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What’s the story?
During the recent edition of the E&C Pod of Awesomeness, former WWE World Champion Edge opened up about the influence of the late great Bruno Sammartino, and also weighed in on the passing of his fellow WWE Hall of Famer.
In case you didn’t know…
Dubbed as “The Living Legend”, Bruno Sammartino is widely popular and is best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), where he previously won the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship on two different occasions.
Over the course of his two reigns, Sammartino held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship for a total of 4,040 days (more than 11 years in total) and his first reign with the belt is the longest ever in the promotion’s history at 2,803 days.
The heart of the matter
“The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino, unfortunately, passed away earlier this month and following his death, several Superstars and wrestlers from around the globe have paid their respects and tribute to the former two-time WWWF World Heavyweight Champion, and in the recent edition of The E&C Podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Edge also weighed in his thoughts on Sammartino’s death and his influence as well. (H/T: Wrestling Inc)
According to Edge, he believes that Sammartino’s death certainly felt like the end of an era, in terms of being the biggest star in the history of WWE/WWF and his two combined reigns as World Champion for a total of 4,040 days is an absolutely remarkable achievement, which is very uncertain to happen in today’s day and age in the Pro Wrestling industry.
“I mean, you can say 'Stone Cold' [Steve Austin] and you can say [Hulk] Hogan, but if you're looking at MSG sellouts, if you're looking at… I mean, Bruno, man, was champ I think you're looking at, combined in two reigns, 11 years, like, 4,000 however many days. That doesn't happen nowadays."
Additionally, Edge also claimed that Sammartino was an absolute class act in the wrestling industry, who was an inspiration to many superstars at the time.
"I think you had an entire culture, especially to Italians and immigrants coming over to this country, here's a guy who came over without anything and really made himself. It’s just a classic underdog, everyman story, but more importantly than whatever the accolades are in [pro] wrestling, which are obviously numerous, stack up better to anybody's, to be honest, in meeting Bruno over the years, he was just a thoroughly classy, professional. He was just a classy, classy man and there's just no other way to explain it."
What’s next?
Despite the death of Bruno Sammartino, his legacy will forever live in the history of Professional history and his influence will definitely be looked up for years to come.
Author’s Take
Bruno Sammartino was an absolute legend of the business and despite his unfortunate death, the former the WWE Hall of Fame will always live in our memories.
