Bruno Samartino just passed at age 82. Back when I was a young man- when the topic of Pro Wrestling was brought up-- the name of Bruno Samartino always came up. I remember him picking up 601lb Haystacks Calhoun in a bodyslam. I remember back in the early to mid 1970s when wrestling was on Saturday night. Always looked forward to seeing Bruno in the ring. His matches against Superstar Billy Graham were epic. Don't know if too many young men here know who he was. He like Graham were 2 of the all time pro wrestling greats.
He was an icon in pro wrestling....Rip Bruno
Read the stories of how he and his family hid from the nazis in occupied Italy during the war, amazing life stories !
RIP-Bruno
He lived longer than a lot of them. It's amazing how many wrestlers have passed. A good friend of mine Ron Heard aka Ron Bass passed away last February. That's a rough life.
The outlaw...Rip.
I got to see him at the very tail end of his career, he was a good entertainer even at the end. I can't recall his sons name but I know he was an entertainer as well. My era was more the Hulk Hogan, Jimmy "Superfly Snuka, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat era.
His son's name was David.
Quote from: Sir-diealot on April 18, 2018, 08:03:01 PM
I got to see him at the very tail end of his career, he was a good entertainer even at the end. I can't recall his sons name but I know he was an entertainer as well. My era was more the Hulk Hogan, Jimmy "Superfly Snuka, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat era.
I had Jimmy super fly down at my place for a weekend .wow could that man party .hard drinking.and a ton of laughs.
Quote from: dutch@fx4 on April 18, 2018, 08:39:02 PM
Quote from: Sir-diealot on April 18, 2018, 08:03:01 PM
I got to see him at the very tail end of his career, he was a good entertainer even at the end. I can't recall his sons name but I know he was an entertainer as well. My era was more the Hulk Hogan, Jimmy "Superfly Snuka, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat era.
I had Jimmy super fly down at my place for a weekend .wow could that man party .hard drinking.and a ton of laughs.
Yea I heard he could party pretty hard. Got to see him live in Buffalo, NY when I was young. Him, Hulk Hogan, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Cowboy Bob Orton, Ivan Polish Power Putski, Jesse "The Body" Ventura and others.
I don't remember him, but I do remember several of the older wrestlers. My mom watched it EVERY Saturday night. My dad would laugh at us about how excited and into "it" we would get. Just a few I remember...Hansom Harley Race, Danny Little Bear, The Viking, Terry Funk Jr, Rufus R. Jones, and The Russian.
I remember going one time and my sister took me to get autographs from several of the wrestlers. At the time I didn't realize it(I was only about 9yrs old, now I'm 56), but Danny Little Bear and the Viking were hitting on my sister. They were standing about 15' apart laughing and joking around. 30 minutes later they were "beating" the crap out of each other in the ring.
RIP Bruno.
Another icon of my youth.....gone.
RIP....My Dad use to love watching wrestling back in the day. About the only ones I still remember are Bulldog Bob Brown and Andre the Giant...
Rip. I met Aundre the Giant he was wrestling Big John Stud seen Snuka, Junk Yard dog, Jake the snake and Sarg slauter back in the early 80's.
I vaguely remember him. Wow, Saturday's as a kid were just awesome! Get up before day to watch cartoons until lunch, watch Mid-South Wrestling out of Memphis...play all day outside, then finish it up with wrestling until way past my bedtime! Good times great memories!
Just today, I typed in- Bruno Samartino's Greatest Matches and sure enough- that 1975 match between Bruno and Superstar Billy Graham popped up. Another with Ernie(The Cat) Ladd. That guy is still alive, I believe and went 6'9". Even a old black and white match with Hans Schmidt. Good last name there.
As far as interviews-- I remember very well Bruno talking about his upcoming match with Superstar Billy Graham and comparing their best Bench Press. I remember Bruno saying, I have done 560lbs- but Graham claims 600. Both totals are true by the way. Current Champ Roman Reighns has done 445lbs. Big difference for sure! Back in those days Vince McMahan was just on a (mike) and interviewed people. Good memories this morning watching Bruno on Utube.