RIP The MACHO MAN: Randy Savage

[RBA]

Had a heart attack while driving and crashed into a median.

My favorite wrestler of the 80s

http://www.tmz.com/2011/05/20/randy-savage-car-accident-macho-man-dead-dies-died-killed-wwe-wrestler-florida/

Macho Man Randy Savage Dies In Car Accident



Macho Man Randy Savage -- one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time -- died today in a car accident in Tampa, Florida ... TMZ has learned.




TMZ spoke with Randy's brother, Lanny Poffo, who tells us the wrestling legend suffered a heart attack while he was behind the wheel around 9:25 AM ... and lost control of his vehicle.

Earlier this month, Savage celebrated his 1-year anniversary with his new wife Lynn.

Savage was 58.

Macho Man began wrestling in the WWF in 1985 and became a superstar with his trademark catchphrase "Ooooooh Yeaahhhhh."

UPDATE: Florida Highway Patrol tells TMZ ... Savage was driving his 2009 Jeep Wrangler when he veered across a concrete median ... through oncoming traffic ... and "collided head-on with a tree."

Savage was transported to Largo Medical center, where he died from his injuries.

Savage's wife was a passenger in the vehicle during the collision -- but survived with "minor injuries." She was transported to a different local hospital where she was treated.

[westofyou]

I'll never forget seeing Rowdy Roddy bloody the Macho Man and steal the Intercontinental Belt at the Cow Palace, it was amazing!!

[BuckeyeRed27]

One of my all time favorites when I was a kid. Too bad. RIP Macho Man

[Reds Fanatic]

I still remember several years ago when he stopped in the booth and visited with Marty and Joe during an afternoon game.

[Joseph]

He was larger than life. RIP.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Is it time to bring back the "too young to die wrestler thread"? 58 is not real young, but most are probably thinking the same thing when a former/current wrestler suffers a heart attack.

Anyhow... I liked him when I was younger. And as a lot know he was a former minor league baseball player. RIP, Macho Man.

[Chip R]

He was also a former Reds farmhand. He and Ricky Steamboat wrestled one of the best matches I've ever seen at Wrestlemania III.

[HotCorner]

RIP Macho Man.

[westofyou]

He was also a former Reds farmhand. He and Ricky Steamboat wrestled one of the best matches I've ever seen at Wrestlemania III.

I saw that at the Oakland Coliseum, Jake the Snake vs. The Honky Tonk man, with Alice Cooper in jakes corner

[Caveat Emperor]

Young Caveat spent many a day jumping off his bed and onto a beanbag chair practicing his own "flying elbow drop" in imitation of the Macho Man.

Another wrestler taken way too young.

[will5979]

Being one of my favorites when I was a kid this really gets to me...prayers to his family. RIP Randy.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/post/Report-Randy-8216-Macho-Man-8217-Savage-die?urn=top-wp98

[will5979]

I saw that at the Oakland Coliseum, Jake the Snake vs. The Honky Tonk man, with Alice Cooper in jakes corner

WrestleMania III was in the Pontiac Silverdom in Detroit...unless the same matches after WrestleMania toured around America which the WWF was very prone to do during the 80s.

[BuckWild03]

It's a sad day. :(

[westofyou]

WrestleMania III was in the Pontiac Silverdom in Detroit...unless the same matches after WrestleMania toured around America which the WWF was very prone to do during the 80s.

Saw it on close circuit TV

[reds1869]

Very sad. I haven't watched wrestling since I was a kid, but he was certainly one of my favorites. RIP.

[Nathan]

He was actually a former Reds' minor leaguer too..

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=poffo-001ran

[Tom Servo]

One of the best of all time. Being only 21 I missed his heyday but as some of my past posts may have indicted I'm a huge wrestling fan with a massive tape/DVD collection and consider myself rather knowledgable of the 'sport' as a whole. Savage was one of the most well-rounded wrestlers ever to step in the ring. He could talk better than almost anybody, he could wrestle better than almost anybody, and he had a great look. Definitely gonna spend today watching some of his best matches. RIP Macho Man.

[Eric in IL]

Randy Savage was the reason I watched wrestling in the 80's. His mic skills were tremendous- maybe only matched by Ric Flair. I can still recall verbatim many of his rants 25 years later. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

[Boss-Hog]

I'm just at the right age that I was able to catch him in his peak (or just afterwards...and what I missed was readily available on VHS since it was just a few years prior). As was mentioned earlier, his WM III match against Steamboat was a classic. He was someone I always enjoyed watching and it's a sad day for his family, friends and (to a lesser extent) wrestling fans.

[WMR]

Sucks. Great entertainer. Very good in Spider-Man as well.

[Johnny Footstool]

What about the lovely Elizabeth? Any news?

[westofyou]

What about the lovely Elizabeth? Any news?

Shes also dead http://deadspin.com/5480157/dead-wrestler-of-the-week-miss-elizabeth

[VR]

Randall Mario Puffo was a two-time All-State catcher at Downers Grove North High School in Illinois. In 1971, he took place in a 200-man open tryout for the St. Louis Cardinals, and he was the only man given a contract.

In 35 games for the Cardinals' Gulf Coast League team, Poffo hit .286 with a pair of home runs, and did not make a single error in 15 games as a catcher.

In 1972, Poffo would go on to hit .272 and make the GCL All-Star team as an outfielder. His 1973 campaign was even more impressive, as he would hit .344 in 25 games for the GCL Red Birds. He got bumped up to Class-A, where he played for the Orangeburg Cardinals under Jimmy Piersall.

Poffo would hit just .250 at Class-A, but he would go on to credit Piersall for "him how to be aggressive and how to fight."

At some point before the 1974 season, he suffered a severe injury to his right arm and shoulder and was subsequently released by the Cardinals.

[vottofever19]

Guy made wrestling interesting. He is a true legend and will surely be missed. RIP.

[marcshoe]

I'll have a Slim Jim in his memory.

[GAC]

He was also a former Reds farmhand. He and Ricky Steamboat wrestled one of the best matches I've ever seen at Wrestlemania III.

I'm not a wrestling fan, but back in the late 70's, while stationed in Charleston, S.C., I got "hooked" on it for about a year or so with a few buddies. We went to quite a few matches there. I remember seeing guys like Chief Jay Strongbow, Blackjack Mulligan, Greg Valentine (another baby face), and Dusty Rhodes.

But the best match I saw was between Steamboat and Rick "nature boy" Flair. They were perfect foils for one another. Steamboat (pretty boy) was always the crowd favorite, while Flair, with his emotion and theatrics, was the "bad guy".

What always amazed us was all the old ladies (dressed up real nice too) in attendance at these fights. At one point in the Steamboat-Flair bout, Flair got thrown out of the ring and we watched an old lady (was it staged?) pick up a folding chair and smack him over the head while he was down. LOL

I liked tag team matches, as well as cage matches. The one I saw with BJ Mulligan was pretty bloody. But it seemed like you could always predict when the fight was going to turn, like each got a turn beating the other up so it wasn't too one-sided, and who the winner was going to be. Still a lot of fun though.

[Chip R]

But the best match I saw was between Steamboat and Rick "nature boy" Flair. They were perfect foils for one another. Steamboat (pretty boy) was always the crowd favorite, while Flair, with his emotion and theatrics, was the "bad guy".

You're not alone. A lot of wrestling analysts and fans believe their 3 matches for the NWA title were about the best ever. Since I never saw those matches I can't judge them. According to Flair, while the Savage-Steamboat match was great, Savage wanted to go over their match move by move over and over again rather than calling the moves in the ring.

The best match I saw was actually in person here in Cincinnati. There was a tribute/fund raiser for the late Brian Pillman's family back in 2000 or 2001 and in the main event, Steven Regal and the late Chris Benoit wrestled and they just put on a fantastic match.

[Boss-Hog]

The best match I saw was actually in person here in Cincinnati. There was a tribute/fund raiser for the late Brian Pillman's family back in 2000 or 2001 and in the main event, Steven Regal and the late Chris Benoit wrestled and they just put on a fantastic match.
I was at that, too...great event.

[1990REDS]

Ill never forget being like 10 years old and seeing the Macho Man tied up in the ropes, being bitten by Jake Roberts snake. As a 10 year old it really freaked me out. So much so that I still remember it to this day.

[Mutaman]

1. Here's a 1974 match at Commisky Park between Dick The Bruiser and
Bo-Bo Brazil against the Sheik and Bobby The Brain Heenan. Legend has it that the kid taking pictures at the 5:00 mark is a young Macho Man.

YouTube - ‪dick the bruiser-bobo brazil vs. sheik-bobby heenan‬‏ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CojRh0j_z_g)

2. Vince pretty much forgave all of his enemies- even Superstar Billy Graham who perjured himself by testifying that Vince gave him steroids. But Vince never forgave the Macho Man who is absurdly not in the WWE Hall of Fame. What could he have done? Legend has it that he seduced an underage Stephanie McMahon. Will see how his death is handled on Raw tonight.

[Raisor]

You're not alone. A lot of wrestling analysts and fans believe their 3 matches for the NWA title were about the best ever. Since I never saw those matches I can't judge them. .

all of the Flair/Steamboat matches are on dvd. Track them down, worth every nickle.

[Chip R]

all of the Flair/Steamboat matches are on dvd. Track them down, worth every nickle.

One of these days.

[RichRed]

I'm not a wrestling fan, but back in the late 70's, while stationed in Charleston, S.C., I got "hooked" on it for about a year or so with a few buddies. We went to quite a few matches there. I remember seeing guys like Chief Jay Strongbow, Blackjack Mulligan, Greg Valentine (another baby face), and Dusty Rhodes.


I haven't followed wrestling in ages but I loved Mid-Atlantic Wrestling (it had other names under the Jim Crockett Promotions umbrella) when I was a kid. The guys you mentioned above, along with Jay Youngblood, Wahoo McDaniel, Baron von Raschke, Iron Sheik are some that I remember. It was pretty low-budget back then but lots of fun.

[Chip R]

A Bill Simmons column on Macho Man

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110524

[Puffy]

Great article (plus some clips):

http://deadspin.com/5804679/dead-wrestler-of-the-week-macho-man-randy-savage?tag=deadwrestleroftheweek

[westofyou]

heart disease

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2011/07/macho-man-randy-savage-cause-of-death/1

[Chip R]

heart disease

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2011/07/macho-man-randy-savage-cause-of-death/1 (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2011/07/macho-man-randy-savage-cause-of-death/1)

Gee, I wonder how he got heart disease?

[Eric_the_Red]

Gee, I wonder how he got heart disease?

Eating Slim Jims?

[Tom Servo]

Two years later, a fantastic read:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1643969-the-final-days-of-randy-macho-man-savage


In fact, Randy was planning a rare public appearance. In 1989, he’d been a guest announcer on a Cincinnati Reds radio broadcast and remembered the experience fondly—especially the moment when he stood up and did a muscle shot for the crowd and center fielder Eric Davis stepped out of the dugout and gave the Macho Man the same pose. When Lanny met Reds first baseman Joey Votto at a charity event, the incident came up, and the 2010 National League MVP invited Randy to a June 2011 game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Among the incentives: VIP batting practice privileges.

Randy agreed to go. But he died five weeks before the game.

:(

[New York Red]

I've since moved on from "wrastlin'", but I was into it when the Macho Man and Leapin' Lanny were first starting in the business back at the Armory behind Bluegrass Field in Lexington. Saw Randy break a large mirror over his head one night, with real blood pouring down his face afterwards. The guy was nuts, but funny.

[PedroBourbon]

I follow Iron Sheik on Twitter and he made reference to the death anniversary today which was kinda cool. I remember hearing the news while away in Nashville for a concert.