Randy Savage, Lanny Poffo, and Angelo Poffo in ICW

[Iceman]

Randy Savage, Lanny Poffo, and Angelo Poffo in ICW Wrestling and other Wrestling Territories (Pre-WWF) sure did some great stuff together. I got a tape of Randy Savage Pre-WWF and there was some ICW: International Championship Wrestling stuff with Randy Savage and his father Angelo Poffo as his manager, and sometimes Randy and Lanny were Tag-Team partners. They really did some great stuff too. Angelo reminded me of Heenan, Mr. Fuji, or Jimmy Hart interfering in matches. Even one time Angelo threw Randy his watch when the Referee wasn't looking and knocked the Wrestler out with it for the pin, lol. I recently found out that the shirt Angelo wore while being a manager which said, "6036", which kinda looked like a prison shirt actually stood for the world record in sit-ups, which he did, lol.

Randy seemed lightening quick too around the ring, one second inside, the next outside, then back and forth, really quick. Also Randy used the Pile Driver as his finishing move sometimes back then. Back then announcers were saying it was one of the most dangerous moves, and in later matches I watched the move was even banned in some Wrestling Territories so Randy did if after one match and even on a table outside the ring on the floor to Ricky Morton, lol, crazy stuff. The Macho Man really had some great stuff before the WWF.

Anybody remember seeing Randy Savage, Lanny Poffo, or Angelo Poffo before the days of the WWF?

[Iceman]

credit: Tamalie

After ICW shut down in early 1984, all three Poffos joined the Jarrett-Lawler promotion. This was a pretty big deal at the time because the two promotions had been involved in a very competitive and very heated war in Kentucky. That the Poffos would all go to Memphis was extremely shocking and it made the subsequent feud between Randy and Lawler all the more heated. It drew what I believe is still the biggest crowd ever for wrestling in Lexington, KY.

Eventually Randy and Lanny with Angelo as their manager had a great feud with the Rock n Roll Express. All were great workers and it made for some terrific bouts. It was during this feud that Randy piledrove Ricky Morton through the ringside table at the Mid-South Coliseum. This spot was just off the charts wild for 1984 and put even more heat on the Poffos in general, but especially Randy. The Macho Man's Memphis run gave him the mainstream exposure that ultimately led to his lengthy WWF run.