Randy Poffo, known to wrestling fans as “Macho Man” Randy Savage, passed away on May 5, 2011 after a heart attack led to an auto accident. The charismatic performer was known around the world to wrestling fans. However, very little is known about his post-wrestling life.
Savage was in the public spotlight for over two decades but fans heard very little from him during the last few years of his life. Aside from a very short stint in TNA Wrestling and his attempt at a rap career, Savage disappeared from the national scene. In this documentary, we will recap Savage’s legendary wrestling career and then we will do a deep dive into the final years of his life.
The son of Angelo and Judy Poffo, Randy Savage, real name Randy Poffo, was born on November 15, 1952 in Columbus, OH. His brother was Lanny Poffo, known to many wrestling fans for his run as The Genius in the World Wrestling Federation.
Savage was a very good baseball player and was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals straight out of high school in 1971. Although he was a catcher in high school, Savage played outfield for the Cardinals and then the Cincinnati Reds organizations. Savage was right-handed and was so talented that when he injured his shoulder, he learned to throw left-handed.
Savage started in the wrestling business wrestling in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, Georgia Championship Wrestling, and Big Time Wrestling. Initially, he wrestled as The Spider, a character that was similar to Spider-Man. Randy changed his last name from Poffo to Savage at the suggestion of his friend Terry The Goose Stephens and Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Ole Anderson, who said that the name Poffo did not fit someone who “wrestled like a savage.” The “Oh Yeah!” catchphrase came from legendary professional wrestler Pampero Firpo. The Macho Man part of his name came from Savage’s mother after the Village People’s Macho Man song was released.
Savage left his baseball aspirations to wrestle for his father full-time in International Championship Wrestling. ICW was an outlaw promotion that ran in opposition to Memphis. One of the featured stars pushed in the promotion was Randy’s brother, Lanny Poffo. Miss Elizabeth became an interviewer for the company and married Savage in 1984.
ICW ran in opposition to the Memphis promotion which was run by Jerry Jarrett. In an effort to gain notoriety, Savage and others in the promotion would regularly go on television and challenge Memphis’ top star, Jerry The King Lawler to a fight. With ICW unable to compete, the promotion folded, however, rather than Jerry Jarrett holding a grudge, he saw money in a feud between Lawler and Savage, something that was built up for a few years by Savage, but obviously was not going to take place until now. Savage aligned himself with the number one heel in the company, manager Jimmy Hart who had been feuding with Lawler for the last 4 years. Lawler and Savage drew big crowds throughout the territory. The feud ended in June of 1985 when Lawler defeated Savage in a loser leaves town match.
Within a month of leaving Memphis, Savage would appear on WWF television. For weeks, speculation ran rampant as to which WWF heel manager would be aligned with Savage. With Bobby Heenan, Freddie Blassie, Mr. Fuji, Johnny Valiant, and Jimmy Hart in the ring, Savage announced his new manager, Miss Elizabeth. While nobody in attendance knew of her, they were in awe of her beauty. No acknowledgement was mentioned they were married, or even a couple for that matter, in real life.
Behind the scenes, Savage was said to have been very jealous and protective of Elizabeth. Rumors of him locking her in a closet when he was in the ring circulated for decades. Others dismissed the rumor and said it was their private dressing room as there were no other full-time females on the roster at that time. A lot of wrestlers over the years have said they didn’t blame Savage for being overprotective of her as it was a very different time in the wrestling business.
In February of 1986, Savage struck gold when he defeated Tito Santana for the Intercontinental Championship. Savage entered a feud with George The Animal Steele when Steele developed a crush on Elizabeth. Savage would go on to successfully defend his Intercontinental Championship against Steele at WrestleMania 2.
Ricky Steamboat was the next challenger to Savage. Steamboat lost by countout, but after the match, Savage went to the top rope with the ring bell and came crashing down on Steamboat’s throat. Steamboat was out of action for three months. Future vignettes featured Steamboat struggling to heal from a storyline-crushed larynx.
Steamboat announced he was able to make a return to the ring. Their match would be held at WrestleMania III at the Pontiac Silverdome. Steamboat had George Steele in his corner for the match. While Hulk Hogan vs Andre The Giant was clearly the main event of the card, this match became an instant classic and is still regarded as one of the greatest matches of all time. In an era of calling matches in the ring, many were shocked when years later it was found that the two opponents spent months planning their bout. Per Savage’s wishes, sequences were written out on legal pads as a numbered list, and they would often quiz one another on which numbers correspond with which moves. Memorizing matches move for move became the norm many years later.
Honky Tonk Man defeated Steamboat three months later. Honky began calling himself, “The greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time.” This got under the skin of Savage who confronted him on an episode of WWF Superstars. On Saturday Night’s Main Event, Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart, who were also managed by Jimmy Hart, came down to aid Honky Tonk during an attack on Savage. They held Savage while Honky smashed the guitar over Savage’s head, and then threw down Elizabeth. This was the angle that turned Savage and Elizabeth babyfaces.
In 1988, the famous twin referee angle took place on an NBC prime-time special called The Main Event. On that broadcast, Andre The Giant defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship and surrendered it to Ted DiBiase which resulted in WWF President Jack Tunney declaring the title vacant and a tournament would be held to crown a new champion. Savage won the tournament at WrestleMania 4, defeating DiBiase in the finals.
Savage and Hogan formed a team called The Mega Powers. They faced the Mega Bucks consisting of DiBiase and Andre at the 1988 SummerSlam in which the Mega Powers emerged victorious. In the storyline, jealousy started to ensue on the part of Savage during the remainder of the year with Savage thinking Hogan was lusting for Elizabeth.
At the 1989 Royal Rumble, Hogan accidentally threw Savage over the top rope, further teasing Savage’s turn on Hogan. On The Main Event on NBC, Hogan and Savage faced The Twin Towers, Big Boss Man and Akeem. Savage got thrown over the top rope and he wiped out Elizabeth. With Boss Man and Akeem fighting Savage, Hogan carried Elizabeth to the back to get her help. When Savage made the comeback, he didn’t see Elizabeth or Hogan. He went to the back only to see Hogan taking care of her. Savage went ballistic and beat up Hogan and claimed that Hogan had lust in his eyes for her. This set up their match for WrestleMania 5 in which Hogan regained the title.
Savage went full fledged heel, taking on Sensational Sherri as his manager, and feuded with Hogan for most of the year. At the 1989 SummerSlam, Hogan teamed with Brutus Beefcake to defeat Savage and Zeus. In September, Savage won the King of the Ring tournament and became known as The Macho King Randy Savage and his manager Sensational Sherri became known as Queen Sherri.
At the 1990 Main Event, Savage got a rematch for the WWF Championship held by Hulk Hogan with James Buster Douglas as the special guest referee. Hogan emerged victorious to retain the title as this was the blowoff match for the Hogan-Savage feud.
Savage went on to feud with Dusty Rhodes which culminated in a mixed tag team match which saw Savage and Sherri end up on the losing end to Dusty and Sapphire at WrestleMania 6.
Ultimate Warrior lost the WWF Championship to Sgt. Slaughter at the 1991 Royal Rumble when The Macho King Randy Savage came down to ringside and hit Warrior over the head with his scepter, allowing Slaughter to pin Warrior. Warrior got revenge and defeated Savage at WrestleMania VII in a career vs. career match, forcing Savage to retire. After the match, Sherri attacked Savage. Miss Elizabeth, who was sitting ringside for the match, came in to stop Sherri from further kicking Savage. When Savage came to, he turned around to see Elizabeth and didn’t know what to make of it. After a pause, the two embraced to the cheers of the crowd with some people in attendance crying tears of joy of them being reunited. Savage was once again a babyface.
In reality, the reason why they did the retirement storyline was to give Savage time off because he and Elizabeth wanted to start a family, but that never happened. Savage would remain on TV as a commentator on the weekly television shows but he would not be wrestling on the road for several months.
While they were married in real life for several years, Savage and Elizabeth had a storyline wedding at SummerSlam. Ironically, it was at this time that their real marriage was falling apart and heading for divorce. Following the wedding reception, Jake Roberts hid a snake in a gift box that Elizabeth opened. While doing color commentary on WWF Superstars, Jake baited Savage to come to the ring to fight him. Savage came into the ring and Jake attacked him, tied him up in the ropes, and had a king cobra bite his arm. This led to Savage asking to be reinstated which was accepted. On Superstars and Wrestling Challenge, the snake bite was censored since those shows aired in early timeslots around the country.
Savage and Roberts met at the Tuesday in Texas pay-per-view. Savage won the match, but Jake DDT’d Savage three times before slapping Elizabeth. Randy Savage got revenge on Jake Roberts by defeating him on Saturday Night’s Main Event. The entire Savage-Roberts feud was a big departure from the typical cartoonish storylines that were airing at the time.
Savage would go on to feud with WWF Champion Ric Flair who claimed to have had an affair with Elizabeth before Randy knew her. Savage gained revenge by defeating Flair for the title at WrestleMania VIII. Elizabeth’s last appearance for the WWF was on April 19, 1992 during the UK Rampage tour. According to multiple people who knew Savage, Elizabeth left to Florida and never returned. Savage went to find her hanging out with Hulk Hogan and his wife Linda. Savage would blame Hogan for Elizabeth leaving him but in reality, the marriage was in trouble long before this.
Savage and Elizabeth’s divorce was announced to fans in a letter that Savage wrote in WWF Magazine. Savage wrote, “It is a fact that Elizabeth and I are divorced, and I would like to go on record right now to say that this is nobody’s fault. It’s just one of those things that didn’t work out. The next thing I want to say is: Elizabeth, I know you’re out there and reading this. Please remember that in my heart, I will always love you.”
On WWF television, Savage didn’t miss a beat and he was still featured as a main event act, although Vince McMahon was looking to replace him with the New Generation of talent. At SummerSlam, Savage defended the WWF Title against fellow babyface The Ultimate Warrior. Warrior won the match, but not the title, as Savage was counted out of the ring. Savage lost the title back to Flair in September. In 1993, Savage was primarily used as a color commentator but he would have mini feuds with names such as Doink and Repo Man. His last major feud in the WWF was against Crush. The storyline was that Crush and Savage were good friends but Crush turned on Savage and this led to a match at WrestleMania 10.
Savage was unhappy with Vince McMahon phasing him out as a main event act and there were also issues in real life with Hulk Hogan. Savage ripped Hogan and accused him of playing a role in his marriage falling apart.
During the short-lived Radio WWF show, Savage said the following: “I personally used to look up to Hulk Hogan. But that was a big mistake. I really thought he was a friend. But he’s definitely not. He’s the worst prima donna I’ve ever met in my life. Hulk Hogan’s ego went so far out of control that Hulk Hogan consumed Terry Bollea.” Savage went on to say that he lost respect for Hogan when he lied about his steroid usage during his appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show. Savage admitted to steroid use when they were legal and then said that taking steroids is like putting poison in your body.
Savage said that he and Elizabeth were having problems and oftentimes when he would call home, she wasn’t there. Savage recalled being on the road and not getting an answer from her for four days. Savage learned that she was in Florida and out of desperation, he flew down and saw that she was hanging out with Hulk and his wife Linda. Savage said that he learned this after Hogan previously told him that he didn’t know where Elizabeth was.
With the advent of Monday Night RAW, Savage was used as a color commentator. Unhappy in that role, he left in October of 1994 for WCW. Savage’s brother Lanny Poffo stated in interviews that Randy pitched a storyline with Shawn Michaels but Vince McMahon felt that Savage was too old and he wanted to phase Savage out and focus on the new generation of talent. In a rare move, McMahon thanked Savage on Monday Night Raw for his contributions to the company.
Eric Bischoff told A&E’s Biography that the Savage deal didn’t cost WCW anything because Savage brought the lucrative Slim Jim deal with him. Lanny Poffo said that Savage’s Slim Jim deal was for $750,000 per year.
In 1995, Savage resumed his feud with Ric Flair, this time in WCW, after Flair attacked him at Uncensored. At Slamboree, Savage and Hulk Hogan teamed up to defeat Flair and Vader. After the match, Flair attacked Savage’s father, Angelo Poffo. This further heated up the Savage-Flair feud. Flair defeated Savage at The Great American Bash. However, Savage won the rematch at Bash at the Beach.
Later in the year, Savage won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at World War 3 in a 60-man Battle Royal, but lost it at Starrcade to Flair. Savage regained the WCW Championship from Flair in January of 1996 on Nitro. Elizabeth was brought in to be Savage’s manager. Savage had moved on with his life by this point but was a big advocate of Elizabeth and he was on board with Eric Bischoff’s idea to bring her in. Hulk Hogan told A&E’s Biography that Savage had no problem with Elizabeth joining with WCW and his feeling was that if it’s good for business then it’s good for everyone. In storyline, Elizabeth would turn on Savage and then join Flair.
When the NWO formed at Bash at the Beach, Savage spent the remainder of the year feuding with them. In 1997, Savage finally gave up the battle and joined the NWO at SuperBrawl VII and reunited with Elizabeth in storyline. Savage began an almost year-long feud with Diamond Dallas Page as Savage made several derogatory statements about Page’s wife, Kimberly. This feud with Page finally turned Page into a big time player in WCW.
The NWO began arguing with each other in 1998. After Hulk Hogan failed to regain the WCW Championship from Sting, Randy Savage was next in line. Hogan, despite being in the NWO with Savage, felt Savage didn’t deserve the shot because Hogan was their leader. Savage won the title at Spring Stampede when Nash helped Savage. The next night on Nitro, Hogan got his shot at Savage and won the title after outside interference from Nash and Bret Hart. This led to Nash and Savage breaking away from the NWO and forming the NWO Wolfpac. Savage suffered a knee injury in June that required surgery and that kept him out until April of 1999.
Savage returned to WCW TV in April. He was more muscular than ever and had his girlfriend Stephanie Bellars, known to fans as Gorgeous George, as his valet. Madusa and Miss Madness, later known in WWE as Molly Holly, soon joined them as Team Madness. At Bash at the Beach, Savage won the WCW Championship in a tag team match that pitted Savage and Sid Vicious against Sting and Kevin Nash. Savage pinned Nash to win the title but he lost it the next night on Monday Nitro to Hollywood Hogan. Savage defeated Dennis Rodman at Road Wild and then left the company in October. Savage’s last appearance in WCW was in April 2000 when he helped the Millionaire’s Club in their battle against The New Blood. His contract had already expired by this point and this was a one-off appearance.
In July of 2000, Savage expressed interest in returning to the WWF. During a shoot interview, he said that he didn’t want to commit to WCW because they were really hurting. Savage said, “WWF is the place to be so I’m chilling on the sidelines. Gonna plug myself in but Macho Man can’t plug himself back in unless there’s extreme impact.” Savage would never return to the WWF and years later, unsubstantiated rumors began to surface as to why Vince McMahon didn’t want him back. The rumors were about an alleged relationship when Stephanie McMahon was underage but none of the parties mentioned have ever confirmed the story.
During his years in WCW, Savage struggled with his age and he would change his look. During A&E’s Biography, Jake The Snake Roberts talked about what wrestlers would do when they got older to keep up with the younger wrestlers. Roberts said that he never saw Savage taking steroids but he believes that he did take them.
While the public saw Savage as a larger-than-life personality, many of his peers say that he was dealing with personal issues. Mean Gene Okerlund stated that until the day that Savage died, there were a lot of issues between Savage and Hogan and while there were times that they worked together, overall they did not get along.
Kevin Nash said that when Savage was in the relationship with Elizabeth, Savage never went out and wasn’t a party guy but that changed after the divorce. Savage met Gorgeous George in 1999 at The Dollhouse adult establishment. Things were great at first but the relationship took a dark turn.
Savage and George were said to have been big partiers during their time together. George told A&E that while Savage, who was 47 years old in 1999, didn’t act older and he fit in with the party lifestyle. George was 23 years old when she and Savage began dating.
George claimed that Savage was doing steroids and as soon as he would push himself more as he got older. George claimed that Randy’s father would inject him with shots and while partying, she and Savage would take uppers an downers and he would indulge in Ecstacy.
Wrestlers have told stories about Savage’s paranoia during his relationship with Elizabeth. George said that she saw the same things when she was with Savage and it grew over time. She claimed that one day while cleaning Savage’s house, she saw monitors in the broom closet and that is when she realized that Savage was surveiling her house.
After Savage left WCW, the Savage and Hogan real life feud continued with both men ripping on each other in the media. Hogan had a big platform in Tampa as a regular guest on The Bubba The Love Sponge Show. In retaliation, Savage made a rap album in 2003 with a song titled “Be A Man” that was a shot at Hogan. Lanny Poffo said that Randy believed that the album would sell 50 million copies but it only sold about 50,000.
During that year, Elizabeth passed away after an accidental overdose. Lanny said that he doesn’t think that Randy held any animosity towards Lex Luger. Savage said after her death that he had not seen Elizabeth in a few years but they had closure and he felt bad for her family.
After a lengthy absence from wrestling, Savage made his return to the ring, this time for TNA, in November of 2004 at Turning Point. He teamed with Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles to defeat Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. He left in December after creative differences. Jarrett talked with Inside The Ropes about Savage’s brief TNA stint. Jarrett said, “He wanted to give back a little to the business, but Randy’s head was in the movies. He was always talking about reinventing Randy Savage in the movies and in rap, and he was dead serious about that.”
By this time, Savage would cover his entire body as he was smaller than he was during his days in the WWF and WCW. He didn’t do much in the ring as it was clear that his age and the decades of taking bumps had caught up to him by this point. Savage and TNA management reportedly didn’t agree on the creative direction and Savage was gone just weeks after his debut.
Savage had some success in Hollywood. He appeared in guest-starring roles in the 90’s on shows such as Baywatch. In 1999, he appeared on Walker Texas Ranger and he made his big screen debut as himself in David Arquette’s Ready To Rumble. His biggest role was in 2002 in Spider-Man as the wrestler Bonesaw McGraw. He also did voiceover work on an episode of King of the Hill as the Gorilla. He was also the voice of Space Ghost’s grandfather in an episode of Space Ghost Coast To Coast, and he provided his voice for The Thug in Disney’s “Bolt” animated film
While Savage was high strung most of his life, he seemed to have finally found peace after his wrestling career ended. He rekindled a relationship with a woman he met 35 years earlier, Barbara Lynn Payne, and they were married in May of 2010. Savage seemed very happy and content being himself away from the spotlight. Randy’s friend Wendy Kelly told A&E that Randy said that Lynn was always the love of his life. Randy and Lynn split in the 70s after Randy left Florida so he could get into professional wrestling and they went their separate ways and found their way back to each other decades later.
Hulk Hogan has stated that he ran into Savage at the doctor’s office and they were able to fix their relationship. This was later confirmed by Lanny Poffo on his podcast. Hogan said that Savage put on some weight and seemed healthy and at peace.
In early 2011, Savage reached a deal with 2K Sports to use his likeness for the WWE All-Stars video game. Savage and WWE were reportedly not on speaking terms and there were reports that Vince McMahon once told the creative team to never bring his name up. However, the deal with 2K Sports had many fans believing that there was a chance for Savage and WWE to work together again. Savage’s last known public appearance was in February 2011 when he was seen attending a New York Mets game.
On May 20, 2011, Savage was driving home in his Jeep Wrangler with his wife in the passenger seat. Both were wearing seatbelts when he became unresponsive and crashed into a tree. Paramedics arrived to find him dead at the scene. Savage was 58 years old. An autopsy showed that he had an enlarged heart and advanced coronary artery disease and died of a heart attack.
Wrestling fans will forever remember Randy Savage as one of the most recognizable characters from their childhood. There is not a fan out there who hasn’t imitated his voice or said the phrase “Oh yeah!” Savage will always be recognized as one of the greatest of all time, and in 2015, he was inducted him into the WWE Hall of Fame.
