/ Stars that died in 2023: Angelo Poffo died he was 84,

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Angelo Poffo died he was 84,

John Angelo Poffo died he was 84. Poffo was a former professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. He ran International Championship Wrestling for a number of years, holding cards in Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas. He is most noted for being the father of "Macho Man" Randy Savage and "Leaping" Lanny Poffo.

(April 10, 1925 – March 4, 2010)

Poffo started wrestling in 1948 at Karl Pojello's gym in Illinois.[2] His first match was in 1949 against Ruffy Silverstein.[2] He sometimes wrestled as The Masked Miser and managed other wrestlers as the Miser.[2] He became a villainous character for the first time in 1950.[2] In the mid-1950s, Bronco Lubich acted as his manager.[2] He won the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Chicago version) in 1958.[2]
He formed a villainous tag team with Chris Markoff called "The Devil's Duo" in 1966, and they were managed by Bobby Heenan.[2] In 1973, he formed the team "The Graduates" with Ken Dillinger.[2]
Poffo wrestled in the 1970s and 1980s under a mask as "The Carpet Bagger" for Emile Dupre's Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. He also bought into the promotion, when his sons were old enough to join.[2] He wrestled under a yellow mask with a dollar sign on the forehead and a blue sequined ring jacket with a big dollar sign on the back. In addition, Poffo ran International Championship Wrestling from 1979 to 1983 in Kentucky.[2]
His last match was in 1991 against Luis Martinez.[2]
He made a few appearances in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1995 managing his son, Randy Savage. He was once attacked by "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, who put him in a figure four leglock. In 1995, he was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame.[2]
Poffo's parents were Italian immigrants.[3][1] Poffo was a catcher for the DePaul University baseball team.[2] In college, he studied physical education and was a competitive chess player.[2] While serving in the US Navy in 1945, he set a world record for sit-ups.[2] He completed 6,033 sit-ups in four hours and ten minutes.[2][4]
In college he met his future wife Judy,[2] whom he married on June 6, 1949. They were married for more than sixty years, and together they had two sons, Randy and Lanny.[2]
After retiring from professional wrestling, Poffo taught physical education in Illinois.[2]

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