Author: This world record wasn’t merely a number. It was a testament to the grit of Angelo Poffo, the father of Macho Man Randy Savage and “The Genius” Leaping Lanny Poffo.
Jon Finkel, the award-winning author of the April 2024 released book, Macho Man: The Untamed, Unbelievable Life of Randy Savage, passionately recounts the feat Angelo achieved on July 4th, 1945, amidst the backdrop of the U.S. Naval Repair Base Gym under the watchful eyes of witnesses, physicians, and even POWs. On this day, Poppa Poffo took a step toward immortality by breaking a world record that had previously claimed the life of a man who had attempted it!
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Get My Copy — $0.99Randy Savage: It All Started With His Father, Angelo Poffo
One of the most popular questions I’ve received about my Macho Man Randy Savage biography is, "Where did you start your research?"
"Did you start with Randy’s minor league baseball career?
“Did you start with his time in the International Championship Wrestling (ICW) territory in the late 1970s and early ’80s?
“Did you start when he got the call to go to New York for his WWF debut in 1985?"
There were so many stages to Randy’s life and career that I completely understand the question.
The evolution from Randy Poffo, the baseball player, to Randy Savage, the wrestler, to Macho Man, the icon, gives a writer a lot of places to begin.
But for me, there was only one person and one feat that felt right to start the book with.
That person is Angelo Poffo, Randy’s dad. And that feat was his world record attempt for consecutive sit-ups, which he shattered, pounding out 6,033 sit-ups in four hours and ten minutes.
The Feat That Defined Angelo Poffo
These sit-ups performed by Angelo Poffo weren’t the sit-ups you did in gym class. These were old-school, torque-and-twist core sit-ups, where at the top of the sit-up, your elbows had to twist and tap the opposite knee.
Painful!
Macho Man’s dad was all of twenty years old when he made his second attempt at the record (he was disqualified due to form violations on his first attempt).
He was a Pharmacist’s First Mate in the Navy and was looking for a way to make a name for himself and put his newly built, muscle-bound physique to good use.
That he decided to tackle a world record at twenty is one thing. That he went after one where the last man to try it died during the attempt of a ruptured aortic vessel is another. The kid had gumption and grit and, most importantly to our story, a nose for drama and glory.
Sound familiar?
The DNA That Ran Through The Veins of the Poffo Family
By opening the book with this scene… With Angelo’s body ramming up and down with blood seeping from his stomach, sweat waterfalling off his body, and a world record hanging in the balance, we get a glimpse into the future – into the hard drive of the Poffo DNA that would one day coarse through the veins of his son, the Macho Man Randy Savage.
Because before the Macho Man and before the commercials and the championship belts and WCW and WWE and ICW and minor league ball and even before Randy Savage, there was just a goofy, skinny, baseball-loving kid named Randy Poffo, son of Angelo Poffo and Judy Poffo and big brother to Lanny, who loved his family and worshiped his dad.
It was that worship, work ethic, and wild streak that helped him transform into one of the most magnetic performers we’ve ever seen in sports or entertainment.
Please enjoy this short excerpt from my upcoming Macho Man biography and then give it a buy!
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Add Us on GoogleSetting the Stage: The Road to Angelo Poffo’s World Record
The following excerpt, shared with permission, is from the book "Macho Man: The Untamed, Unbelievable Life of Randy Savage" by Jon Finkel and published by ECW Press:
…For his venue, he chose the U.S. Naval Repair Base Gym in San Diego, California. For the date, a holiday: July 4, 1945. For his goal, he aimed beyond the Navy record, this time to the world record of 5,900.
Angelo Poffo also enlisted a crew of support staff to monitor the attempt and his health. Along with a half-dozen witnesses were four German POWs assigned to hold down his legs, several timekeepers, a physician, and an official to ensure that every rep counted as a regulation sit-up.
According to the rules of the day, a regulation sit-up was legal only when "the legs were straight and flat on the ground, the hands were clasped in the back of the neck, then upon rising and bending forward, the right elbow must touch the left knee and vice versa."
Brutal.
If any of these points were not followed on any given rep, the timekeeper declared it a "fault," like in tennis. No exceptions.
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The Attempt Begins: Angelo Poffo’s Quest for the Record
On his way to 3,000 and beyond, Angelo Poffo performed a few dozen extra sit-ups that never made it into the record books—tiny setbacks on his way to greatness.
3,471 . . . 3,472 . . . 3,473 . . .
Poffo was a Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class. Used to be skinny. Scrawny, even. But all that changed once he discovered two things about life on a naval destroyer base:
One, he had a lot of time on his hands.
Two, he had open access to barbells and dumbbells.
"I thought I was in heaven," he once said.
Surpassing Limits: Angelo Poffo’s Journey Through Pain and Perseverance
In the gym, Angelo Poffo quickly discovered that his body responded well to whatever physical punishment he threw at it. While his shipmates took leave off the base, he often stayed for solo sessions in what became his personal iron paradise.
The more weight he lifted, the larger he became, transforming himself from a six-foot-tall kid who wore medium-sized t-shirts to a muscle-bound man with a thick chest, veiny arms, and a six-pack.
Soon he was over 200 pounds and in search of an outlet for all that brawn — a North Star, a goal to show off and show himself what his new physique was capable of.
He scoured the Navy’s logs for a record that piqued his interest, and he zeroed in on the mark for consecutive sit-ups in the fastest time.
4,885 . . . 4,886 . . . 4,887 . . .
A Grueling Challenge: Angelo Poffo’s Pursuit of Excellence
The room buzzed as Angelo Poffo passed 5,004 sit-ups, his unofficial personal best to that point.
His neck ached, and his hands cramped from being clasped behind his head for over two hundred minutes.
The German POWs were exhausted, rotating in and out to keep Angelo’s ankles pinned to the ground so his massive body could piston up and down.
The physician worried about dehydration, cramping, bleeding, strains, sprains, and a possible heart attack. He’d never witnessed physical exertion on this level. He kneeled next to Angelo, feeding him water and candy bars at various intervals for fuel.
5,897 . . . 5,898 . . . 5,899 . . .
The Climax: Breaking the World Record Inspired by Jesus
Just before the four-hour mark, Angelo captured the world record with 5,900 consecutive sit-ups. But he pressed on. He secretly had his sights set on 6,000.
With the crowd in awe, his midsection glistening with sweat and blood, he hit number 6,000 at four hours and eight minutes.
Then he gutted out 33 more (one for each year of Jesus Christ’s life, he’d later say) to land on 6,033 consecutive sit-ups in a total time of four hours and ten minutes.
The record was his. Finally.
The Aftermath: Triumph and Trials of Angelo Poffo’s World Record Attempt
As the crowd cheered, Angelo Poffo lay flat on the ground, watching his abdominal muscles vibrate, twitch, and contract involuntarily.
He tried to remove his arms from behind his head but they were frozen in place from the restricted blood flow.
Assistants had to help him slowly and painfully lower his limbs to his sides, and when he tried to stand, he couldn’t.
Not wanting the young man to die on his watch, the physician rushed Angelo to the hospital, where he received a full evaluation.
Other than wear and tear and fatigue, he was fine.
A few hours later he was released: a new local celebrity.
Recognition Among His Peers as a World Record Holder
Earl R. Gibson, a lieutenant on hand to witness the event and an athletic officer on base, dubbed Angelo "the Sit-up Champ," and officially put Angelo in the record books.
A short time later, Ripley’s Believe It or Not featured him in a newspaper column and sent him a sit-up champion belt to commemorate the feat.
The centerpiece of the gold plate on the belt was an image of Angelo doing a sit-up in his Speedo-like trunks. Underneath, it read:
ANGELO POFFO DID 6,033 CONSECUTIVE SIT-UPS
A NEW RECORD
DOWNERS GROVE, IL. — JULY 4, 1945
Within days he was the most popular man on base — a bona fide world record holder.
"I won’t try to break that record again, that’s for sure," he said in the aftermath. "I just want to get my BS in physical education and after that, well, I really don’t know."
Behind the Feat: Angelo Poffo’s Motivation and Legacy
But why did he do it in the first place?
"I did it for my own satisfaction," he said. "I felt good after getting the record and I could have done a lot more because I didn’t feel too tired."
The man’s hands were stuck behind his head.
He was bleeding from his stomach and back.
He couldn’t stand up.
Not too tired?
What a showman.
Angelo Poffo: The Bedrock of a Wrestling Dynasty and an Emblem of Perseverance
This, ladies and gentlemen, was the future father of the "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Leaping Lanny Poffo.
But more than that, Angelo Poffo was a man whose incredible feat of endurance and strength on July 4th, 1945, would ripple through the generations.
To read the full excerpt (believe me, you’ll want to) and the definitive biography of the one and only Randy Savage, you can purchase a copy of "Macho Man: The Untamed, Unbelievable Life of Randy Savage" today!
