Background and career
Lanny Mark Poffo (December 28, 1954 – February 2, 2023) better known by his ring names "Leaping" Lanny Poffo and the Genius, was a Canadian-American professional wrestler, motivational speaker, poet, and actor. Poffo was a second generation professional wrestler, his father being Angelo Poffo. His brother, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was also a professional wrestler.
Poffo was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to Angelo Poffo, an Italian American Catholic, and Judy (Sverdlin) Poffo, a Jewish-American of Belarusian and Lithuanian descent. He was the younger brother of "Macho Man" Randy Savage and grew up in Downers Grove, Illinois.
Poffo made his debut in 1974, losing to Wayne Cowan in the opening match of an All-South Wrestling Alliance card held in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 16. Poffo remained in the promotion for several months, defeating Cowan in a rematch and also gaining a win over The Great Fuji. On a card on July 9, 1974, in Atlanta he teamed with his father Angelo Poffo for the first time, defeating the veteran team The Royal Kangaroos. Still in his rookie year, Poffo and his father then headed to Big Time Wrestling, one of the varied promotions affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance at that time. In their initial match with BTW, Lanny and Angelo lost by disqualification to Lou Thesz and Mighty Igor on November 30, 1974, at a house show in Detroit, Michigan. They quickly began a house show series against the team of Bobo Brazil and Fred Curry. The two wrestled as heels, with Angelo Poffo wearing a graduation gown and cap similar to the attire Lanny later adopted in the WWF. That year they won the NWA World Tag Team Championship, and the father/son duo held it until 1975 with successful defenses over The Mongols and Brazil and Curry. While still tag-team champions, the Poffos moved on to the St. Louis Wrestling Club and continued to defend their championship. In 1975 they lost the title and returned to Big Time Wrestling. 1976 found Lanny wrestling primarily in singles matches in BTW, NWA Western States, and the St. Louis Wrestling Club. On May 29, 1976, Lanny received his first shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, losing a televised match to Terry Funk on Wrestling at the Chase. He then defeated wrestlers such as Don Red Cloud, Raoul Guzman, and Gary Fulton. Lanny moved to Jim Crockett's Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling in July 1976, and for the first time began teaming with his brother Randy Poffo (Randy Savage). The Poffo Brothers immediately began touring on the MACW house show circuit, defeating such teams as Johnny Eagle and Manuel Soto or Danny Miller and Johnny Weaver for the remainder of the year. With his brother Randy having departed MACW after February, Lanny proceeded into 1977 as a singles wrestler once more. After gaining victories over George Rossi, Herb Gallant, and Leroy Rochester, Poffo gained another shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when he faced off against Harley Race at an event in Chattanooga on February 4, 1978. This time Lanny wrestled the champion to a draw. In April 1978, Poffo moved on to Emile Duprée's Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling which had a weekly television spot on the Maritime region's CTV-affiliated ATV system and toured the Maritimes doing shows seven days per week with some days hosting two shows in two different towns. That year, he became the first ever AGPW International Heavyweight Champion. On May 23, 1978, he wrestled his brother (now known as Randy Savage) for the very first time, defeating him by disqualification at an event held in Truro, Nova Scotia. Savage later defeated his brother for the title, which they traded in 1978 and 1979. On July 18, 1978, their final title match ended in a draw at a show in Hartland, New Brunswick. Poffo next moved to NWA affiliate Pacific Northwest Wrestling and made his debut on November 16, 1979, when he wrestled Kurt von Steiger to a draw at an event in Portland, Oregon. He faced a variety of opponents in PNW, including Adrian Adonis, Hiro Ota, and Tully Blanchard. On February 22, 1979, he unsuccessfully challenged NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion Roddy Piper. Following a defeat to Gene Kiniski the next month, he departed the promotion.
In 1978, Lanny's father Angelo founded International Championship Wrestling (ICW), an "outlaw" rival to NWA affiliates Southeastern Championship Wrestling and NWA Mid-America. Eventually Angelo further expanded and signed talent away from the World Wrestling Association and Jerry Jarrett's Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), forming a strong rivalry with the other territories. It was into the maelstrom that Lanny Poffo entered in the summer of 1979 as he jumped to his father's promotion. He became a star in ICW and eventually became the promotion's champion, where he wrestled with and against Randy Savage. The two brothers dominated the ICW Heavyweight Championship, and over the next six years, the only other wrestler to hold it was Paul Christy. Lanny remained a mainstay of the promotion until it folded in 1984.
Shortly before the dissolution of ICW, Lanny began making appearances in Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling. His first matches came on October 12, 1983, when he defeated Art Crews and Doug Vines at a MSW television taping in Shreveport. In December he formed a team with Rick Rude and began a house show series with The Midnight Express that carried through January 1984. Lanny then moved back into singles competition and wrestled Buddy Landel in numerous matches.
On June 18, 1984, Lanny joined his brother Randy Savage who had jumped to the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), defeating Bart Batten and Johnny Wilhoit at an event in Memphis. They almost immediately entered into a feud with The Rock 'n' Roll Express, a series that lasted throughout the summer. On October 1, 1984, he unsuccessfully challenged CWA International Heavyweight Champion Eddie Gilbert. That winter Poffo and Savage moved on to a house show series against Gilbert and Tommy Rich. In January 1985, they entered a tournament to crown the AWA Southern Tag-Team Champions, but were defeated by The Interns in the semi-finals. In the spring, they began a feud with AWA Southern Champions The Fabulous Ones, but were unable to capture the title. In June 1985, his brother departed for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and Lanny was soon signed to a contract there as well.
