Bruno Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-American professional wrestler. He was born on October 6, 1935 in Italy. He became a wrestler in 1959. He would often beat opponents with his bearhug.
On May 17, 1963, Bruno beat Buddy Rogers to become the second World Wide Wrestling Federation champion. He held this title for over seven years, a record for professional wrestling world champions. He had his first match in Japan in 1967. He lost to Ivan Koloff on January 18, 1971. On December 10, 1973, Sammartino beat Stan Stasiak to once again be the champion. Billy Graham won the championship from Bruno on April 30, 1977 in Baltimore. World Wide Wrestling Federation became the World Wrestling Federation in March 1979. Sammartino wrestled less often after but he did have classic feud with Larry Zbyszko that ended in a steel cage match at Shea Stadium in 1980. He retired in 1987. Sammartino was also a commentator with Vince McMahon.
In 2013, he accepted an invitation for induction into the WWE Hall of Fame, after he declined many times in prior years.
Sammartino died on April 18, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of multiple organ failure caused by heart disease at the age of 82.
