Lanny Poffo on Hall of Fame Speech + Macho Man’s Early Fear of Speaking

Website WrestlingInc held a recent interview with Lanny Poffo discussing the speech he gave for “Macho Man” Randy Savage’s WWE Hall of Fame induction, Savage’s fears of public speaking, and the advice he gave to Savage to overcome those fears.

On the topic of his WWE Hall of Fame speech for Macho Mano, Poffo felt honored to induct his late brother and got a lot of praise for his speech. He stated the entire experience taught him a very valuable life lesson to not take anything in life for granted since this event was the last time he got to see both Dusty Rhodes and Roddy Piper alive.

“Not only was it a great honor, what really touched me, was right in sequence after the speech, after all the lights had been gone and everybody had left the building, one after the other, Roddy Piper and Dusty Rhodes gave me a hug and said what a great speech it was. And I said, ‘The two greatest interviews that ever lived have just given me the greatest praise I’ve ever had, thank you.’ It meant a lot coming from those two. And then the very next year, neither one of them was alive. So the lesson is, if you have something nice to say, say it now… Life is fragile, so if you can spread a little joy or a little love, go ahead.”

On the topic of Macho Man’s early career in wrestling, Poffo revealed his brother actually had a fear of public speaking to the point he would suffer anxiety attacks during interviews. Poffo realized this was something needing to be fixed quickly if his brother was to ever have a chance to succeed as a wrestler. He also revealed this was the first time in Macho Man’s life he asked for major advice instead of it being the other way around.

“The first time that Randy wrestled, you could tell he was gonna be the greatest in-ring performer you ever saw. But he only had one problem, he was too skinny… So he decided to work hard on his physique. Finally he’s got his physique up to par, now he looks like a main-eventer. One trouble, the missing piece in the puzzle: no confidence with his interviews. He even had anxiety attacks and panic attacks where your heart races and you can’t catch your breath, so he says, ‘Lanny, can you help me with my interviews?’ He had never asked me for help about anything, he always gave help. So I said, ‘First of all, you’re doing great,’ and he said, ‘No I’m not doing great, I gotta do better.’ I said, ‘Well if your name is Savage and you wrestle like a savage and your hair is like a savage and your beard is like a savage, who’s your favorite savage interview? Let’s copy him.”

While discussing more about his brother’s fear of public speaking, Poffo revealed Macho Man’s signature “Oh Yeah” phrase was developed during this time. He also revealed his brother managed to overcome his fear by practicing for three months in front of a mirror till he grew comfortable enough with his speech skills.

“I said, ‘He’s got it!’ And then he spent the next three months in the bathroom mirror, and I promise you, when he came out of that bathroom mirror he was the best interview you had ever heard in your life. That was his breakthrough, and I feel good about it, but then he took it and ran with it and developed a personality that nobody’s going to ever forget.”