WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.000 I want you to imagine just for a second stepping 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:05.139 into a professional wrestling locker room in 00:00:05.139 --> 00:00:08.080 the mid -1980s. Oh boy, that is quite a scene 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:10.679 to picture. Right. You are surrounded by these 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:14.900 massive, oiled -up, 300 -pound brawlers. Guys 00:00:14.900 --> 00:00:17.480 who spend their evenings screaming into microphones 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:20.079 about eating vitamins and snapping human bones. 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:23.079 A completely hyper -masculine landscape. Exactly. 00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:24.940 And you look around at this chaotic environment 00:00:24.940 --> 00:00:27.910 and you decide that your secret weapon... The 00:00:27.910 --> 00:00:29.809 thing that's going to set you apart from every 00:00:29.809 --> 00:00:32.689 single giant in that arena is going to be reciting 00:00:32.689 --> 00:00:35.070 poetry and throwing plastic frisbees into the 00:00:35.070 --> 00:00:37.289 crowd. It sounds like a joke, but it actually 00:00:37.289 --> 00:00:40.450 worked. It totally did. Welcome to our deep dive. 00:00:40.710 --> 00:00:42.929 I'm your host. And today we're stepping into 00:00:42.929 --> 00:00:45.890 the squared circle to explore the life, the intellect, 00:00:46.070 --> 00:00:49.420 and the unbelievably bizarre career. Of Lanny 00:00:49.420 --> 00:00:52.420 Poffo. Better known to a lot of WWF fans as the 00:00:52.420 --> 00:00:55.619 genius or leaping Lanny. That's the one. He carved 00:00:55.619 --> 00:00:58.079 out this totally unforgettable legacy in professional 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:00.759 wrestling, often while operating in the direct 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:03.820 shadow of his older brother, the legendary macho 00:01:03.820 --> 00:01:06.700 man Randy Savage. And we should note, we're pulling 00:01:06.700 --> 00:01:09.939 all of our insights today from the really comprehensive 00:01:09.939 --> 00:01:12.819 Wikipedia article detailing his journey, spanning 00:01:12.819 --> 00:01:15.920 right from his 1974 debut all the way to his 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:18.379 passing in 2023. Which is a lot of ground to 00:01:18.379 --> 00:01:20.980 cover. It is. And our mission today, what we're 00:01:20.980 --> 00:01:23.040 really going to explore here, is how someone 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:25.560 who wasn't even the biggest star in his own family 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:29.299 managed to carve out a wholly unique, enduring 00:01:29.299 --> 00:01:33.420 legacy. We're talking pure adaptability, intellect, 00:01:33.620 --> 00:01:36.400 and just sheer commitment to a gimmick. Okay, 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:38.579 let's unpack this. Because to really understand 00:01:38.579 --> 00:01:41.599 Lanny Poffo, you have to look at the incredibly 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:44.299 unique ecosystem he was born into. Yeah, his 00:01:44.299 --> 00:01:46.260 background is fascinating. He was born Lanny 00:01:46.260 --> 00:01:49.790 Mark Poffo on December 28, 19... up in Calgary, 00:01:49.829 --> 00:01:52.590 Alberta. And his family was this amazing melting 00:01:52.590 --> 00:01:55.430 pot. His mother, Judy, was a Jewish American 00:01:55.430 --> 00:01:58.170 of Belarusian and Lithuanian descent. And his 00:01:58.170 --> 00:02:00.849 father, Angelo, was an Italian -American Catholic. 00:02:01.150 --> 00:02:03.500 Right. And the family eventually put down roots 00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:06.340 in Downers Grove, Illinois. But the absolute 00:02:06.340 --> 00:02:09.740 defining dynamic of his early life, the gravity 00:02:09.740 --> 00:02:12.639 that really pulled at his entire career, was 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:14.539 that he was the younger brother of Randy Savage. 00:02:14.819 --> 00:02:16.979 Which is a huge shadow to grow up in. But you 00:02:16.979 --> 00:02:18.740 have to remember, in the professional wrestling 00:02:18.740 --> 00:02:21.259 business, the Poffo family operates essentially 00:02:21.259 --> 00:02:25.460 as royalty. But a very specific, fiercely independent 00:02:25.460 --> 00:02:28.159 kind of royalty, right? Exactly. His father, 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:31.520 Angelo Poffo, wasn't just a dad. He was a hardened 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:34.580 veteran wrestler and a promoter. So Lanny and 00:02:34.580 --> 00:02:37.719 Randy grew up breathing the exhaust fumes of 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:40.259 this industry. It was the family business. Totally. 00:02:40.419 --> 00:02:43.460 When Lanny made his in -ring debut in April 1974, 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:46.599 losing a match down in Atlanta, he wasn't just 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:48.960 trying out a new job. He was stepping right onto 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:51.259 the family assembly line. And there's this incredible 00:02:51.259 --> 00:02:53.750 detail from that. rookie year that is just phenomenal 00:02:53.750 --> 00:02:56.270 foreshadowing. Oh, the tag team matches. Yes. 00:02:56.550 --> 00:03:00.870 So in 1974, Lanny teams up with his dad, Angelo, 00:03:00.889 --> 00:03:03.949 for a series of matches in the Detroit territory. 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:07.860 They are wrestling his heels, the bad guys, antagonizing 00:03:07.860 --> 00:03:10.620 the crowds. And his dad actually wears a graduation 00:03:10.620 --> 00:03:13.000 gown and cap to the ring. Which is wild because 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:15.139 over a decade before Lanny would make that exact 00:03:15.139 --> 00:03:17.479 academic outfit globally famous on television, 00:03:17.659 --> 00:03:20.139 his dad was road testing the gimmick. They even 00:03:20.139 --> 00:03:22.780 won the NWA World Tag Team Championship in Detroit 00:03:22.780 --> 00:03:26.009 doing it. But the true crucible for Lanny, the 00:03:26.009 --> 00:03:28.710 era that really forged his work ethic, happened 00:03:28.710 --> 00:03:31.030 a few years later when his dad founded International 00:03:31.030 --> 00:03:35.150 Championship Wrestling, or ICW, in 1978. And 00:03:35.150 --> 00:03:37.270 we should clarify for the listener, this wasn't 00:03:37.270 --> 00:03:39.050 just another regional promotion. This was what 00:03:39.050 --> 00:03:41.729 they called an outlaw territory. What's fascinating 00:03:41.729 --> 00:03:44.289 here is how outlaw promotions operated as these 00:03:44.289 --> 00:03:47.490 rogue case studies in capitalism. You have to 00:03:47.490 --> 00:03:49.710 picture the landscape of North American wrestling 00:03:49.710 --> 00:03:52.030 back then. It was very territory. Strictly divided 00:03:52.030 --> 00:03:55.020 up. Promoters had a gentleman's agreement to 00:03:55.020 --> 00:03:57.080 respect each other's geographical boundaries. 00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:00.439 But Angela Poffo looked at that map, ignored 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:03.860 all the unspoken rules, and set up ICW as a direct 00:04:03.860 --> 00:04:06.400 hostile rival to the established territories 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:09.439 in the Southeast and Mid -America. He was aggressively 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.139 signing talent away from the cartel. Right. So 00:04:12.139 --> 00:04:14.979 the environment was fiercely competitive, highly 00:04:14.979 --> 00:04:17.800 stressful, and financially volatile. And right 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:20.459 in the middle of this intense turf war, you have 00:04:20.459 --> 00:04:23.399 Lanny and Randy. Lanny jumps over to his dad's 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:26.740 promotion in 1979 and just becomes their marquee 00:04:26.740 --> 00:04:29.339 attraction. After six grueling years. Yeah, they 00:04:29.339 --> 00:04:31.899 completely dominated the ICW Heavyweight Championship. 00:04:32.139 --> 00:04:34.360 I mean, constantly wrestling with each other, 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:36.680 against each other, trading the title back and 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:39.100 forth across these tiny, dimly lit armories. 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:41.379 And working in an outlaw promotion run by your 00:04:41.379 --> 00:04:43.620 own family means you are doing the heavy lifting 00:04:43.620 --> 00:04:46.060 for the entire company's survival. You can't 00:04:46.060 --> 00:04:48.860 just clock out. No, you're wrestling constantly. 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:52.139 You're learning how to manipulate a crowd that 00:04:52.139 --> 00:04:54.879 might be hostile to your rival brand. And you're 00:04:54.879 --> 00:04:56.819 trying to tell a compelling story in the ring 00:04:56.819 --> 00:04:59.360 with a partner, your own brother, who is pushing 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:02.079 you to your absolute physical limits night after 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:05.500 night. That pressure cooker. really forced Lanny 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:08.139 to figure out exactly who he was as a performer. 00:05:08.420 --> 00:05:10.839 It stripped away any illusions he had about the 00:05:10.839 --> 00:05:13.259 business. Which perfectly set him up for his 00:05:13.259 --> 00:05:15.699 next big move. Right, because that forged identity 00:05:15.699 --> 00:05:19.819 leads us directly to 1985. The regional territories 00:05:19.819 --> 00:05:22.220 are collapsing, the national expansion is taking 00:05:22.220 --> 00:05:26.040 over, and on June 21st, Lanny debuts in the World 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:28.480 Wrestling Federation at Madison Square Garden. 00:05:28.779 --> 00:05:32.560 As... Leaping Lenny Puffo. Yes, arriving as a 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:35.939 baby face, a good guy. And the fans instantly 00:05:35.939 --> 00:05:38.459 wanted to cheer him because his entire presentation 00:05:38.459 --> 00:05:41.040 was so incredibly jarring compared to the rest 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:43.060 of the roster. I mean, he would literally walk 00:05:43.060 --> 00:05:45.300 down the aisle carrying a stack of Frisbees. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:47.399 He'd pull out a piece of paper, read a short 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:49.759 poem he had actually written himself, and then 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:52.339 toss the Frisbees into the audience. It's brilliant. 00:05:52.660 --> 00:05:56.019 It was a low -cost way to immediately engage 00:05:56.019 --> 00:05:58.660 an arena full of people who might not know who 00:05:58.660 --> 00:06:01.660 you are yet. Because catching a frisbee creates 00:06:01.660 --> 00:06:04.040 an instant physical connection with the fan. 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:07.160 But to really appreciate the Leaping Lanny era, 00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:09.680 we have to talk about the physical context of 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:14.389 those 1980s WWF rings. Oh, absolutely. The industry 00:06:14.389 --> 00:06:17.110 back then was entirely dominated by the aesthetic 00:06:17.110 --> 00:06:20.629 of the bodybuilder. Huge, slow, power -based 00:06:20.629 --> 00:06:22.649 guy. Yatches were methodical. They were built 00:06:22.649 --> 00:06:25.370 around heavy body slams and these agonizing tests 00:06:25.370 --> 00:06:28.930 of strength. So Lanny's high -flying style wasn't 00:06:28.930 --> 00:06:31.589 just unique. It was physically dangerous. He 00:06:31.589 --> 00:06:34.329 was executing maneuvers that the television commentators 00:06:34.329 --> 00:06:36.470 didn't even have the proper vocabulary for yet. 00:06:36.529 --> 00:06:38.829 He was one of the first wrestlers in North America 00:06:38.829 --> 00:06:41.370 to regularly hit the sentin -bomb where you flip 00:06:41.370 --> 00:06:43.360 forward to land back first. on a prone opponent. 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:45.920 And he heavily utilized the moonsault. Which 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:48.060 the broadcasters at the time just confusedly 00:06:48.060 --> 00:06:50.759 called a leaping backflip. Doing a moonsault 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:53.279 today in a modern ring with a heavily padded 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:55.920 spring -loaded mat is tough enough. But doing 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:59.680 it in a 1980s WWF ring. Those rings were brutal. 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:03.220 Essentially stiff wooden planks stretched over 00:07:03.220 --> 00:07:07.420 steel beams with almost zero give. It takes an 00:07:07.420 --> 00:07:10.230 incredible toll on the body. And he wasn't just 00:07:10.230 --> 00:07:12.930 some generic guy brought in to lose in two minutes. 00:07:13.189 --> 00:07:16.290 He found immense success on the un -televised 00:07:16.290 --> 00:07:18.629 house shows, consistently putting away other 00:07:18.629 --> 00:07:21.430 mid -carters. His sheer agility really laid the 00:07:21.430 --> 00:07:23.129 groundwork for the cruiserweight styles that 00:07:23.129 --> 00:07:25.790 would revolutionize the industry a decade later. 00:07:25.970 --> 00:07:28.709 He also just possessed this incredible mind for 00:07:28.709 --> 00:07:31.610 self -preservation in matches where he was severely 00:07:31.610 --> 00:07:34.680 outsized. Like in late 1986, the company put 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:36.939 on a series of bunkhouse battle royals. These 00:07:36.939 --> 00:07:39.879 are completely chaotic. 30 enormous guys wearing 00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:42.319 street clothes, swinging belts and cowboy boots. 00:07:42.459 --> 00:07:44.680 And Lanny shows up to these matches wearing a 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:47.439 literal full suit of medieval knight's armor. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:49.899 That is amazing. He wrestled in chain mail and 00:07:49.899 --> 00:07:52.379 steel plating just to survive the Giants. Or 00:07:52.379 --> 00:07:54.339 look at Saturday night's main event in 1987. 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:57.259 He's in a battle royal in Detroit and Andre the 00:07:57.259 --> 00:07:59.959 Giant traps him. Oh, the headbutt. Andre delivers 00:07:59.959 --> 00:08:03.079 a massive headbutt. And Lanny sells it by bleeding 00:08:03.079 --> 00:08:05.439 heavily all over the floor, ultimately being 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:07.959 carried out of the arena on a stretcher. Because 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:10.459 he understood his role with absolute clarity, 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:14.620 he was the smaller, athletic, literate poet whose 00:08:14.620 --> 00:08:17.319 primary job was to make the enormous monsters 00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:20.620 look terrifyingly lethal. But there is a ceiling 00:08:20.620 --> 00:08:23.660 for babyface poet who throws frisbees. Right. 00:08:23.819 --> 00:08:25.639 If you want to move up the card, if you want 00:08:25.639 --> 00:08:27.939 your name attached to the main event storylines 00:08:27.939 --> 00:08:30.019 in wrestling history, you eventually have to 00:08:30.019 --> 00:08:32.059 start asking the audience to love you. And start 00:08:32.059 --> 00:08:34.879 giving them a reason to despise you. Which brings 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:39.700 us to the pivot. March 18th, 1989. Lanny is wrestling 00:08:39.700 --> 00:08:42.480 in Boston. Instead of tossing frisbees and hyping 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:45.200 up the crowd, he grabs the microphone and uses 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:48.220 his poetry to absolutely eviscerate the local 00:08:48.220 --> 00:08:50.620 Boston sports teams. The easiest way to get a 00:08:50.620 --> 00:08:52.759 crowd to hate you. They turned on him in seconds. 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:55.460 And from the ashes of Leaping Lanny, a completely 00:08:55.460 --> 00:08:58.820 new, far more dangerous character emerges. The 00:08:58.820 --> 00:09:01.399 genius. The genius is where Lanny's intellect 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:04.259 truly weaponizes. This is when he adopts that 00:09:04.259 --> 00:09:06.700 graduation cap and gown his father wore in the 00:09:06.700 --> 00:09:09.379 70s. This is such a great callback. And he takes 00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:13.029 on this. Exaggerated, highly effeminate, intensely 00:09:13.029 --> 00:09:15.750 arrogant persona that was heavily influenced 00:09:15.750 --> 00:09:18.649 by the legendary Gorgeous George. He wasn't just 00:09:18.649 --> 00:09:21.169 a regular villain. He was an intellectual elitist. 00:09:21.250 --> 00:09:23.789 Exactly. He looked down his nose at the fans, 00:09:24.029 --> 00:09:26.629 he mocked the intelligence of the other wrestlers, 00:09:26.730 --> 00:09:29.570 and his poetry transformed from uplifting rhymes 00:09:29.570 --> 00:09:33.269 into these biting, incredibly condescending limericks. 00:09:33.450 --> 00:09:36.570 The character was absolute gold. The company 00:09:36.570 --> 00:09:39.110 trusted him so much that he was actually the 00:09:39.110 --> 00:09:41.629 one reading the official proclamation when his 00:09:41.629 --> 00:09:44.330 real life brother, Randy Savage, was crowned 00:09:44.330 --> 00:09:46.929 the king of the WWF. Standing right next to each 00:09:46.929 --> 00:09:48.690 other in the center of the ring. Broadcasting 00:09:48.690 --> 00:09:50.970 to millions of people and the promotion maintains 00:09:50.970 --> 00:09:53.409 the illusion, completely ignoring that they are 00:09:53.409 --> 00:09:56.190 family. But the zenith of the genius character, 00:09:56.450 --> 00:09:59.309 the moment that secures his place in WWE and 00:09:59.309 --> 00:10:01.570 wrestling history forever, happens in November 00:10:01.570 --> 00:10:05.070 1989 at Saturday night's main event 24. The Hulk 00:10:05.070 --> 00:10:08.230 Hogan match. Now wait, for anyone listening who 00:10:08.230 --> 00:10:11.370 knows WWF history, how does a poetry -reading 00:10:11.370 --> 00:10:15.269 mid -carter who wears a graduation cap hand Hulk 00:10:15.269 --> 00:10:18.250 Hogan his first televised loss in nearly two 00:10:18.250 --> 00:10:21.909 years? On paper, that makes absolutely zero sense. 00:10:22.169 --> 00:10:23.629 It makes sense when you understand the business 00:10:23.629 --> 00:10:26.629 mechanics of a heat magnet. See, Lanny had aligned 00:10:26.629 --> 00:10:28.970 himself as the executive consultant for another 00:10:28.970 --> 00:10:31.950 legendary competitor, Mr. Perfect. The company 00:10:31.950 --> 00:10:34.149 wanted to build a massive rivalry between Hogan 00:10:34.149 --> 00:10:35.870 and Mr. Perfect, but they needed a catalyst. 00:10:36.230 --> 00:10:39.070 Lanny was tasked with drawing the absolute maximum 00:10:39.070 --> 00:10:41.649 amount of anger from the crowd. Right. So the 00:10:41.649 --> 00:10:44.490 genius is in the ring with the WWF World Heavyweight 00:10:44.490 --> 00:10:47.250 Champion, doing his absurd antics, taunting Hogan, 00:10:47.370 --> 00:10:50.240 drawing massive. And then Mr. Perfect wanders 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.299 down to ringside, takes a piece of chewing gum 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:54.419 out of his mouth, and maliciously sticks it right 00:10:54.419 --> 00:10:57.500 onto Hogan's pristine championship belt. The 00:10:57.500 --> 00:11:00.500 ultimate disrespect. So the match immediately 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:03.059 spills to the outside of the ring. Hogan is furious. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:06.000 He throws Landy back inside. And with Hogan's 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.460 back turned to yell at the crowd, and the referee 00:11:08.460 --> 00:11:10.879 completely distracted by Landy's theatrics, Mr. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:13.460 Perfect grabs that defaced championship belt 00:11:13.460 --> 00:11:16.379 and absolutely clocks Hogan with it. Hogan goes 00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:20.039 down hard. And he fails to answer the referee's 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:22.100 10 count. Leading to the count out victory for 00:11:22.100 --> 00:11:24.539 the genius. To really understand the historical 00:11:24.539 --> 00:11:27.840 gravity of that moment, Hulk Hogan was the invincible, 00:11:28.299 --> 00:11:31.399 unbeatable superhero of the global expansion. 00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:34.740 He hadn't lost a match on WWF television in... 00:11:35.149 --> 00:11:38.370 21 months. And his first loss in nearly two years 00:11:38.370 --> 00:11:40.730 comes as the hands of an arrogant academic. It's 00:11:40.730 --> 00:11:42.909 incredible. Later in the broadcast, Mr. Perfect 00:11:42.909 --> 00:11:45.409 and the Genius even take a hammer and physically 00:11:45.409 --> 00:11:48.269 shatter Hogan's stolen championship belt on television. 00:11:48.570 --> 00:11:51.230 The company trusted Lanny Poffo to be the fulcrum 00:11:51.230 --> 00:11:53.590 of their biggest storyline. He wasn't the strongest 00:11:53.590 --> 00:11:55.690 guy in the locker room, but he committed so deeply 00:11:55.690 --> 00:11:57.789 to playing the arrogant scholar that they knew 00:11:57.789 --> 00:12:00.210 he could absorb the audience's hatred perfectly. 00:12:00.669 --> 00:12:02.669 He stayed relevant through the early 90s, too, 00:12:02.750 --> 00:12:05.190 managing the Beverly Brothers tag team, feuding 00:12:05.190 --> 00:12:08.889 with Brutus the Barber Beefcake. Oh, man. Which 00:12:08.889 --> 00:12:12.070 resulted in Lanny getting his hair forcibly cut 00:12:12.070 --> 00:12:15.049 at WrestleMania VI. He actually had to wear amateur 00:12:15.049 --> 00:12:17.590 wrestling headgear to hide his bald spots after 00:12:17.590 --> 00:12:19.610 that. He was always fully committed to the bit. 00:12:19.750 --> 00:12:23.070 But as the 1990s progressed, the wrestling business 00:12:23.070 --> 00:12:25.610 started to undergo a massive, chaotic shift. 00:12:25.889 --> 00:12:28.299 Here's where it gets really interesting. This 00:12:28.299 --> 00:12:30.320 brings us to the most unbelievable part of the 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:33.659 story, the Phantom WCW contract. The legendary 00:12:33.659 --> 00:12:37.559 ghosting. Yeah. By the end of 1992, Lanny is 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:40.539 released from the WWF. He takes a hiatus, does 00:12:40.539 --> 00:12:43.419 some independent shows. Meanwhile, his brother 00:12:43.419 --> 00:12:45.940 Randy Savage jumps ship to the rival promotion, 00:12:46.299 --> 00:12:48.820 World Championship Wrestling, and becomes a focal 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:51.179 point of their massive financial boom. And Randy 00:12:51.179 --> 00:12:54.100 looks out for his brother. In 1995, he uses his 00:12:54.100 --> 00:12:56.379 immense leverage to purchase the trademark rights 00:12:56.379 --> 00:12:58.980 to the Gorgeous George character. He guarantees 00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:01.399 his brother a spot, and Lanny officially signs 00:13:01.399 --> 00:13:04.379 a contract with WCW. So Lanny doesn't just sign 00:13:04.379 --> 00:13:06.679 the paperwork and coast. He commits entirely. 00:13:07.289 --> 00:13:10.090 He begins an intense physical training regimen, 00:13:10.090 --> 00:13:12.789 getting into the absolute best shape of his life. 00:13:12.929 --> 00:13:15.750 He bleaches his hair bright blonde to fit the 00:13:15.750 --> 00:13:18.750 gorgeous George aesthetic. He is completely primed 00:13:18.750 --> 00:13:20.750 for a massive return to national television. 00:13:21.070 --> 00:13:22.850 And then he waits for the booking office to call 00:13:22.850 --> 00:13:26.269 him. He waits for five years. Five years. But 00:13:26.269 --> 00:13:29.710 didn't that completely ruin his legacy? I mean, 00:13:29.730 --> 00:13:34.090 he sat on the sidelines from 1995 to 1999. That 00:13:34.090 --> 00:13:36.960 was arguably the biggest most culturally relevant 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:39.820 boom period in the history of professional wrestling. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.820 He missed the entire Monday Night Wars. Creatively, 00:13:42.820 --> 00:13:44.980 sure, it was absolute starvation. But financially, 00:13:45.299 --> 00:13:47.620 it was the most lucrative ghosting in corporate 00:13:47.620 --> 00:13:50.559 history. Because WCW's management structure was 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:53.580 notoriously chaotic. Exactly. And their roster 00:13:53.580 --> 00:13:56.639 was incredibly bloated. According to Lanny, aside 00:13:56.639 --> 00:13:59.620 from maybe one un -televised dark match in 1997, 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:02.779 he never wrestled a single televised match for 00:14:02.779 --> 00:14:04.519 the company. They completely ignored his phone 00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:07.080 calls. Never bothered to write him into a storyline. 00:14:07.379 --> 00:14:10.820 But every single week, for five solid years, 00:14:11.100 --> 00:14:14.399 they mailed him a paycheck. He was a highly trained, 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:17.820 fully salaried ghost. Eventually, Randy Savage 00:14:17.820 --> 00:14:20.259 just gave the gorgeous George moniker to his 00:14:20.259 --> 00:14:22.659 girlfriend at the time, Stephanie Bellers, and 00:14:22.659 --> 00:14:25.480 Lainey's contract quietly expired. Imagine bleaching 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:28.080 your hair, getting into phenomenal shape, staring 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:30.779 at your phone for half a decade, and the only 00:14:30.779 --> 00:14:33.279 thing that ever arrives is a direct deposit. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:36.080 It is a staggering reflection of the corporate 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:39.360 dysfunction of late 90s WCW. But what is truly 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:41.740 remarkable about Lanny Poffo is that when the 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:44.399 television cameras were definitively gone, he 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:47.330 didn't just fade into obscurity. He proved to 00:14:47.330 --> 00:14:50.129 be an incredibly eclectic Renaissance man. He 00:14:50.129 --> 00:14:52.370 really built a life that was just as unpredictable 00:14:52.370 --> 00:14:54.669 as his wrestling personas. I mean, he even spent 00:14:54.669 --> 00:14:57.110 time living in Ecuador starting in 2020. And 00:14:57.110 --> 00:14:59.389 over the decades, he worked as a certified credit 00:14:59.389 --> 00:15:01.730 counselor, helping people manage their debts. 00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:04.570 He became a motivational speaker. He even pivoted 00:15:04.570 --> 00:15:07.230 into television advertising. He worked as an 00:15:07.230 --> 00:15:09.950 infomercial pitch man for Tony Little's Gazelle 00:15:09.950 --> 00:15:12.970 exercise machines. Yes, if you were watching 00:15:12.970 --> 00:15:15.509 late night television in the early 2000s, there 00:15:15.509 --> 00:15:19.019 is a very high probability you saw the genius 00:15:19.019 --> 00:15:22.840 demonstrating a cardio glider. He even popped 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:25.139 up playing a canine police officer in a true 00:15:25.139 --> 00:15:27.639 crime documentary series called I Almost Got 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:30.080 Away With It. But through all of that, the poetry 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:32.649 remained. It was never just a prop for the wrestling 00:15:32.649 --> 00:15:36.250 ring. It was a genuine lifelong passion. He published 00:15:36.250 --> 00:15:39.250 two distinct books. One of those was a collection 00:15:39.250 --> 00:15:42.110 of poems and limericks specifically focused on 00:15:42.110 --> 00:15:44.629 drug and alcohol awareness. He was also a fiercely 00:15:44.629 --> 00:15:47.269 vocal opponent of tobacco smoking, utilizing 00:15:47.269 --> 00:15:49.889 his platform to try and steer younger generations 00:15:49.889 --> 00:15:52.610 away from the habit. He published an anti -smoking 00:15:52.610 --> 00:15:55.309 book targeted at young children armed with the 00:15:55.309 --> 00:15:57.690 absolute best title possible, Limericks from 00:15:57.690 --> 00:15:59.710 the Heart and Lungs. That's classic Lanny right 00:15:59.710 --> 00:16:01.860 there. He also released a biographical comic 00:16:01.860 --> 00:16:05.059 book in 2018, hosted a podcast called The Genius 00:16:05.059 --> 00:16:08.360 Cast for 20 episodes. He kept touring the independent 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:11.419 circuits in Canada, Poland, and England. He even 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:13.899 appeared at the massive All In independent wrestling 00:16:13.899 --> 00:16:17.000 event in 2018, accompanying Jay Lethal to the 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.860 ring. But the most profound public moment of 00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:22.100 his later life happened a bit before that, in 00:16:22.100 --> 00:16:25.639 March 2015. The WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony. 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:28.730 Yeah. Lanny finally returned to the company, 00:16:28.870 --> 00:16:32.330 but not as a competitor. He returned to posthumously 00:16:32.330 --> 00:16:34.850 induct his older brother, Randy Savage, who had 00:16:34.850 --> 00:16:37.289 passed away. Lanny stood on that stage representing 00:16:37.289 --> 00:16:41.009 his family's complex, incredible legacy. He read 00:16:41.009 --> 00:16:43.769 poems honoring his brother and shared these really 00:16:43.769 --> 00:16:46.350 intimate memories. Which is poetic in itself, 00:16:46.570 --> 00:16:48.830 because for their entire mainstream careers, 00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:51.149 the company had strictly maintained the illusion 00:16:51.149 --> 00:16:53.690 that they were not related. Yet when it came 00:16:53.690 --> 00:16:57.009 time to enshrine Randy Savage into history, Lanny 00:16:57.009 --> 00:17:00.409 was the one standing at the podium. Sadly, Lanny's 00:17:00.409 --> 00:17:03.210 own journey came to an end on February 2nd, 2023. 00:17:03.870 --> 00:17:06.589 Longtime wrestling veteran Hacksaw Jim Duggan 00:17:06.589 --> 00:17:08.829 broke the news to the public, and it was later 00:17:08.829 --> 00:17:10.730 confirmed that Lanny passed away in New York 00:17:10.730 --> 00:17:13.410 City from congestive heart failure at the age 00:17:13.410 --> 00:17:16.589 of 68. Synthesizing Lanny Poffo's life requires 00:17:16.589 --> 00:17:19.029 acknowledging his absolute mastery of contradiction. 00:17:19.579 --> 00:17:22.579 He was a remarkably agile high -flyer, surviving 00:17:22.579 --> 00:17:25.339 in a brutal landscape of slow -moving giants. 00:17:25.700 --> 00:17:28.680 He was a literate, effeminate poet, thriving 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:31.839 in an industry built entirely on rugged, unapologetic 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:35.000 brawlers. As a performer, he figured out exactly 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.759 what his hyper -macho, globally famous brother 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:40.859 was doing. And he managed to become wildly successful 00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:44.319 by executing the exact opposite. In an industry 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:47.180 built entirely on brute strength and macho bravado, 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:50.460 Lanny Pappo left a lasting, immortal mark using 00:17:50.460 --> 00:17:53.920 frisbees, limericks and a graduation cap. It 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:56.220 leaves you with a really profound question about 00:17:56.220 --> 00:17:59.240 the nature of legacy. For decades, the narrative 00:17:59.240 --> 00:18:01.160 surrounding Lanny was that he was merely Randy 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:03.839 Savage's lesser -known younger brother. But because 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:06.460 he outlived Randy, Lanny ultimately became the 00:18:06.460 --> 00:18:09.160 sole architect, the primary protector, and the 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:11.119 ultimate storyteller of his brother's immortal 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:13.259 legacy. It makes you wonder. It really does. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:15.480 As you look at your own life and the people you 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:17.859 work alongside, does history ultimately remember 00:18:17.859 --> 00:18:20.279 us for the characters we managed to play? Or 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:22.339 for how fiercely we choose to honor the people 00:18:22.339 --> 00:18:24.519 who stood in the spotlight beside us? In your 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:27.019 own career... where everyone is trying to be 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:30.059 the loudest or the strongest. What is your equivalent 00:18:30.059 --> 00:18:33.460 of bringing a poem to a fistfight? Something 00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:35.740 to think about. Thanks for taking this deep dive 00:18:35.740 --> 00:18:36.180 with us.