Bruno Sammartino was the WWE legend who inspired your favorite wrestler

Nobody was more influential on the world of professional wrestling.

The impact and legacy of Bruno Sammartino’s life will be felt in professional wrestling for generations. The WWE Hall of Famer was an icon whose resume speaks for itself, but he was also a man of principle, who was willing to take shots at the biggest targets in the sport in the hopes he could change it for the better. Sammartino died on Wednesday at the age of 82, but that’s a footnote in a life story that deserves more appreciation.

Early life.

Sammartino was born in the small Italian town of Pizzoferrato in 1935. His family remained in the country during World War II before emigrating to Pittsburgh in 1950. As a child Bruno was teased by kids in school after moving to the United States, but used this as fuel to build his strength. Soon he transformed himself into a barrel-chested marvel who weighed 280 pounds of pure muscle, despite being just 5’10 tall. Sammartino’s passion for weight lifting was so renowned that he almost earned at spot on the 1956 U.S. Olympic team for weightlifting, before setting a world record in 1959 by bench pressing 565 pounds.

Sammartino’s natural strength and work ethic quickly garnered the attention of wrestling promoters, who were eager to showcase his abilities. After working regionally throughout the late-1950s, Sammartino joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and became champion in 1962. Then everything changed when he joined WWE, then named the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).

Arrival in WWE

Immediately Sammartino was thrust into stardom, winning the WWWF title from “Nature Boy” Buddy Rodgers in 48 seconds in May of 1963. He held onto the title belt for a stunning seven years, eight months and a day. The entire time he worked as a babyface (good guy) opposite some of the biggest stars in wrestling — legendary characters like Gorilla Monsoon, Freddie Blassie, Killer Kowalski and George “The Animal” Steele.

Sammartino retired in 1981, only to return to the renamed WWF in 1984 after settlement of an outstanding payment dispute caused Vince McMahon Jr. to turn Sammartino into a color commentator to make up for a past debt of his father. Sammartino remained with the company until 1988, when he left and became an outspoken critic of the company who helped make him a star.

Time after WWE

The old-school wrestler detested the direction of theatrical wrestling in the late-1980s, but moreover he held huge disdain for a culture of steroid and illicit drug use that he saw perverting the sport. He made several media appearances from 1998 until 2013, often criticizing the WWE and how business was conducted.

WWE attempted to contact Sammartino several times to induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame, but he declined numerous overtures. It appeared for a long time that one of wrestling’s biggers stars would never be enshrined in the premier Hall of Fame, but a change of heart in 2013 led to Sammartino finally being inducted into the hall by long-time friend Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Impact on the business

The early days of professional wrestling had a lot of stars, but nobody earned the term “superstar” quite like Sammartino. He is credited with inspiring generations of professional wrestlers to follow in his footsteps.

As a trainer Sammartino’s primary student was Larry Zbyzyko, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame himself in 2015. Sammartino was never a prolific trainer on his own accord, but also worked with his son, David, primarily as a manager.

John Cena and Rocky Johnson (father of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) have both pointed to Sammartino as major inspirations for their careers. Bruno Mars also has Sammartino to thank for his name, with the stage name “Bruno” being an ode to Mars’ father, who gave him the nickname as a child after seeing Sammartino compete.

Sammartino’s record for holding the title as long as he did remains unbroken, and it’s impossible to see anyone ever holding a world title for that amount of time again. The wrestling world has lost one of its greats, but his memory will live on forever.