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“Bruno Sammartino was my father’s favourite performer; he was his father’s favourite performer. In an area of the country where he was meant to shine, he did just that.” – John Cena on Bruno Sammartino.
If you ask any professional wrestling fan of the 60s and 70s who their favourite ‘rassler’ was, it’s safe to say that almost half would answer Bruno Sammartino. Looking at the past, it’s almost impossible to see WWWF and later the WWF achieving the heights it has, without the pillar of their foundation, Bruno Sammartino. At a time when professional wrestling was slowly crawling into homes of people in North America, it was Bruno who helped Vince McMahon Sr. to beat his competitors, even though Vince Sr. had once black listed him from all the other promotions in North America!
Bruno Sammartino was a man of integrity, something that was very rare in the old days, and still is in today’s professional wrestling circuit. Back in the good old days, professional wrestling was nothing short of a sacred art, something that had to be honed and crafted, and you had to spend about a decade learning the craft. At a time when professional wrestlers were only looking out for themselves, and would often indulge in ‘shoot’ matches where they’d go out of kayfabe and beat their opponents (thus luring more money out of the bookers and promoters for returning the belt), Bruno used to wrestle even on Sundays for someone who had helped him through his rough days.
Bruno is remembered to be the longest reigning WWE Champion in the history of the company, but it was more than just that. Bruno helped Vince McMahon Sr. and the WWWF in getting record gates and revenues at a time when the company was in a slump. Bruno Sammartino was arguably the biggest draw in professional wrestling during the mid 60s and early 70s, but he will also be remembered to be the person who openly criticized Vince Sr. and then, Vince Jr. for how he treated professional wrestling, something Bruno had worked for throughout his career.
“Incredible star, and someone who carried the championship with pride and honour.” – William Regal on Bruno Sammartino.
During the mid 80s, Vince McMahon Jr. had a vision that was completely different from his father’s. He wanted to make professional wrestling more ‘entertaining’ and ‘gimmick oriented’. Thus, he broke the sacred rule of professional wrestling, which was taking the reality out of the business. When you have flashy gimmicks and hard-to-believe stories, people start questioning the legitimacy of the sport, which was something the veterans had shed blood and tears to hide. Very few people would know that after the famous flight accident of Ric Flair and his friends, one person who was a part of the accident was asked to wrestle in the same week to keep the kayfabe safe! In a business with such performers, Bruno was right in getting mad at Vince McMahon Jr.
Other than that, it was also well known that Bruno’s son wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps, but Vince Jr. used him as bait in making his father wrestle, to increase the gates and when Bruno didn’t get in the ring, David, son of Bruno, was involved in mediocre matches and feuds. There was a point when David, who was scheduled to win a match against a jobber, went against the script and forfeited the match, to the surprise of the referee and his opponent! David was tired and angry at how he was being treated, and decided to show his anger in this fashion. But the biggest reason for Bruno being upset at Vince was that Vince believed David was ‘too small’ to be the face of the company, which led to David using steroids and drugs, leading to his separation from his father.
“Every time I go to the New York area, an older person will come up to me and go ‘Man, before your time I used to watch Bruno Sammartino. He was amazing! He was great!’ So it’s just fun to hear that, and that’s how you know you’re great” -The Miz on Sammartino.
But perhaps, the biggest reason why Bruno held disdain for Vince McMahon Jr. and the WWF/E, was because of the route Vince took during the famous ‘Attitude Era’. Bruno always looked at professional wrestling with pride and honour, something he and his peers had dedicated their lives to. And when Bruno found out that Vince had taken a turn for the worst, which included nudity, abuses and explicit content, Bruno felt betrayed. Bruno has always been a proud man, and sometimes, that can work against a person. Bruno deserved to go into the Hall of Fame along with Andre The Giant, but Bruno never accepted the WWF/E’s offer.
There can only be very few people with the character of Bruno Sammartino. Surviving against the odds as a child to wrestling Orangutans for a mere 50 bucks, Bruno had worked his way up in life, and in professional wrestling. This year saw Bruno finally getting into the WWE Hall of Fame, and while the major reason for Bruno forgiving Vince is because of WWE taking a PG direction, Bruno also buried the hatchet with Vince, something that was long overdue. With Bruno in the Hall of Fame, the WWE HoF received legitimacy, something which can only be done by a ‘Once in a lifetime’ performer, and Bruno was just that. Even though everything around him crumbled into dust and smoke, Bruno remained as the flag bearer of professional wrestling, someone who carried the business and maintained its dignity, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
