Despite Bruno Sammartino’s age and strength advantage, many fans were shocked to see the newcomer manhandle such a legendary competitor as Buddy Rogers. But to those who knew Sammartino intimately, the victory was a mere formality. The Bruno Sammartino they knew was a fighter who had spent much of his life overcoming insurmountable odds just to survive. After watching him stare death in the eye without even blinking, they knew there was no limit to what Sammartino could accomplish.
Bruno Sammartino.
As a young boy, Bruno and his family spent fourteen months hiding from the Nazis in the mountains of Abruzzo, Italy. During that time, rheumatic fever nearly claimed the future WWE Champion. But he refused to give up, and when World War II finally ended, the Sammartinos traveled to Pittsburgh with hopes of starting anew.
For fourteen-year-old Bruno, life was considerably easier than what he was forced to endure in the mountains. However, he wasn’t exactly living the American dream; his schoolmates regularly tormented him for his inability to properly speak English. At just eighty pounds, the foreign newcomer could do little to stop the physical harassment of the larger bullies.
One day, after being pushed around one too many times, a determined Sammartino walked into his local YMCA. He began an extensive weight-lifting program, and within two years he had bulked up to an impressive 257 pounds. Needless to say, the bullying ceased, but Sammartino’s growing passion for weightlifting did not. By the end of 1959, he had owned world records for the bench press (569 pounds), squat (715 pounds), and deadlift (700 pounds).
Ivan Koloff vs. Bruno Sammartino.
A professional wrestling career was the logical next step for the accomplished weightlifter. Sammartino made his pro debut in 1959, defeating Dmitri Grabowski in a mere nineteen seconds. The large Italian fan base in New York became instantly enamored by their hulking countryman, and within six months he was headlining Madison Square Garden. But his career hit an unexpected speed bump after being suspended by many states’ athletic commissions for unknowingly missing a match due to a scheduling snafu. As a result, finding work in the United States became a difficult task, so he took his game north of the border. The move proved seamless for Sammartino, who was welcomed with open arms by Toronto’s large Italian population.
After learning that Sammartino’s popularity transcended borders, McMahon and Mondt quickly paid his state athletic commission fines and lured him back to Capitol Wrestling fulltime in February 1963. Three months later, he defeated Buddy Rogers to become history’s second-ever WWE Champion. For Sammartino, the win kicked off a meteoric rise in popularity that reached well beyond the ring. Even the pope was a fan: After learning of Sammartino’s exploits, Pope Paul VI happily welcomed the champ to the Vatican for a private visit.
Alongside manager Arnold Skaaland, Sammartino tirelessly toured the globe, helping to give the newly formed championship its prestigious world title recognition. But it was in New York’s Madison Square Garden where the champ had his greatest successes against the likes of Gorilla Monsoon, Hans Mortier, Gene Kiniski, Dr. Jerry Graham, and Killer Kowalski, who was generally regarded as the biggest threat to Sammartino during the 1960s. The two Superstars battled in some of history’s most brutal matches, most notably a vicious Stretcher Match under the stars at Boston’s famed Fenway Park. The champ successfully retained the title that night after nailing Kowalski with a wooden chair.
By 1971, Sammartino’s nearly eight years with the gold saw him turn back all comers, large and small, leaving many spectators to assume he would simply never lose. But with the Cold War at its height, those fans saw their worst fears realized when the Russian Ivan Koloff stunned a sold-out MSG crowd, pinning Sammartino in the middle of the ring following a kneedrop from the top rope.
Bruno Sammartino didn’t have the charisma of The Rock, nor did he possess the technical prowess of Bret Hart. But he had the power of an ox and the uncanny ability to draw the fans’ support. For an unprecedented seven years, eight months, and one day, those fans stood behind their champion as he reached heights never before seen. But on January 18, 1971, it all came crashing down when the WWE Championship fell into the possession of the dreaded Russian Bear.