Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (6 October 1935 – 18 April 2018) was an Italian-American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship (now known as the WWE Championship) 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 is overall a two-time world champion in professional wrestling. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.
Dubbed "The Italian Strongman” and "The Strongest Man in the World" early in his career, Sammartino later earned the title "The Living Legend". Known for his powerful bearhug finishing move, Sammartino became a vocal critic of the drug use and raunchier storylines that became prevalent in the professional wrestling industry after his retirement but he reconciled with WWE in 2013 and headlined their Hall of Fame ceremony that year. Terry Funk commented that Sammartino "was bigger than wrestling itself".
Early life
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino was born in Pizzoferrato, Abruzzo, Italy, to Alfonso and Emilia Sammartino on October 6, 1935. He was the youngest of seven children, four of whom died during his early childhood. When he was four, his father emigrated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During World War II, Pizzoferrato was invaded by troops of the Waffen SS, leading Emilia to hide Bruno and his siblings in a remote hideout at the top of a nearby mountain called Valla Rocca. During this time, his mother would sneak into their German-occupied town for food and supplies. In 1950, she and the children joined her husband in Pittsburgh.
When the Sammartinos arrived in the U.S., Bruno spoke no English and was sickly from the privations of the war years. This made him an easy target for bullies at Schenley High School. He turned to weightlifting and wrestling to build himself up. 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.
In 1959, Sammartino set a world record in the bench press with a lift of , done without elbow or wrist wraps. When he brought the bar down, he did not bounce it off his chest, but set it there for two seconds before attempting the press. He trained in wrestling with Rex Peery, the University of Pittsburgh team coach.
He also became known for performing strongman stunts in the Pittsburgh area, and sportscaster Bob Prince put him on his television show. It was there that he was spotted by local professional wrestling promoter Rudy Miller, who recruited the young man into the ring.
Professional wrestling career
Early years (1959–1963) Sammartino made his professional debut in Pittsburgh on 17 December 1959, pinning Dmitri Grabowski in 19 seconds. Sammartino's first match in Madison Square Garden in New York City was on 2 January 1960, defeating Bull Curry in five minutes.
Feeling like he was being held back in the New York territory in favor of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) star Buddy Rogers, Sammartino gave his notice to Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) owner Vince McMahon Sr. and planned to go to San Francisco to work for Roy Shire. While on his way to California, he missed two bookings in Baltimore and Chicago, and as a result was suspended in those territories. California honored the other state's suspension, leaving Sammartino out of work. In his autobiography, Sammartino states that he believed McMahon set him up, by double-booking him and not informing him of his match in Baltimore, as a way of punishment. Sammartino was forced to return to Pittsburgh and found work as a laborer.
On the advice of wrestler Yukon Eric, Sammartino contacted Toronto promoter Frank Tunney hoping to take advantage of Toronto's large Italian population. Sammartino made his Toronto debut in March 1962 and very quickly, with the help of self-promotion in local newspapers and radio programs, became an attraction. His ability to speak Italian also ingratiated him with that immigrant population. With Whipper Billy Watson, Sammartino won his first professional wrestling championship in September 1962, the local version of the International Tag Team Championship. Soon, he was in demand by other promoters in different Canadian territories.