Lanny Poffo
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| Lanny Poffo | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | The Genius Lanny Poffo |
| Billed height | 6 ft. (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 228 lb. (103 kg) |
| Born | December 28, 1954 Calgary, Alberta |
| Debut | 1973 |
Lanny Poffo is an American professional wrestler. He is the son of Angelo Poffo and the brother of wrestling superstar "Macho Man" Randy Savage.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Poffo was born in Calgary, Canada to Angelo Poffo, an Italian American Catholic, and Judy, a Jewish American.[1] Poffo grew up in Downer's Grove, Illinois. Poffo began wrestling in the NWA territories in the 1970s before becoming a star in his father's promotion, International Championship Wrestling, where he held the promotion's title. Over the course of his regional career, Lanny both tag teamed and feuded with older brother Randy. Upon the ICW's folding in 1984, he joined Randy in the CWA before traveling with him again to the World Wrestling Federation in June 1985.
While Lanny never attained the popularity of his brother in the WWF, he still managed to find a niche for himself as a minor fan favourite. As Leaping Lanny Poffo, the Wrestling Poet he would bring frisbees to the ring, read a short poem written on one of them that he himself had penned, and throw the frisbees into the crowd. Each poem typically ridiculed the heel that he was about to wrestle against, or angered the heel by building heat for the face wrestler that the heel was feuding with at the time. Despite wrestling as a jobber, he was arguably in the "Jobber To The Stars" category as he was usually allowed to get in a fair amount of offense in his matches, and won some matches on occasion. Poffo wrestled in a high-flyer style at a time when big, heavy wrestlers still dominated the promotion. He was one of the first, if not the very first, wrestlers to use the moonsault in the WWF. He made some publicity in late 1986 and early 1987 by competing in a series of Bunkhouse Battle Royals in full knight's armor, though he was eliminated quickly.
In April 1989, Poffo was re-introduced as a heel wrestler and became The Genius, adopting a highly intelligent, sniffy persona and wearing an academic cap and gown to the ring. His poems now ridiculed the face wrestlers, and he now behaved in an even more effeminate manner to infuriate the crowd. In addition, the Genius also served as a manager (and occasional tag team partner) for Mr. Perfect.
In an episode of WWF Saturday Night's Main Event aired on November 25, 1989, The Genius beat WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan by countout due to Mr. Perfect hitting Hogan with the championship belt. Later in the show, Mr. Perfect and Lanny took a hammer to the belt, shattering it to pieces. It is said that this destroyed belt became the first WWF Hardcore Championship belt. Later, The Genius was the manager of the Beverly Brothers (Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom). It was in this capacity that Poffo last appeared in the WWF, at Survivor Series 1992.
Poffo signed a WCW contract in 1995, but he was never used, and it is said that he sat at home and collected a paycheck for several years. However, it is rumored that Poffo did in fact work WCW events as WCW's mascot, Wild Cat Willie.
Outside of wrestling, Poffo has released a collection of poems and limericks, most of which were related to drug and alcohol awareness, directed toward young children. He was last seen on television in infomercials as an endorser of Tony Little's Gazelle Freestyle exercise machine. Fans have noted that Poffo is barely recognizable from his WWF heyday (apart from shaving his famous Genius beard, he now has a more muscular physique), as evidenced in this video. He now has a spot on wwe.com as their resident poet.
[edit] Signature moves
[edit] Managers
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
- Regional
-
- NWA Detroit World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Angelo Poffo (1) and Chris Colt (1)
International Championship Wrestling
-
- ICW Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
- ICW United States Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with George Weingeroff (3) and Mike Doggendorf (1)
- ICW Southeastern Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- ICW Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Other Titles
- Mid-American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship (1 time) - With Bobby Eaton
- WPWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Bulldozer Benton (1) and Angelo Poffo (1)
- GCCW Tag Team Championship
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him # 426 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
