Lanny Poffo, a former WWF wrestler and the brother of Randy Savage, has died at 68 years of age. The cause of death is unknown at this time. He was better known by his ring names “Leaping,” Lanny Poffo, and The Genius.
He made his in-ring debut with the All-South Wrestling Alliance in 1974 before joining multiple promotions affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance, where he won a Tag-Team Championship alongside his father, Angelo. He joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1985.
He contested against huge names like Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, Jim Neidhart, and The Ultimate Warrior over the course of his outstanding career.
Age
Lanny Poffo was born on December 28, 1954, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He was 68 years old.
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Family
Poffo’s father Angelo Poffo was an Italian American Catholic and his mother Judy Poffo was a Jewish-American. He was also the younger brother of “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
He got married to Sally in 1985. They had a daughter called Megan. The couple divorced in 1996.
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Career
Lanny Poffo made his wrestling debut with the opening match of All-South Wrestling Alliance on April 16, 1974. In July 1974, he teamed up with his father for the first time to defeat The Royal Kangaroos.
In 1975, along with appearing with his father, Lanny started to appear in solo matches, beating wrestlers like Ron Martinelli, Denny Alberts, and Dario Romero. The Poffos won NWA World Tag Team Title and in July, the three Poffos appeared together to win Four On Three Handicap Elimination.
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In 1976, Lanny launched his solo career and had his first shot at NWA World Heavyweight Title on the Wrestling at the Chase, but lost to Terry Funk.
Poffo joined International Championship Wrestling (ICW) in the summer of 1979. He won ICW Heavyweight Championship in 1978, 1979, 1981, and 1984. In 1983, he won the ICW Southeastern Heavyweight Championship and ICW United States Tag Team Championship in 1979 and 1981.
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WWF stats
In 1985, Lanny joined the WWF making his debut on the July 13 episode of WWF Championship Wrestling. He competed in a series of Bunkhouse Battle Royals in 1986-87. He performed as an enhancement talent on television shows, performing an agile, athletic, high-flying style. During this early days, he bought Frisbees to the ring, one of which had a short poem written on it. He would then read the poem before throwing the Frisbees into the audience. Until early 1990, he was well-established as the main roster player. He joined World Championship Wrestling in 1995 and remained with the promotion till 1999.
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In January 2005, he once more returned to professional wrestling, taking part in Wrestle Reunion.
Poffo is also an anti-smoking activist and a motivational speaker. He has also self-published two poetry books titled Wrestling with Rhyme and Limericks from the Heart. In 2018, he released a biographical comic, titled The Genius Lanny Poffo.
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Net Worth
According to celebritynetworth.com, Lanny Poffo had an estimated net worth of $800,000.
