It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce that the late, great, Bruno Sammartino has passed away at the age of 82. The WWE Hall of Famer and Living legend made a mark on the pro wrestling world that will never be duplicated.
Sammartino held the WWE World Championship for an astounding 2800 days which started May 17th, 1963. That’s almost 8 years as WWE Champion. Sammartino caught the eye of then Vince McMahon Sr. in 1959 when he set the world record by bench pressing 565 pounds. Not long after he would start his career in pro wrestling.
Bruno won his first title by defeating Buddy Rogers in 48 seconds in front of 20,000 fans at Madison Square Garden in New York City. His rivalries includes wrestling greats like Killer Kowalski, George “The Animal” Steele, Gorilla Monsoon, and other Hall of Famers.
In my past doing sports talk, I had the pleasure to interview Bruno several times. He was always a class act, and loved the wrestling business as I have. I still have a dual signed autograph on my wall of Bruno and Larry Zbyszko hanging on a wall in my office. You’ll be missed living legend, until we meet again.