Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Sammartino's first reign as WWF World Heavyweight Champion is the longest recognized men's world title reign in wrestling history.
Born in Italy to a family of seven, Sammartino grew up in poverty. As a child, Sammartino survived the German occupation of Italy during World War II. In 1950, he came to the United States with his family, where they would settle in Pittsburgh. Sammartino would later take up bodybuilding before beginning his career as a professional wrestler in 1959.
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 wrestled for various territories in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) before joining the WWWF territory.
Already recognized as a future star, Sammartino won the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in 1963 after beating the inaugural champion, Buddy Rogers, in 48 seconds. He then held the title for a reign of a record 2,803 days, or over seven and a half years. While doing so, he became a popular attraction in Madison Square Garden, selling out the arena numerous times throughout his career. He would later reclaim the WWF Heavyweight Championship in 1973 for another reign of 1,237 days before gradually retiring from full-time competition.
After his retirement, 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 later reconciled with WWE in 2013 and headlined their Hall of Fame ceremony that year. Terry Funk commented that Sammartino "was bigger than wrestling itself".
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 immigrated 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. At one point, young Bruno was lined up for execution by a Nazi machine gun squad, but was saved at the last minute when local men overpowered the Nazis. Despite her heroic efforts, Bruno grew up frail and thin because of the privations. 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 256 kilograms (565 lb), 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.
Sammartino made his professional debut in Pittsburgh on December 17, 1959, pinning Dmitri Grabowski in 19 seconds. Sammartino's first match in Madison Square Garden in New York City was on January 2, 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.
Sammartino also challenged NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz twice for the championship in Canada. One match ended in a draw and the other with Thesz scoring a fluke pin after a collision, despite Sammartino controlling the 20 minute match from the beginning. This match was booked by NWA promoter Sam Muchnick as a preliminary to the forming of the WWWF, to ensure the dominance of the senior organization and its championship.
World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation (1963–1981)
First World Heavyweight Championship reign (1963–1971)
After the first WWWF World Champion, Nature Boy Buddy Rogers, was hospitalized three times in April 1963 for chest pains, Vince McMahon Sr. and Toots Mondt made a command decision to make an emergency title switch. Between Antonino Rocca and Bruno Sammartino they went with the younger Sammartino who was 27 years old at the time. The match was scheduled to be concluded quickly so as not to risk Buddy's health any further. 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. Sammartino won the title on May 17, 1963, defeating Rogers in 48 seconds. 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. Rogers pinned Sammartino for the third and deciding fall. Rogers retired prior to their scheduled title rematch on October 4, 1963, in Jersey City, New Jersey's Roosevelt Stadium. Sammartino instead that night had his first match against new number one contender, Gorilla Monsoon. Because Monsoon won the match by disqualification, Sammartino retained his belt.
On December 8, 1969, he teamed with Tony Marino to win the WWF International Tag Team Championship by defeating The Rising Suns (Tanaka and Mitsu Arakawa). Company policy meant that Sammartino could not hold two championships simultaneously, so he was replaced by Victor Rivera. Sammartino held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship for seven years, eight months, and one day (2,803 days). On January 18, 1971, Sammartino lost the championship at Madison Square Garden to Ivan Koloff. Sammartino recalled the shocked silence that greeted the result, remarking he thought he had damaged his ears. Later that year, he won the International Tag Team Championship for the second time by teaming with Dominic DeNucci. Sammartino took a hiatus from the company in 1971 and 1972 working in Japan, and various territories.
Second World Heavyweight Championship reign (1972–1977)