Author: Matt Pender Jan. 10, 2023. non-confrontation at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. The International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame is proud to enshrine this beautiful and pricelesschampionship belt as the centerpiece of ourmuseum collection. In todays story, we hear from both Bruno Sammartino and Buddy Rogers regarding the screwjob finish in 1963 that propelled "The Italian Strongman" into becoming "The Living Legend. On February 20 2012, Wagner beat Bruno Sammartino's record, and as of today, has kept the title for over 3195 days. I used to come home from Toronto, Canada, twice a month every Sunday, because we would be at the Maple Leaf Garden, shows every other Sunday. WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino died on Wednesday at the age of 82 in Pittsburgh. [17] Sammartino worked several WCW events in a minor analysis role in the early 1990s, as well as a brief run doing color commentary with Jim Ross on Saturday Night in 1992. He lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with his wife and son. Actor: WWE Smackdown!. WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino revealed why his record-setting WWWF title reign ended. Sammartino was living proof of the American Dream, an immigrant who left a wartorn time to become an accomplished athlete. Wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino has died at the age of 82. 3.0 3 Ratings. 2022. Ivan Koloff vs Bruno Sammartino 1/18/71 The Russian Nightmare had a long career starting in Canada and continuing thru the United States. Sammartino defeated Savage in a lumberjack match for the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship via disqualification at the Boston Garden. After leaving the WWF, Sammartino became an outspoken critic of the path on which Vincent K. McMahon had taken professional wrestling. In the many years that have since passed, the phrase, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way!" 78 days. Sammartino faced Piper in both singles and tag team matches. Preview: MLW FUSION Jacob Fatu vs. ACH (01/20/21), Preview: IMPACT! Sammartino worked as a commentator for the Universal Wrestling Federation. When Pat Sullivan heard that, he immediately stopped Buddy Rogers from going to the ring, but he also informed all the state athletic commissions that he was revoking his license until they found out if, in fact, there was a problem. When McMahon Sr. gestured for them to shake hands, both wordlessly turned and walked away. Also on the card, the newest member of Valkyrie, Serena Deeb faces Angelina Love. Sammartino, an Italian immigrant who ruled the WWE throughout the 1960s and 1970s, died Wednesday at the age of 82. Sold-out Madison Square Garden 189 times! 1 Hour 35 Minutes. [7] Known for his powerful bearhug[4][5] finishing move, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Imagine doing something all those years and loving it all of a sudden, you never do it again. Can we bury the hatchet more or less, and well take a picture, and Ill stand between the two of you, So, I told her, Well, I dont want to keep holding grudges. Bruno's 1965-1971 version of the championship is the oldest surviving title belt officially created for a champion of World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, which is today the largest and most successful professional wrestling company in the world. It wasnt until he got in the ring that Sammartino told him in no uncertain terms that it was HE who was going over that day. (Laughs) Yeah, thats how it happened". He finally lost the title to Superstar Billy Graham in 1977 bringing his total time as Champion to a staggering 4,040 days. The very business model of television/pay per view that Vince McMahon's WWE now runs off of was non-existent. Bruno Sammartino was a 90-pound weakling in high school. The Genius Cast with Lanny Poffo (2018-19), HOMAGE.com Our favorite in retro wrestling attire! May 17, 1963: Bruno Sammartino defeated Buddy Rogers with a reverse backbreaker to capture the WWWF World title. He held the company's top title from 1963 to 1971 and again from 1973 to 1977. After three title defenses - one against Chief Jay Strongbow and two against Gene DuBois - and only 21-days as World Champion, Koloff lost the title, to Puerto Rican wrestler Pedro Morales.Eager to recapture the support of the immigrant wave that had . No creases or tear wrestling champion, was personally selected by Vincent J. McMahon to fill the void left when his longtime titleholder Bruno Sammartino made the decision that he no longer wanted to carry the WWWF championship. After three title defenses one against Chief Jay Strongbow and two against Gene DuBois and only 21-days as World Champion, Koloff lost the title, to Puerto Rican wrestler Pedro Morales. Bruno Sammartino: WWWF Heavyweight Champion - 1,237 days WWE/YouTube Stan Stasiak only has one successful title defense to his name against Chief Jay Strongbow, and their bout went to a no contest. For half of that time he reigned as World Champion, . His final attempt was in Philadelphia, just a few days before Graham was scheduled to lose the title to Bob Backlund. When Vince McMahon, Sr. and Totts Mondt heard about this, of course, they got him to come to Washington, DC, and they put him in a famous hospital over there. "Superstar Billy Graham & Ivan Koloff v. Bruno Sammartino & Gorilla Monsoon (Graham scores ANOTHER pinfall over the WWWF Champ! The Sammartinos also teamed against "Mr. "Did I really say to him, We can do this the easy way or the hard way? [7] Later that year, he won the International Tag Team Championship for the second time by teaming with Dominic DeNucci. Sammartino would go on to hold the title for 2,803 days, nearly eight years(! Rogers dropped the NWA Title to Thesz (and got back his deposit on the belt), and the Northeast promoters used the one-fall match as the reason for the split from the NWA. [23], Eventually, on December 10, 1973, Sammartino regained the WWWF Heavyweight Championship by defeating Stan Stasiak. I went in that ring". Eager to recapture the support of the immigrant wave that had carried Bruno Sammartino for nearly eight years, McMahon hoped that Morales would appeal to the growing Hispanic audience as Bruno had for Europeans. May 18 - USA Event: Bruno Sammartino (c) vs. Miguel Torres - Singles match Sammartino won. ", 10 Reasons why Bruno Sammartino's 1965-1971 WWWF Title Belt is the 'Holy Grail' of Pro Wrestling Artifacts, 2. 1963 - Bulldog Brower and Johnny Valentine defeat Bruno Sammartino and Whipper Billy Watson to win the Toronto NWA International Tag Team Title in Toronto, Ontario. You dont get another penny out of that field; you dont have anything to do with that field. Sammartino also engaged in a feud with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper after Piper insulted his heritage on a segment of Piper's Pit at Madison Square Garden. With John Atkins, Angela Capri, Primo Carnera, John Cena. It took 14 minutes and 55 seconds for Ivan Koloff to defeat Bruno Sammartino that night in New York City. Promoters Mondt and McMahon Sr. cleared up Sammartino's suspension by paying his $500 fine, allowing him to return to wrestling in the United States. "One of the finest men I knew, in life and in business," WWE chairman Vince McMahon said . Ivan Koloff (left) and Superstar Billy Graham (right) each drew six sellouts with Bruno and each defeated him for the WWWF Championship. "[Its been] said that when I wrestled Rogers for the title, the reason was Rogers had had a heart attack and had to be helped to the ring, and thats how he lost the belt. And with the US-Russia Cold War now in mass effect, it was the companys resident Russian bad-guy that McMahon turned to. Sammartino ended up in a screaming match with Cimino on Pittsburgh's local Studio Wrestling program, and Cimino suspended him for a month. I was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in that territory, and Vince McMahon, Sr. was near bankruptcy because that was how poorly this place was doing. In New York, you go through an extensive physical to get your license, and every night before you wrestled, you had a physical in the dressing room. Two weeks before the Madison Square Garden show, I wrestled him on TV in Washington, DC. (Use code PWS for a nice surprise). BILLY GRAHAM IN THE IWE (JAPAN) . In early 1977, Sammartino informed McMahon Sr. that he felt he could no longer continue as champion due to his injuries. Flair had denigrated Sammartino's wrestling ability in his book To Be the Man. The new film, just called Bruno Sammartino, is simply a revamped and slightly updated version of La Mia Mama, meaning it's long of Sammartino's tough-as-nails mother, but shockingly short on the champion's in-ring exploits. Yet few people know all the history behind Brunos belt and why some have called it the 'holy grail' of professional wrestling artifacts. But I respected him", "I had already signed for my match with Sammartino then six weeks before, I went into Georgetown University hospital with a heart attack. Mr. Sammartino, 50, of Allison Park, was the co-owner of the . Bruno Sammartino is the greatest world champion in the history of professional wrestling. He actually made his WWWF debut on Spectator Sports TV out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, defeating WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino by count-out (the title cant change hands via count-out). Bruno headed north to continue working, where he joined Frank Tunneys Maple Leaf Wrestling (Torontos NWA affiliate) in Canada instead, where he was often the Maple Leaf Wrestling challenger to Buddy Rogers when the NWA World Champion headed to Canada. Of all the statues created byWWE, including AndrThe Giant, Ultimate Warrior, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, and Rowdy Roddy Piper, only the Bruno statue wearsa championship belt. [40], Sammartino is included in two DVDs summarizing his career and life: Bruno Returns to Italy With Bruno Sammartino (2006) and Bruno Sammartino: Behind the Championship Belt (2006). On January 18, 1971, Ivan Kohloff won the WWWF World Championship and secured his legacy in professional wrestling lore by pinning Bruno Sammartino. The Northeast would soon break away from the NWA to form the World Wide Wrestling Federation (later known as the WWF and WWE today). Page 12, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 18, 1963. He would briefly return to St. Louis Wrestling Club he challenged Dory Funk Jr. for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight title in May of 1969 in Maple Leaf Gardens by September of that year, he had moved on to New York to begin working with the WWWF. "Superstar Billy Graham v. Bruno Sammartino (MSG 1/12/76) 22. Buddy Rogers & Diamond Jack & Johnny Barend & The Shadow: 8-person tag: WWWF Philadelphia Show (Jun '63) Jun 8th . On September 27, 1965, Bruno wrestled Tarzan Tyler in Madison Square Garden. [14] Sammartino made his Toronto debut in March 1962 and very quickly, with the help of self-promotion in local newspapers and radio programs, became an attraction. Buddy Rogers was a funny guy, and he thought he wasnt going to wrestle under these conditions, and back then, we didnt have contracts like today, but more or less, we strictly got paid on the gate. Rhodes appeared in several multi-man matches during this time such as the Money in the Bank ladder match and the Elimination Chamber, where opportunities at a loftier prize outweighed defending the title he already held. Bruno had the belt polished andthen maintained personal ownership of his prized possession until he passed away on April 18, 2018. Although this promotion was big in its hay-day, I can't find some reliable sources that Wagner keeps defending the title. When Buddy Rogers saw the attendance, he wanted to get out of there, and he told the doctor he felt a funny pain on his chest. After his second reign ended, Sammartino leisurely toured the U.S. and the world. Cimino was new to his post and intervened in a match finish involving Sammartino, who took a shot at Cimino in the ring and the argument continued backstage. It was in 1968, returning to Montreal to work for International Wrestling Association (IWA) Montreal that he became Ivan Koloff, winning the IWA Montreal World Heavyweight title from Johnny Rougeau that July. There, he held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship (WWWF Heavyweight Championship during his second reign) for more than 11 years (4,040 days) across two reigns, the first of which is . RELATED: Ruthless Aggression: 10 Title Reigns (That We Completely Forgot About). He is also a musical performer with his band OdESSA who can be investigated at the link above. Between Antonino Rocca and Bruno Sammartino they went with the younger Sammartino who was 28 years old at the time. Per tradition, the NWA World title could only be contested in 2-out-of-3 falls matches, yet Thesz had been crowned champion following a one fall match. Sammartino teamed with Paul Orndorff in his matches against Piper, while Piper would tag with his "bodyguard", Ace "Cowboy" Bob Orton. Vs. 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