You can argue that Bruno Sammartino was the most over WWF star of all time, after all, who else could maintain at title run over nearly 8 years? Bruno did exactly that from 1963 to 1971, holding a dominant grip over north eastern wrestling in the United States. Such was his popularity that Bruno regularly sold out Madison Square Garden, becoming an icon for the Italian American working classes. It was unthinkable then that Bruno would lose the title to a hated Russian heel named Ivan Koloff. While this may have been a classic face vs heel match, the fans in no way wanted to see Bruno on the losing end. Such was the intensity of that feeling, Koloff after winning was not handed the belt for fear of a riot. It all went down on January 18th 1971 in Madison Square Garden, 22,000 fans in attendance to surely see their hero win again. The unthinkable happened when Koloff landed a knee drop that stunned the Champion, allowing the Russian to win the pin. Sammartino was beaten. The 7 year reign was over and a new Champion was made. Such was the shock that this would happen, a deathly hush is said to have came over the garden. Reportedly a pin drop would have been heard. Then people started to cry. It was 1971 and it all seemed real to many people, many in attendance absolutely heartbroken not to see their champion winning.