[ttwarrior1]

[Bostongambler]

He is not in yet? He was wrestling in the 60's

[Chi_archie]

what took so long

stupid wrasslin people don't know a legend?

[ttwarrior1]

Bruno Sammartino is to professional wrestling what Babe Ruth is to baseball.


The legendary grappler is the longest reigning WWE (then-WWF) champion of all time, with two title reigns spanning an eye-popping 11-plus years. And his legacy of headlining Madison Square Garden more than 200 times is what turned the Italian-born brawler into a worldwide sensation.


So it’s only fitting that Sammartino will be the main attraction at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on April 6 at MSG.


[+] Enlarge


Courtesy of WWE
Bruno Sammartino is being named to the WWE's Hall after decades of feuding with Vince McMahon.
“Being inducted into the Hall of Fame at Madison Square Gardens is the biggest thing in my life,” Sammartino said in an exclusive interview for ESPN Playbook. “Anytime that people feel that you accomplished enough to enter into a Hall of Fame, of course this is a tremendous, tremendous thrill for me. I had a lot of my success due to appearing at the Garden. I wrestled there over 200 times, it’s where I won the title, and it’s where I picked up 630-plus pounds of Haystacks Calhoun.”


And while Sammartino had turned down the WWE’s previous offers of inducting him into its Hall of Fame due to a well-documented feud with the wrestling organization’s CEO and chairman Vince McMahon over a wide range of issues -- from Sammartino not liking the vulgar direction the product took during the Attitude Era to Sammartino’s criticism of drug abuse by members of the roster back in the '80s -- it was WWE executive Paul Levesque (aka Triple H) who stepped in and finally changed the legend’s mind.


“In talking to Paul Levesque, I made it clear, I’ve had issues with WWE and wrestling in general, because there were other organizations,” Sammartino said. “I didn’t like the direction they had taken. It was bothersome to me. I’m an old-school guy. I spent 25 years in this business. But after talking to Paul, and him explaining to me the changes they’ve made in their program, and how they’ve hired a doctor like Dr. Maroon, who is a world-renowned neurosurgeon, who also operated on me, and now that he has been put in charge of the company’s wellness program and their drug testing, that impressed me. I know what kind of a man he is, and he is a giant in that field, so I take my hat off to WWE because they took such huge steps to make things better for the wrestlers themselves and making sure they are healthy to perform. That was very, very important.


“But as Paul explained to me, WWE made a lot of other changes. There’s no more profanity, there’s no vulgarity in the current product, and that stuff had bothered me as well. When Paul first spoke to me and told me all the changes, I started watching it again, and I was very convinced that they are doing amazing things. I see the wrestlers and all the changes they made. There’s no profanity, there’s no vulgarity, and it’s a family-friendly program. That’s what it used to be, and that’s a huge role in the whole factor.”


In finally signing Sammartino, WWE sees this as an opportunity to not only celebrate everything he has done for the business but also add legitimacy to its Hall of Fame.


“From a legitimacy standpoint, it’s important for us to get Bruno in,” Levesque said. “He’s one of the biggest names there has ever been in the business. So for us to not have him in there, for the legitimacy of the whole thing, it was a major issue. For me, the more important thing was that nobody deserves to be recognized for being a big star and paving the way for the stars of today more than Bruno. Everything that we have today in the business, Bruno was a cornerstone of that foundation. He truly is a living legend.


“
I take my hat off to WWE because they took such huge steps to make things better for the wrestlers themselves and making sure they are healthy to perform. That was very, very important.


”
-- Bruno Sammartino
“As we started getting into Hall of Fame season, it’s almost like this storyline wrote itself. To have Bruno Sammartino brought into the Hall of Fame in Madison Square Garden, a building he sold out more than anybody in the world, that’s a remarkable achievement. It was an opportunity to honor Bruno, but it was also an opportunity for our fans.


“There has been this bad blood between Bruno and the WWE for years, and we’re not trying to hide any of it, but I just felt like we are at a point where a lot of it can be resolved. Our wellness program and the way our programming is now, a lot of people are unaware of it, so I felt like if I could get Bruno on the phone and I could run down a list of those things that he didn’t like, I could show him how we changed. We’re PG, family-friendly entertainment with a wellness program that is truly based on the wellness of our performers. We want them to be healthy and live long, productive lives. So I just felt that if Bruno knew about those things, he might feel differently, and eventually, that’s what came to be.”


While Bruno has accepted the WWE’s offer to make an appearance at the Hall of Fame, he still hasn’t had the chance to speak to Vince McMahon, as Levesque is organizing a sit-down so the two can resolve any lingering issues face-to-face.


“Clearly, Vince knew about this right from the get-go, and when I said I wanted to reach out to Bruno, Vince was probably thinking, ‘Well, good luck with that,’” Levesque said. “So Bruno and I established this relationship, and as we came to an understanding on all of this, Vince asked me, ‘Hey, do you think I should call Bruno? I’d like to talk to him.’ At the same time, Bruno said, ‘Do you think I should have a conversation with Vince?’ And I said no to both of them. I didn’t think it was right to do over the phone. They had bad blood for a long time, and we’ve all kind of buried the hatchet here, and it’s a new beginning and a fresh start and everybody is in a great place with this. But going back to what Bruno said about being old-school, I think we should all get in the same room together and the two of them should look each other in the eyes and shake hands. This should be in person. I don’t think it’s right to do over the phone. They both agreed to do that, and while it hasn’t happened yet, Hall of Fame is probably where we’ll make that happen. Vince and Bruno will see each other for the first time in years and officially, in person, look each other in the eyes and bury that hatchet.”


As for trying to keep the announcement a secret, “it’s not ‘Mission Impossible’ or anything like that,” Levesque says, laughing. “But to me, Bruno getting into the Hall of Fame in Madison Square Garden is the biggest induction we’ve ever done, and rightfully so. He deserves that. So to just have it leak out there, that would’ve been wrong. This is a huge moment in time, and a massive moment for our fans, for Bruno and for WWE. This is the history of our business. Without Bruno Sammartino, we aren’t where we are today.”

[ttwarrior1]

I take my hat off to WWE because they took such huge steps to make things better for the wrestlers themselves and making sure they are healthy to perform. That was very, very important.

[Bostongambler]

I remember watching him on a black & white tv. Chief J Strongbull, Haystacks Calhoun.

[Bostongambler]

Strongbow that is.

[Wrigley]

whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo? ??????????????????

[Dirty Sanchez]

You realize wrestling is fake...don't you?

[ChalkyDog]

More important hall of fame:

The WWE (or any Wrestling) Hall of Fame?

or

Young and the Restless (or any soap opera) Hall of Fame?

or

MLB Hall of Fame (assuming no induction of the Bonds' and Clemens' and McGuire's)?

[beermankirk]

All I know, is when i was a kid, and they had those LJN wrestler figures in the toy section, All the cool figures like Macho Man, Hulk Hogan and others would be sold out, and all u would get was a rack of shelves with a Bruno Samartino, Booby Heenan manager or Howard the Fink announcer figure.... Bruno was just not cool in the 80's.....

[Wrigley]

I just hope Ron Jermey gets in to the porn star HOF before he dies

[InTheDrink]

its copy and paste night for fatty!

[orisbumplut]

Bruno was ok but he must have a short memory because Madison Square Garden was where he lost the belt to the Russian Bear, Ivan Koloff.

[TheMoneyShot]

I just hope Ron Jermey gets in to the porn star HOF before he dies

How is he NOT in the hospital for AIDS?

[TheGuesser]

Good for Bruno. But if he actually believes the WWE doesn't have steroid abusers anymore, his TV must go dark when Ryback and Big E Langston to name 2 obvious ones, hit the screen.

[orisbumplut]

Bruno is a phony. He acts like he is high and mighty and didn't want to be in the HOF due to the wrestling not being "family-oriented" and there not being a brick and mortar HOF but the truth is, Bruno was holding out for a big payoff which never came until now. Bruno and Superstar Graham are one of a kind. They both felt that just because they put alot of fannies in the seats 30 years ago, that Vince owed them paychecks for life.

[konck]

I remember watching Bruno as a kid thats how old I am lol

[frankzig]

WWE/Clown HOF
he will be next to BOZO

[Slimpickens]

More important hall of fame:

The WWE (or any Wrestling) Hall of Fame?

or

Young and the Restless (or any soap opera) Hall of Fame?

or

MLB Hall of Fame (assuming no induction of the Bonds' and Clemens' and McGuire's)?

1.Soap Opera
2.WWE
3.MLB

[mcaulay777]

Is Salvatorre Bellomo in the hall of fame what a great wrestler his match against Bob Backlund at the spectrum in 1983 was epic,epic in the fact it was the most boring match ever wow was he terriable can you imagine how long bellomo would last againt cena maybe 1 minute.

[Pabinator]

Does the WWE hall of fame work like baseball?

I wonder who votes on these guys. Ticket sales, popularity, shirt sales

[GOIRISH]

Is that like winning an award for acting?

[JMobile]

Is that like winning an award for acting?

More like an SBR Hall of Fame. Nobody really cares.

Although I'm a huge wrasslin fan, the hall of fame is useless to me.

[daimoshokage]

Triple H paid him $250K.. Money can buy anything.. even your dignity...

[sickler]

You realize wrestling is fake...don't you?

Yes but we're reliving our childhood. Was real to us back then!

Bruno was before my time but who remembers Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell, The High Flyers. They were the best to me