To say Lanny Poffo had an interesting career arc would be an understatment.
The brother of Randy Savage, and the son of Angelo Poffo, Lanny had a successful run in WWF as 'The Genius,' before being paid to sit at home for years in WCW. After the passing of both his brother and his father, Lanny told CIYInterview that he opted to move in with his mother and take care of her.
“You know, after my father died and my brother died right after, she hit the skids pretty badly. So I sold my house. I moved in with her and she’s gonna be 90 years old January 28th. She’s doing much better. I told her, ‘Do you want to live? Or do you want to die?’ She says, ‘I want to live.’ I said, ‘Then you have to notify your face.’ And I haven’t seen her smile in years. ‘You know, you’re gonna have to smile and laugh.’ And she says, ‘But what after I lost?’ I said, ‘Fake it till you make it," said Poffo.
It was widely reported that Poffo said Randy Savage spurned many WWE offers to join their Hall of Fame, as he wanted the Poffo Family inducted collectively. After Savage's passing, several offers were rejected before he was eventually inducted in 2015.
“Now my mother was very upset because she knew that Randy’s wishes, she says ‘You can’t do that. This is Randy’s wishes.’ And I said, ‘I am the older brother now. I get to make unpopular decisions. It’s my wishes that are gonna happen. And Macho Man is going in the Hall of Fame because the fans have been suffering enough," said the former Genius. "On one hand you’ve got one Macho Man, on the other hand you’ve got millions and millions of Macho fans. And if it wasn’t for the Macho fan, the Macho man would not exist. So in a way, I am doing Randy’s bidding.’”
