Randy Savage

Randy's father was a well-known wrestler in the 1950s and 1960s, and his younger brother Lanny Poffo also went into wrestling.

The Poffo family lived in Zanesville, Ohio, where Randy attended Grover Cleveland Middle School.

He graduated from Downers Grove North High School in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, Illinois.

Poffo later moved to Staten Island, New York, before moving to Lexington, Kentucky, where he lived for many years.

He was an alumnus of Southern Illinois University–Carbondale.

Savage was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals organization as a catcher out of high school.

He was placed in the minor leagues to develop, where he mostly played as an outfielder in the Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds farm systems.

Randy Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, rapper and former professional baseball player.

He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

Savage was described by sportswriter Bill Simmons as "one of the greatest pro wrestlers who ever lived" — a statement echoed by multiple industry performers.

He was recognizable by wrestling fans for his distinctively flamboyant ring attire and raspy voice, intensity exhibited in and out of the ring, use of the finale from "Pomp and Circumstance March no. 1" by Elgar as his entrance music, and signature catchphrase, "Oooh yeah!"

For most of his tenures in the WWF and WCW, Savage was managed by his real-life wife, Miss Elizabeth.

Savage had six world championship reigns during his 32-year career, including two as WWF World Heavyweight Champion and four as WCW World Heavyweight Champion.

As WWF Champion, he held similar drawing power as Hulk Hogan.

A one-time WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion, he was named by WWE as the greatest titleholder of all time and credited for bringing "a higher level of credibility to the title through his amazing in-ring performances".

Randy Poffo was born on November 15, 1952, in Columbus, Ohio, the eldest son of Judith ( Sverdlin) and Angelo Poffo.

His father was Italian American and his mother was Jewish American; Poffo was raised Catholic.

Savage was 18 when he began playing minor league baseball; one of his teammates on the 1971 Gulf Coast League Cardinals was Larry Herndon, who was also his roommate.

Savage would swing a bat into a hanging car tire to strengthen his hands and utilize his legs during swings.

The technique was so effective that Herndon used it during his career as a baseball coach.

Savage injured his natural (right) throwing shoulder after a collision at home plate, and he learned to throw with his left arm instead.

Savage first broke into the wrestling business in 1973 during the fall and winter of the baseball off season.

His first wrestling character, The Spider, was similar to Spider-Man.

He later took the ring name Randy Savage at the suggestion of his longtime friend and trainer Terry "The Goose" Stephens and Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) booker Ole Anderson, who said that the name Poffo did not fit someone who "wrestled like a savage".

Savage eventually decided to end his stalled baseball career and join his father and brother to wrestle full time.

He wrestled his first match against Midwest Territory wrestler "Golden Boy" Paul Christy.

Savage worked with his father and brother in Michigan, the Carolinas, Georgia, the Maritimes, and the eastern Tennessee territory run by Nick Gulas.

After a while, his father felt that his sons were not getting the pushes they deserved so he started the "outlaw" International Championship Wrestling (ICW) promotion in the mid-American states.

Eventually, ICW disbanded and Randy and Lanny entered the Memphis scene, joining Jerry Lawler's Continental Wrestling Association (their former competitors).

While there, Savage feuded with Lawler over the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship.

Savage's last season was 1974, when he played for the Class A Tampa Tarpons in the Reds organization.

He played 289 games over four minor league seasons, batting .254 with 16 home runs and 129 RBI.

He also teamed with Lanny to battle The Rock 'n' Roll Express; this feud included a match on June 25, 1984, in Memphis, where in the storyline, Savage injured Ricky Morton by piledriving him through the timekeeper's table, leading to the Express winning by disqualification.

Later in 1984, Savage turned babyface and allied with Lawler against Jimmy Hart's First Family alliance, only to turn heel on Lawler again in early 1985 and resume the feud with him over the title.

This ended when Lawler beat Savage in a Loser Leaves Town match on June 7 in Memphis, Tennessee.

In June 1985, Savage signed with Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

He made his WWF debut on the July 6 episode of Championship Wrestling, defeating local competitor Aldo Marino.

Savage was the 1987 WWF King of the Ring and the 1995 WCW World War 3 winner.

He headlined many pay-per-view events throughout his career, including WrestleManias IV, V, and VIII (being part of a double main event at VIII), two of the first five SummerSlam shows, and Starrcade 1995.

He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame upon its inception in 1996, with a posthumous WWE Hall of Fame induction following in 2015.