{"id":6042,"date":"2015-10-28T07:32:11","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T11:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=6042"},"modified":"2015-10-28T08:28:28","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T12:28:28","slug":"bruno-sammartino-on-the-mend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2015\/10\/28\/bruno-sammartino-on-the-mend\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruno Sammartino, on the mend"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bruno <\/a>
Bruno Sammartino and his wife, Carol. (Andy Starnes\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\""I <\/a>
“I hope to be wrestling in June,” Sammartino said in May 1976. He was. (Andy Starnes\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Twins <\/a>
Twins sons Danny, left, and Darryl looks over get-well cards with Bruno Sammartino in 1976. (Andy Starnes\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Pittsburgh <\/a>
Pittsburgh Press profile of Sammartino from May 8, 1976. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Bruno Sammartino was a fighter — nothing fake about it.<\/p>\n

During World War II, with his family, the future pro wrestler hid from German soldiers. As a child, he battled bouts of sickness. As a teen, Sammartino emigrated from Italy to Pittsburgh with no knowledge of English, let alone any Pittsburghese.<\/p>\n

It probably wasn\u2019t a surprise, then, that two crushed vertebrae wouldn\u2019t keep him out of the ring for long.<\/p>\n

Sammartino, who began weight training after moving to the U.S., became arguably the greatest champion in the history of the pro wrestling. At one point, he held the World Wide Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) heavyweight title for nearly eight years straight (1963-71).<\/p>\n

The highly popular grappler was in his second multi-year reign in April 1976 when he broke his neck in a title match against Stan Hansen at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

The contest was stopped. Sammartino headed for the hospital but was never admitted, choosing to make what The Pittsburgh Press called a \u201cpainful trip\u201d back to Divine Providence Hospital in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

\"Pittsburgh<\/a>
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette brief from May 1, 1976.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis can be a permanent disability, but not necessarily, and I doubt it in this case,\u201d Dr. Louis Civitrese, chief of surgery at Divine, told the Post-Gazette at the time.<\/p>\n

Still, any sort of neck injury elicits some worry, and Sammartino was no different. His concern though wasn\u2019t for his health or career.<\/p>\n

It was for his parents; he didn\u2019t want them hearing any bad news from strangers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents — my dad\u2019s 85, my mom, 79 — worry so much about me all the time. If they had heard about it, they couldn\u2019t have taken it,\u201d Sammartino, neck brace in tow, said sitting by his twin sons, Danny and Darryl, and his wife, Carol, during an interview in the May 8 edition of The Pittsburgh Press.<\/p>\n

After more tests and X-rays, doctors\u2019 opinions varied on whether he could — or should — compete in the squared circle again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to be wrestling in June,\u201d Sammartino said.<\/p>\n

Of course he did. He was a fighter.<\/p>\n

True to his word, Sammartino rehabbed and beat Hansen in a rematch at New York\u2019s Shea Stadium on June 25, a contest Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine named its \u201cMatch of the Year.\u201d Hansen also garnered another honor that same year: Most Hated Wrestler, a possible nod to Sammartino\u2019s immense popularity at the time.<\/p>\n

\"Back<\/a>
Back in action: Sammartino earns revenge against Stan Hansen on June 25. (Pittsburgh Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sammartino would hold his heavyweight title until April 1977 — his total combined reign tallying 4,040 days. He retired from full-time competition in 1981 and, unhappy with pro wrestling\u2019s and WWE\u2019s overall direction, mostly stayed away from the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI completely shut myself off from it,” Sammartino told the Post-Gazette shortly before his WWE Hall of Fame induction in 2013. “I never watched it on TV. It wasn’t just the drugs, the steroids. It was clear to me that Vince McMahon Jr. wasn’t interested in wrestling. He was interested in what he called entertainment. So you’d have these beautiful girls and then you’d have some nudity. Then the vulgarity. The profanity.”<\/p>\n

All the while, though, the \u201cLiving Legend\u201d remained a hero in his adopted hometown of Pittsburgh, receiving the Dapper Dan Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. Sammartino also was among the first inductees into the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2002. Today at 80, he\u2019s still an icon to wrestling fans and Pittsburghers alike.<\/p>\n

As for Hansen? He found his greatest success in Japan, winning multiple championships before retiring in 2000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bruno Sammartino was a fighter — nothing fake about it. During World War II, with…<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesBruno Sammartino, on the mend<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":6040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066,944],"tags":[963],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Bruno_and_trophies.jpg?fit=2842%2C2779&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":945,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/02\/17\/the-complex-and-tough-dante-tex-gill\/","url_meta":{"origin":6042,"position":0},"title":"The complex and tough\u00a0Dante \u201cTex\u201d Gill","date":"February 17, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"George Lee had just dined at his favorite Italian restaurant when he was shot to death in a Downtown parking lot.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/tumblr_n0u8o8TqFk1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1017%2C1008&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9549,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2019\/08\/07\/when-the-steelers-almost-lost-joe-greene\/","url_meta":{"origin":6042,"position":1},"title":"When the Steelers almost lost Joe Greene","date":"August 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Second in an ongoing series looking back at Chuck Noll's first season with the Steelers Before the 1969 season, the Steelers welcomed two newbies to Pittsburgh who would go on to shape the franchise's bright future. 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