TMZ is reporting that former WWF World Champion “Macho Man” Randy Savage is dead. Savage, real name Randall Mario Poffo, suffered a heart attack while he was behind the wheel of his car at around 10 AM this morning and lost control of his vehicle. TMZ got the news from Savage’s brother Lanny, and this is officially the first thing The Genius has ever said that made me sad.
The importance of Savage as a performer can’t be overstated. He was simply one of the greatest and most memorable pro wrestlers in the history of the industry. His career began in 1973 and took him through the two biggest boom periods in pro wrestling popularity, first in the “Rock n’ Wrestling” WWF of the 1980s and then as a part of World Championship Wrestling and the nWo in the 1990s. He was in cartoons, wrestled Peter Parker, held a heavyweight championship wherever he went and participated in the consensus choice for the greatest match of all time against Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat in front of every imaginable wrestling fan at Wrestlemania III.
You can’t just toss a guy like this into a recap paragraph. Savage is a pillar of nearly all of our wrestling memories, be it on Saturday mornings or Monday nights or in pillow form. Slim Jims, neon hats, raspy voices, marriage proposals … they are all indelibly marked by the Macho Man. Heaven saw somebody corpsing and sent for The Man.
Rest in peace, Macho.
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wrestling is about being ridiculous, and randy savage was more ridiculous than anyone.
RIP
he and hogan fought each other because the hulkster had to choose between helping him in the tag team match or helping miss elizabeth get to medical help. when he came back from helping her, macho man had already lost the match, and from then on they went from friends to enemies… i was 8 years old.
Looks like the Undertaker finally won.
Step into the afterlife, you magnificent bastard.
Thus marks the start of the end of days.
RIP Macho Man
Come on.
COME ON.
One of my first wrestling memories was the match between Savage and Tito Santana at the Boston Garden, where Savage pulled out some foreign object, nailed Santana in the eyes and won the Intercontinental Title. That was the first time I saw what would later be called “a well-worked match,” but at the time was just a stellar contest.
I hope he was speaking truth in the MENTAL TELEPATHY promo.
RIP.
Oooo nah!
Macho Man was a crazy bastard who has been sorely missed from the biz this last decade and will be sorely missed from life as well. Too sad.
Unbelievable. This is awful. I feel selfish for being sad he never got his big WWE nostalgia run like everyone else. The man deserves far more credit and praise than he has received. Savage was awesome. R.I.P.
Yeah this just sucks. No jokes or anything for me to throw in. Just sad. Reposting this because I am not linking to the Fanhouse cemetery.
[www.youtube.com]
I’m gonna snap into a Slim Jim at lunch in his honor. I remember playing him on my buddy’s Sega Genisis whuile waiting for a Wrestle Mainia to come on Pay-Per View.
as it turns out, Slim Jims are terrible for your heart…who’da thunk it?
Thanks for all the great memories Macho Man. My Dad was working as a stage tech when the WWF came to Naples, Fl. And I got to spend the day at the arena with all the wrestlers. I’ll never forget how cool Macho Man and The Ultimate Warrior were. They both took a knee, patted my head and took time out of there day to talk to me. Signed all the autographs I asked for. Unlike Shawn Michaels, who was a serious ass to a six year old.
“Ooooooh Yeaahhhhh.” …. RIP brother ….
The Botchamania reference only made it sadder. RIP Randy, let us never forget your sparkly shirt, your wrap-around shades, and how much height you got on every elbow drop.
RIP into a Slim Jim!
You’ll be missed, Macho.
aww he will be missed
I’m legit not ready for a world without Randy Savage, but on the bright side, Ozzie Guillen is tweeting about it and it’s like The Dugout only so real.
rip loved the slim jim com.
God, the writer of this article is a straight up dork.
@machoman – What do you want me to do, type “dead wrestler” and put up a picture of a Slim Jim?
He’s dropping flying elbows onto angels now. R.I.P., Macho, and thanks for all the childhood memories.
He will be missed
Calling the Ultimate Warrior as the next.
@wagnike2 – Steering don’t make the world work.
He was the best. Just the best. RIP, Mr. Savage.
As a kid who grew up in the 80s I remember some of the great matches he had. Its sad that Wrestling has lost some of the magic it had back then, and today I find it almost unwatchable.
I had a chance to meet him when I was 12 when he came to Portland to go to the Shriners Children Hospital. He had his persona on, albeit a very gentle one, and the kids loved him. He and many others from WWF/WWE and others and others have done this for years. No publicity, the way it should be done. I was laying in a bed, 12 years old and 43 pounds, tubes pumping chemo into me and he came and held my hand. He sat and prayed with me, and he really meant the words he said. He was a good entertainer, and an even better man.
RIP Macho Man
His next match will be with the Undertaker.