Legendary professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino, an Italian immigrant who became a household name among wrestling fans in the 1960s and 1970s, died Wednesday at age 82, according to WWE.com.
He was a world champion with the then-WWF from 1963 to 1971, a record for longevity that still stands, WWE.com says.
Born in Abruzzi, Italy, Sammartino emigrated to the United States in 1950 after surviving the German occupation of his country in World War II. He began lifting weights as a young man and eventually became one of the strongest persons on the planet, setting a world record by bench pressing 565 pounds in 1959.
Sammartino was lured into professional wrestling by Vince McMahon Sr., and earned the world title belt by defeating Buddy Rogers in front of 20,000 fans at Madison Square Garden on May 17, 1963, according to WWE.com.
During his long title reign, Sammartino’s popularity skyrocketed as he entertained fans by feuding with the likes of Killer Kowalski, Gorilla Monsoon, and George “The Animal” Steele. He lost the belt to Ivan Koloff in 1971, but won a rematch with the “Russian Menace” two years later and held the belt again until 1974.
His biggest match came in 1980, when he defeated Larry Zbyszko in a steel-cage match in New York’s Shea Stadium in front of 35,000 people, setting a box-office record for pro wrestling that stood until Hulk Hogan took on Andre the Giant at the main event in Wrestlemania 3 in the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit.
Sammartino retired from the ring in 1981 and worked on WWE television as a ringside commentator.
He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2013.
