Poffo made his debut in 1974, losing to Wayne Cowan in the opening match of an All-South Wrestling Alliance card held in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 16.

In their initial match with BTW, Lanny and Angelo lost by disqualification to Lou Thesz and Mighty Igor on November 30, 1974, at a house show in Detroit, Michigan.

The two wrestled as heels, with Angelo Poffo wearing a graduation gown and cap similar to the attire Lanny later adopted in the WWF.

[9] That year they won the NWA World Tag Team Championship,[10] and the father/son duo held it until 1975 with successful defenses over The Mongols and Brazil and Curry.

On May 29, 1976, Lanny received his first shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, losing a televised match to Terry Funk on Wrestling at the Chase.

[20] On June 18, 1984, Lanny joined his brother Randy Savage who had jumped to the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), defeating Bart Batten and Johnny Wilhoit at an event in Memphis.

Poffo debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on June 21, 1985 at Madison Square Garden defeating Terry Gibbs.

[3] Lanny was initially undefeated in the WWF, defeating opponents such as Mr. X, Rene Goulet, Terry Gibbs, Barry O, and Moondog Spot.

He suffered his first defeat on July 27 edition of Championship Wrestling, teaming with Keith Diamond in a loss to The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff.

Poffo performed an agile, athletic, high-flying style at a time when big, heavy power wrestlers still dominated the promotion.

Entering 1986, he continued to be highly competitive against lower-level opposition, reeling off house show or televised victories over Terry Gibbs, Barry O, Rene Goulet, Tiger Chung Lee and S. D. Jones, between losses to Hercules, and Jim Neidhart.

[19] He also is noted for competing in a Battle Royal on Saturday Night's Main Event X at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit in 1987, where he was headbutted and eliminated by André the Giant, causing him to bleed heavily all over the floor and have to be carried out on a stretcher.

André, in his first televised match as a heel, had accidentally caught Poffo on the bridge of the nose with his headbutt and stitches were required to close the resulting wound.

During the match, Adonis accidentally cut the hair of Brutus Beefcake, leading to the latter's face turn and assumption of "The Barber" gimmick.

Poffo continued to receive a strong push against lower-level competition like Barry Horowitz, but was unable to break through as a top tier member of the roster.

Entering the fall of 1988 he faced numerous preliminary opponents and embarked on a lengthy winning streak, defeating Barry Horowitz, Sandy Beach, and George Skaaland.

His poems now ridiculed the face wrestlers, and he adopted an exaggerated effeminate, showboating manner, similar to that employed by Gorgeous George, to draw heat from the crowd.

He continued to win in his house show series with Koko B Ware and at the same time began to serve as "executive consultant" (and occasional tag team partner) for Mr.

He made his first PPV appearance at the 1990 Royal Rumble and wrestled Brutus Beefcake to a double disqualification after "The Barber" began cutting his hair and Hennig interfered.

The feud continued through the summer and achieved national visibility on the August 27, 1990, edition of Prime Time, where Ware defeated The Genius on television.

Poffo made a guest appearance on the October 13, 1990, episode of Saturday Night's Main Event XXVIII, participating in Oktoberfest activities along with The Hart Foundation, Jim Duggan, Mr. Fuji, and The Orient Express.

On June 26, 1991, he scored a major upset victory in his comeback when he defeated Jim Duggan at a house show in Lansing, MI.

After a six-month break, Poffo returned to action in June 1993 and joined World Wrestling Superstars on a tour of Germany where he was matched against Demolition Ax.

[33][34] In a later shoot interview, Poffo explained that he was contacted by his brother (Randy Savage), who was wrestling in WCW at the time, with the guarantee of a contract.

Savage, who had purchased the Gorgeous George gimmick, offered the character to Poffo, feeling that his brother would generate heat as a heel.

Poffo signed the contract with WCW, began an intense training regimen, and bleached his hair blonde in preparation for his return to the ring.

On September 3, 2011, Poffo won a 25-man battle royal for the vacated Great North Wrestling Canadian Championship in Hawkesbury, Ontario.

On May 6, 2012, in Reading, Pennsylvania, Poffo teamed with JD Smooth for a disqualification loss to "Pretty Ugly" in Regional Championship Wrestling's Rumblemania 8.

Poffo wrestled his last match on March 5, 2020, at The Reena Rumble in Toronto, alongside wrestlers Papa Shango, Virgil, Brooklyn Brawler and local stars The Megan Boys Buck Gunderson and Mysterion the mind reader.

[42] He appeared in infomercials as an endorser of Tony Little's Gazelle Freestyle exercise machine, and was a certified credit counselor and motivational speaker.