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Bruno Sammartino


Grimmas

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About a year ago I posted on here that I loved old man Bruno throwing guys into cages and I still do. I haven't seen any prime Bruno but maybe I should? Honestly, he doesn't seem like a guy who can make my list, but I haven't even really given him a fair shot yet.

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Bruno might be the most difficult guy to quantify.

 

He worked a very rough and ready style. He was a brawler. And he was great at what he did -- so much better than a Crusher or Dick the Bruiser.

 

In terms of crowd connection, overness and aura, he is without equal in my view. I will give him the perfect 10 for intangibles, but if there was an 11, he'd be the only guy to get it, more than Flair, more than Hogan, Dusty, Baba, Inoki, Choshu, Rock or Austin. Something just absolutely magical about the guy. I'm not romanticising either, this is just based on watching footage.

 

But in terms of great matches, I think he might honestly be at a flat zero. Even his very very best stuff is going to struggle to break ***1/2.

 

Difficult to know what to do with him.

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One problem with Bruno (and a lot of other old stars, but especially anyone who was a top WWWF guy) is that we simply don't have most of his blowoff matches on tape. The vast majority of stuff we've got are TV matches which were designed to be commercials for the house shows. Hell, even both matches where he won the world title didn't make tape.

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  • 5 years later...

I've watched as much of Bruno as I could since 2016 - I didn't vote in that project as I didn't feel able to submit a proper list - and he'll easily make my list for 2026. The emotional connection he has with the crowd is really, really special. I grew up watching WWF (and Stampede) from 1985 onwards and like any kid I liked Hogan, Savage, Santana and Bret and Owen Hart, and so on ... but nowadays I have to say I'm way more invested watching Bruno than just about anyone. I find it impossible to ignore how captivating Bruno is in the ring - and in his best feuds doing promos and mic work in the ring with Larry Z and Piper and Savage - where he works very simple brawls but they hook me in nearly every time.

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One can only hope differing views on Bruno are informed by actually watching the footage with an open mind. I don't have much optimism that Bruno will do well in the 2026 voting but lazy dismissive takes are worthless without citing evidence for one's position.

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Oh I do like Bruno but especially in WWWF footage his punches and kicks are pretty lol, but in that real 1970s wrestling way that if you're in the mood is really enjoyable. I wish there was more readily available footage of him. I've probably seen less than 25 Bruno matches and outside some stuff in JWA/AJPW and clips of Koloff winning the title, I think all of it is from his second reign or his last 80s run. 

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I'll say something about Bruno I really like about his matches, when he's on offense he's got a sense of urgency and a purpose about his movements in the ring. I really like that in the a wrestler, he has natural instincts and will watch more but from the 3 matches I just watched I really liked this

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  • 5 months later...
51 minutes ago, elliott said:

@Ricky Jackson can you recommend like 10 Bruno matches? I need to spend some time on him this go around. 

If you can get the 3 match Arion series from MSG I would start there. 2/17, 3/17 and 4/14/1975

Vs Waldo Von Erich, 6/16/75

Vs Superstar Graham from 1/12/76 and 8/1/77 

Vs Larry Z, 2 each from MSG and Philly, March and April 1980 (check out as much of this feud as possible, including promos, if you can)

Vs Piper, Boston cage, 2/8/86 

W.Santana vs Savage/Adonis, MSG cage, 7/12/86

I think I have all the dates right 

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I would also recommend the MSG cage match against Koloff from 15 December 1975. This is the culmination  of basically 5 years of a blood feud, and it's pretty much all Bruno on offence, but I love the fire and the emotion that comes out. Bruno's connection with the WWWF crowds was unreal, it's amazing to see those unmic'd crowds with primitive production making so much noise, especially from a modern perspective with no stage or tron or music. 

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6 hours ago, elliott said:

Looks like I've got access to everything but one of the Graham matches but I bet if I keep digging I can find it. Thank you! I'm a big fan of his 80s work so I'm excited to check out the 70s stuff! 

Which one are you looking for? I thiiiink I've got both. I upped the 1976 show so long.
 

 

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