WWE News: Lanny Poffo On Why ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage Didn’t Close The 2015 Hall Of Fame Ceremony

If you’ve been a fan of professional wrestling for any length of time, you learn to never say never. If there’s been one constant in the wrestling business, it’s that time heals all wounds, with a few exceptions. With that in mind, the “Macho Man” was one of those exceptions, as he never returned to WWE after he left the company in 1994. At that time, the then WWF was beginning to feature the new next generation of talent, and they didn’t want Savage wrestling. Savage — who was 42 and a color commentator at the time — felt like he had more gas left in the tank and had a strong desire to leave the announce desk and get back into the squared-circle.

Lanny Poffo — Savage’s younger brother — said that the “Macho Man” pitched a two-year storyline to Vince McMahon that would have involved Savage coming out of retirement and having a feud with Shawn Michaels. At the time, Michaels was just coming into this own as a performer and would have the classic ladder match at WrestleMania 10 with Razor Ramon shortly thereafter. Savage’s proposed storyline was nixed, and McMahon told Savage that he didn’t want him back into the ring because the company was in the midst of a youth movement. So, with Savage wanting to get back into the ring and McMahon not allowing it, there was only one place to go — WCW.

When Savage left for WCW in late 1994, wrestling fans were certain that he would eventually return to WWE, because, well, that’s what everyone does, right? Long story short, Savage never returned, and passed away before he was welcomed back into McMahon’s good graces. There have been plenty of rumors over the years surrounding Savage and WWE not getting back together — one including Savage and Stephanie McMahon, another including Vince McMahon being furious with Savage because he took his Slim Jim deal to WCW with him. But, none of them have ever been confirmed.

Rumors aside, we do know that the “Macho Man” didn’t want to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame unless his entire family was inducted with him. His father Angelo, his brother Lanny, and himself. Lanny stayed true to the “Macho Man’s” wishes for a few years after he passed away, but ultimately — as you all know — he did what he felt was right and allowed Randy Savage to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

When WWE announced that the “Macho Man would be going into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame, all of the fans celebrated and expected Savage’s induction to close the show. Several weeks later, there were rumors that WWE was going to be inducting Kevin Nash and that he would be closing the show, and several fans became outraged at the possibility of Randy Savage not closing the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. As it turns out, the rumors were true, and Nash was the “main-event” of the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.

In a recent interview, Lanny Poffo discussed the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony and the fact that his brother’s induction wasn’t the headline act. Poffo agreed with WWE deciding to have Nash be the closing speech and said that if Randy was there, he should have closed the show, but he understands that WWE didn’t want to close the show with a deceased wrestler being inducted, even if he was the biggest star of that year’s Hall of Fame class.

“I was told on the night before [the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony] that I was on seventh. Now, there’s been a little backlash because people felt that I should have gone on last, but I disagree. If Randy were alive, then yes, he should have been last. But, because Randy wasn’t there, I think it was wise that he did not go on last, because I think that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kevin Nash were the proper people round out the show. That’s just the way I feel about it. I have gotten backlash that I should have gone on last, I completely disagree, and I’m very glad that I did not.”

WWE fans had been calling for a Randy Savage Hall of Fame induction for well over a decade before WWE and Savage’s family finally both agreed to it. It’s sad that the wrestling fans didn’t get to see the “Macho Man” under the WWE banner one last time, but at least WWE and the Poffo family finally agreed to do the right thing, and the “Macho Man” is finally in the Hall of Fame!

[Images via WWE]