the "on the fly" nature of most wrestling matches. Savage was a stickler for detail, and he and Steamboat laid out and rehearsed every spot in the match prior to WrestleMania, at his home in Florida. It still stands up to the test of time and is cited by such wrestling luminaries as Chris Jericho as their inspiration for becoming a wrestler. The Macho Man is known to wrestling fans and non-fans alike for his distinctively deep, husky voice and his trademark loud, drawn-out cry of "Ohhhhhhhhhh, yeahhhhhhhhhhhh!", made even more popular by a series of Slim Jim ads. For much of his tenure in the WWF, he was managed by the late Miss Elizabeth, to whom he was married on December 30, 1984. The couple had twin boys. Savage would turn face later in 1987 after the fans started cheering him for his exceptional in-ring ability. On Saturday Night's Main Event in October 1987 he solidified his status as a face when Elizabeth got Hulk Hogan to save him from a beatdown by Jimmy Hart's cronies the Honky Tonk Man and the Hart Foundation.

As a result, the Mega Powers were born. Hogan and Savage would together rule the WWF for the next sixteen months. Savage achieved his greatest fame during WrestleMania IV when he defeated "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase in the final of a tournament for the vacant WWF Championship. Savage would hold the title for a full year before losing it to Hogan at WrestleMania V in 1989. Prior to his WrestleMania V match, he turned heel on Hogan, getting jealous of him over Miss Elizabeth. He eventually left Elizabeth as his valet for Sensational Sherri. He adopted the moniker "Macho King" after defeating "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan for the WWF's unofficial "King" title.

After the match, Savage proceeded to give Duggan five big elbow drops from the top rope, and Sherri did several splashes from the top to further humiliate Duggan. The Macho King got into a feud with The Ultimate Warrior after hitting him with his scepter at the 1991 Royal Rumble, costing him the WWF Championship against Sgt. Slaughter. It led to a career-ending match at WrestleMania VII. Savage lost the marathon match; even after receiving five consecutive flying elbow drops, the Warrior somehow managed to kick out. After the match, Savage was attacked by Queen Sherri as he lay dejected in the ring. This was too much for Miss Elizabeth, who happened to be in the audience. Elizabeth rushed to Savage's aid, fighting off Sherri and reuniting with her one-time love to huge crowd appreciation.

Savage would return to TV in a non-wrestling role as the "Macho Man" again over the summer with Miss Elizabeth and "propose" to her in the ring, leading to an on-air "wedding" at SummerSlam 1991, dubbed "The Match Made in Heaven." It was at this time that Savage was targeted by Jake "The Snake" Roberts, who was by now a dastardly heel. In a memorable feud, Roberts would ambush Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth on their wedding day and later have a cobra bite Savage as the Macho Man lay prone in the ring.

Due to fan pressure, Savage would be "re-instated" as a wrestler by Jack Tunney so that he could do battle with Roberts. Savage would have another run as WWF Champion, defeating "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair at WrestleMania VIII in 1992, and holding it until September of that year, when he lost it back to Flair at a WWF TV taping in Hershey Pennsylvania. Savage and Flair would later swap the WCW World Heavyweight Championship during their 1995-96 feud, making them the only duo to win and lose both the WWF/E and WCW versions of the world title to each other. After losing the title, he formed a tag team with the Ultimate Warrior, whom he defended the title against at SummerSlam 1992. The team was known as The Ultimate Maniacs. The duo formed after Warrior helped Savage to the back on the night he lost the title. Razor Ramon had injured Savage's knee during his match with Flair, ultimately costing him the match and the title. Savage backed Warrior to be the man to dethrone Flair. Savage and Warrior were scheduled to face Flair and Ramon in a tag team match at that year's Survivor Series. However, Warrior left the WWF weeks before the event was to take place, so Savage chose the late Mr. Perfect, executive consultant to Flair, as his partner to replace Warrior. Perfect turned face and teamed with Savage. The duo defeated Flair and Ramon via a disqualification. When Monday Night Raw began in January 1993, Savage served primarily as a color commentator, wrestling only occasionally against characters such as Doink, the Repo Man, & Crush. Savage appeared alongside Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan to broadcast Wrestlemania 9 and defeated Crush in a "Falls Count Anywhere Match" at WrestleMania X. Savage also made periodic appearances in Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion in fall 1994. [ World Championship Wrestling [ Randy signed a $6 million contract with WCW, joining his "friend" Hulk Hogan, who was feuding with the 3 Faces of Fear and the "Dungeon of Doom." On November 26, 1995 at World War 3, Macho Man won the WCW World Title by winning the 60-man three-ring battle royal. He lost the title to Ric Flair a month later. Macho Man won the title back a month later but lost the title again to Ric Flair another month later. In January 1996, he would bring Elizabeth with him into WCW as his valet once again. Elizabeth turned on Savage in his last title loss to Flair. In July 1996, the nWo was formed when Hulk Hogan turned on Savage and joined "The Outsiders," a tag team of former WWF wrestlers Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. After their inception, one of their main enemies became Macho Man himself. At WCW Halloween Havoc 1996, Macho Man faced "Hollywood" Hogan for the WCW Title but lost when the rest of the nWo interfered. After months of abuse from the nWo, Randy eventually joined them and was therefore rewarded with the services of Elizabeth, who had joined the nWo several months earlier.

He began feuding with Diamond Dallas Page and Kimberly. When Hogan failed to recapture his "nWo" Title from Sting, it was Savage's turn, and he got his shot at WCW Spring Stampede 1998. Hogan tried everything he could to make sure that Savage would not win the title because Hogan felt that he was the only nWo member who should be World Champion, since he was the leader of the stable. With the help of Nash, however, Savage beat Sting for the belt. Savage would lose the belt to Hollywood Hogan the next night, eventually leading to the "half"-split of the nWo and the formation of nWo Wolfpac. For nearly a year, Randy Savage took a hiatus from the company due to an injury. When Macho Man returned, he came back with a new look and new attitude and also brought with him his then twenty-two year old girlfriend Gorgeous George as a valet. At first, Randy would interfere in DDP's matches to make sure that Page kept his World Title (for reasons unknown and never explained by WCW), but when Kevin Nash won it at WCW Slamboree 1999, Savage went after the title. It was around that time that Madusa & Miss Madness joined Macho Man as his other two valets; together they were known as Team Madness.

At WCW Great American Bash 1999, Sid Vicious returned to WCW and helped Macho Man attack Kevin Nash. This led to a tag team between Kevin Nash & Sting against Randy Savage & Sid Vicious, in which whoever pinned Nash (including Sting) would win the World Title, at WCW Bash at the Beach 1999. Savage won the WCW title for the fourth time when he pinned Nash but lost the title again to Hollywood Hogan the next night, when Big Sexy interfered and powerbombed Macho Man. After that, Team Madness slowly started to disband as Madusa & Miss Madness started fighting each other because they blamed the other for Savage's title loss. Savage soon fired both of them. He eventually joined the Millionaire's Club with Hogan, Jim Duggan, Flair, DDP, and other popular veteran wrestlers. When Vince Russo came to WCW & Savage's WCW contract expired, Savage and George left WCW and never returned. [ Total Nonstop Action Wrestling [ Savage made an appearance for TNA at TNA Victory Road 2004 and later teamed up with Jeff Hardy & A.J. Styles to defeat the Kings of Wrestling (Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) at TNA Turning Point 2004 on December 5. He left TNA due to a disagreement over the finish of a PPV match. In 2005, Savage told a Missouri newspaper that he can’t wrestle right now because of "health concerns," as he had apparently injured his back.