Randy Savage

He married Elizabeth Hulette, known as “Miss Elizabeth” in the ring, in 1984. Initially, she was his manager too. They divorced in 1992. Following this, he married his high-school sweetheart, Barbara Lynn Payne, in May 2010.

A year later, he died due to a sudden heart attack while driving his jeep in Florida. He was 58 years old at that time. He had no previous history of heart-related ailments. However, the autopsy revealed advanced coronary artery disease, with 90% blockage.

He was born Randy Mario Poffo, on November 15, 1952, in Columbus, Ohio, US, to Judy and Angelo Poffo. His mother was Jewish, and his father was Italian–American. His father was a well-known wrestler and wrestling promoter of his time. Randy’s younger brother, Lanny Poffo, was also a professional wrestler.

He was raised in Zanesville, Ohio, and studied at the ‘Grover Cleveland Middle School.’ Later, he completed his graduation from the ‘Downers Grove North High School’ in Illinois. After completing his education, he moved to Staten Island, New York, and later to Lexington, Kentucky.

He joined the professional baseball team ‘St. Louis Cardinals’ as a catcher after finishing high school and started playing minor league at the age of 18. He soon injured his right shoulder in a collision and started throwing with his left arm. He played his last season for the ‘Tampa Tarpons’ in 1974.

He got his first taste of wrestling during the off-season of baseball in 1973. He soon came to be known as “The Spider.” He later went by the ring name of “Randy Savage,” on the recommendation of his trainer, Terry Stephens. His first professional wrestling challenge was against Paul Christy.

He soon gave up baseball and became a full-time professional wrestler, following in the footsteps of his father and younger brother. In order to promote his two sons, his father started the ‘ICW’ promotion, based in Lexington, Kentucky. The ‘ICW’ operated from 1978 to 1984.

Randy and his brother, Lanny, joined Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler’s ‘Continental Wrestling Association’ in Memphis and feuded over the ‘AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship’ title. He teamed up with his brother and fought ‘The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express’ in a feud. He was subsequently disqualified for piledriving his opponent through the timekeeper’s table.

Professional boxing took him through the phases of being the good guy, or the “babyface,” against Jimmy Hart in 1984 and the bad guy, or the “heel,” against Lawler in 1985, ultimately ending in Lawler defeating Savage in a ‘Loser Leaves Town’ match.

In mid-1985, he signed up with Vince McMahon and appeared on ‘Tuesday Night Titans.’ He made his pay-per-view debut at ‘The Wrestling Classic’ event in November 1985, in which he defeated The Dragon and Dynamite Kid and lost to Junkyard Dog in the finals.

In the latter half of 1985, he had a feud with the ‘Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion’ Tito Santana, in the course of which he was beaten in October 1985. He later won by countout in November 1985. However, he won the match but not the title, as the title did not change hands by countout.

He won the ‘WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship’ title from Santana on a ‘Prime Time Wrestling’ episode, at the ‘Boston Garden,’ in February 1986, using an unauthorized metal object to knock out his opponent.

He appeared in the movies ‘Ready to Rumble’ (2000), ‘Spider-Man’ (2002), and ‘Glago’s Guest’ (2008).

He also appeared in a number of TV serials, such as ‘Baywatch’ (1996), ‘The Jeff Foxworthy Show’ (1997), ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ (1999), ‘Mad About You’ (1999), ‘Arliss’ (1999), and ‘College University’ (2003).

His lent his voice to the video game ‘Cars Race-O-Rama.’