It’s certainly been a long time coming, but one of the most glaring omissions from the WWE Hall of Fame is finally set to be corrected when “Macho Man” Randy Savage is inducted this March. If you’re like a lot of fans, your obvious question is probably “What took so long?” There’s a bit of backstory to it all, and the keeper of the story has always been Savage’s brother – fellow WWE alumni Lanny “The Genius” Poffo. Over at Sporting News, Lanny put out a statement detailing why this was the right time for the Macho Man to finally be enshrined.
“Randy had said before he died that he didn’t want to go into the Hall of Fame unless it was [with] the Poffo family. And he got the idea from the Von Erich family,” explained Poffo…
“But I had an epiphany when I was 59 years old in that I’m the older brother now. Now, I get to make unpopular decisions. I’m not a Star Trek fanatic but the needs of the many far outweigh the needs of the few or the one. Randy loved the fans and so do I. And Randy not being in the Hall of Fame was a horrible thing to do to his fans.”
The wisdom of Spock endures.
Seriously, nothing but respect for Lanny here. Every athlete wants to be remembered and/or immortalized, be it in a hall of fame or some equivalent, but putting your own ambitions aside to ensure the legacy of your late brother is about as unselfish as it gets. I think it’d be only right for him to speak at the induction ceremony. Hulk Hogan is planned as the main induction speaker, but I don’t see why The Genius shouldn’t get a little time, too. Here’s one more quote from his statement that really sums up why Savage deserves his spot among the greats.
“It didn’t matter if it was Paducah, Kentucky or Scranton, Pennsylvania — he treated everything like Madison Square Garden or WrestleMania. He didn’t give out a half-performance — ever. Randy won’t be able to give his own speech and I feel sorry for the fans. One more ‘ooh yeah’ would have been nice.”
Macho Madness forever.
