Celebrity Death: Bruno Sammartino

[Datsyukian Deke]

Sammartino, WWE Hall of Famer, dies at 82

So sad, one of the better wrestlers of his day.

Click to read more...

 

[Rodgerwilco]

At the age of 82 years old and after battling a variety of different physical ailments, Pittsburgh legend Bruno Sammartino has passed away in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.

It's hard to over-state the impact that Bruno had on professional wrestling.

My favorite story about Bruno Sammartino is about the time when he went toe-to-toe with an orangutan:

So this was at A Pittsburgh carnival in 1956. It was one of those “survive five minutes inside the cage with the champ” sort of deals, except instead of Bonesaw McGraw, Sammartino got an honest-to-god orangutan.

…the carnival was in town and they had a wrestling monkey and they said if you could last five minutes with the monkey, they would give you $25.
…I’ll tell you what, I have never seen anything so powerful. I tried to get behind it, you know like an amateur move, thinking that maybe I could get him off of those bars and get him down on the floor. But when I finally got behind him, that thing was swinging around the cage like it had a flea on its back.

Bruno lasted closer to 15 minutes with the Orangutan before eventually becoming frustrated with the grappling and punch the beast in the gut, therefore disqualifying himself.

I'll be pouring one out for a real legend.​

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

RIP

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

I vaguely remember him

I had several of the WrestleMania's on VHS (Got them when video store my mom worked at closed in early 90's) and he was at WrestleMania II I believe near end of his career

He was part of Battle Royale with several Bears players and guys like Andre the Giant , Hillbilly Jim and Big John Studd

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I vaguely remember him

I had several of the WrestleMania's on VHS (Got them when video store my mom worked at closed in early 90's) and he was at WrestleMania II I believe near end of his career

He was part of Battle Royale with several Bears players and guys like Andre the Giant , Hillbilly Jim and Big John Studd

Man, that sounds like a crazy Battle Royale!

 

[PanthersPens62]

As a kid growing up in the Burgh, wrestling was a huge draw because of Bruno. he was the main reason I enjoyed it for many years, RIP to a true legend.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Man, that sounds like a crazy Battle Royale!

Just looked it up

NFL players involved
Jimbo Covert
William "The Refrigerator" Perry
Bill Fralic
Russ Francis
Ernie Holmes
Harvey Martin

Wrestlers involved
Andre The Giant
Ted Arcidi
Tony Atlas
Bret Hart
Jim Neidhart
Brian Blair
Jim Brunzel
Hillbilly Jim
The Iron Sheik
King Tonga
Pedro Morales
Bruno Sammartino
Danny Spivey
Big John Studd

 

[GKJ]

One of wrestling's greatest ambassadors. RIP.

 

[discostu]

With the industry having so many early deaths, it's amazing to hear he had such a long life. When I was a kid he was one of the veteran wrestlers that didn't really appeal to me against the flashier types, but I know he is integral to the wrestling history.

Looking at his wiki page, he seemed to avoid a lot of the demons that many in the industry succumb to.

 

[Pilky01]

Anybody know of any particular fights or promos of his on the WWE Network?

 

[Pocket Hercules]

Anybody know of any particular fights or promos of his on the WWE Network?

Watch his feud with Larry Zbyszko in 1980. Mentor vs Student. Hottest feud of the year.

His matches against George The Animal Steele in the mid to late 70's were great as well.

I might be the minority here, but his post-retirement comeback feuds against Roddy Piper and Randy Savage were pretty entertaining!

Here are a couple of clips:

This Piper's Pit segment which started the feud caught HUGE heat with the MSG crowd! You can look up his series of matches with Piper on YT.



This match with Savage at the Boston Garden was pretty good. Even at 51 years of age, Bruno was still extremely over in the Northeast. Primarly in New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, Toronto etc.