Bruno Sammartino

Real name: Bruno Laopardo Francesco Sammartino
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 260 lbs.
Date of birth: October 6, 1935
Date of death: April 18, 2018
Born: Pizzoferrato, Italy
Pro debut: December 1959
Trained by: Rex Peary
Finishing move: The Bearhug

Biography

– On December 17, 1959, Bruno Sammartino defeated Dmitri Grabowski (Sammartino’s professional debut)
– On December 23, 1959, Bruno Sammartino defeated Miguel Torres
– On May 17, 1963, Bruno Sammartino defeated Buddy Rogers to win the WWWF World Title
– On June 3, 1963, Bruno Sammartino defeated Hans Mortier in a two-out-of-three falls match to retain the WWWF World Title
– On October 4, 1963, Gorilla Monsoon defeated Bruno Sammartino by DQ (Sammartino retained the WWWF World Title)
– On September 28, 1965, Bruno Sammartino defeated Tarzan Tyler
– On January 18, 1971, Ivan Koloff defeated Bruno Sammartino to win the WWWF World Title
– On September 30, 1972, Bruno Sammartino fought Pedro Morales to a 1 hour 16 minute time-limit draw
– On November 17, 1973, Bruno Sammartino defeated Ivan Koloff with Gorilla Monsoon as special guest referee
– On December 10, 1973, Bruno Sammartino defeated Stan Stasiak to win the WWWF World Title, becoming the first man to hold the title twice
– On December 16, 1975, Bruno Sammartino defeated Ivan Koloff in a Cage Match to retain the WWWF World Title
– On February 2, 1976, Bruno Sammartino defeated Billy Graham by referee stoppage
– On March 29, 1976, Bruno Sammartino & Tony Parisi defeated Billy Graham & Ivan Koloff
– On April 26, 1976, Stan Hansen defeated Bruno Sammartino by referee stoppage
– On June 25, 1976, Bruno Sammartino defeated Stan Hansen by countout
– On December 12, 1976, Bruno Sammartino defeated Stan Stasiak in a Sicilian Stretcher Match
– On March 7, 1977, Bruno Sammartino defeated Ken Patera with Gorilla Monsoon as special guest referee
– On May 1, 1977, Billy Graham defeated Bruno Sammartino to win the WWWF World Title
– On June 27, 1977, Bruno Sammartino fought Billy Graham to a time-limit draw
– On April 12, 1980, Bruno Sammartino defeated Larry Zbyszko in a Texas Death Match
– On August 9, 1980, Bruno Sammartino defeated Larry Zbyszko in a Cage Match
– On March 17, 1985, Bruno Sammartino & David Sammartino defeated Paul Orndorff & Bobby Heenan
– On October 26, 1985, Bruno Sammartino & Paul Orndorff defeated Roddy Piper & Bob Orton in a Cage Match
– On August 29, 1987, Bruno Sammartino & Hulk Hogan defeated King Kong Bundy & One Man Gang (Sammartino’s last match)
– Sammartino has continued to make wrestling appearances, but has not broken his in-ring retirement
– On April 6, 2013, Sammartino was inducted into the WWE hall of fame at Madison Square Garden.
– Sammartino inducted Larry Zbyszko into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015
– Sammartino died on April 18, 2018 at the age of 82.