wrestling / Columns

Goodbye, Bruno Sammartino

April 19, 2018 | Posted by Len Archibald
legend Bruno Sammartino Bruno Sammartino's Image Credit: WWE

Pin drop.

Bruno Sammartino’s shoulders were pinned back on the mat for three seconds. Afraid of a riot, the ring announcer did not present the WWWF Title to the new champion, Ivan Koloff in the ring. Tears streamed from the faces of heartbroken fans inside Madison Square Garden. A remarkable and unprecedented eight-year streak of victories inside the ring had come to an end. It was hard to swallow as Sammartino left the ring. It was as if the heart of the entire world had imploded.

People depended on Bruno.

I am not sure if Bruno Sammartino would work in today’s wrestling landscape. I would say it would be a shame, but the nature of the beast is that tastes change. If people got jitters from Askua’s undefeated streak, or Super Cena, their heads would have exploded like Scanners thinking about Sammartino’s reign. For an absolutely insane 2,803 straight days, Sammartino reigned supreme atop the professional wrestling landscape as World Champion. No one batted an eye. No one complained. There was no cynicism about it.

People depended on Bruno.

1963, to put it mildly, was an eventful year. John F. Kennedy’s assassination rocked the world entire. Beatlemania began to flood the pop culture landscape. Dr. Martin Luther King proclaimed to the world that he had a dream. Birmingham faced the explosive destruction of bigotry. Valentina Tereshkova broke barriers by becoming the first woman in space. These extreme peaks and valleys became the template and foundation of a movement where optimistic youth began to shape the world, unaware of the evils that men do. On May 17, 1963, “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers entered as inaugural WWWF Champion. 48 seconds later, a new face would emerge. And he would be the cornerstone of not only professional wrestling, but the emotional center of New York City, the rock and example of Italian Americans and the escape the country would turn to as the shit hit the fan around them.

Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino was born in Pizzoferrato, Abruzzo, Italy on October 6, 1935 (LIBRAS UNITE.) As the youngest of seven children, Sammartino became witness to tragedy and the evil of the world. Sammartino had to be shielded with his family away from Nazis at the end of World War II. Sammartino has always applauded his mother’s bravery, as she risked her life sneaking into Nazi territory to get essentials for the family to survive. Four of his siblings passed in Italy and he had to leave them behind as the Sammartino family migrated to Pittsburgh in 1950. Sammartino arrived in the United States as a weak and sick child, victimized by the brutalities of war.

His physical limitations along with his lack of English-speaking skills made him a ripe candidate for bullying. Bruno vowed that he would not allow this to continue and began a regiment to build up his body through weight training. The physical transformation was astounding: Bruno worked to become a chiseled 280-pound boulder. He almost made the 1956 Olympic weightlifting team. Instead of representing the United States then, he broke a bench press world record lift of 565 pounds three years later.

Sammartino found his calling with the University of Pittsburg wrestling team. His high school did not have wrestling as a sport and was taken under the wing of Rex Peery. Bruno found himself on television for his strongman stunts where Rudy Miller, promoter of Pennsylvania Wrestling Inc. approached and recruited him for his troupe. Miller had the foresight that Sammartino would appeal to Italian immigrants looking for a superhero in the wrestling world. Sammartino’s ethnicity would be a defining trait – a proud one – that would help skyrocket him to the top of the mountain. On December 17, 1959, Sammartino would obliterate his first opponent in 19 seconds in his pro wrestling debut. He became a literal overnight sensation and Madison Square Garden would come calling soon after.

Exactly 10 days removed from his debut, Sammartino wrestled his first match at Madison Square Garden. Toots Mondt, one of the forefathers of American Professional Wrestling saw the superstar Sammartino could become and decided to pair him with the popular Antonia Rocca as a tag team to gain Sammartino some much needed in-ring experience as well as attaching himself with a fan favorite to be perceived as a potential star for fans. He remained as an upper card fixture for a few years. Bruno was calloused from tragedy in his life, but he could never prepare himself for the match he had with Chick Garibaldi, where his opponent would have a heart attack in the middle of Sammartino body slamming him. Sammartino carried unimaginable guilt for that incident for several years.

Sammartino would bounce from promotion to promotion with promises of stardom, but was continually met with deceit, low attendance or discovering that he was being used temporarily to put other talent over. Sammartino eventually left Capitol Wrestling Corporation ran by Vince McMahon Sr. and would end up becoming a laborer as he was “suspended” by every state athletic commission in the country. Sammartino believed that McMahon blackballed him for working with another promotion.

Sammartino would find his footing in (of course) in Toronto with Frank Tunney. Toronto, like New York has always been a melting pot of cultures, with a very strong Italian population. Tunney believed that Sammartino could become a hot commodity. Despite McMahon Sr. trying to blackball Sammartino in Toronto, he would become a major star upon his debut in 1962 and won his first professional wrestling championship. Because Sammartino was bilingual, he could attract both Italian-speaking and English speaking fans. His stock grew to the point where he found himself wrestling Lou Thesz in main events, looking strong as the first bout went to a draw and the second ending in Thesz wining by a fluke pin. Sammartino would defeat NWA World Champion Buddy Rogers in Toronto, but because Rogers was accidentally head butted in the groin during a leap frog attempt, Sammartino would decline accepting the title. This became a defining moment for Bruno, as fans began to catch a glimpse of a man that lived by honor, honesty and a hard stance on what he believed was right.

It was then that the people began to depend on Bruno.

After handling Sammartino’s “suspension”, Vince McMahon Sr. pleaded for Sammartino to return to Capitol Wrestling. Sammartino wisely accepted under the condition that he wanted a match with Buddy Rogers for the WWWF World Heavyweight Title – a championship that would help define Sammartino and provide the McMahon much needed ammunition as a major promotion after their split from the NWA. Sammartino took on all comers: Gene Kiniski, Ernie Ladd, Bill Watts, Giant Baba, George “The Animal” Steele, and many other major national names. They all had the same fate, though. Bruno won. With each victory, the Sammartino Legend only grew.

Then the shit hit the fan worldwide.

JFK. Bobby Kennedy. Martin Luther King. Malcolm X. Vietnam. Nelson Mandela was sent to prison. “Bloody Sunday” in Selma. The Watts Riots. The Tet Offensive. The Manson Murders. By the time Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by one of the Hell’s Angels at Altamont, the decade that started out with so much promise descended into a never-ending pit of despair. Flower Power wilted. Free Love divorced itself from the evil that lies within human nature. Racial tensions were higher than ever. Political unrest and distrust skyrocketed. Hope was beginning to fade. The 1970s began with a haze of grey nihilism.

And Bruno continued to win. People depended on him winning.

Sammartino was one of the few beacons amidst all the shit that was going on in the world. He showed that one can be strong, yet honorable. He displayed a determination without ego and a nobility that never descended into fanaticism. As much as Bruno believed in himself, he believed in the people. But what was even more important, was that the people believed in him.

Then on January 18, 1971, he lost. I have family who lived in New York when the event happened. Sammartino losing the WWWF Title was like he was assassinated. It took New York Italians days to recover. He was their champion. Bruno showed the world that there were more to American Italians than the Mafia, pizza parlors and other stereotypes. Bruno was the foot that held the door open for Rocky to become a phenomenon.

The superstitious blamed New York’s descent into hell in the 1970s as punishment for Bruno losing the title. The city found itself on the brink of bankruptcy. The Statue of Liberty found itself trapped in a moat of oil. The New York ghetto became crystalized as arson crimes and insurance fraud displaced tens of thousands of urban minorities. Bruno, as it is with all professional wrestlers did not find himself “retired” for long and returned to triumphantly defeat Stan Staziak to become World Champion once again on December 10, 1973. Bruno would fend off challenges from Bruiser Brody, Superstar Billy Graham, Freddie Blassie and Nikolai Volkoff. Once more, the people had someone to cheer for – a hero that was desperately needed.

Sammartino’s second reign would last until April 30, 1977 after suffering a loss to Superstar Billy Graham. His second reign lasted 1,237 days. Sammartino holds (and probably will forever hold) the benchmark for length with a WWF/E world title reign at an unfathomable 4,040 days. Imagine today’s wrestling fan looking at that number. Even I am astounded by that number. But I understand why. I have quite a number of Italians in my family – some who grew up in the Bronx in the 70s and worshipped at the altar of Sammartino. I asked one of my aunts what was it like to see him in person: Sammartino was known to truly be one of the people and would frequent the boroughs. She called him the “ultimo campione”, the ultimate champion. This may sound like hyperbole, but Sammartino was a GOD in New York City. By this point, Sammartino was already dubbed “The Living Legend” – a stamp that has since, and forever more, be etched as a defining piece of Sammartino himself.

A neck fracture forced Sammartino into a part-time schedule, where he was billed as a “special attraction”, wrestling Harley Race to a draw, defeating Blackjack Mulligan and Lord Alfred Hayes and began to settle in as a part time commentator for Vince McMahon Sr. Sammartino’s last major hurrah was a heated and bloody feud with Larry Zbyszko, Sammartino’s mentor who turned on him in 1980. The feud nearly killed Zbyszko, as fans violently turned on him for betraying the beloved Sammartino. Despite the claims by Hulk Hogan that the match between he and Andre the Giant was the main draw at the Showdown at Shea Stadium, it was clearly obvious that the fans that attended wanted to see Sammartino destroy his protégé. Sammartino defeated Zbyszko in a steel cage match in front of a raucous 36,000 fans.

Sammartino retired from North American wrestling defeating George “The Animal” Steele in 1981. He would settle in as a color commentator with WWF after suing them once he discovered that McMahon Sr. was cheating him out of gate percentages he was promised. To settle, Vince McMahon Jr. offered Sammartino a cushy commentator job – 19 days of work for an entire year – for hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Sammartino would find himself back into the ring as his son, David would be recruited to WWF with hopes the Sammartino name would catch lightning again. As David was not reaching the level of stardom WWF anticipated, Sammartino himself decided that he would try to give his son “the rub” by working tag matches with him. It was discovered that Sammartino’s conditioning was second to none – as his stamina at 50 years old was far superior than those half his age. Sammartino would find himself in heated feuds with Roddy Piper, “Adorable” Adrian Adonis and an amazing underrated feud with Randy Savage that sprouted from Savage’s famous destruction of Ricky Steamboat’s throat. Sammartino was unable to wrestle away Savage’s WWF Intercontinental Title, but showed that he still had that babyface fire that made him a fixture in professional wrestling. Sammartino, fittingly, had his very last match as Hulk Hogan’s tag team partner as they went on to beat The One Man Gang and King Kong Bundy in 1988.

Sammartino left WWF and became one of the most vocal critics of Vince McMahon’s iteration of WWF/E, primarily with the storylines, drug and steroid use. Sammartino was on the HOF Blacklist – but of his own doing. As he was known to do, Sammartino stood steadfast to his beliefs. He was offered a Hall of Fame invitation several times and declined. After a meeting with Triple H, convinced that WWE had turned a corner to become a family friendly promotion with a wellness policy to curb and eliminate drug use, Sammartino accepted his Hall of Fame induction in 2013. I remember the announcement nearly breaking 411 because at the time, no one expected him to ever be in. But, never say never in wrestling, right? From there, Sammartino served as an ambassador for WWE and became the face of the company’s illustrious history as their greatest champion.

I know some just read that sentence and scoffed. WWE’s greatest champion? Where Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock, HBK and even John Cena reside? Are you just saying this because he is dead? On my WWE Mount Rushmore, Bruno, Hogan, Austin Rock and The Undertaker (yes, FIVE) reside. Bruno was instrumental in the success of the McMahon dynasty. Bruno was the precursor to Hogan’s mainstream popularity. If Bruno was not selling out MSG at an unprecedented clip, McMahon would not have gained such a foothold of the building and would not have gained the credibility as a regional promotion with national aspirations. To use some movie debate terminology, adjusted for inflation, Bruno Sammartino is WWE’s greatest champion. Sammartino SOLD OUT MSG 187 times. He headlined there 211 times. He holds two championship records that will never be broken. Only two other wrestlers had a consistent, championship caliber main event foothold in WWE for a decade plus. But, fans never tired of Bruno, they never clamored for him to turn heel, they never complained that his shtick was old or that he was holding talent back. Bruno was a superhero, super human and a superstar.

You will not find a five-star match with him. You will find feuds filled with passion and heat. You won’t find a cynical superstar that showed cracks of heelish tendencies. You will find a pure white meat babyface that was incapable from turning away from his morals. You won’t see a guy who was a chosen golden boy – but a man who worked his way up, literally from the pits of death to become a role model during a time when the world needed one. Again, Sammartino was not just a man in the ring. He was seen as a god among them.

My fandom began on the tail end of Sammartino’s career, but I did witness his feud with Savage and I never knew he was in his 50s at that time. I saw a bear of a man who seemingly had Savage’s number and who I DESPERATELY wanted to tear the Macho Man limb from limb. I have always appreciated the history of wrestling, but up until 2013 I was internally fuming that we lived in an era where new fans were being denied information about Sammartino and understanding the affect he had on wrestling. 4,040 days.

We live in a crazy time. We just dropped bombs on Syria. Public shootings are becoming so frequent, it’s almost normalized. Political and racial divisiveness run rampant. We are at a cynical high, every side yelling “fake news” and no one seemingly interested in listening and compromise. Peace of any kind seems farther away every day. Even here at 411, when a politically charged story appears, or when wrestling articles pop up, we fall into traps of trolling, contrarianism, debates that lack any substance other than name-calling and the harshest cynicism. We need a hero to inspire us to see our better selves.

I love professional wrestling. It is performance art; a morality play and a mirror of the times we live in. It allows us to react to several stories at once and emotionally invest in the one story that resonates with us. We all have favorite superstars. We all have heroes we relate (or think we relate) to. Each one of us have lived in some era of some point where we have seen a performer that has been able to command an audience in an unprecedented way. I witnessed both Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior and Hogan vs. The Rock and both were akin to a religious experience. I lived in the middle of Hulkamania and The Attitude Era. I saw the peak of the Horsemen and The Von Erich/Freebird feud. I have seen my favorite performer live in Chicago and got caught up in him being treated like a deity. During the darkest periods of my life, when I see the world crumbling around me, I always find myself slipping on my old professional wrestling fandom that fits the same way it did when I was five years old. I depend on it. We depend on wrestling to escape what it is that gives us pause about the world we live in.

There are millions of people around the world mourning the loss of a great professional wrestler who inspired them, who pushed them to be better people, who provided for them immense joy and was a beacon of hope during a difficult time in history. When they needed a moment to get away from the environment of war, the uncertainty of job security, the injustice of inequality, or the heartbreak from love, people could lean on someone who had the strength to carry that emotional burden on his back for eight straight years.

People depended on Bruno.

Now that he is gone, I hope we can take from his example and learn to take the weight and burden of depending on each other.

Rest in Power, Mr. Sammartino. Your legend will always live.

article topics :

Bruno Sammartino, WWE, Len Archibald