bruno sammartino title defenses
When Lou Thesz came out of semi-retirement on January 24th, 1963, in Toronto to fight Buddy Rogers for the World Heavyweight Championship, Rogers was supposedly having second thoughts about dropping the title to Thesz. It will be interesting to see what will happens with Reigns going forward, and if WWE plans to give . Earth, receive an honored guest: Legendary WWE champion and phenomenally strong man Bruno Sammartino has been laid to reset. He held the World Wide Wrestling Federation titlefor more than 11 years, from1963to1971, and again from 1973 to1977. Considering the title switch a screwjob, Rogers left the NWA and Capitol Sports seceded from the NWA, rebranding as WWWF and recognizing Rogers as the true World Champion by awarding him the first ever WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in April of 1963. These are ten resulting championship reigns which lasted a considerable amount of time, but featured very few notable matches for the title in question. Pro wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino dies at 82, "Without Toronto, there would have been no Bruno Sammartino", "10 championships you never knew existed in WWE", "Remembering Bruno Sammartino, the singular face of a bygone pro wrestling era", Bruno Sammartino v. Capitol Wrestling Corporation and Vince McMahon, "Professional wrestling great Bruno Sammartino dies at 82", "Sammartino: McMahon is 'a sick-minded idiot', "Bruno's bad call on WWE Hall of Fame shows Vince is right everyone has a price", "Dapper Dan: Malkin, Sammartino, Penn State volleyball claim awards", "WWE to induct Bruno Sammartino into HOF", "WWE NEWS: Hall of Fame 2013 report - Complete "virtual-time" coverage of ceremony with Sammartino & Co., Stratus announces big news, Trump-McMahon?, more", "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 10/7 (Hour 1): Battleground PPV fall-out, WWE Title match to continue at next PPV, one "firing", Bruno Sammartino, more", "WWE HALL OF FAME REPORT 3/28: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of 2015 Ceremony - Randy Savage inducted, Nash, Zbysko, Schwarzenegger, Flair, Michaels, more", "Bruno Sammartino Behind The Championship Belt", "Madison Square Garden Pays Tribute To Bruno Sammartino", "New WWE 2K14 DLC Introduces More Superstars", "WWE 2K23 Roster Official List | WWE 2K23", "Wrestling with fame: Bruno Sammartino still a hero to fans", "Bruno Sammartino given key to Jersey City before his induction into WWE Hall of Fame", "WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino dies at age 82", "WWE Hall Of Famer Bruno Sammartino Dies At 82", "Bruno Sammartino, wrestling's original good-guy hero, dies at 82", "WWE Raw live results: Brock Lesnar returns to TV", "2019 TRAGOS/THESZ PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME CLASS ANNOUNCED - PWInsider.com", "Induction Weekend 2022 | Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame", "Keystone Sate Wrestling Alliance - Hall of Fame", "Bruno Sammartino body slams hall of fame", "WWWA honors Bruno Sammartino, and vice versa", "Triple H reveals Bruno Sammartino statue at WrestleMania Axxess", "W.W.A. Matches. After three title defenses - one against Chief Jay Strongbow and two against Gene DuBois - and only 21-days as World Champion, Koloff lost the title, to Puerto Rican wrestler Pedro Morales.Eager to recapture the support of the immigrant wave that had . WWF House Show - House Show @ Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. #1 Bruno Sammartino - 2803 days (May 17, 1963 - January 18, 1971) Bruno Sammartino's inaugural reign as WWWF Champion is the longest World Title reign in WWE history. [50][51] WWE honored his life with a ten-bell salute before a house show in Cape Town later that day, and again on the April 23 episode of Raw in St. Buddy Rogers continued to wrestle after this match, though he worked mainly in short tag matches until his first retirement one year later. [9], Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino was born in Pizzoferrato, Abruzzo, Italy, to Alfonso and Emilia Sammartino on October 6, 1935. WWA World Tag Team Champion (with Dick The Bruiser as Annihilation Inc.) "The incredible first reign of Bruno Sammartino itself qualifies the 1965-1971WWWF World Championship belt as one of the most significant objects in the history of professional wrestling. Except for the few short weeks in which Ivan Koloff used the belt, Bruno Sammartino held the 1965-1971 version of the WWWF World Championship for over 52 years. Yet few people know all the history behind Brunos belt and why some have called it the 'holy grail' of professional wrestling artifacts. With John Atkins, Angela Capri, Primo Carnera, John Cena. Ivan Koloff was actually a pro wrestler from Montreal, Quebec in Canada, and after starting out in the Canadian indies in 1961, soon adopted a Russian gimmick, under the name Ivan Zukoff. By Ian Carey Feb 5, 2023. So, that was the big break, if you will. Matt Pender is an old-school wrestling fan who currently lives in New Zealand. But then on January 24, 1963, something happened. While Bruno Sammartino, in various interviews, has explained that this is exactly how he said it to Buddy Rogers in the ring, this quote was actually made by somebody else a few months before. Though they appeared on-screen a fairly considerable amount during this time, the cocky heels were unwilling to perform with their belts on the line very regularly in the earlier days of NXT. Fifty years ago, on January 18, 1971, Ivan Koloff delivered a Russian Leg Drop to World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino in Madison Square Garden in New York City to get the 1-2-3, becoming only the third man to hold the WWWF World Championship. Bruno Sammartino earned his fame. And a packed Madison Square Garden, who had become accustomed to wildly cheering Bruno Sammartino after each title defense, was shocked into complete silence. In winning the title, Sammartino became the second WWE Champion in the company's history and did so in just 48 seconds. His final attempt was in Philadelphia, just a few days before Graham was scheduled to lose the title to Bob Backlund. There, he held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship (WWWF Heavyweight Championship during his second reign) for more than 11 years (4,040 days) across two reigns, the first of which is the longest single reign in the promotion's history at 2,803 days. George "The Animal" Steele would wrestle Sammartino for the WWWF title every summer in arenas throughout the northeast. Bruno Sammartino,a 96-minute documentary written and directed by Patrea Patrick and presented by HM3Bruno, has received critical acclaim during the film's limited release in late 2019. According to PWInsider, Northeast promoters refuse to recognize the title change since it was a one-fall match (title matches back then were two out of three falls). Rhodes appeared in several multi-man matches during this time such as the Money in the Bank ladder match and the Elimination Chamber, where opportunities at a loftier prize outweighed defending the title he already held. Technically, this means three of the first four World Champions of the WWWF wore the same belt; however, Brunos belt was retired and replaced by a significantly lesser-quality belt for Pedro Morales, which did not last long. FULL DESCRIPTION: This photo measures 8 inches by 10 inches.The photo is clean with no staining. Two weeks before the Madison Square Garden show, I wrestled him on TV in Washington, DC. Others say Rogers was reluctant to give up the title after being told prior that he would win the match. You couldnt achieve a higher goal than winning the title. [32][33][34] He appeared in the media in opposition to the WWE on such shows as The Phil Donahue Show, Geraldo and CNN. When Buddy Rogers saw the attendance, he wanted to get out of there, and he told the doctor he felt a funny pain on his chest. Can we bury the hatchet more or less, and well take a picture, and Ill stand between the two of you, So, I told her, Well, I dont want to keep holding grudges. Turner has agreed to display the King of Classy Titles atthe IPWHF Museum, soon to be built in New York State. Pro Wrestling Stories - Your daily source of nostalgia and a peek behind the curtain wall of wrestlings past! Bruno Sammartino. In 2014 The Beast Incarnate obliterated John Cena atSummerslam to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan in various arenas. May 20 - USA Event: Bruno . I was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in that territory, and Vince McMahon, Sr. was near bankruptcy because that was how poorly this place was doing. [14] Sammartino made his Toronto debut in March 1962 and very quickly, with the help of self-promotion in local newspapers and radio programs, became an attraction. Two weeks later, all syndicated wrestling shows in the WWWF showed a clip of Sammartino and Morales signing a contract for a title match at Shea Stadium. His ability to speak Italian also ingratiated him with that immigrant population. It was the hardest thing in my life to go out of wrestling. Pete Dunne is only the second man in company history to hold the WWE NXT United Kingdom Championship, a belt he held for an overwhelming 685 days. Ivan was awarded Bruno's owntitle belt and carried itfor several weeks during his championship reign. He would briefly return to St. Louis Wrestling Club he challenged Dory Funk Jr. for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight title in May of 1969 in Maple Leaf Gardens by September of that year, he had moved on to New York to begin working with the WWWF. They couldnt believe Bruno got defeated after seven years as champion. One match ended in a draw and the other with Thesz scoring a fluke pin after a collision, despite Sammartino controlling the 20 minute match from the beginning. 3.0 3 Ratings. Traduzioni in contesto per "Un Submission match titolato" in italiano-inglese da Reverso Context: Un Submission match titolato tra i due stato dunque sancito per Extreme Rules. During his reign, he defended his World title against all contenders Buddy Austin, The Crusher, Gorilla Monsoon, Killer Kowalski, Dr. Jerry Graham, Giant Baba, Boris Malenko, Freddie Blassie, Gene Kiniski, George The Animal Steele, Crippler Ray Stevens, Tiger Jeet Singh, and The Sheik were just some of the names to challenge Sammartino during his reign. I used to come home from Toronto, Canada, twice a month every Sunday, because we would be at the Maple Leaf Garden, shows every other Sunday. It had been eight long years as champion, and my schedule had been so hectic, you just couldnt believe it, Sammartino said of his first run (in quotes compiled by ProWrestlingStories.I traveled overseas a lot to Japan and Australia you name it, I went everywhere. Sammartino would go on to hold the title for 2,803 days, nearly eight years(! They were grandparents of four grandchildren. [20] Sammartino held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship for seven years, eight months, and one day (2,803 days). The World's Most Entertaining Car Website. [37] The ceremony took place at Madison Square Garden on April 6, 2013, and Sammartino was inducted by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sammartino worked as a commentator for the Universal Wrestling Federation. Pedro Morales was the champion from 1971 until 1973. Irvin Muchnick mentioned the incident in his book, Wrestling Babylon. Dominic DeNucci Wrestlings Shining Light. Cimino was new to his post and intervened in a match finish involving Sammartino, who took a shot at Cimino in the ring and the argument continued backstage. The superstitious blamed New York's descent into hell in the 1970s as punishment for Bruno losing the title. Lou Thesz, a 2x NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion and one of NWAs most historic champions, defeated Rogers for the Ten Pounds of Gold ironically in Maple Leaf Wrestling at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto ending Rogers World title reign at 573-days. [12][11] During this time, his mother would sneak into their German-occupied town for food and supplies. Per tradition, the NWA World title could only be contested in 2-out-of-3 falls matches, yet Thesz had been crowned champion following a one fall match. I was so beat in so many ways; I was never one to even take an aspirin. 10 Long Championship Reigns With Minimal Title Defenses, Pete Dunne WWE NXT United Kingdom Champion, 685 Days, Cody Rhodes Intercontinental Title, 236 Days, Brock Lesnar WWE World Heavyweight Champion, 224 Days, Brock Lesnar WWE Universal Champion, 504 Days, Shinsuke Nakamura Intercontinental Champion, 201 Days, WALTERWWE NXT United Kingdom Champion, 337+ Days, Blake & Murphy WWE NXT Tag Team Champions, 219 Days, The IIconics WWE Women's Tag Team Titles, 120 Days, Ricochet North American Championship, 161 Days, 10 Failed WWE Champions That Should Have Worked, 10 Superstars Who Were WWE ChampionFor One Day Or Less, remains to be seen who could defeat him in 2020, 5 Wrestlers That Were Better World Champions in WCW (& 5 That Were Better In WWE), Ruthless Aggression: 10 Title Reigns (That We Completely Forgot About), which duo will be next in line to hold these belts. 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