When wrestling fans look back on the biggest icons from WWE’s Golden Era, there are a few usual suspects whose names tend to come up the most. People think of names like Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Ted Dibiase, and Roddy Piper. Another name on the short list is that of The Macho Man Randy Savage. Right alongside him, though, stands his too-often overlooked younger brother, Lanny Poffo. The world recently lost his underappreciated wrestling talent at the age of 68. It’s always sad to acknowledge a beloved wrestler of yesteryear’s passing, but the moment does offer an opportunity to look back at the legacy Poffo left behind.

Leaping Lanny Poffo Was Ahead Of His Time

WWE is notoriously a big man’s territory. The face of the company in most eras was a superhero of sorts, with guys like Hulk Hogan, The Rock, John Cena, and Roman Reigns each exceptionally muscular and strong. This preference was especially clear in the Golden Era as WWE staged a national expansion on the premise of appealing to as wide an audience as possible with visibly impressive stars, bolstered by an era when steroid use ran rampant behind the scenes.

Lanny Poffo didn’t fit the profile of a top guy in WWE. His brother, Randy Savage, was able to break through the glass ceiling despite a smaller frame, based on his intensity and charisma, but Poffo never quite could. Still, he earned his “Leaping” moniker based on his impressive athleticism. As a babyface, he regularly incorporated leap frogs and high dropkicks; perhaps most impressively of all, he was one of the earliest American wrestlers to adopt the moonsault into his offensive repertoire.

Lanny Poffo’s Genius Gimmick Was Inspired

There was a relatively low glass ceiling over a smaller-sized high flyer like Lanny Poffo, and it is to his and WWE’s credit that they ultimately pivoted his gimmick. As The Genius, Poffo enjoyed some success, culminating in a featured match against Hulk Hogan on a Saturday Night’s Main Event special.

Before too long, Poffo started to wrestle less on TV and lean more into managerial work under the persona. As The Genius, he used own original rhyming verses to anchor his promo work, much to the annoyance of the WWE audience.

The Genius gimmick pulled elements of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and foretold gimmicks like Damien Sandow’s as an elitist villain who thought his superior intelligence made him better than the babyface wrestlers of the day as well as the fans. He memorably served as a cornerman to Mr. Perfect before settling into a bit less auspicious role managing The Beverly Brothers.

Lanny Poffo Was Squandered In WCW

As an example of WCW’s bloated roster and tendency to squander resources, there’s a famous story of the company signing Lanny Poffo, but never actually using him. Eric Bischoff has been open in discussing this choice on his 83 Weeks podcast, explicitly sharing that Poffo was signed as a favor to Randy Savage—paid out of money that otherwise would have gone to The Macho Man—to take care of his family.

The general consensus is that this story speaks highly of Savage’s selflessness and loyalty to his brother. Despite Bischoff’s concession that he never really wanted to use The Macho Man’s little brother, the situation does also bespeak a failure to take advantage of the resources WCW had at hand. With the former Genius on the payroll, WCW had a recognizable manager they might have put to work. Moreover, given Poffo’s level of experience, he might have, at minimum, served as a valuable role player—mentoring and putting over younger wrestlers in a budding Cruiserweight division that was so entertaining for WCW during the Monday Night War.

Lanny Poffo didn’t enjoy all that much tangible success—never winning titles or high profile matches on a truly national stage. Just the same, his acrobatic offense was well ahead of its time, particularly for mainstream American wrestling. Moreover, his promo work bespoke a special talent who should have been better appreciated in his day. Word of Poffo’s death arose on February 2—The Genius is now gone, but will certainly never be forgotten.

Wrestling legend Lanny Poffo, best known for his character “The Genius” during WWE’s late 80’s / early 90’s golden era, has passed away. He was 68 years old.

Poffo, the son Angelo Poffo and younger brother of “Macho Man” Randy Savage, competed in the WWE (then WWF) from 1989 to 1992. During his time in the WWE, he feuded with Koko B. Ware, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, and Hulk Hogan.

In an interesting bit of wrestling trivia, The Genius is one of the few WWE stars to score a victory over Hulk Hogan during the late 1980’s. He defeated Hogan by count out on the November 25, 1989 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event.

The Genius also managed several acts, including Mr. Perfect and later the Beverly Brothers. Although he didn’t win any championships during his run with the company, he was one of the WWE’s most most obnoxious villains during the late ’80s and early ’90s. His final appearance for WWE came in 2015, when he inducted his brother into the Hall of Fame.

We at SEScoops extend our condolences to family and friends of the great Lanny Poffo.

Reactions to Lanny Poffo’s Passing

Since the news of his transition, many active wrestlers and legends have sent their condolences to the Poffo family and kind words about him.

The recent A&E documentary on the life and career of “Macho Man” Randy Savage has drawn polarizing reactions. Some fans feel the episode focused too much on the negative aspects of Savage’s life.

Macho Man’s brother, Lanny Poffo, recently penned a column for Pro Wrestling Stories regarding his thoughts on the documentary.

“75% of the A&E Biography episode on Randy Savage was great, 20% was lousy, and 5% was horrible,” Poffo says. “The people responsible for the 5% are Stephanie Bellars (Gorgeous George, Frankenstein, whatever) and Bubba The Love Sponge.”

He also took aim at wrestlers making claims about Savage based on gossip or rumors.

“Wrestlers love to make profound observations that they have overheard,” Poffo writes. “Contrary to popular belief, my brother Randy Savage never locked Elizabeth in any closet in the dressing room.”

“Nobody would know if the door was locked or unlocked because nobody had the guts to open or try to close the door. And now that Randy has been gone over ten years, everybody seems to have the balls now, but they didn’t then.”

Jerry Lawler’s Involvement

Poffo made a point of noting that Jerry Lawler was not in WWE at the same time as Savage and Elizabeth, and despite his comments in the documentary, would not have direct knowledge of certain things.

“Jerry Lawler, who spoke of my brother Randy’s marriage to Liz in the A&E Biography episode, wasn’t even in the WWE when Elizabeth was there.”

Poffo would continue to say, however, that his brother liked Lawler, considered him very smart, and a good worker.

Bubba The Love Sponge

Many fans were surprised to see Bubba the Love Sponge during the episode. Poffo was also confused as to why the radio host was interviewed.

“Bubba the Love Sponge — when was the last time a woman ever made love to him and meant it?” Poffo said. “It was in poor taste to even put him out there.”

“Roddy Piper and Stone Cold Steve Austin were glorified in these A&E episodes while Randy got vilified,” Poffo continued.

Gorgeous George’s Claims

Poffo also said he does not believe Gorgeous George’s claims that Savage took ecstasy with her.

“In the episode, Stephanie said that she and Randy took ecstasy. I don’t believe my brother ever did any of the stuff she mentioned. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t, but it was totally inappropriate for her to say those things.”

He also corrected George’s claim that Savage took steroids, noting that he used Human Growth Hormone during this time.

“No, it wasn’t steroids because that was illegal at the time. It was human growth hormones,” Poffo continued. “That’s how Randy got massively large for the movie Spider-Man.”

“I notice she keeps going to wrestling reunions and tries to sell merchandise of her and the Macho Man in photographs together. The people that buy them, I don’t think they’re buying them to see her,” Poffo continued to say about George.

Eric Bischoff’s Involvement

Poffo was much more complimentary to Eric Bischoff in his article.

“Randy liked Eric Bischoff and his family. I never heard anything bad about Eric from Randy, although I’ve heard a lot of bad from other wrestlers about Eric.”

Bischoff has expressed regret for appearing in the documentary on Savage.

“I’m embarrassed that I was a part of that as well,” Bischoff said on his 83 Weeks Podcast. “So people understand and know, both me [and my wife] shot those segments while I was still working for WWE and both of us were still living in Stamford a year and a half ago. I’ve been involved in so many WWE projects, and I hope to continue to be involved.”

Randy Did Not Marry His High School Sweetheart

Poffo also cleared up the commonly held belief that Randy’s wife Lynn was an old high school sweetheart.

“This was false. Randy couldn’t have graduated high school in Downers Grove, Illinois, and have a sweetheart from a suburb of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Even the Macho Man can’t pull that off!”

The two actually met when Randy was playing minor league baseball and Lynn was at college. They would then rekindle their relationship later in life.

Positives Left Out

Poffo also lamented that numerous positive aspects regarding Randy’s life were left out of the documentary.

“How come they didn’t mention one thing about Randy’s activity with the Special Olympics, Make-a-Wish, Children’s Cancer, Jerry Lewis’s Telethon, March of Dimes, underprivileged children, and everything else he did? That’s not newsworthy? None of that matters? Do you want to just dig for the dirt?”

There have been numerous rumors for weeks now regarding the status of commentator Don Callis for New Japan Pro Wrestling, with Meltzer having previously said that “[Callis] is likely done as an announcer with NJPW.”

Apparently, Callis wasn’t called for the King Of Pro Wrestling show which went down on October 8th. Additionally, he hasn’t been contacted about working any future dates for the company. Despite not being contacted, he hasn’t been told that “he’s no longer being used.”

Things have taken an interesting turn with this situation as it appears that NJPW is openly auditioning new commentators that could fill Callis’ spot.

A name that’s come to the forefront: ‘The Genius’ Lanny Poffy.

“It’s Just An Audition”

Whilst speaking on his podcast, ‘The Genius Cast,’ Lanny Poffo was initially reticent in divulging any details or adding to the speculation before opening up, admitting:

“[…] Michael Craven from New Japan, I met him September 1st at All In. He asked me if I would be interested in holding the microphone as a color commentator [for New Japan] and I responded, ‘Wow, that would be great!’

Poffo went on to say, “I love New Japan. I’ve never been to Japan. Can you imagine that? Of all the countries I’ve been, I’ve never been to Japan. That is on my bucket list!”

When questioned further about the role itself, he admitted that “it’s just an audition,” before highlighting that he would be “flying out October 23rd and […] coming back November 4th.”

It’s worth noting that Meltzer’s initial statement also mentioned that, “The idea right now is to have a rotation of color commentators through the end of the year. The feeling is that if he’s [Callis] brought back, it may just be for select big shows that fit his schedule.”

A Genius Poem

Clearly in high spirits, Lanny Poffo channeled The Genius once more, creating the following poem about his next adventure:

“The Genius comes to New Japan
So let your hearts rejoice
And bathe in the luxury
Of my poetic voice

My grooming is impeccable
My outfit is brand-new
Ichi, ni, san, shi, go,
Roku, shichi, hachi, kyuu, juu!”

Poffo stated that “they [NJPW] bought me a ticket to Tokyo from Tampa and I’m going to get on that plane and do my very best to be an asset and not a liability. New Japan is a very exciting group of people and I feel very lucky to be invited. In the meantime, I’m retired, but I like to keep flexible and open for exciting opportunities like this!”

https://audioboom.com/posts/7045531-sean-oliver-of-kayfabe-commentaries-plus-lanny-to-commentate-for-new-japan

What do you think? Are you going to miss Callis’ calls with Kevin Kelly or do you believe The Genius can bring something new to the NJPW announce table?

One of the longest-running unsubstantiated claims in pro-wrestling history is the infamous “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Stephanie McMahon rumor. Savage’s brother Lanny Poffo recently addressed the rumor on the first episode of his new podcast, The Genius Cast.

Longtime fans have probably heard the urban legend that Randy Savage had a liason of sorts with an underaged Stephanie. The rumor has been discounted by countless wrestlers over the years, but it persists to this day. Some fans still believe it’s the reason Savage was never brought back to WWE after his departure in 1994 and why the company waited so long to induct him into the Hall of Fame. According to Poffo, he doesn’t know if there is any truth to the rumor. Even if he did know, however, he wouldn’t tell. Poffo did offer up a theory as to why the rumor has persisted as strongly as it has over the years, however.

Lanny Poffo On Randy Savage Stephanie McMahon Rumor

“I don’t know and if I knew I wouldn’t tell you because Randy was very very private and I have absolutely no idea if that happened,” Poffo said “I’ll tell you what did happen. Triple H did an interview on a magazine and they said ‘what do you think of Hulk Hogan and the Macho Man’ and he says ‘well they’re great but they are dinosaurs.’ Well, evidently Hulk Hogan didn’t mind being called a dinosaur.”

So Poffo’s theory is that Savage mentioned Stephanie on his diss-track to Triple H just to get even with Hunter calling him a dinosaur.

“I have absolutely no idea if the urban legend is true. Like I said if I knew I wouldn’t tell you. It’s none of anybody’s business. There’s only one person who knows for sure and that is Stephanie. Randy is not here and she’s not talking,” Poffo continued.

Click Here to listen to Episode 1 of Lanny Poffo’s The Genius Cast podcast.

Former WWE Superstar Lanny Poffo recently did an interview with WrestleZone to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Poffo first discussed his involvement in the “350 Days” documentary:

“I’ve been very dear friends with [producer] Evan Ginzburg for about 35 years, and he asked me if I would do it. Anytime he asks me a question like that I always say yes. He was the Associate Producer of The Wrestler—I actually auditioned for that part with Darren Aronofsky, and he said ‘Lanny, that was good, but you look like a game show host.

“You don’t have enough sin on your face.’ So I said ‘maybe you should hire Jake The Snake Roberts, he’s got enough sin for everybody. I’m a little different than the rest of these guys, and that’s what so great about this movie. They’ve got a point of view from people like Superstar Billy Graham, Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart, Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka, who is no longer with us.

“I’m going to tell you my opinion, and I enjoyed every minute of it, all 21 years I spent on the road. I traveled all over the world, and it didn’t cost me a dime, and I appreciated it. The only downside is I had to hang around with wrestlers, and that was like National Lampoon’s Animal House.”

He then talked about once getting busted open by WWE Hall Of Famer Andre The Giant during a Battle Royal on Saturday Night’s Main Event, and getting a call from a lawyer asking him to join a class-action concussion lawsuit against WWE:

“Oh yes, in fact I got a call a couple of years ago from a lawyer about if I wanted to join a class-action lawsuit against the WWE for concussions. And I said ‘absolutely not, I’ve never had a concussion’ and they said it doesn’t matter, you can get rich. I said ‘wait a minute… I’ve read John Grisham’s novel King Of Tort, and no one gets rich off of class-action lawsuits except for the lawyers.

“Who do you think you’re talking to here? I used to be The Genius.’ What they did was, they needed—this was for NBC—and Gorilla Monsoon came up to me and said ‘come here, Lanny, I want to talk to you. I just recommended you, I hope you don’t make a monkey out of me.’ I said ‘I would never make a monkey out of a gorilla, what do you mean?’ God bless him, [Gorilla] was always nice to me.

“So, he says have you ever done a blade job before? You know, take the razor and give yourself a self-inflicted wound to the head—they cover that in the movie The Wrestler. To tell you the truth, I feel that that is immoral, you know, to self inflict—I don’t even have tattoos or piercings—so why would I do that? But, the thing is, if I’m [going to be] a prostitute, let me be a highly paid one, this is NBC.

“They needed Andre The Giant, who was the top babyface in the world, they put him with Bobby Heenan but they wanted to give him a serious, mean heat. They needed the sacrificial lamb to help him out, so I did a very good job of it—I’ve got plenty [of scars]. So he headbutts me and I go over the top rope, and I land in a pool of blood, and I got removed from the scene.”

You can watch Poffo’s interview with WrestleZone by clicking this link here.

Today is Jay Lethal’s 33rd birthday and he couldn’t have celebrated it any better over the weekend. On the 2nd night of Ring of Honor’s 2-night tour of Florida, Lethal brought out a special guest before his match with Shane Taylor.

Lethal introduced the brother of “Macho Man” Randy Savage, “The Genius” Lanny Poffo. To the delight of the live fans, the smooth voice of Poffo delivered the same poem he delivered during Savage’s coronation as the Macho King. Poffo also gave Lethal a pair of Macho Man’s famous sunglasses. After putting them on, Lethal transformed into the Black Machismo character once more.

Lethal has always been a huge fan of “Macho Man” Randy Savage. This was most apparent in TNA Wrestling where Lethal famously portrayed his alter-ego of “Black Machismo”. The character, which was an homage to Savage, was widely praised even by the original Macho Man himself.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiKo3iUgw8s/?hl=en&taken-by=thelethaljay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nebjw0L2KaQ

Jay Lethal Chasing Ring of Honor World Championship

Jay Lethal is a perennial contender for the Ring of Honor World Championship. His only run with the belt thus far lasted for 427 days between June 19th, 2015 and August 19th, 2016.

In his most recent title match, Lethal was unsuccessful in de-throning Dalton Castle at the ROH 16th Anniversary show on March 3rd, 2018 from the Hammerstein Ballroom. Lethal also lost a World Title match to Cody back in December. That match took place on a Revolution Pro show from London.

Last weekend in Columbus, Lethal defeated “the Octopus” Jonathan Gresham at ROH’s Masters of the Craft 2018. Lethal then went 2-0 this weekend on the promotion’s weekend tour of Florida. He defeated Scorpio Sky in West Palm Beach on Friday and then defeated Shane Taylor on Saturday from Lakeland Florida.

The event in Lakeland was the last for ROH until they begin the War of the Worlds tour in Lowell on May 9th.

Former WWE Superstar “Leapin'” Lanny Poffo, who also had a run in the company as the character, “The Genius,” recently posted a new video where he takes some high-ranking political figures to task regarding some of their recent decisions.

Embedded below, listed as simply “a poem by Lanny Poffo,” is a video that shows Poffo, real-life brother of the late WWE Hall Of Famer “Macho Man” Randy Savage (Randy Poffo), talking about current United States President Barack Obama, as well as 2016 U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

What Difference Does Hillary Make!
by Lanny Poffo

https://youtu.be/56MA2BQ3qk0

• UFC President Dana White Gets In A Little Dig At VINCE MCMAHON! What Did He Say?? Find Out!

Former WWE Superstar Lanny Poffo recently appeared on Under The Mat Radio to discuss his brother, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. Below are some highlights of the interview.

On how he got the call for Randy Savage to go into the WWE Hall of Fame: “I kind of knew about for over a year that Randy was going to go in… then when they (WWE) actually officially released that they were going to induct him (Savage) I wasn’t sure if I was going to be the one to induct him. Everybody was saying that Hogan was going to be the one to induct him but I just thought I’d be common sense for it to be me.”

On how his family feels that Randy finally got inducted: “Well I can tell you how I felt, I felt relived because we are not going to punish the fans anymore now the fans are going to have to find something else to be punished about. I feel relived like a big burden has been lifted and I’m glad that the speech was well received.”

On who he loved to work with the most during his time with WWE (WWF then): “I’d have to say as Leaping Lanny I loved to work against Terry Funk and Bob Orton Jr. I would look better losing to those two guys then if I would beat Barry Harowitz. Now I’d say when I was a villain my best match ever was against Hulk Hogan.”

On Damien Sandow: “Talking to the younger talent, they were very receptive to me. I really enjoyed everybody particularly Damien Sandow what a nice person he is. People think he stole my gimmick he did not. I stole my gimmick from many of people, and besides Bobby Heenan never got mad because he was The Brain and then I came and I was the Genius he never raised an issue..!”

Check out the complete interview at BlogTalkRadio.com.

• UPDATE: Latest On SCOTT STEINER Reportedly Trying To KILL Hulk Hogan!

Sports Illustrated Extra’s “Mustard Blog” recently put together a lengthy piece on 2015 WWE Hall Of Famer “Macho Man” Randy Savage, talking to a number of WWE legends about the iconic performer. Below are some of the highlights.

Jerry Lawler on working with Savage:

“The first time we worked together, when it was ‘promotion against promotion,’ we sold out at the arena with 23,000 people. That was unheard of in wrestling. But Randy was so cool. He was a great athlete, and he was a little bit out there. He had a bit of a temper, and he was moody at times, but he was his own guy. I really grew to respect him.”

Steve Austin on Savage:

“Macho Man, that guy’s stuff back when he was in Tennessee, was incredible. His intensity, his promo style—he was the Macho Man 24/7, 365—and he was that before he got to the WWF. Vince [McMahon] didn’t make him, he made himself. Vince then made him a superstar all over the world.”

Gene Okerlund, Hulk Hogan and Ted DiBiase on Savage’s relationship with Miss Elizabeth:

Okerlund: “Randy was a loose cannon. In the early days, Randy was very protective of Elizabeth to the point where it bothered a lot of the boys. But what could you do, take it to Vince McMahon and make yourself look like a powder puff? You just ignored it and worked with it.”

Hogan: “If you even looked at Elizabeth the wrong way, then, Holy s—. Randy would freak out. If you ever wanted to get him lit up, you’d just have to look at Liz.”

DiBiase: “I would never consider having my wife around a bunch of wrestlers. Randy tried to protect Elizabeth, but that created some tension between the two of them.”

Daniel Bryan on Savage:

“I’d love to be this era’s Macho Man. There are a lot of similarities between the two of us. He was so good and just had that connection with the crowd. You can watch him to this day, he’s so entertaining.”

Ric Flair on his WrestleMania VIII match against Savage:

“We brought the best out in each other. When you have that kind of chemistry and respect for each other, it doesn’t take a lot of thought-process to go out there and make music in the ring. Randy was still playing minor league baseball when I first met him. I was there in his corner during his infancy in the business, saw him blossom and become so much better. I was proud of him, and wrestling him at WrestleMania was awesome.”

Sting on his friendship with Savage:

“Randy Savage, ironically, is one of the guys I looked up to. I loved him. He was so out far out there with his character. There was something about it I could identify with. I used to tease him a little bit in the dressing room in front of all the guys, and say, ‘Come on, just talk in your normal voice.’ ‘This is my normal voice, what are you talking about?,’ he’d say. It was funny. We’d always try to get him, but I never heard him talk any other way than just like this, brother! Living the character helped him, absolutely it did.”

Lanny Poffo on a Triple H interview that led to a the infamous Stephanie McMahon rumor, which Lanny says is not true:

“A reporter asked [WWE heavyweight champion] Triple H what he thought of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. Triple H responded with, ‘They were great, but they’re dinosaurs.’ Randy saw this as a deliberate attempt to hurt his brand. Randy insinuated he [wanted] to take Triple H, slap him in the face, take his girl, Stephanie McMahon [the daughter of Vince McMahon and the wife of Triple H], and drive her around the block, then give her back to him,” Lanny says. “It wasn’t right, but Randy was provoked.”

Check out the complete feature at SI.com.

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– Randy Savage’s brother, Lanny Poffo, is the guest on the latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast. The official description for the show reads as follows.

TIJ – EP111 – Randy Savage Remembered by his brother Lanny Poffo

“Macho Man Randy Savage’s brother, Lanny Poffo, has agreed that it’s time for Macho Man to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, so that’s what’s happening this year! Why did Lanny change his mind? And what would his brother and father think about it? Lanny explains his decision… and shares some amazing stories about his brother’s as well as his own wrestling career as The Genius who only spoke in poetry and rhyme! He recites a few of his more famous & memorable poems & tells stories from his own in-ring career working with Hulk Hogan and Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig. “

You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.

– Eric Bischoff was the guest on the latest edition of Bill Apter’s video chat, which you can see below. Bischoff talks to Apter about the Monday Night Wars, Randy Savage being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame this year, his debate with Bruce Prichard and more.

• MULTIPLE Stars PULLED From Royal Rumble Match At The LAST MINUTE + THE ROCK At Tonight’s WWE PPV?!

– WWE is looking to get celebrity television personality Maria Menounos to host the red carpet arrivals for the 2015 WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony this year in San Jose, California. Menounos has worked with WWE several times in the past.

– Chris Jericho noted on Twitter that his guest for this Friday’s edition of “Talk Is Jericho” will be former WWE Superstar “Leapin'” Lanny Poffo, a.k.a. “The Genius.” Poffo, real-life brother of the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage, will talk to Jericho about his brother being inducted into this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame class.

• PHOTOS: Triple H BREAKS CHARACTER During RAW Reunion To Console A Crying Young Fan!

(Partial Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Former WWE Superstar Lanny “The Genius” Poffo spoke to Bill Apter of 1wrestling.com on Monday about WWE inducting his brother “Macho Man” Randy Savage into WWE Hall of Fame this year.

Poffo spoke about previously being against his brother being inducted since Randy only wanted to be inducted if Lanny and their father Angelo were inducted as well. Poffo said it’s time for Randy to be honored and he doesn’t want the fans to be deprived of Macho Man entering the Hall of Fame.

Hulk Hogan also tweeted on Tuesday morning:

Just talked to Lanny,things are exactly the way he wants them for the Poffo family and Randy,only love HH

— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) January 13, 2015

Lanny Poffo, brother of the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage, recently spoke to the Another Wrestling Podcast about WWE’s upcoming Macho Man DVD set. Here are some highlights:

WWE’s Macho Man Documentary DVD:

Lanny Poffo: My mother didn’t want to be in it, and I talked her into it, and she was phenomenal. You know she’s going to be 88 years old in January. She’s so…I don’t want to get negative, she’s still harboring the resentment that nobody offered her condolences from the WWE. And I said, “Mom look at it this way, this is not about the Macho Man, it’s about the Macho Fan. And they’re the ones who gave him his lifestyle. And they’re the ones that made him go on top of the mountain, and he lived there for many, many years, and he had a great life, and it’s all because of the Macho Fan.”

How He Was Involved In The Documentary:

Poffo: About a month ago I texted [producer Kieran Bent] and said how are you doing with the project and is there any way I can get an advanced copy or do I have to wait until November 18th? So he says we got a rough cut I’ll send it to you. And you know, they were asking me all these questions, and I was just treating it like a shoot interview, and I had no idea that they would use any of that. They used all of it!

They used all the controversial things, and there were a few things that I didn’t like, and there were a few things that I thought were phenomenal, but all in all it is a must have! The two people I called up on the phone to thank were Bret the Hitman Hart and Diamond Dallas Page because their remarks were beautiful… And you know who was great, I don’t know where they found it, I never seen it before, but they had highlights of an interview they did with [Randy] before, that they did with him in 1993 or 1994 where he was at the fork in the road of his career, and it was like he was narrating his own DVD.

It’s being said that the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage is closer to going into the WWE Hall Of Fame right now than ever before. The company is working on a new DVD/Blu-ray project for the deceased WWE legend, complete with a full documentary that is expected to have participation from Savage’s brother, former WWE Superstar “The Genius” (aka “Leapin'” Lanny Poffo).

As things stand right now, the guys rumored to be part of next year’s WWE Hall Of Fame class the most are Savage, The Rock, Kevin Nash, Rikishi and either Victoria or Mickie James in what has become an annual-Diva addition.

The following are highlights from a Shining Wizard Podcast interview with Lanny Poffo:

On letting WWE induct Randy Savage into the Hall of Fame against Randy’s wishes, and the general lack of respect shown to him: “It occurred to me that I decided “what a minute, I’m not going to be put in the middle of all this.” The thing is the WWE did not ask my permission to run the parody of the Huckster and the Nacho Man, and I don’t have a battery of lawyers on retainer, so my belief is, do what you want. You want to honor him? Go ahead. This is the same company that didn’t send its condolences to my mother who is going to be 87 in January. Now I know they made a nice video tribute, but don’t you understand that that’s just PR. Just like when they fire you, they wish you luck on your future endeavors? That’s PR, they have a public relations department. So naturally, when somebody dies, and everybody always has, you know, because it’s either suicide or an overdose. In Randy’s case it was one of the few honorable deaths they’ve had. His toxicology report was crystal clear. Clean. And that meant a lot to me. Well, name a wrestler that died and they’ve all got something wrong with their toxicology report… Remember the Huckster and the Nacho Man? Everyone says “What’s the matter? Can’t you take a joke?” Well, some of those jokes were a little bit… like they accused Hulk Hogan of doing Elizabeth. Remember that one, when they did the Larry King one? And I thought that was- they said “How was Elizabeth?” “Not too good.” The guy imitating Hulk Hogan and Randy looked at each other. And they made fun of his balding, and that was a little bit of lack of respect. So I said wait a minute, it’s true that Randy wanted the Poffos to go in as a family but you can’t make them do that. So I figured, rather than put myself in the middle for the rest of my life, I said hey, go ahead and do whatever you want. I only have two requests. Leave me out of it- don’t invite me- and please don’t pay me, because I don’t need the thirty pieces of silver. That was the amount Judas Iscariot took to betray Jesus.”

On whether he was an innovator: “I like to consider myself just a guy that was in the right time and at the right place. Everybody says I invented the moonsault. Well, the truth is I invented it like moments after I saw video of Tiger Mask doing it to the Dynamite Kid. I thought, wow, I think I can do that. I don’t know if he innovated it. And then people say “you mind if I do the moonsault?” I said hey, I stole it, too. Just don’t get hurt and don’t hurt anyone, because those are possibilities. I don’t know if I innovated anything, except I can honestly say that every poem you ever heard me recite, I wrote on my own. I don’t consider plagiarism to be a joke.”

On owing his career to Randy and becoming the Genius: “Let’s get something straight. Anything good that happened to me was indirectly or directly because of my brother. If I weren’t the brother of the “Macho Man” Randy Savage, you wouldn’t know who the hell I was. He opened doors for me. We were in the car discussing gimmicks. And he was always on my team trying to help me. We came up with this Genius thing and he was a stickler for details. He presented it, he got it done. I tried to follow through with it and did the very best I could to try to recreate myself. To reshuffle the deck and try to make the people forget that was ever “Leaping” Lanny by changing my personality. And I did my very best to entertain the people; it is sports entertainment… one of the people I really stole from was Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther… It was a one-joke movie. “I knew that, you idiot. I was only testing you.” I thought the Genius would be a good character if he was not that smart, just thought he was. Because if I was really that smart, I would have to be a babyface. But if I’m a heel I would like to be a buffoon genius- to be something hilarious in a business that was very serious at the time. Now they’ve got other comedians sometimes I’ve noticed, but I was like the only one. I have to say, God bless Bobby Heenan, you know he’s a cancer survivor and I hope he’s doing well. He didn’t raise any objection to me being the Genius. After all, he was already the Brain. But what was I going to do? Point to my arms? I have garden-hose arms compared to Hercules Hernandez, the Warlord, the Barbarian, Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, “Macho Man” Randy Savage. My arms are just as long, but much thinner. I couldn’t point to my arms… I had to point to my head because I didn’t have what they call a body in wrestling.”

The circumstances of Randy’s death: “First of all, he didn’t die from an automobile accident; he had ventricular fibrillation… the heart is divided into the left and right atrium and left and right ventricle. That’s four chambers. And the bottom chamber, which is v-shaped, fibrillated, which means it quivered, which meant he wasn’t getting enough oxygen into his blood; the blood wasn’t going everywhere, and he said “I think I’m going to pass out.” And that was his last words… And his wife, she was the hero because when he passed out at the wheel, his foot was on he accelerator, and she grabbed the wheel of the Jeep Wrangler and steered it into a tree, because they would’ve hit a motorcyclist and behind that was a bus. So when they’re going the wrong way going about 35-40 miles per hour- and that’s just what happened. When you have a heart problem, it would be nice if you’re not driving at the time, but that’s what they were doing, and Lynn was the hero.”

On Randy leaving for WCW and his relationship with Slim Jim: “Randy wanted to work with Shawn Michaels. He wanted to have a two-year program with him. They said they were having a youth movement, and that’s why he quit. He said “I think I’ll get a second opinion on that.” He would’ve lost the match to Shawn Michaels, at WrestleMania, but his goal, and one of the things that bothered him the most, was that he was never able to have a match as good as the one he had with Ricky Steamboat. He felt, even his his advanced years, I guess he was 41, that he could have a Ricky Steamboat-caliber match with Shawn Michaels. I don’t know if he could or if he couldn’t any more that if, you know, if he was already too old or whatever, but wouldn’t you love to see him try? He would’ve put him over, in the middle of the ring, and retired to the announce booth… but instead he went to the WCW and guess what he brought with him? Snap into a Slim Jim. And Vince doesn’t like to lose even one round. You know the difference between WWF and Slim Jim? Slim Jim sent to me and my mom and Randy’s widow? A beautiful bouquet of flowers, and best wishes, and condolences. And we didn’t get anything from the WWE. The only condolences I got are from two guys. They are Howard Finkel, and last month I got a call from Steve Lombardi. Now in these two cases, this is not management, this is labor. So there’s a little bit of a difference there. If I embarrass anybody then so be it. You know what? I’m gonna be 59 years old December 28th… and I’m gonna say exactly what’s on my mind all the time.”

Why wrestling is better now: “First of all, I don’t watch it now. But there’s two reasons why wrestling is better now than then. Number one, we didn’t have iPhones back then, so, you know, that Google Maps? I really love my Google Maps. Before, I couldn’t find my ass with two hands. Now I don’t have to worry about “turn left, stupid.” The other one is I really didn’t like when I wrestled, that all the fans were allowed to smoke cigarettes and whatever, and we had to breathe in all that second-hand smoke. Now almost all the venues are non-smoking. I wish they had been that way when I was breathing in all that smoke.”

Check out the complete interview online at www.shiningwizards.com.

“Leapin” Lanny Poffo, real-life brother to the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage recently spoke to the Pro Wrestling Torch about the latest on his brother being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame.

Poffo originally noted that his brother’s wishes were for he, Lanny, and his father Angelo Poffo, to all be inducted as a family into the WWE Hall Of Fame. Since then, Poffo has apparently given WWE permission to induct Savage by himself.

Poffo told PWTorch.com:

“I gave them permission to do it without my permission. Just don’t invite me and don’t pay me. I don’t need their 30 pieces of silver to defy my brother’s wishes. Kayfabe Commentaries had my best interview regarding the reasons Randy had for this position.”

Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage & Owen Hart In WWE HOF 2014 Class [READ >>]

– Ryback is featured on the promotional poster for WWE’s Battleground pay-per-view event taking place on October 6 in Buffalo, New York at Niagara Center.

The official synopsis for the pay-per-view event is as follows: “The battle for dominance in WWE is just beginning. See John Cena, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, The Shield and all your favorite WWE Superstars square off at WWE BattleGround, Sunday, October 6 at 8PM ET/5PM PT, Live on Pay-Per-View.”

– Alicia Fox channels “Macho Man” Randy Savage in this photo gallery on WWE.com.

– Lanny Poffo’s limerick book released in 1988, Leaping Lanny: Wrestling With Rhyme, has been released on Kindle by Solstice Publishing.

As previously reported, Bill Goldberg appeared during Pro Wrestling Night at the Miami Marlins baseball game this weekend. Goldberg threw out the first pitch before the game, and even performed a vicious spear to Marlins pitcher Tom Koehler. Check out an animated GIF of the spear below:

Results from matches at the show were as follows:

-Koko B. Ware defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr.
-Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake defeated Mike Knox
-Harry Smith defeated Wes Brisco
-The Nasty Boys defeated Ken Anderson & Garett Bischoff

Additionally, WWE Hall Of Famers Bret “The Hitman” Hart and “The Mouth Of The South” Jimmy Hart, as well as “Leapin'” Lanny Poffo and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart appeared at the event.

And finally, Goldberg talked a bit in one of the interviews about the recent WWE and WrestleMania XXX rumors. While he didn’t rule out the possibility at some point in the future, he did shoot down the specific rumors about his supposed return at the annual classic next year. He mentioned that if he did come out of retirement for a match, he would be interested in facing off with either “Stone Cold” Steve Austin or The Undertaker, as he said he has no interest in working a match with Ryback.

For more coverage from Pro Wrestling Night at the Marlins game, check out the official MLB.com coverage of the event.

REPORT: Steve Austin vs. CM Punk 99% Likely For WrestleMania XXX [READ HERE >>]

Follow SESCOOPS.COM reporter Matt Boone on Twitter @MBoone420 for breaking news updates!

SESCOOPS.COM reader Josh Stewart from Newsday.com sent along the following: We reviewed episode 1 of Total Divas:

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/pop-cult-1.811972/wwe-total-divas-begins-with-wrestlemania-rhubarb-plus-john-cena-romancing-nikki-bella-1.5786346

And we have new photos of the show’s stars in our Women of professional wrestling gallery:

http://www.newsday.com/sports/pro-wrestling/women-of-professional-wrestling-1.5018715

SESCOOPS.COM reader Evan Ginzburg sent along the following: Today July 29th at DoughBoys Pizza in Deer Park, NY. It’s a RAW Viewing party…eat with Lanny Poffo! Hang out for 3 solid hours with him. Ask questions, get your picture taken, and get an autograph. Lanny will be sitting with everyone who attends. This is also in Deer Park $30 (photo and autograph included). Three hours of “Genius” fun! You can arrive as early as 7:15 PM….Bring your best Randy Savage impression and win a bonus prize.

You can find out more info by calling the above number, and the above email address. For the most up to date information on this and all of our events, please visit us at Facebook.com/IntegrityBookings and IntegrityBookings.com

If you have any questions, email : TalentRelations@IntegrityBookings.com

Spoilers For This Season Of Total Divas + News On Future Plans For The Wyatt’s!

– Famous R&B singer Monica, attended Friday’s WWE live event in Atlanta, Georgia, with her children. Darren Young tweeted this image of himself and Titus O’Neil with the singer and her family.

Monica acknowledged the post with the following, “u guys were beyond kind to us!!! Made the boys experience better than great !! U guys did an awesome job!! Funny too.”

– Former WWE Superstar “The Genius” Lanny Poffo delivers one of his trademark poems in this video interview with 1495 Sports.

– U-Gene Nick Dinsmore, formerly known as Eugene in WWE, announced on Twitter that he will be conducting a professional wrestling seminar in Harrison, Arkansas, on Saturday, August 24. Click here for additional details.

— Evan Bourne sustained a midfoot fracture dislocation in an undisclosed accident last week as his foot was broken in four spots and dislocated in five. According to the official website of Silverman Ankle & Foot Practice, his injury, also known as a LisFranc fracture dislocation, is a career threatening injury to athletes, even when treated well.

The website says, “It is unknown whether or not Bourne will return to wrestling after this injury but one thing is certain – it’s going to be a long road to recovery.”

— The Miz’s victory over Zack Ryder on Monday’s Raw SuperShow snapped his eleven match losing streak in televised singles bouts. His last prior singles victory took place on the December 5 Raw in a count-out win over Randy Orton.

— Bret Hart headlines UCW’s Summer Explosion III event at the Halifax Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on June 30. Other talent appearing include Leo Burke, “The Genius” Lanny Poffo, Hurricane Helms, Chavo Guerrero, JP Simms and “Wildman” Gary Williams.

— Lanny Poffo appeared on a podcast hosted by Steve Wilton and commented on the possibility of Randy Savage being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Poffo said he did not hear from WWE after his brother passed away last May and that he has not heard from them regarding enshrinement into the Hall.

Lanny claimed last year during an interview that Randy would have only accepted enshrinement into the WWE Hall of Fame if the Poffo family (Angelo, Lanny and Randy) went in together like the Von Erichs. Randy pulled a similar power play in 1995 as Angelo was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame as a favor from management. Legendary wrestling announcer Gordon Solie objected to Poffo’s induction because he did not consider him to be a notable wrestler.

— Former WWE performer Shelly Martinez appears with her sister Danielle on this Saturday’s episode of Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan. The reality program, which features Millan working with “problem dogs,” airs at 8:00 p.m. on Nat Geo WILD.

— Dan Severn and WWE Hall of Famer Ivan Putski have been announced for WrestleReunion, which takes place January 27-29 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport 5400 West Century Blvd. Los Angeles, California.

— Following Daniel Bryan’s victory over Kofi Kingston on Monday’s Raw SuperShow, the World Heavyweight Champion was encountered by Big Show. Bryan offered Show another opportunity for the World Title at any time. The World’s Largest Athlete revealed that SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long granted him a No Disqualification, No Count-out World Title rematch on Friday’s SmackDown.

— On Twitter, a fan wrote to Jim Ross with a message reading “Help Push Drew McIntyre.” The WWE Hall of Famer instead offered McIntyre advice.

Ross wrote, “Drew needs to push Drew. It’s a PROCESS.”

— Brutus Beefcake, Lanny Poffo and Larry Zbyszko have been announced for Wrestlereunion, which takes place January 27-29 at Westin Los Angeles Airport 5400 West Century Blvd. Los Angeles, California.