Former WWE Announcer Says Roman Reigns Deserves More Respect, Talks Bruno Sammartino & More

Former WWE ring announcer Gary Michael Cappetta spoke with The Wrestling Estate for a new interview discussing Roman Reigns, Bruno Sammartino and more. Highlights are below:

On wrestlers who can excel on their own outside of WWE: “Yeah, and it’s healthy for everybody. When I see the success of Cody, The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, I call it the democratization of wrestling. That’s a group of guys who have gained power, mostly independent from a major corporate organization. If WWE ever seeks them out or if they ever want to go to WWE, there’s an even playing field that didn’t exist in the past. I would compare them to Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody and Abdullah the Butcher, who didn’t need American promoters in order to have a successful wrestling career. They were able to call their own shots. And now they’re All In promotion in Chicago. I wish them well. They’re really sharp. It was more difficult to do in the past because today there are free marketing tools available online, but they’re very savvy in how they use them.”

On Roman Reigns: “I like Roman Reigns. I don’t understand what exactly they’re doing with him, and I don’t really understand why the fans boo him, other than they’re following what somebody else said they should be doing. Anybody that saw the WrestleMania match between him and Lesnar, you’ve got to have respect for these guys. What a brutal match. That would be a match I’d show someone who says these guys aren’t athletes.”

On Bruno Sammartino’s ranking among the all-time greats: “Top five. There would not have been a healthy WWF to purchase and take forward and expand if it wasn’t for Bruno. I kind of chuckle when I hear Mr. Today Wrestler is seven-times world heavyweight champion. But how long did he hold that title for? Sammartino was a two-time champion, but he held it for a long stretch of time and carried the promotion on his back. There’s a big difference and it sort of diminishes the title. That kind of phraseology is meant to build up the personality for the here and now, but it shuts out the historic importance.”