In the late 1960s, Sammartino was involved in a fight with former Pennsylvania Athletic Commissioner Joe Cimino. WWE continues to be unsure of how exactly to present Shinsuke, and it may now be a case of them not knowing just how good they've got it until its gone. WWWF World Championship. Roman Reigns is the wrestler who has come closest to those legendary Bruno Sammartino reigns from the decade of the 60's in this era of pro-wrestling. This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Sammartino faced Piper in both singles and tag team matches. After regaining the title in December 1973 . ~~~Bruno Sammartino would hold the WWWF World title for an incredible EIGHT years straight! Sometimes, be they world champions, tag team champions, or otherwise, champions have commitments outside of their championship. Blake & Murphy were one of the first major holders of the NXT Tag Team Titles, belts that they managed to hold for a total of 219 days. Very bad feelings. Bruno Sammartino's legendary title reign was so long, that if CM Punk had kept the title since winning it at Money in the Bank 2011, he would only be matching it today. And it was 50-years ago this week that that legendary run came to a shocking end in Madison Square Garden. The doctor who was at every show said to Paul Sullivan, I am checking Buddy Rogers blood pressure, and I am listening to his chest, and everything sounds okay, but he claims that he has a pain in his chest. 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. [43][44], Sammartino was married to his wife Carol from 1959 until his death in 2018. Defeating Stan Stasiak, Bruno became the first-ever two-time WWE Champion. Company policy meant that Sammartino could not hold two championships simultaneously, so he was replaced by Victor Rivera. Sammartino would go on to hold the title for 2,803 days, nearly eight years(! Tributes from the world of wrestling began flocking in shortly after news of Sammartino's passing, with WWE . Remarkably, Pedro Morales original golden eagle belt was procured from a pawn shop in Manhattan in late 1974/early 1975 for $75 by renowned wrestling historian, Tom Burke. Bruno's belt is enshrined in the IPWHF Collection, Watch IPWHF President Seth Turner unbox Bruno's historic belt, Bruno Sammartino: Behind The Championship Belt. Which brings us to 2017, when Brock Lesnar held the WWE Universal Championship for a phenomenal 504 days after defeating fellow part-timer Bill Goldberg at Wrestlemania 33. News on all your favorite celebs, reality TV, and movies. (Hornby had 12,989) 10.12.1973 - 30.04.1977. [14], Feeling like he was being held back in the New York territory in favor of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) star Buddy Rogers, Sammartino gave his notice to Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) owner Vince McMahon Sr. and planned to go to San Francisco to work for Roy Shire. The World's Most Entertaining Car Website. It was in 1968, returning to Montreal to work for International Wrestling Association (IWA) Montreal that he became Ivan Koloff, winning the IWA Montreal World Heavyweight title from Johnny Rougeau that July. 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. Legend claims that promoters dragged Buddy Rogers out of his hospital bed just days before his May 17th, 1963 title bout against Bruno Sammartino, forcing him into the match after suffering a heart attack six weeks before. It was during this time Sammartino found out through Angelo Savoldi, a recently fired office employee of Capitol Wrestling Corporation, that he had been cheated by Vince McMahon Sr. on the promised gate percentages for his entire second title run. 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. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. After handing over ME duties to Alex Richards, he remains a frequent contributor to the site. That record will never be broken. [49], Sammartino underwent heart surgery in 2011. But as the quiet began to work back into a rumble, the fear of fan outburst became real. Answer (1 of 3): I don't think there's any actual record of how many times he defended the belt, because back then there were no RAW or Smackdown television shows, I don't think they were even doing pay-per-views at the time, wrestling back then was totally different, I wasn't born in the 60s but. Peers revered him, Hollywood celebrities courted him, Italian Americans adored him, and Arnold Schwarzenegger called him "The Star of all stars."Young Bruno and his family fled the Nazi's and were nearly executed. Bruno Sammartino is the longest reigning WWE Champion in the company's history, stemming from the period when it was officially known as the WWWF. I was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in that territory, and Vince McMahon, Sr. was near bankruptcy because that was how poorly this place was doing. His most notable title defense was a time limit draw with Bruno Sammartino at a Shea Stadium show in 1972. 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. He was inducted into the WWE . Bruno headed north to continue working, where he joined Frank Tunneys Maple Leaf Wrestling (Torontos NWA affiliate) in Canada instead, where he was often the Maple Leaf Wrestling challenger to Buddy Rogers when the NWA World Champion headed to Canada. Bruno Sammartino, a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is known as professional wrestling's Living Legend. The Northeast would soon break away from the NWA to form the World Wide Wrestling Federation (later known as the WWF and WWE today). Sammartino continued doing commentary on Superstars of Wrestling until March 1988.[17]. Before Hulk Hogan could be the face of the company during its national expansion, before Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock could lead The Attitude Era, and before John Cena or Roman Reigns were even born, Sammartino was a two-time WWE Champion who had cumulatively held the strap for over 11 years (as a fun fact, Cena was born . As the final entrant on this list, Ricochet is unique in the fact that during his NXT North American Championship reign he was actually unsuccessful in ever once retaining his belt on pay per view, losing it in his first defense at an NXT Takeover. Bruno Sammartino is one of the defining legends from WWE history. . Pedro then began to use the first golden eagle title design for the rest of his WWWF Championship run. In 2013, Sammartino appeared as one of the Board of Governors in the nationally televised 69th Annual Columbus Day Parade. [31] This allowed Savage to keep the championship, as titles cannot change hands via countout or disqualification. ", 10 Reasons why Bruno Sammartino's 1965-1971 WWWF Title Belt is the 'Holy Grail' of Pro Wrestling Artifacts, 2. It was time to make a switch. Rogers was one of the great wrestlers of his era. Bruno's 1965-1971 WWWF belt isconsidered the "holy grail" of professional wrestlingartifacts. WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino died on Wednesday at the age of 82 in Pittsburgh. 18.06.1987. Bruno Sammartino: WWWF Heavyweight Champion - 1,237 days WWE/YouTube Stan Stasiak only has one successful title defense to his name against Chief Jay Strongbow, and their bout went to a no contest. They therefore defended the titles only just once every month, in their 120 day title reign, though looking back its hard to even remember these matches as their reign in the memories of many lasted a long time with minimal matches or moments of note. Bruno's belt was briefly worn by Ivan Kohloff, 3. After my heart attack, I told myself to forget [wrestling]. Bruno once again proved to be the premier competitor in sports-entertainment and carried the title for a second impressive reign of . Sammartino defeated Buddy Rogers in just 48 seconds to become the second-ever WWE Champion in front of nearly 20,000 fans on May 17, 1963 at the old Madison Square Garden. If he does, it remains to be seen who could defeat him in 2020. It was there that he was spotted by local professional wrestling promoter Rudy Miller, who recruited the young man into the ring. "Screwjob" is a term that gets thrown around loosely in the wrestling world. [40], Sammartino is included in two DVDs summarizing his career and life: Bruno Returns to Italy With Bruno Sammartino (2006) and Bruno Sammartino: Behind the Championship Belt (2006). [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. 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. Fortunately for Bruno Sammartino, his time had now arrived. Buddy Rogers was examined and re-examined, and they couldnt find a thing wrong with him, and then after that, his license was reinstated. Thesz made him this offer: "We could do this the easy way or the hard way." Bruno only gave up his championship when he wanted to, and there was one championship belt he . [15], Sammartino also challenged NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz twice for the championship in Canada. The toll of a near eight year run as the top star in the WWWF a company that was still very much trying to expand its influence nationally beyond the realm of the NWA was beginning to grind The Living Legend down, both mentally and physically. Sammartino is honored on the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame. He turned to weightlifting and wrestling to build himself up. Many other belts would come his way in his long storied career as well. [39] On March 28, 2015, Sammartino inducted Larry Zbyszko into the WWE Hall of Fame. Rogers dropped the NWA Title to Thesz (and got back his deposit on the belt), and the Northeast promoters used the one-fall match as the reason for the split from the NWA. Italian-born American professional wrestler (19352018), World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation (19631981), First World Heavyweight Championship reign (19631971), Second World Heavyweight Championship reign (19721977), Later career and initial retirement (19781981), Non-wrestling roles and WWE Hall of Fame (19882018), During Sammartino's second reign the title was known as WWWF Heavyweight Championship, due to the WWWF rejoining the, the longest single reign in the promotion's history, WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, Ross Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum, George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, World Wrestling Association (Indianapolis), WWC North American Heavyweight Championship, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, "Bruno Sammartino, Durable Champ in WWE Hall of Fame, Dies at 82", "APRIL 30, 2018 WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: THE STORY OF BRUNO SAMMARTINO CONTINUED". The longest WWE championship reign belongs to Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino, who held the the title from May 17, 1963 until Jan. 18, 1971 for a grand total of 2,803 days. These are ten resulting championship reigns which lasted a considerable amount of time, but featured very few notable matches for the title in question. After nearly fifteen years of promoting an "ethnic babyface" at the top of his cards, the . That match meant so much to me because that put me at the top. On May 17, 1963, after only 22 days as WWWF World Champion, Rogers lost his title to 27-year old Bruno Sammartino in Madison Square Garden. You dont get another penny out of that field; you dont have anything to do with that field. In 2006, Bruno Sammartino personally commissioned an autobiographical documentary film, Bruno Sammartino: Behind The Championship Belt. [15] In his autobiography, Sammartino states that he believed McMahon set him up, by double-booking him and not informing him of his match in Baltimore, as a way of punishment. May 20 - USA Event: Bruno . Can you imagine it? Bruno Sammartino is the longest reigning WWE Champion in the company's history, stemming from the period when it was officially known as the WWWF. Promoters Mondt and McMahon Sr. cleared up Sammartino's suspension by paying his $500 fine, allowing him to return to wrestling in the United States. Late 1967: Sammartino vacated his half of the tag team titles to focus on his world title defenses. At 93 minutes, the reimaged . [10], When the Sammartinos arrived in the U.S., Bruno spoke no English and was sickly from the privations of the war years. World Tag Team Title (Indianapolis)", "WWC North American Heavyweight Title (Puerto Rico)", "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2007", "Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruno_Sammartino&oldid=1141559398, American professional wrestlers of Italian descent, NWA International Tag Team Champions (Toronto version), NWA United States Heavyweight Champions (Toronto version), Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles lacking reliable references from August 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Ranked No. Sammartino filed suit against McMahon Sr. and his Capitol Wrestling Corporation. Is known as professional wrestling & # x27 ; s passing, with WWE hands via countout or.... Was spotted by local professional wrestling promoter Rudy Miller, who recruited the young man into the WWE of. Promoter Rudy Miller, who recruited the young man into the ring countout. 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