Richard Corkery/News
Macho Man Randy Savage suffered a heart attack while behind the wheel in Tampa, Fl.High-flying pro wrestling legend Randy (Macho Man) Savage, once one of the world's most popular grapplers, died yesterday after his Jeep careened head-on into a tree.
Savage, 58, had suffered an apparent heart attack before his 2009 Jeep Wrangler jumped a concrete median, sped across oncoming traffic and smashed to a halt. He was pronounced dead at a hospital in Largo, Fla.
His wife, Lynn, a passenger in the car, suffered only minor injuries in the crash, which happened just weeks after their first anniversary.
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"He had so much life in his eyes & in his spirit, I just pray that he's happy and in a better place and we miss him," Hulk Hogan said on Twitter. "We miss him a lot... This was a tough one."
Savage, with his shades, bandana and sequined robes, was at the center of wrestling's mid-'80s explosion into the mainstream. His larger-than-life persona helped move the choreographed contests from smoke-filled gyms into America's living rooms.
The wrestler christened Randy Mario Poffo battled contemporaries like Hogan, Roddy Piper and Ric Flair, combining his rippling physique with a theatrical style.
He was equally at ease as both heel and babyface ? bad guy or good guy ? during his long ring career.
"One of the greatest superstars of his time," said a statement from former boss Vince McMahon's WWE. "Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends."
Savage was a former minor league baseball player, but he hailed from a wrestling clan. His brother "Leaping Lanny" was a pro wrestler, as was their father, Angelo Poffo.
It wasn't long before he swapped the baseball diamond for the wrestling ring.
Savage was known for two trademarks moves: A flying elbow off the top rope, and a bellowing "Oooooh yeaaaaah" during interviews.
He teamed with Hogan at one point before their "partnership" went south, and captured the world and intercontinental championships between 1985 and 1993 with the WWF ? known now as the WWE.
Savage also wrestled for Ted Turner's WCW before hanging up his tights in 1999.
He later made a cameo appearance in the box office hit "Spider-Man" as terrifying wrestler Bone Saw McGraw and became a pitchman for Slim Jims, but kept a relatively low retirement profile.
A previous Savage wife, wrestling manager Elizabeth Heulette ? known in the ring as Miss Elizabeth ? died in 2003 from a lethal combination of drugs and booze.
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