Lanny began wrestling in the NWA territories in the 1970s before becoming a star in his father's promotion, International Championship Wrestling, where he held the promotion's title. Over the course of his regional career, Poffo both tag teamed and feuded with older brother Randy. Upon the ICW's folding in 1984, he joined Randy in the CWA before traveling with him again to the World Wrestling Federation in June 1985. The brother angle was never worked in the WWF and the relationship was never mentioned on-air. While Lanny never attained the popularity of his brother in the WWF. As Leaping Lanny Poffo, the Wrestling Poet he would bring frisbees to the ring, read a short ode written on one of them that he himself had penned, and throw the frisbees into the crowd. Each poem typically ridiculed the heel that he was about to wrestle against, or angered the heel by building heat for the face that the heel was feuding with at the time. Despite wrestling as a jobber, he was arguably in the "Jobber To The Stars" category as he was usually allowed to get in a fair amount of offense in his matches, and won some matches on occasion. Poffo wrestled a high-flyer style at a time when big, heavy wrestlers still dominated the promotion. In April 1989, Poffo was re-introduced as a heel wrestler and became The Genius, adopting a highly intelligent, sniffy persona and wearing an academic cap and gown to the ring. On the November 25, 1989 edition of WWF Saturday Night's Main Event, The Genius beat Champion Hulk by count out due to Mr. Perfect hitting Hogan with the championship belt. Later, The Genius was the manager of the Beverly. It was in this capacity that Poffo last appeared in the WWF, at Survivor Series 1992.