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83. Bruno Sammartino
Hold the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship for 4,040 days and what do you get? Number 83 on my list of favorite wrestlers of all time. I like Bruno Sammartino the same way that I liked Lou Gerig and Joe DiMaggio as baseball players. I wasn’t born at the right time to see those guys play and I was too young to see Bruno’s prime, or really even see the end of his career, but from what I’ve seen of those men I really like.
The reason I like Bruno Sammartino is because my grandfather love Bruno. I grew up hearing stories of Bruno Sammartio, and he always remined my grandfather’s favorite wrestler of all time (interestingly enough #2 was John Cena). My grandfather was in the building when Bruno’s 7+ year title reign came to an end in Madison Square Garden. You hear enough of these tall tales as a kid and you can’t help but become a fan.
From what I’ve seen of Bruno he was a pretty good wrestler. He had the whole baby face thing down pat. He wasn’t crazy with intensity like Hogan or Cena he was just a humble guy that came to the ring with his manager (and as my grandfather always noted the manager would always go to the back) he was humble and he was the best in the world. By today’s standards he was pretty bland, but its tough for me to look at it objectively, I tie Bruno in with my grandfather and I can’t help but like the guy.
Favorite Moment:
Bruno Sammartino defeating Larry Zbyszko at Shea Stadium.
Favorite Match:
Bruno Sammartino [c] v. Ivan Koloff (Cage Match for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship, WWWF on MSG Network 12/15/1975)
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