Details are coming in about the sudden passing of Lanny Poffo. He was 68.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan shared the news on Twitter: “With a very, very heavy heart, I’ve been asked to let everyone know about the passing of our friend and colleague Lanny Poffo, The Genius.”
To wrestling fans who saw him in the heyday of the World Wrestling Federation, he was either the poet “Leapin’ Lanny” or villain known as “The Genius.”
His father was professional wrestler Angelo Poffo, and his mother was Judy Sverdlin. Life on the road was normal for the family, and Lanny was actually born December 28, 1954, in Calgary, Alberta. His older brother, known to fans as Randy Savage, was born in Columbus, Ohio. The Poffos settled in suburban Chicago for the kids to attend school. They were raised in the Jewish faith, as detailed in a feature from last year on the site: Family matters to Lanny Poffo.
“I remember dreaming all throughout my school years in Downers Grove, Illinois of what I’d like to do when I grew up,” Lanny Poffo told New Wave Wrestling magazine in 1986. “Wrestling and baseball were all I ever thought about. My favorite baseball club was the Chicago Cubs. I was also very busy with gymnastics and training with my father. At age 14, I sent a photograph of myself to Strength And Health magazine. They published my photograph, and they also printed my prediction that I would have a successful career in wrestling. Isn’t that something?”
Lanny would debut at age 19, in 1974.
“When your father’s a wrestler, you just don’t know any other way. … I was the youngest in the family, so I didn’t know it was different,” Poffo told this writer. “Then as I grew up, I realized it was a little strange, what he did. But I thought it was very appealing. I was encouraged to try every sport. I would have liked to have been a baseball player, but unfortunately, they cut the team. … That’s the reason we all got into wrestling, because we all wanted to be baseball players.”
Under his father’s tutelage, and many connections, Lanny became a solid hand in the ring as his brother pursued a baseball career.
There were many mentors, noted Poffo in 2006: “My dad is a very nice man and he can tell you what you’re doing wrong without taking away your self-esteem. That was before we had that word. We would just talk over the match. It was always a good learning process. When I got to Atlanta, Thunderbolt Patterson gave me a lot of advice on interviews, and a lot about my individuality and being myself. Going in a car with him was an education because he was the biggest star at Gunkel Enterprises. I also got a lot of help from a lot of the great ones. Lord Alfred Hayes helped me a lot, Lord Athol Layton. … [Layton] was not famous for being a great worker, but he was a great salesman of wrestling. … a totally fastidious man, always carried himself well and great on the microphone, gave class to wrestling.”
The jump to the mainstream, national WWF was a turning point. George Scott was the booker at the time who brought him in, but left not longer after Poffo arrived.
The relationship between Savage and Poffo was never mentioned on WWF television. While Savage was pushed to the top, Poffo was a mid-carder at best, at least until he started with the poetry.
The poems came about almost by accident. While on Tuesday Night Titans, Poffo recited a poem to host Vince McMahon, and was encouraged to do more.
“I mean, I’ve stolen from Edgar Allen Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I promise you, I’m not a real genius, but I never, ever recited a poem that I didn’t write,” Poffo told John Law of the Niagara Falls Review in 2011. Not everyone was a fan of the poems.
“I bought a 49-cent notebook and I started writing every possible poem for every possible circumstance that I could ever have,” Poffo told Law. “We were low tech back then. So I wrote all these poems for everybody they could put against me, and if not, I’d do a generic poem. And I found with my back to the wall, sometimes I’d be able to write a poem within five minutes.”
The poems — and the frisbees he threw them out to the crowd on — had a legacy outside of the ring. He published a book, “Leaping” Lanny’s Wrestling With Rhyme, and has recited poems in many locations, including at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida, for a tribute to baseball star Ted Williams.
Poffo’s WWF character was not “Macho” at all. “One of the reasons I went to the effeminacy is that nobody else was doing it,” he said. But it wasn’t comedy, he stressed. “I always made sure that my punches and kicks looked real. In other words, I was a comedian but you couldn’t see through my work. I took a lot of pride in that. Plus the athleticism, I included that, but then I would let the babyface upend me, because you can’t out-babyface the babyface. Otherwise, I should be the babyface.”
The switch to The Genius character, working with “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig, was perfect. It resulted in a main event against Hulk Hogan on Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC. “In the 21 years I had as either a big fish in a little pond or a little fish in a big pond, I had four months of stardom when I was the nemesis of Hulk Hogan. With my ability, with my size, and being a non-steroid person in the steroid era, I’m very lucky to have had four months of being the nemesis of Hulk Hogan, and I love Hulk Hogan for putting me over on NBC, and making me an overnight star even thought the stardom was finite and brief. But all you get is one brief, shining moment,” Poffo said in 2006. “I look back at my career, and I’m one of the few people that ended up, first of all, I have a pulse. I’m one of the few people from that era that you can talk to that’s still alive.”
There was never really a “retirement” from the ring for Poffo. He made appearance after appearance, whether active in the ring or at a collectibles show (he had a signing set for February 3, in Rockville Centre, New York). A sought after interview, Poffo loved to talk about the wrestling business.
He was always proud to have stayed in shape. “I’m a health nut. I’m always looking for bigger and better. I want to extend my life and I want to be happy, healthy and free. Without health, a million dollars wouldn’t help you,” he said in 2006. He was vehemently anti-smoking as well, and created a chapbook, Limericks from the Heart (and Lungs).
Post-wrestling, Poffo did a number of different jobs, including credit counseling and selling used cars.
He had one daughter, Megan, and was divorced from his wife. It was something he could joke about: “To me, a mark is somebody who goes down the aisle more than once,” he once told this writer. “I lived with my wife for three years, and I was really sure. Then as soon as I married her, the other shoe dropped.”
Poffo’s passing on February 2, 2023, came out of the blue. He was a shared on social media — big time — and all his friends knew he was in New York City recently. They also followed along as he moved to Quito, Ecuador.
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The reaction was immediate after Hacksaw Jim Duggan broke the news that Lanny Poffo was dead at the age of 68. There were countless photos of people with Poffo, or stories of his kindness, or of his poems. He was a friend to many.
There are posts from legends in the wrestling business and people you likely have never heard of until now.
Barry Horowitz, wrestler, Facebook: I would like to pay my respects to the passing of Lanny Poffo. We had worked together many years. He came from a great wrestling family. Many of you know his brother Macho Man Randy Savage. Both took the business very serious and will be greatly missed. Sincerely, Barry Horowitz
Evan Ginzburg, filmmaker, writer, Facebook: I am just devastated to hear the news from reliable sources that my dear friend Lanny Poffo has suddenly passed away. He stayed with me many times at my place, and I booked him a bunch of times, and we were in touch just last week. We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs, and I have nothing but respect for the man’s character, intelligence, eclectic tastes and accomplishments. I am really at a loss for words right now but when I get my head on straight again I’ll do some kind of tribute to yet another lost friend.
Frankie Kazarian, Twitter: This one hits me a little different because Lanny Poffo was the first wrestler I ever met… I was a young boy probably like 9 or 10… and I’ve told this story and I told it to him, and we shared a laugh and a little bit of tears over it because he was really moved that I remembered it. I saw him at the LA Sports Arena. I got to the building late, he was there, and me and my buddy ran up to him and we were just tugging on his jacket because, ‘wow, This was a wrestler’, I’d only seen wrestlers on TV, and they were real people. He couldn’t have been kinder and as I got to know him and became pals with him later in my career, he remained that same gentleman, always looked forward to seeing Lanny, just a wonderful wonderful gentleman.
Keith Elliot Greenberg, author, Facebook: Spanish wrestling announcer Miguel Alonso used to call Lanny Poffo “El Genio,” and he was The Genius in many ways, one of my authentic wrestling friends. Took me to his home to meet his mother, called me to rehearse his Hall of Fame speech when he inducted his brother Randy Savage. He was in New York last week and wanted to hang out, but I was in San Antonio for the Royal Rumble. Last night, I texted to see if he was still around. When he didn’t answer, I assumed he was traveling home. And now, he’s gone.
Tommy Fierro, promoter, Facebook: Terribly sad to hear about the passing of Lanny Poffo. He was the very first wrestler I met as a child. As many know, he was scheduled to be a BIG part of this year’s 80’s Wrestling Con, as he was going to accept the 80’s Wrestling Lifetime Achievement Award for his late brother, Randy Savage. Lanny was super excited about this and thanked me multiple times for doing this. I just had him at my store and ISPW last year as well. Such a wonderful person. So terribly sorry to all of his family, friends, and fans. RIP Lanny
Virgil, Twitter: Lanny Poffo. The genius. Man. I am so sorry brother. Love you and Randy more than you ever will know. RIP
Ricky Morton, Twitter: Rest in paradise, Lanny Poffo. So many great memories. We lost a genius today.
The wrestling world mourns.
Brian Heffron aka The Blue Meanie, Twitter: Awww man. What a great guy! I had the pleasure of doing a movie with Lanny called “Curse Of The Wolf” and he was such a pleasure to be around. Rest In Peace Lanny Poffo!!
Eric Bischoff, Twitter: Very sad to hear of Lanny’s passing. The last time we were together I thoroughly enjoyed several hours of great conversation. Lanny was a very interesting and intelligent man, and his love and loyalty to his family was so much a part of who he was. RIP Lanny.
Joe E Legend, Facebook: Absolutely shocked and saddened to read that Lanny Poffo has passed away. One of the nicest and most genuine people in the business. The night before I went in for my first hip replacement surgery, he phoned me from his home in Equator to wish me well and a speedy recovery. For all of the people I’ve tried to help in this job, Lanny was the ONLY one who called and I’ll never forget him for that simple act of kindness. Though mostly overshined by the phenomenal career of his brother (and I count myself among the biggest “macho marks” ever), I count Lanny up there as a privilege to have known in this job and to call my friend. I wish I had a fitting poem in tribute to him and his memory, but I wouldn’t step on his gimmick. Thank you so much for your friendship, Lanny. Rest well, you’ve earned it.
RIP to THE GENIUS, LANNY POFFO. A genuine good soul.
Ben Ali Khediri Sassi, Facebook: A great Jewish wrestler died today. He had sent me, the Muslim, a message of support when I had opened a wrestling school on Rosny-sous-Bois, via our mutual friend Joe E Hitchen Legend. He joins his brother the Macho Man Randy Savage aka Randy Poffo he was known as Genius Lanny Poffo may he rest in peace and I thank him for all the emotions he gave me growing up I hated him because he represented the school and today I’m emotional remembering him and what he’s leaving.
https://twitter.com/IanRiccaboni/status/1621210541988478976
From CWE manager and competitor ‘The Mastermind’ Kevin Cannon: I picked Lanny up from the airport when he came in to tour with CWE for the weekend. We waited by the carousel for his luggage to arrive, but after the last bag from his flight had been picked up, we realized that his was lost. We had to go to the customer service rep, have them track it down, and get told it was in Toronto and would arrive tomorrow. To top it all off, Winnipeg was in the middle of a brutal heatwave. But despite all that not only did Lanny keep in good spirits, he was laughing and joking – even singing – with myself and the customer service attendant. This man didn’t have a negative bone in his body! He kept the same demeanor throughout the tour including the final night on Canada Day on the military base in Shilo – a night where I had the honor of facing him in a tag team match. His spirits were the same, giving the boys in the locker room laugh after laugh with his tales of his career throughout the decades and some of the things he experienced. Harley Race had passed away that weekend and he spoke of how legitimately tough The King was, and about a time that someone spiked his drink as a prank. “I knew who did it, but I was afraid to speak up not only because of what Harley would do to them, but because of the fact that Harley would’ve ended up in jail because of it too.” It was definitely a memorable weekend for all of us and it was great keeping in touch with him over the last few years and seeing him enjoy his retirement as much as he did. He was definitely one of the good ones.
Chris Levionnois, Ontario promoter: This one hurts. Not many people knew this but Lanny would always volunteer when he could at Niagara Falls Comic Con. We crossed paths many times. The last time I saw him he asked me to take a selfie with Barbara Eden for him but he was too shy to ask her. Moments later he would get the phone call about his mom passing and we never got the picture ( earned later he was able to get one finally). He was always so nice to me and I will miss our conversations greatly …
