Earlier today, those of you who have an account on Twitter may have noticed rumors of the death of professional wrestling great “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Unfortunately, TMZ.com has since confirmed those rumors. His brother, Lanny “The Genius” Poffo stated in an article published this morning, “…the wrestling legend suffered a heart attack while he was behind the wheel around 9:25 AM … and lost control of his vehicle.” The vehicle drove across a concrete median into oncoming traffic before crashing into a tree. Savage, who was 58 years old, is survived by his wife Lynn. Lynn was also in the car but suffered only minor injuries. According to the police, both passengers were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the accident and alcohol was not a factor.
For those of you who don’t know (or are too cool to admit to knowing) who Randy Savage is, his bio on WWE.com sums it up pretty well: Few superstars were as dynamic as “Macho Man” Randy Savage. His style – perfectly punctuated by his entrance music, “Pomp and Circumstance” – was only outshined by his performances in the ring, which led him to two WWE Championships, two World Heavyweight Championships and a 14-month reign as Intercontinental Champion. Other in-ring accomplishments of Randy Savage include being the 1987 King of the Ring, as well as 4x WCW World Heavyweight champion.
Outside of wrestling, Randy Savage was the spokesperson for Slim Jim throughout the 90s. Admit it: if you were still in grade school at this time, you bought a Slim Jim because of this man. And if you had taste buds, you never did so again. He has also had appearances in numerous television shows and movies, including an appearance in Spider-Man as Bonesaw McGraw. For what it’s worth, Macho Man also dropped a rap album in 2003 that will always hold a special place in hip-hop history.
After the jump: Shane Carwin and BJ Penn react to the news via Twitter (click images for full size).
