Angelo Poffo, the father of Randy Savage and Lanny Poffo, passed away this past night in his sleep at the age of 84.
Poffo wrestled for about 35 years after serving in the Navy during World War II. He was a major star in the late 50s when he was the transition of bringing the Chicago-based United States heavyweight title to Detroit while working for Jim Barnett. That was the forerunner of the Detroit version of the title that The Sheik and Dick the Bruiser dominated.
He often teamed with his sons when they were breaking into the business in the 70s. In the late 1970s, the family started a promotion based in Lexington, KY, which ran opposition to the Jerry Jarrett promotion, in one of the most heated promotional wars of the era. Randy was world champion for much of the run and Lanny was his biggest rival. In the early years it was never revealed they were brothers until the feud peaked and Lanny "broke the news," which was a huge angle at the time, with Savage going crazy.
In particular, the Poffo side would go on television and make fun of the more popular Jarrett wrestlers like Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee, challenging them to real fights. With a crew of tough guys that included Randy Savage, Ron Garvin, Bob Orton Jr. and Bob Roop, there was no possible response from the Jarrett side, although the ICW was never able to rival the more popular Jarrett group. They also tried to same approach when running television in Alabama and bad mouthing the NWA wrestlers in that territory.
Eventually, the sides settled their differences, leading to Lawler vs. Savage matches which drew huge houses everywhere, including setting a record in Lexington, where the promotional war was its hottest.
Poffo was well known in wrestling for saving and investing his money in AT&T stock, and played off it in the ICW when he worked under a mask as The Miser.
Late in his career, he wore a ring jacket with the number 6,033 on the back, because at one time he set an all-time world record by doing 6,033 sit-ups without stopping.
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