WWE: The Story Behind ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage Being Inducted Into The WWE Hall Of Fame

On November 7, 1994, a very disappointed Vince McMahon announced “Macho Man” Randy Savage had decided to part ways with the company. At the time of Savage’s departure, McMahon was going head-to-head with the federal government over the accusations that he was distributing steroids to his wrestlers throughout the 1980s. McMahon, of course, was acquitted of all charges. However, at that time — there was a good deal of speculation that the reason Savage was leaving was due to the fact that the federal government was coming after what was then called the WWF. Savage ended up in WCW the following month.

Throughout the years, there’s been a good deal of speculation as to why the “Macho Man” had never returned to WWE, and why he wasn’t in the WWE Hall of Fame. There were rumors that centered around Savage and an underage Stephanie McMahon, there were rumors that Vince McMahon was angry about Savage taking his very lucrative Slim Jim deal with him to WCW. While both of those rumors haven’t been officially acknowledged by WWE, or put to bed, the real reason why Savage hadn’t been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame until this year has nothing to do with either of them.

In many fans’ minds, the “Macho Man” is one of the top ten greatest wrestlers in the history of WWE. Furthermore, Savage was and is one of the most recognizable characters in the history of pro wrestling. So it never made any sense that so many years had gone by without WWE putting him into the Hall of Fame.

Lanny Poffo — who is the younger brother of the “Macho Man” — appeared on Chris Jericho’s podcast on Friday and discussed the process of getting the “Macho Man” into the WWE Hall of Fame, and revealed why it took so long.

Most WWE fans know that Lanny Poffo wouldn’t allow WWE to induct the “Macho Man” due to him not wanting to be inducted unless WWE was willing to induct the entire Poffo family. According to Lanny, this was something that Savage was adamant about. When Lanny originally went public with that story following Savage’s death, there were a lot of fans who believed that he was lying, and was just trying to get himself into the WWE Hall of Fame. However, if you listen to Lanny’s story on Jericho’s podcast, you’ll hear that that is not the case at all, and that Lanny believed that his brothers’ wishes were wrong.

“It hit me, I’m 59. I’m the oldest. I can veto Randy’s wishes, because these wishes are wrong. But I thought that the tough part would be talking my mom into it. It took me three days. I said ‘Mom, here’s the situation — I’m the oldest male [in the family], and the fans are suffering. And Vince McMahon defeated a federal grand jury, and billionaire Ted Turner. I don’t think he loses much sleep over Lanny Poffo.’ In other words, he’s willing to cut his nose off despite his face. And I could do that too, and be the world’s most stubborn, miserable guy.”

Lanny also revealed that WWE tried to induct the “Macho Man” into the Hall of Fame in 2012, when WrestleMania was being held in Miami, Florida. However, when the then executive vice president of talent relations John Laurinaitis called Lanny to talk about a possible Hall of Fame induction, Laurinaitis didn’t offer his condolences to the Poffo family, which rubbed Savage’s mother the wrong way.

When WWE reached out to the Poffo family about doing a DVD about the life and career of the “Macho Man,” Vince McMahon made sure the WWE offered its condolences, and sent a big bouquet of flowers to Savages mother, which helped convince the Poffo family to go against the “Macho Man’s” wishes and give the WWE fans what they’ve been calling for.

There’s also been some controversy around Hulk Hogan inducting the “Macho Man” due to the fact that Savage wasn’t very fond of Hulk Hogan towards the end of his life. Earlier this month, Hulk Hogan appeared on Chris Jericho’s podcast and said that he and the “Macho Man” had made up shortly before Savage passed away. Some people believe that Hogan is lying about himself and the “Macho Man” making amends, and Lanny neither confirmed or denied Hogan’s story, but said that Hogan is the perfect person to induct the “Macho Man” into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Lanny will be at the WWE Hall of Fame to accept the Hall of Fame induction on his brother’s behalf. He says that he’s preparing a speech that will be no more than five minutes long.

[Image via Ring Scoops]