Macho Man Randy Savage RIP

[dragon]

Randy "Macho Man" Savage, the flamboyant sunglasses-sporting wrestler who grappled with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Jesse Venture, Andre the Giant and Rowdy Roddy Piper while collecting scores of WWE championships during his '80s heyday, died Friday in a car accident. He was 58.

His brother tells TMZ that Savage was driving in Tampa this morning at around 10 a.m. when he suffered a heart attack behind the wheel and lost control of his vehicle.

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"PLUS" Editor Talks Mia Davis Death A spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol tells E! News that the pro-grappler's 2009 Jeep Wrangler ended up barreling over a concrete median divider through oncoming traffic before it "collided head-on with a tree."

According to police, Savage's wife, Lynn, was also in the vehicle at the time of the accident and both were wearing their seatbelts. Savage was taken to nearby Largo Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries while Lynn sustained "minor injuries" but was expected to make a full recovery.

Authorities added that alcohol was not involved in the crash and while they could not confirm that Savage's heart gave out, police cited "a medical event" as a possible cause and have launched an investigation.

Upon hearing the tragic news, the WWE posted a statement on its website: "The WWE is saddened to learn of the passing of one of the greatest Superstars of all time, 'Macho Man' Randy Savage, who died in an automobile accident. Poffo was under contract with WWE from 1985 to 1993 and held both the WWE and Intercontinental Championships.Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends."

Savage was born Randy Poffo on Nov. 15, 1953 in Columbus, Ohio. He first fell in love with the sport that made him famous watching his father, Angelo Poffo, who was also a wrestler as was his brother, "Leaping" Lanny Poffo, also known as "The Genius."

After a short stint in minor league baseball, Randy took up wrestling in 1973 and shortly thereafter took the stage name "Savage."

After testing his mettle in the various circuits (International Championship Wrestling, Continental Wrestling Association), in 1985 he signed with Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (which later changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment after losing a trademark suit), and it was here where the legend was born.

At the WWE, Savage launched some of his fiercest rivalries, fighting (and beating) the likes of Hulk Hogan on his way to winning the Intercontinental Championship over Tito Santana in a heavily watched broadcast of Saturday Night's Main Event.

He held onto the title for a year—the longest up until that point—all the while engaging in feuds with the likes of George "The Animal" Steele and Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

Savage, accompanied by his then-wife Elizabeth as valet, gave fans some of the most memorable, highly choreographed matches in Wrestlemania history. In Wrestlemania III, Randy "crushed" the larynx of Ricky Steamboat before Steamboat managed to pin him for the win in what was then hailed as one of the greatest matches of all time by wrestling magazines.

During late '80s, Savage continued to be one of the WWE's main attractions, known for his trademark "Oooh Yeahhh!" phrase and teaming up with Hulk Hogan to form the popular Mega Powers. The duo had rivalries with Honky Tonk Man and fellow stars Andrew the Giant and Ted Biase, aka The Mega Bucks.

By Wrestlemania V however, Savage (now known as the "Macho King") and Hogan were done as a pair, especially when the latter beat Randy for the title. Around the same time, the superstar also separated from Elizabeth; they divorced in 1992. She would later be found dead in 2003 of a drug overdose in the home of Lex Luger.

Savage retired after losing a match at Wrestlemania VII in 1991. After a short stint on the sidelines as a color commentator, Randy got back in the ring and joined the World Championship Wrestling before retiring again in 2000.

During his time off from the ring, Savage turned to acting, appearing on TV shows like Walker Texas Ranger, Mad About You and Baywatch. His most memorable big screen appearance was playing the wrestler Bonesaw McGraw in the 2002 blockbuster Spider-Man and also played himself in the 2000 comedy Ready to Rumble.

Randy, also showed off his musical side with the 2003 release of a rap album, Be a Man. On one of the tracks, he couldn't help but diss the Hulkster.

In 2010, Savage tied the knot again with Lynn Payne, his longtime girlfriend.

Our hearts go out to his family.

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[Shroom Man 777]

Oh man. I was just watching an episode of Dexter's Lab wherein he voiced an awesome intergalactic alien wrestler a few days ago. He was awesome.

[Flagg]

21 slimjim salute!

[Edward Yee]

Wasn't that character (Rasslor) just the Macho Man with the volume turned up to INTERGALACTIC?

Worse part about this I'm hearing was that he'd "gotten out" with his wealth and his health unlike certain people *coughHulkHoganandRicFlaircough* and was actually living a relatively good life.

[Executor32]

RIP Randy. You will be sorely missed, oooh yeahhh.

[Mr. Coffee]

Man, I remember watching Randy Savage back when the WWF was still hilarious. Him, Hulk Hogan, and The Ultimate Warrior were my favorites when I was a kid. Some of the shit-talk rants those guys would tape for between matches were so over-the-top it was insane. Also, he had Miss Elizabeth in his corner, so total 80s style teased hair hotness was to be had when he'd have a match.

Guess trees must've learned to do an Atomic Drop... Fucking trees, man.

[Flagg]

Didn't Ultimate Warrior get fired for doing a bunch of coke and steroids or something? I still remember that match between him and Hulk in one of the early Wrestlemanias, and it was awesome.

[Chardok]

Didn't Ultimate Warrior get fired for doing a bunch of coke and steroids or something? I still remember that match between him and Hulk in one of the early Wrestlemanias, and it was awesome.

It was awesome.


Don't watch it again now if you want it to stay that way. Seriously.


All that said: Bone saw was reaaaaaaadyyyyyy...

[Mr. Coffee]

Didn't Ultimate Warrior get fired for doing a bunch of coke and steroids or something? I still remember that match between him and Hulk in one of the early Wrestlemanias, and it was awesome.

No, he got fired in 91' over a pay dispute with MacMahon, and then Vince the Douche tried to throw him under the bus in 92' when the WWF was under investigation for rampant steroid abuse (oddly enough The Warrior had independent lab tests proving he wasn't using steroids, which probably made him the only guy in the WWF at the time that wasn't a fucking 'roid monkey), and since it came at the height of Vince and the Warrior arguing about pay issues it was bullshit to begin with. I know Lex Luger got caught with steroids, oxycontin, and all manner of shit when the police searched his house after Miss Elizabeth died there. He went on with his career, so I don't really think Vince gives a flying fuck about anyone in his organization using drugs except as an excuse to get rid of someone when they get in his way.

I still think one of the best matches Warrior did was when he helped out Hulk Hogan some getting his ass handed to him in Wrestlemania VIII or IX.

[Mr Bean]

Didn't Ultimate Warrior get fired for doing a bunch of coke and steroids or something? I still remember that match between him and Hulk in one of the early Wrestlemanias, and it was awesome.

Try the Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior
(Part 1)
The entire thing is about an hour twenty with only Part 5 not available, but if you want to know the life and times of one of the craziest motherfuckers on the planet let alone in wrestling it's worth a watch.

To the Macho Man as he got out of the game it's sad to see him die in a car crash (Even if it was heart assisted) because I pegged him as one of the only wrestlers to die of old age unlike people like Flair and Hogan who look like they are going to die in the ring having blown all their money when they were younger. (Or in Hogan's case because I don't think he can leave the spotlight behind)

[weemadando]

Snap off a slim jim and watch Wrestlemania 3.

Also, HDNet is airing The Voice vs Hulk Hogan tonight and apparently Schiavello and Hogan spend a bit of time talking about Randy. Should be an interesting interview as it's the first non-combat sports one (strictly speaking) in the series.

[Enigma]

Wow. This like, what a week or two since The Undertaker got into a serious motorcycle accident?

I liked MMRS. He was hilarious.

[Batman]

The Macho Man was second only to the Hulkster in iconicity in my book. Professional wrestling is poorer without him.

[weemadando]

Well, he saved us all from the Rapture at least.

[Edward Yee]

To the Macho Man as he got out of the game it's sad to see him die in a car crash (Even if it was heart assisted) because I pegged him as one of the only wrestlers to die of old age unlike people like Flair and Hogan who look like they are going to die in the ring having blown all their money when they were younger. (Or in Hogan's case because I don't think he can leave the spotlight behind)

Worse yet, Hogan's spent the past year and almost-half now inflicting himself onto TNA, and those of us who've wanted TNA to succeed have spent that entire time suffering because of him.

In contrast, before the crash, someone noted that MMRS had retired to the point of just sitting on the beach and doing voice acting for fun, having remarried last year to his high-school sweetheart (who is expected to survive). Too bad this was supposed to be their one-year anniversary...

Personal anecdote: The day I heard about MMRS' death, I spent the rest of the day randomly talking to myself using the MMRS voice.

[Havok]

This fucking makes me wanna cry.

The Macho Man was as close to having a "hero" that I had as a kid. I used to stay up late with Louise, who was like my grandma, and watch wrestling even though I was supposed to be asleep. It was always such a treat, especially when The Macho Man would be on. Man I would just go crazy and jump all over the couches and have as much of a blast as anything else I can remember doing as a kid.

I always rooted for him, hero or heel, to beat the snot out of anyone he wrestled. Even when I got older and knew it was all just a big gag, I couldn't help but get excited when I saw him wrestle and I can admit to doing a few atomic elbow drops onto my bed even into my late 20's right along with him, laughing my ass off.

Rest in Peace Macho Man and thanks for the smiles, memories and good times.

[Majin Gojira]

I actually met the man when I was in Grand Cayman on a dive boat back in the late 80s.

He was an extremely nice guy. Helped out a lot on the boat whenever he could.

And I loved his persona too.

Sad to see his passing.

[Mr. Coffee]

OOOHHHHHH YEAH!

[weemadando]

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll15 ... scaled.jpg

OOOHHHHHH YEAH!

Well, he saved us all from the Rapture at least.

[Mr. Coffee]

I learned a long time ago to never click links provided by strange men from "down unda", homie...

[lance]

On a related note a quarter of wrestlemania 7 wrestlers are dead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCYiXF9NFgI

[Havok]

That is interesting. I know steroids are going to get a lot of the rap for that, but realistically, it is what these people put their bodies through and the other things that go along with that.

For decades these guys are on the road year round fighting through just as many injuries, probably more actually, than even the toughest of other major contact sports with most of them making little to nothing to compensate them financially, especially compared to those other sports. To say nothing about the difference in medical attention they used to get. Saying nothing of the fact that they don't get half the year off like all the other major sports to heal up.

Add to that the pressure to perform and always take it to the next level and the fact that if you didn't wrestle, you didn't get paid so you do what you can to get by, basically anything you can get your hands on, and you have a prescription for a short life.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I loved Macho Man. Even when I learned wrestling was fake, my twelve-year-old brain somehow thought that HE was still real.

[weemadando]

I learned a long time ago to never click links provided by strange men from "down unda", homie...

Insufficiently groomed... [/inappropriate joke]