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Bruno Sammartino has died


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9 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

I wonder, now that he has passed away, will someone finally make the movie about his mother, since he didn't want to approve anything unless it was accurate and not sensationally bio-pic'd. 

I hope his family would continue to respect his wishes vis-a-vis accuracy.

And, really, that story doesn't need added drama. I mean, come on.

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I love that match and there are a whole series of matches tha led up to it. Tito challenged Savage i nthe Garden trying to get the IC strap back but Savage got himself DQd by punching the ref while trapped the figure 4. That led to the rematch at MSG the next month with Bruno as special ref. Tito was on the verge of winning (AGAIN!) when Adonis jumped in the ring and all 4 guys started brawling drawing a DQ. That set up a tag match the next month, Tito & Bruno v. Savage/Adonis. ISavage and Adonis won by countout which set-up the cage match the next month. I was there for all of those matches and seeing Bruno ram Savage and Adonis into a cage filled me with glee!

Just a rally great booked locl feud on the NE circuit and the fans went apeshit for Bruno

James

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So, Bruno was 82. That cage match was in 1986, 32 years ago. He was 50 years old in that cage match, and considered retired and "past his prime". Taker is 53. Hogan and Flair both wrestled in to their 50s. HHH is 48. Just wondering why Bruno "retired" at such a young age, even when other guys like Bockwinkle and Gagne stuck around in to their older years as well.

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3 hours ago, odessasteps said:

I wonder, now that he has passed away, will someone finally make the movie about his mother, since he didn't want to approve anything unless it was accurate and not sensationally bio-pic'd. 

FWIW, I was driving home from work tonight in Pittsburgh listening to one of the FM sports-talk stations. They had on local media personality Larry Richert, who was a close friend of Bruno. He mentioned a documentary on Bruno's life that they were already working on that is almost completed and(most importantly to Larry) had Bruno and his wife's blessing in terms of the story being told accurately. So we'll see what comes from that.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/04/18/wwe-bruno-sammartino-dies-82/

 

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15 minutes ago, MonteCarl said:

So, Bruno was 82. That cage match was in 1986, 32 years ago. He was 50 years old in that cage match, and considered retired and "past his prime". Taker is 53. Hogan and Flair both wrestled in to their 50s. HHH is 48. Just wondering why Bruno "retired" at such a young age, even when other guys like Bockwinkle and Gagne stuck around in to their older years as well.

Working 28 days a month, back injuries, a broken neck, wanting to spend time with his family, especially his elderly mother...

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"You piece of slime!"

 

And then the match that followed:

This was around when I started watching wrestling, so to me Bruno was just the announcer guy. Seeing him get in the ring and people going nuts for him was really surprising to me until my dad told me about his history. 

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Bruno to me existed as more myth than man. I would read about him in the magazines and even in the 90's his shadow loomed large. He was champion for eight years and they described his matches like something out of mythology. That he was never seen on WWF TV and rarely on WCW TV made him seem even bigger.  Larry Zbyszko made his career in that one feud. 

I think he was a really good brawler from his 70's work and I loved his matches with Savage and Honky Tonk Man. Especially realizing his age. 

This is the first time I can think of that an 82 year old dying has surprised me. But he lead a good long life and seemed to have made peace with everyone. 

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18 hours ago, MonteCarl said:

So, Bruno was 82. That cage match was in 1986, 32 years ago. He was 50 years old in that cage match, and considered retired and "past his prime". Taker is 53. Hogan and Flair both wrestled in to their 50s. HHH is 48. Just wondering why Bruno "retired" at such a young age, even when other guys like Bockwinkle and Gagne stuck around in to their older years as well.

If he didnt have the fallout with Vince in sure he would've worked a few MSG shows for a few more years.

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19 hours ago, BrianS81177 said:

"You piece of slime!"

 

And then the match that followed:

This was around when I started watching wrestling, so to me Bruno was just the announcer guy. Seeing him get in the ring and people going nuts for him was really surprising to me until my dad told me about his history. 

This!  This was my first exposure to Bruno as a wrestler and was the first thing to come to mind other than the stuff with Larry. When Bruno lost it and attacked Savage he was doing exactly what this kid in Michigan wanted to do.

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I think Meltzer told the story of Bruno doing a tour of All Japan and becoming friends with Baba.  He had learned that Baba had a hard time fitting into japanese cars, so he sent him a Cadillac (I think it may even have been his car because he was getting a new one), but that Baba was so appreciative of Bruno's act of kindness.

 

I'm glad that Triple H managed to smooth over the heat between Vince and Bruno to get him in the hall of fame while he was still alive.

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21 hours ago, MonteCarl said:

So, Bruno was 82. That cage match was in 1986, 32 years ago. He was 50 years old in that cage match, and considered retired and "past his prime". Taker is 53. Hogan and Flair both wrestled in to their 50s. HHH is 48. Just wondering why Bruno "retired" at such a young age, even when other guys like Bockwinkle and Gagne stuck around in to their older years as well.

Backlund was only 43 when returned with his old vet gimmick.

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15 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

Unbelievably I don't know this, but what was the original cause of Vince and Bruno's falling out? Was it simply the steroid scandal? 

And I think that tied into David juicing too. 

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3 minutes ago, PetrolCB said:

Wasn’t David’s firing after beating up a fan one of the reasons as well?

I know he quit pretty much the moment David got fired. And reportedly the two of them weren't ever particularly close anyway. 

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11 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Unbelievably I don't know this, but what was the original cause of Vince and Bruno's falling out? Was it simply the steroid scandal? 

I think Bruno only came back for David, then David quit over and over. Then David got fired after hitting a fan who spit on him. So Bruno did not have any reason to stay. If you watch his last few months on commentary, he seemed very disinterested. 

I get the impression a lot of Bruno's issues with Vince was him projecting because of David. 

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Steroids and drug use behind the scenes were always his major reasons IIRC. It's crazy how quickly he became a man past his time when yeah, like you say, you've got Hogan and Flair and Taker going way past the career lifespan Bruno had when he decided to walk away 

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I wonder if Taker ever looks around the locker rooms where his old drinking buddies used to lace up their boots while the Clique would be nodding off on downers and be disgusted at all of the video gaming and vlogging. 

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12 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Unbelievably I don't know this, but what was the original cause of Vince and Bruno's falling out? Was it simply the steroid scandal? 

Here's what Bruno told me in 1991 about his mid-1980s run in the WWF:

My son [David] was wrestling against my wishes. I never wanted my son to be a wrestler. I wanted him to go to college, and after college if he wanted to wrestle, he had my blessing, and I'd help him. Because I felt that if he was put through any of the stuff I'd been put through, maybe he might not want to deal with that, and he could have something to fall back on. That's why I so desperately wanted him to go to school. But he told me, with or without my help, he was going to go into wrestling. And he got other people to help him. Honestly, I can't take credit for him wrestling because I did not help him, absolutely not.

But by this time I also had to face up to reality in 1984. David had been wrestling for about four years or so at that time, and there was a question of now accepting that fact. When this guy [Vince McMahon, Jr.] offered me the chance to come back to New York for my input and color commentating, he also said, "We can keep the Sammartino legend going with David." I thought, since David is stubborn, if I can help him, why not?

When I went there, it was false promises. First of all, all [McMahon Jr.] wanted me for was because of my name and reputation with the WWF. I was never asked for any input about anything. In fact, what he wanted was for me to put on my tights again. I refused, but then he got to my kid and he said, "You know, if you can get your father to put on the tights, it'll be a big break for you."

My kid and I, unfortunately, never saw things the same way. He said, "Why can't you, Dad? You're in great shape, you're still running. You're not heavy, but so what, you don't have to be 275 pounds anymore." To not be accused later, if things didn't go well with my kid, I put on the tights. But I was very angry about it.

I saw the changes that were going on in the WWF, and I didn't like it. The ridiculous bizarreness, the gimmickery, the painted faces, stuff that I just didn't believe. Stuff that I didn't like. And I felt that if I don't believe or like this, I shouldn't be here. So I tried to get out, and David said, "You're going to blow it for me to get a chance." So I stayed, but then David became disenchanted, and he quit. And then I knew he had no place to go because by this time, it seemed like all the other territories had gone under. So I stayed in there because I knew David would want to come back, but he's a hot-head. I stayed, McMahon asked me to put on the tights, and I did, because I felt that if I didn't meet his wishes, then how could I bring David back. I felt very angry and frustrated because I felt I was being used to a certain degree, and I blamed McMahon and my kid, I blamed them both.

Finally, I reached the point where I said to myself, "I have to get out of this, because I'm embarrassed to be associated with this organization." I got out, I quit.

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