Lanny Poffo On Randy Savage Wrestling George Steele – “He Just Put Up With It”

Lanny Poffo has explained why his brother “Macho Man” Randy Savage was a bit hesitant about having to wrestle George “The Animal” Steele. Savage and Steele both went on to have Hall of Fame careers in WWE.

Savage faced off with Steele at WrestleMania 2 in 1986 with Savage putting his Intercontinental Title on the line. Savage got the win after he tripped up Steele and Savage put his feet on the ropes for the cheap heel win.

Poffo took part in an exclusive interview by Keith Elliot Greenberg of Inside The Ropes that’s available in issue 8 of Inside The Ropes Magazine. Poffo explained how his brother Randy Savage was a bit frustrated working with Steele.

“I remember he told me, ‘I wasted all my time learning how to wrestle, so I could wrestle George Steele and not be able to. George wanted to have a good match, and Randy wanted to have a great match. You know, George was great at what he did. The guy had a hell of a gimmick. He was hairy with a green tongue, and it got over. But Randy’s idea of wrestling was to prove athleticism to the fans, not only the entertainment, but the athleticism. George Steele was a great athlete, but he was past his peak.”

The story going into the WrestleMania 2 match was that Steele was infatuated with Randy’s manager Miss Elizabeth. Even though Randy was known for being very over-protective of Elizabeth, he was willing to take part in this storyline.

“He just put up with it. You know, it certainly wasn’t his idea. But he was going to need to have a little flexibility if he was going to make it in the WWF. George was respectful behind the scenes and in the ring. He was just doing business with Randy and doing his best.”

George Steele retired from wrestling in 1988 and took on a backstage role in WWE for several years. He went on to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1995. Steele passed away in 2017.

Randy Savage is considered one of the greatest superstars in WWE history. Savage went on to be a six-time WWE/WCW World Champion in his career. Savage tragically passed away in 2011 and then he was inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame in 2015.