“Macho Man” Died From Heart Problem, Not Car Crash

It was a heart problem and not the car crash that followed that killed professional wrestling legend Randy “Macho Man” Savage.

Medical examiners say that Savage was likely already dead when his Jeep Wrangler hit a tree in Seminole, Florida, on May 20.  “The crash had nothing to do with his death,” William Pellan, the medical examiner's office director of investigations, told Tampa Bay Online. “He just happened to be driving when he had a cardiovascular event."

An autopsy report shows that Savage (whose real name was the much less stage-friendly Randy Poffo) suffered from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Pellan said that chances are that Savage did not have a heart attack, but instead had “some type of arrhythmia and his heart stopped beating, or his heart may have simply stopped beating,”

Savage’s coronary arteries were more than 90 percent blocked, according to the autopsy report.

As a ten-time world champion, Macho Man obtained near super-hero status while wrestling fellow legends such as Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan. He was famous for giving slightly mad interviews in outrageously colorful costumes.

And one thing is for certain: few will ever see a Slim Jim beef jerky without remembering Macho Man. Oh, yeah.

For your (extremely dated) viewing pleasure: Macho Man speaks with Arsenio Hall.