Answer the 10 Count: The Ex Girlfriend of Macho Man Randy Savage…Charlene Marie

Brian Damage

Charlene Marie was the ex girlfriend of Randy Savage and they were together for nearly 5 years. In that time, Charlene saw Randy begin to climb the ladder of success in professional wrestling. With that success, came both the good and the bad. Charlene took some time to chat with us about her life living with Randy, her relationship with the entire Poffo family and what led to their eventual split.

Ring the Damn Bell: Did you grow up a wrestling fan?

Charlene Marie: Ok… Well a wrestling fan would be my father & sister, they were really into it. I, the older sister, went along for the fun & first wrestling match I had ever been to was with my Father & younger sister Cindy, her friend Sandra & her mother that was at The Atlanta City Auditorium in Atlanta, Ga. Our home town where we were born & grew up.
My Grandfather was a Captain of the fire department E.H Freeman & Derrell Cochran who wrestled was on that department part time. He came to our house and talked ALOT with the men we were young but Promoter Paul Jones knew my grandfather too… So I believe Ray Gunkel took over @ some point & I think his wife too. I met them with daddy at the auditorium. We always sat by the bell table & I remember seeing Abdullah The Butcher bleed a lot! Yikes!!!! After the matches daddy would take us across the street to see the big beautiful Waterfall that changed colors & go to Krispy Kreme Donuts! Yayyyy! My Father was a truck driver & wasn’t home during the week days so we were happy to always spend time with him. So the wrestling was always on TV.  I never watched it.

They were glued to the TV.  My sister still lives to watch I haven’t watched it & only know who Charlotte Flair is. It just isn’t the same & the $$$ is insane. My friend Vickie Goddard…her brother was a photographer & took those photos for the programs. He had a dark room in his basement so that was interesting. He sold pics at the matches. And another friend was a referee Bobby Simmons & Scrappy McGowan was the other guy a referee.

RTDB: Wow so you it sounds like despite you not being a fan of pro wrestling, you were surrounded by it your whole life?

CM: Yesssssss! So I had to tag along with these people who lived and breathed wrestling! I definitely was surrounded by it everyone I met was involved!

RTDB: So how did you meet Randy Poffo?

CM: We sold our home in Atlanta and moved to Jonesboro, Georgia to an apartment complex. We had pool parties on the weekend & BBQ’s. My girlfriend lived with a wrestler named Charlie Fulton in the Villa Rouge apts. They always came over because of the pool parties & Charlie said he had just got a roommate he would like me to meet, so he brought Randy over.

RTDB: How old were you two at the time?

CM: I was 20-21 and Randy was about 24-25.

RTDB: So when you met Randy, was it an instant attraction?

CM: Pretty much, we dated a few times. I was moving from my parents to another apt. I canceled & moved in with my friend Terry & Charlie & Randy. They moved out shortly after to Charlotte, North Carolina. We stayed round another 6 months or less then traveled to Nashville Tennessee. Then to Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada with his family Judy, Angelo & Lanny.

RTDB: Randy played baseball and was an avid fan. did he ever regret his career in baseball? did he ever talk to you about his “other life “?

CM: Yes! He was ambidextrous & could hit both ways. He didn’t regret it, because he saw this as being a family opportunity we all traveled together everywhere in Randy’s van. It really worked out for all of them in the end. However, I hate it Lanny was always in Randy’s shadow!

RTDB: Did Lanny have any regrets or animosity?

CM: He loved Randy so much, but when Randy talked he knew how to rule the room! And Lanny just stepped aside.

RTDB: What were the Poffo family like?

CM: Oh my gosh, Me & Judy spent a lot of time together we stayed home a lot in Tennessee. His father fell in love with me. We had a wonderful relationship. A very close & tight loyal Italian family. Judy was a holocaust survivor. God love her. They were always working out & me & Judy shopped cooked a lot & drank a lot of coffee. Fantastic family…. I loved them all. And they are all gone unbelievable.

RTDB: Were you ever asked by Randy or Angelo or anyone to get involved in wrestling as a valet or anything like that?

CM: Yes! It was Angelo’s idea. Randy rejected it, but was bending into his dad’s suggestion. That’s where those black & white pics came from a photo shoot in Tennessee. He made me wear that silly blonde wig! Smh!!!

RTDB: Why didn’t you do it? Did you have a desire to get involved?

CM: I should’ve but I didn’t get that far! 

Well I did have interest because of him…but the valet thing was Angelo’s idea so I think he kept pushing & that’s how Elizabeth eventually got involved.

RTDB: So Randy was against the idea?

CM: He kinda was, but he listened to his father at a lot of tactics. Like the flying elbow, Angelo loved that move!
It worked.

RTDB: You mentioned Randy’s flying elbow drop. Was that Randy or Angelo’s idea?

CM: I remember both Angelo & Randy talking about climbing onto the ring post and I believe it was a combo of the minds! Hey it gets a lot of attention & that’s the point!

RTDB: Was a possible engagement between you and Randy ever discussed?

CM: Yes his parents were all for it. Randy was just beginning to rise in this business & he began taking steroids which I had never heard of nor knew what they were. I became very concerned that we had to go see this doctor every week. Angelo was buffering the matter because I do t even like pot smoking! The thing was of course Randy was an all in kind of person and that’s why he became… very radical paranoid idk just year after year it got worse….. you know they all do it and it causes a lot of death! That’s the dark side of this sadly!

RTDB: So you would say that as his career was getting more and more successful he was becoming more paranoid?

CM: Yes. He became very, very intense always thinking that people were out to get him or stab him in the back. That type of attitude. There are those people out there but… it got so bad he even removed the wheels off of my roller skates so I couldn’t go skating! It just was like you should stay in our boundaries.

RTDB: He became extremely possessive of you? Was that always the case or started after his career began to take off?

CM: That type of behavior was also displayed with places we went people we came in contact with he always says you always have to watch your back and I realize you know everybody is wanting to become number one in this business, but it was like holy cow! Very jealous man. He did what he wanted to do and that’s why was on top! It just became so intensified that I couldn’t wear makeup. I had to wear the clothes he wanted me to wear. There was a time I was talking on the telephone and laughing, and it was a friend of mine from Georgia and he burst into the door and rammed my head into the wall, but grabbed me in a headlock first and rammed the top of my head through the living room drywall. Now mind you I was not allowed to have my own car! My sister & 6 month old baby were visiting and were in that same living room! Omg!

RTDB: Wow! How did your family react to that abuse?

CM: My mother said you have to leave…Get Out Now! I got assistance from Angelo & Judy & went home.

RTDB: Was that the end of your relationship or did you go back to him ever?

CM: He had Angelo drive him to my house in the middle of the night about two or three weeks later. Oh my gosh, I was at the skating rink. My mother called and paged me and told me Randy was at the house going through every drawer, removing all of our photographs together and with our dog he barely let me keep the dog he bought for me!

RTDB: What happened after that?

CM: I went back. It was crazy. We lived on the second floor and he had set the house on fire. The whole living room walls had soot all over them. He begged and pleaded for me to stay. I stayed, but you know it just was never the same. I was afraid of him. He destroyed a Waffle House in Tennessee where we lived. It was out of control! I had empathy & didn’t know any better. I knew nothing of the steroids drug so just young & dumb. We did have wonderful times together though. Judy said he will hurt you.

RTDB: I remember reading about the Waffle House incident.

CM: The waffle house incident was in the newspaper I was told, but never got the copy of the newspaper because I was just done.

RTDB: You mentioned Randy’s mom warning you that he would hurt you. Did she convince you to leave him or you did it on your own?

CM: I finally made it up in my own mind that I can’t go through this nerve racking feeling. Always wondering what mood he would be in & said I want a different lifestyle….. I believe it would’ve continued (if I did not leave him) sadly. He managed to destroy sooo many great pictures and videos. He had convinced my mother to allow him in the house. I would’ve called the police but my mother said his heart is broken. Smh

RTDB: I may be interpreting this incorrectly, but it sounds like Randy’s mother was more understanding than your own mom at the time?

CM: Omg yes she was! I loved Judy sooooo much & poor Lanny knew he better not open his mouth!
Angelo always took over and calmed him down. My father was dying of cancer and we were in Halifax, Nova Scotia and I said I have to go home and he said you’re not going anywhere and Angelo prepared all the flights and everything for me to get home to see my father and stay with him a week before he actually passed away, but Randy was on the phone with me every single day. Now mind you back then we didn’t have cell phones we had landlines.

RTDB: Was there a funeral and were you able attend?

CM: Yes, there was a beautiful funeral and I got to stay two days after the funeral. I had to catch a flight and get back right away.
Randy temporary lived with us in our house and knew my father well but…. He chose NOT to accompany me. I cried all the way home many hours in the air.

RTDB: Ugh I’m so sorry to hear that. Did Randy ever try and reconcile with you after the final break up?

CM: He talked to my mother a couple of times but I had met a guy who was in the Navy. I went with him to Navy dive school in Jacksonville, Florida. We got married and had my one and only son.

RTDB: Were you ever in contact with Randy again or was that the absolute end?

CM: I made sure I had the opportunity to introduce my son to Randy when he was wrestling in Miami and my family moved to the Florida keys. My sister, my son & I we went there and he was excited & very surprised to see us. He was having trouble with Elizabeth at the time he said but I wished him well. They never had children she could not have kids.

RTDB: Wow I never knew Elizabeth couldn’t have children. Was it Randy who told you that Elizabeth couldn’t have children?

CM: Lanny told me Elizabeth couldn’t have children. I never got to meet Elizabeth, however I heard she had a bad eating disorder BULIMIA. I kept in touch with Lanny I was planning to go to Ecuador to visit him. We were good friends
Elizabeth left Randy & married an attorney in Miami, cleaned his clock & flew the coop with Lex Luger. They lived by my girlfriend in Marietta that was his side chick. Lex was living a double life & once again drugs led to another sad ending.

RTDB: What was your reaction to hearing the news that Randy passed away? The same for Lanny…

CM: I had just landed in Atlanta and my girlfriend had picked me up that I had not seen in eight years and when I got in the car with her, she goes Char. I just heard on the radio that “Macho Man” Randy Savage had died. I said oh my God you’re kidding really!!! I cried when I heard because I believed he had retired & got with Lynn  & could live a happy life. I was more in shock when I heard about Lanny. We had just talked a week prior. I still have his phone number in my phone. I was excited to meet with Lanny in Ecuador. He was Judy’s caregiver for 7 long years he said. A good friend.

RTDB: It sounds like Lanny was the opposite of his brother?

CM: Yeah he was. Lanny wound up with all the fortune! Randy’s wife Lynn got her share but… I guess Lanny’s daughter got the loot after Lanny died.

RTDB: Thank you so much for your time! You really have been an absolute delight to talk to.

CM: You are Welcome.

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