Angelo John Poffo (April 10, 1925 – March 4, 2010) was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

and wrestling promoter. He ran International Championship Wrestling for a number of years, holding cards in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas. He is the father of "Macho Man" Randy Savage and "The Genius" Lanny Poffo and the father-in-law of

Miss Elizabeth Elizabeth Ann Hulette (November 19, 1960 – May 1, 2003), best known in professional wrestling circles as Miss Elizabeth, was an American professional wrestling Manager (professional wrestling), manager, occasional professional wrestler and prof ...

Early life, family and education

Poffo was born in

Downers Grove, Illinois Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the village was ...

(a suburb of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

), to Italian immigrants. At the time of beginning

first grade First grade (also 1st Grade or Grade 1) is the first year of formal or compulsory education. It is the first year of elementary school, and the first school year after kindergarten. Children in first grade are usually 6–7 years old. Examples ...

, he spoke no English. Poffo enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He served as a pharmacist's mate at

Naval Base San Diego Naval Base San Diego is a United States Navy base in San Diego, California. It is the world's second largest surface ship naval base. Naval Base San Diego is the principal homeport of the United States Pacific Fleet, consisting of over 50 ships ...

. While in the Navy, Poffo began

weight training Strength training, also known as weight training or resistance training, is exercise designed to improve physical strength. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate techniques such as bodyweight exercises ( ...

. On July 4, 1945, he set a world record for

sit-up The sit-up is an abdominal endurance training exercise to strengthen, tighten and tone the abdominal muscles. It is similar to a curl-up (that targets the rectus abdominis and also works the external and internal obliques), but sit-ups have a ...

s. He completed 6,033 sit-ups in four hours and ten minutes. According to his son Lanny, after 6,000 sit-ups he did 33 more, one for each year of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

's life. After leaving the Navy, Poffo attended

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

and was a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

for the

DePaul Blue Demons The DePaul Blue Demons are the athletic teams that represent DePaul University, located in Chicago, Illinois. The Blue Demons participate in NCAA Division I and are a member of the Big East Conference. DePaul's Athletic Director is DeWayne Pe ...

baseball team. He studied

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

and was a competitive

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player.

Professional wrestling career

Poffo started wrestling in 1948 at Karl Pojello's gym in Illinois. His first match was in 1949 against Ruffy Silverstein. He sometimes wrestled as "the Masked Miser" (an in-joke about Poffo's real life extreme frugality with money) and managed other wrestlers as "the Miser". He became a villainous character for the first time in 1950. In the mid-1950s, Bronco Lubich acted as his manager. He won the

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Chicago version) The NWA United States Heavyweight Championship is a name used for several secondary championships used by various National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) members since 1953. At least twelve different versions of the NWA United States Heavyweight Champion ...

in 1958. He formed a villainous tag team with Chris Markoff called "The Devil's Duo" in 1966, and they were managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Prior to that, in 1964 he briefly teamed with Nicoli Volkoff (often confused with

Nikolai Volkoff Josip Hrvoje Peruzović (October 14, 1947 – July 29, 2018), better known by his ring name Nikolai Volkoff, was a Croatian-Americans, Croatian-American professional wrestling, professional wrestler from Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, ...

, who did not begin wrestling in the US until 1970) and held the WWA tag team championship. In 1973, he formed the team "The Graduates" with Ken Dillinger. Poffo wrestled in the 1970s and 1980s under a mask as the "Carpet Bagger" for Emile Dupree's

Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling Grand Prix Wrestling (GPW) was a professional wrestling Promotion (marketing), promotion run and owned by Emile Duprée. It toured parts of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. It has no connection with Paul Vachon's Grand Prix Wr ...

in the

Maritime Provinces The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...

of Canada. He also bought into the promotion, when his sons were old enough to join. He wrestled wearing 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. From 1983 to 1985 he worked for

Continental Wrestling Association Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually ...

. According to Poffo's son Lanny,

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...

declined to include Poffo in a 1987

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

event featuring legends. Lanny Poffo claims that this decision caused an early rift in the relationship between McMahon and Poffo's other son, Randy Savage. His last match was in 1991 against Luis Martinez. He made a few appearances in

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

(WCW) in 1995 managing his son, Randy Savage. At

Slamboree 1995 The 1995 Slamboree was the third Slamboree professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on May 21, 1995 from the Bayfront Arena in St. Petersburg, Florida. Eric Bischoff filled i ...

, Poffo became involved in his son's feud with

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

, who put him in a figure four leglock. At the event, he was inducted into the

WCW Hall of Fame The World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Hall of Fame was an American professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It was established in 1993 to honor wrestlers who began their careers long before the 199 ...

as a member of the class of 1995.

Personal life

During Poffo's time in college, he met another student at DePaul, Judith (Judy) nee Sverdlin from Naperville, Illinois; they wed on June 6, 1949. They were married for more than 60 years, and together they had two sons,

Randy Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolph, and Miranda, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of them. '' Randi'' is approximat ...

(1952–2011) and Lanny (1954–2023), both professional wrestlers. After retiring from professional wrestling, Poffo taught physical education in Illinois. His son Randy would support his parents, sending them on trips abroad until they were too old to travel. On Angelo's 70th birthday in 1995, Randy paid $50,000 () to buy his father a yellow Cadillac automobile, the same car Poffo had purchased in 1959 and drove around the wrestling circuit for 200,000 miles. When Poffo was sick, Randy installed an invalid toilet and walk-in bathtub in his parents' home. He was also known for saving money to help provide his family. On March 4, 2010, Poffo died in his sleep at age 84. His son Randy told the ''

Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute ...

'', “I have always been proud to call Angelo Poffo my father, he is a great example of a self-sacrificing, hard-working man who always put his family first. He has always been my hero and my mentor, and the priceless gifts he gave I will have and cherish forever.” Poffo is buried at Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in

Hillside, Illinois Hillside is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 8,320. It is a suburb of Chicago. Geography Hillside is located at (41.874797, −87.900372). According to the 2021 census gazetteer fi ...

, near his hometown of Downers Grove.

Championships and accomplishments

**AGPW North American Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Cuban Assassin *

Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Ab ...

**Other honoree (

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

) *

Fred Kohler Enterprises Fred Kohler Enterprises, Inc. was a company established by businessman Fred Kohler (1903–1969) to promote professional wrestling in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Kohler began promoting in 1925, and by 1942 he dominated professiona ...

**NWA Midwest Heavyweight Championship (7 times) ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Chicago version)'' ( 1 time) **NWA Midwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bronco Lubich * International Championship Wrestling ** ICW Television Championship ( 1 time) * NWA Detroit ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Detroit version)'' ( 1 time) – with

Lanny Poffo 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 pr ...

* Southwest Sports, Inc. **

NWA Texas Tag Team Championship The WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area-based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally known as the NWA ...

( 1 time) – with Bronco Lubich *

( Class of 1995) *

World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ...

WWA World Tag Team Championship The WWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title in the Indianapolis-based World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre ...

( 3 times) – with Chris Markoff (2), Nicoli Volkoff (1)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poffo, Angelo 1925 births 2010 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers American expatriate sportspeople in Canada American male professional wrestlers American professional wrestlers of Italian descent DePaul Blue Demons baseball players Heenan Family members NWA United States Heavyweight Champions (Detroit version) NWA World Tag Team Champions (Detroit version) People from Downers Grove, Illinois American professional wrestling trainers Professional wrestling promoters United States Navy personnel of World War II