3.0 3 Ratings. It was no different on the night of May 17, 1963, when. Bruno Sammartino and Buddy Rogers open up about this critical moment in professional wrestling history that all but marked the end of one legendary career and launched another, and the hatred that forever remained between the two. Bruno Sammartino is . [15], Sammartino also challenged NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz twice for the championship in Canada. 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. World Wide Wrestling Federation. Ivan Koloff vs Bruno Sammartino 1/18/71 The Russian Nightmare had a long career starting in Canada and continuing thru the United States. But then on January 24, 1963, something happened. Between 1963 and 1980, he main evented many times and many of those main events drew a full house. However, he is currently on a similar run of holding the belt for an exceptional amount of time with minimal defenses. Cody Rhodes held the WWE Intercontinental Championship for approximately eight months across 2011 and 2012, though in that time he only defended the belt a total of 4 times on pay per view. Bruno's belt was briefly worn by Ivan Kohloff, 3. After leaving the WWF, Sammartino became an outspoken critic of the path on which Vincent K. McMahon had taken professional wrestling. On June 18 2014, Dr. Wagner, Jr. won the title and has kept it ever since. Mr. Sammartino, 50, of Allison Park, was the co-owner of the . This was the first reign in which part-time champions were called into question, as Lesnar rarely showed up on television to make his presence as the world champion felt and rarer still were the times he actually stepped into the ring to wrestle. [17], 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. Can you imagine it? Which brings us to 2017, when Brock Lesnar held the WWE Universal Championship for a phenomenal 504 days after defeating fellow part-timer Bill Goldberg at Wrestlemania 33. The toughest job in my life was climbing in that ring [after] coming out of intensive care and knowing that I could never wrestle again after that. title(s) WWWF MSG Show (Dec '63) Dec 16th 1963: Bruno Sammartino (c) def. When their eyes cleared, they kept fighting each other. Buddy Rogers was wrestling every day and he was NOT in a hospital. [22] Sammartino recalled the shocked silence that greeted the result, remarking he thought he had damaged his ears. On December 8, 1969, he teamed with Tony Marino to win the WWWF International Tag Team Championship by defeating The Rising Suns (Tanaka and Mitsu Arakawa). I was in that hospital for up to 5 days before I wrestled. Page 12, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 18, 1963. If hes willing, then fine., It was funny because Georgiann went and got him, got me, and she stood in the middle. I had seen wrestlers stopped from going to the ring because something wasnt right". [10] His devotion to weightlifting nearly resulted in a berth on the 1956 U.S. Olympic team, which went instead to eventual gold medalist Paul Anderson. And with the US-Russia Cold War now in mass effect, it was the companys resident Russian bad-guy that McMahon turned to. Pro Wrestling Stories - Your daily source of nostalgia and a peek behind the curtain wall of wrestlings past! Yet few people know all the history behind Brunos belt and why some have called it the 'holy grail' of professional wrestling artifacts. ", Disclaimer, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Disclosure. It was time to make a switch. Bruno chose a photo with his 1965 belt for the cover of his autobiography, Bruno Sammartino:The Autobiography of Wrestlings Living Legend, 8. Flair had denigrated Sammartino's wrestling ability in his book To Be the Man. 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. 5 Bruno Sammartino WWE Champion, 2803 Days. Bruno Sammartino was the first two-time WWE Champion. He became the first wrestler to become a WWE triple crown champion. You could hear a pin drop, remembered veteran wrestling journalist Bill Apter in an article for WWE.com recounting his memory at ringside. Number of successful title defenses (and average gap between two defenses) for all the WWE championship reigns But unfortunately for both WWWF and Buddy Rogers, Rogers rising health issues would become an issue sooner than later following a series of heart issues, it was determined that Rogers could no longer be the face of the company. The reason for the split was because Northeast promoters Toots Mondt and Vince McMahon, Sr. controlled Buddy Rogers bookings and wanted to keep Rogers (and the title) in the Northeast. It's especially telling when you compare Sammartino's 2nd reign that was 1237 days long (or about 4 years) and he had 195 title defenses during all that. You dont get another penny out of that field; you dont have anything to do with that field. Sold-out Madison Square Garden 189 times! Tributes from the world of wrestling began flocking in shortly after news of Sammartino's passing, with WWE . May 13 - USA Event: Buddy Rogers (c) vs. Bobo Brazil - Singles match Brazil won by disqualification. An ever-increasing argument in today's wrestling world, in light of a continued use of part-time stars from yesteryear like Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, is how often should we realistically see the world champion defend their belt in televised appearances? On last night's episode of Table For 3. [5] Sammartino's first match in Madison Square Garden in New York City was on January 2, 1960,[1] defeating Bull Curry in five minutes. Wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino has died at the age of 82. George Steele: WWWF Baltimore Show (Apr '77) Apr 30th 1977: Billy Graham: Rogers retired prior to their scheduled title rematch on October 4, 1963, in Jersey City, New Jersey's Roosevelt Stadium. B. Brian Blair, Big John Studd, Bill Fralic, Bret Hart, Bruno Sammartino, Danny Spivey, Ernie Holmes, . He is also a musical performer with his band OdESSA who can be investigated at the link above. To put everything in perspective, if Roman Reigns stays Universal Champion through New Year's Day 2028, he'd still be many, many months short of reaching Sammartino's record title reign length! He would not be declared champion until April 29th, 1963, having won a fictional tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [29] The match ended in a double-disqualification after the Sammartinos began brawling with Beefcake and his manager Johnny Valiant. "The incredible first reign of Bruno Sammartino itself qualifies the 1965-1971WWWF World Championship belt as one of the most significant objects in the history of professional wrestling. RELATED: 10 Failed WWE Champions That Should Have Worked. Louis. Bruno!from 20,000 fans at sold-out Madison Square Garden in New York City reverberated from the rafters a record-setting 187 timesduring hiswrestling career. Some of his defenses ended in time limit draws, and some in DQ, but . If you've watched professional wrestling for any modicum of time, you've surely heard of the name of Bruno Sammartino at least once. [10][11] During World War II, Pizzoferrato was invaded by troops of the Waffen SS, leading Emilia to hide Sammartino and his siblings in a remote hideout at the top of a nearby mountain called Valla Rocca. I cant explain it". When McMahon Sr. gestured for them to shake hands, both wordlessly turned and walked away. His decision to loan the artifact to the IPWHF will not only benefit this organization but allows us to preserve and share thelegacy of the greatest wrestling champion of all time, Bruno Sammartino. He was quickly recruited by Capitol Sports Wrestling (the precursor to WWWF, founded by Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt in 1948, and now under control by Jesss son, Vince McMahon Sr.), but in 1962 he left the promotion. [19] Sammartino and Rogers faced each other two months later at Madison Square Garden in a tag team match, with Rogers and Johnny Barend defeating Sammartino and Bobo Brazil by 2 falls to 1. 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. The World's Most Entertaining Car Website. Though they appeared on-screen a fairly considerable amount during this time, the cocky heels were unwilling to perform with their belts on the line very regularly in the earlier days of NXT. 1 Hour 35 Minutes. In addition, Ivelisse has her first title defense against Mercedes Martinez. But the amount of defenses pales in comparison to the length of time Dunne held the gold. RELATED: Ruthless Aggression: 10 Title Reigns (That We Completely Forgot About). 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. He has now held the belt for 337 days, almost a full calendar year, and yet in that time has only performed in 4 major televised title defenses. 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 the longest single reign in the promotion's history at 2,803 days. He held the World Wide Wrestling Federation titlefor more than 11 years, from1963to1971, and again from 1973 to1977. . Sammartino is honored on the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame. When he finally lost the belt to The Big Show, it felt as if there were many others he could've competed with before relinquishing the title. Sometimes, be they world champions, tag team champions, or otherwise, champions have commitments outside of their championship. Ernie Ladd (center) also drew a sellout crowd with Bruno. Head on over to theLWOS Boardsto engage in conversation with fellow fans! I didnt know it at the time, I dont even think Buddy knew it at the time either, but we were both booked there. April 18, 2018. [17] Soon, he was in demand by other promoters in different Canadian territories. After my heart attack, I told myself to forget [wrestling]. In 2013, Sammartino appeared as one of the Board of Governors in the nationally televised 69th Annual Columbus Day Parade. 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. Just 48 seconds later, Bruno Sammartino was the new champ, and a hero was born. Boston 10/21/75) 21. Author: Matt Pender Jan. 10, 2023. Shinsuke Nakamuraheld the WWE Intercontinental Championship for a total of 201 days throughout the latter half of 2019. ROSS TOWNSHIP PA - Daniel Sammartino, the son of the late wrestling giant Bruno Sammartino, died Tuesday. In early 1977, Sammartino informed McMahon Sr. that he felt he could no longer continue as champion due to his injuries. He held the World Wide Wrestling Federation title for more than 11 years, from 1963 to1971, and again from 1973 to1977. Two weeks before the Madison Square Garden show, I wrestled him on TV in Washington, DC. Bruno Sammartino. That said, Sammartino's record is likely safe, as it's difficult to imagine WWE ever putting a title on someone even remotely as long as his top reign. Because Monsoon won the match by disqualification, thus Sammartino retained his belt. Itis due to hit theaters in 2020and features many images of Bruno and his1965-1971 version of the WWWF World 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. [7] Known for his powerful bearhug[4][5] finishing move, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. [43][44], Sammartino was married to his wife Carol from 1959 until his death in 2018. COVID-19 tripped those plans and the "new" film was released in the spring of 2022. . Ivan Koloff backstage with manager Captain Lou Albano after defeating Bruno Sammartino (Photo: PWI) Sadly, Koloff's reign was short-lived. That firstbelt has been missing for over 50 years and, though still considered stolen property, it is unlikely to be recovered. When the doctor heard that, he called Paul Sullivan, who was the head of the state athletic commission. He lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with his wife and son. [48], On July 26, 2004, Sammartino and Ric Flair were involved in the "Who snubbed who?" [21], At the inaugural WrestleMania on March 31, 1985, Sammartino was in his son David's corner for his match against Brutus Beefcake. In CM Punk's 434 day reign, he defended the title 141 times, or an average of just over once every three . [20] Sammartino took a hiatus from the company in 1971 and 1972 working in Japan, and various territories. California honored the other state's suspension, leaving Sammartino out of work. [15] With Whipper Billy Watson, Sammartino won his first professional wrestling championship in September 1962, the local version of the International Tag Team Championship. "Prior to that, over a period of two years, I defeated Sammartino eleven straight times. He turned to weightlifting and wrestling to build himself up. WWWF Heavyweight Champion (2x) 1237 days. 2022. often gets attributed to other wrestling stories. [14] He died on April 18, 2018, at the age of 82 from multiple organ failure due to heart problems[12] following a two-month hospitalization. Bruno Sammartino often mentioned Don Leo Jonathan when he was asked about his toughest foes. Bruno made a film to tell the story behind his belt. Believe me; I had pains in my chest just walking to the ring". There are paper champions, there are fighting champions, and there are champions who scarcely put their gold up for grabs. May 17 - USA Event: Buddy Rogers (c) vs. Bruno Sammartino - Singles match Sammartino won by submission at 0:48. 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. BILLY GRAHAM IN THE IWE (JAPAN) . [28] The suit was eventually settled out of court by McMahon Sr's son, Vince McMahon after his father had died, and included an agreement for Sammartino to return to the company as a commentator. Morales would hold the title for 1,027 days, but it was clear that Pedro was no Bruno. Irvin Muchnick mentioned the incident in his book, Wrestling Babylon. Brock would then defend the belt a total of three times between then and Wrestlemania, with appearances atNight of Champions, Royal Rumble,and the event itself. A sold-out Garden. NEXT: 5 Longest & 5 Shortest WCW Title Reigns. From 20,000 fans at sold-out Madison Square Garden show, I defeated Sammartino straight! 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