In Memory Of Bruno Sammartino - The Living Legend has moved on

Bruno Sammertino was born Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino Pizzoferrato Abruzzo, on October 6th, 1935. Growing up, Bruno’s hobbies were mostly weight lifting. This would later pay off in the future as he nearly made it to the 1956 US Olympic Team, but that honor went to Paul Anderson. But in 1959, Bruno would set a world record with a bench press record of 565 pounds. Bruno made his pro-wrestling debut on December 17th, 1959 by beating Dmitri Grabowski in nineteen seconds. He would then have his debut at Madison Square Garden on January 2nd, 1960, where he defeated Bull Curry in five minutes. For the next two years, Bruno would be a dominant force in Canada as an upper mid carder and tag team guy. In 1962, he was in high demand to wrestle all over Canada and even challenges for the NWA World heavyweight title, where he faced Lou Thez. One match ended in a draw and another one, also with Lou Thez, ended with Bruno getting a lucky pinfall. Bruno would end up winning his first world championship on May 17, 1963 when he defeated Buddy Rogers in forty eight seconds.  He captured the WWWF World Heavyweight Title that day. He would keep that title until January 18th, 1971, when he lost the championship to Ivan Koloff. Bruno would end up winning the title back on December 10th, 1973 when he beat Stan Stasiak and would keep the championship until April 30th, 1997 by losing it to Billy Graham.  

After his second reign ended, Sammartino leisurely toured the U.S. and the world. He wrestled then NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race to a one-hour draw in St. Louis. He also wrestled and defeated Blackjack Mulligan, Lord Alfred Hayes, Dick Murdoch, Kenji Shibuya, and "Crippler" Ray Stevens. Also during this time, Sammartino began serving as color commentator for the WWF's syndicated programs, WWF Championship Wrestling and WWF All-Star Wrestling.

On January 22, 1980, his former student Larry Zbyszko turned on him at the World Wrestling Federation's Championship Wrestling show. Sammartino, shocked and hurt by Zbyszko's betrayal, vowed to make Zbyszko pay dearly. Their feud culminated on August 9, 1980, in front of over thirty thousand fans at Shea Stadium. As the main event of 1980's Showdown at Shea, Sammartino defeated Zbyszko inside a steel cage. In his autobiography, Hulk Hogan claimed that his match with André the Giant was the real reason for the huge draw at Shea Stadium. However, the feud between Sammartino and Zbyszko sold out everywhere in the build-up to the show. In contrast, Hogan and André headlined exactly one card in White Plains, New York before they wrestled at Shea, and they drew a paltry twelve hundred fans in a building that could seat thirty five hundred. 

Sammartino retired from North American wrestling full-time in 1981, in a match that opened the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Sammartino pinned George "The Animal" Steele in his match. Sammartino then finished up his full-time career by touring Japan.

After leaving the WWF, Sammartino became an outspoken critic of the path on which Vince McMahon has taken professional wrestling. He particularly criticized the use of steroids and "vulgar" storylines. He appeared in the media in opposition to the WWE on such shows such as The Phil Donahue Show, Geraldo and CNN.

Sammartino worked as a commentator for the Universal Wrestling Federation. On October 28, 1989, Sammartino made a special appearance at the NWA pay-per-view event Halloween Havoc, where he was the special guest referee in a "Thunderdome" cage match which featured Ric Flair and Sting taking on Terry Funk and The Great Muta. 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 also acted as special guest referee in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for a series of matches between Flair and Randy Savage in June 1996.

In 2006, he signed an independent deal with Jakks Pacific to produce an action figure, which is part of the WWE Classic Superstars line, Series 10.

On March 25, 2010, Sammartino was honored at the 74th annual Dapper Dan Dinner, a popular awards and charity fundraising event in Pittsburgh, with a lifetime achievement award, for which fellow former Studio Wrestling personalities Bill Cardille, "Jumping" Johnny De Fazio, Dominic DeNucci, Frank Durso, and referee Andy "Kid" DePaul were all present.

In 2013, Sammartino accepted an invitation for induction into the WWE Hall of Fame, after having declined several times in prior years. He finally accepted the offer to join because he was satisfied with the way the company had addressed his concerns about the direction of the business. The ceremony took place at Madison Square Garden on April 6, 2013, and Sammartino was inducted by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sammartino appeared on the October 7, 2013, episode of Raw and received a birthday greeting in his hometown of Pittsburgh. At WrestleMania Axxess in April 2014, Sammartino, with Triple H, unveiled a statue created in Sammartino's image and honor.On March 28, 2015, Sammartino inducted Larry Zbyszko into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Sammartino underwent heart surgery in 2011. He died on April 18, 2018, at the age of 82 after being hospitalized for two months. WWE honored his life with a ten-bell salute before a house show in Cape Town later that day, and again on the April 23 episode of Raw in St. Louis.

Accolades: 

Sammartino was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2002

Sammartino was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013

 Source : Wikipedia with fact checking

Sammartino received a WWE Bronze Statue in 2014

International Sports Hall of Fame

Class of 2013[48]

Maple Leaf Wrestling

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Toronto version) (1 time) – with Whipper Billy Watson[12]

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Toronto version) (1 time)[49]

NWA Hollywood

Los Angeles Battle Royal (1972)[50]

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1976)[19]

Match of the Year (1972) Battle royal on January 14, Los Angeles, California[19]

Match of the Year (1975) vs. Spiros Arion on March 17, New York City[19]

Match of the Year (1976) vs. Stan Hansen on June 25, Queens, New York[19]

Match of the Year (1977) vs. Superstar Billy Graham on April 30, Baltimore, Maryland[19]

Match of the Year (1980) vs. Larry Zbyszko at Showdown at Shea in a steel cage match[19]

Stanley Weston Award (1981)[19]

Wrestler of the Year (1974)[19]

PWI ranked him No. 200 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003[51]

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum

Class of 2002[52]

World Wide Wrestling Alliance

Hall of Fame (Class of 2008)[53]

World Wide Wrestling Federation/WWE

WWWF International Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Dominic DeNucci (1) and Tony Marino (1)[15]

WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Spiros Arion[12]

WWWF World Heavyweight Championship/WWWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2013)[31]

World Wrestling Association (Indianapolis)

WWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Dick the Bruiser

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Feud of the Year (1980) vs. Larry Zbyszko[citation needed]

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)