Authorities have determined that "Macho Man" Randy Savage died of cardiovascular disease, reports TMZ.com and St. Petersburg Times.

Savage, whose real name is Randy Mario Poffo, suffered a serious "cardiac event" moments before crashing his vehicle into a tree in Seminole, Florida on May 20. Savage was taken to Largo Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy by the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office revealed Savage had an enlarged heart with severe atherosclerosis of his coronary arteries. He suffered only minor abrasions and bruising from the crash.

The cause of death was determined to be Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease; the deadly "cardiac event" resulted from the condition.

Savage tested positive for alcohol and hydrocodone during the time of his death, but neither played a role in his passing.

The results of the autopsy were released by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office on Thursday.


An autopsy by the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office revealed Randy Savage had an enlarged heart with severe atherosclerosis of his coronary arteries. He suffered only minor abrasions and bruising from the May 20 crash in Seminole, Florida.

An article on TBO.com features more details on the medical examiner's findings.

"He had sustained no trauma from that crash," said William Pellan, the medical examiner's office director of investigations. "So the crash had nothing to do with his death. He just happened to be driving when he had a cardiovascular event."

Pellan added that he may have had a heart attack. He may have had some type of arrhythmia and his heart stopped beating, or his heart may have simply stopped beating.

"We don't see evidence of it (a heart attack) because he died right away," Pellan said.

A USA Today article notes that steroid use was not implicated in his cause of death.