10 Obscure Wrestling Retirement Matches You Didn't Know About
1. Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Sammartino was a folk hero when he was still alive, more worthy than any mortal of the "living legend" moniker.
He lived a life that somehow has not been adapted to film, although the subject matter is so expansive and wild that it merits a prestige drama series. A real hero in a vile industry so great at presenting himself as a hero that fans didn't even need to know his unfathomable backstory to admire the hell out of him, he grew to resent the industry at the top of which he once starred.
He criticised the WWF in the media after his last run, and detested the direction of the promotion to such an extent that he only returned for a Hall of Fame induction following protracted talks with Triple H - not Vince McMahon - after being assured that the PG direction was permanent. Bruno, one of the strongest men ever, lamented the steroids culture at the dark, rotting heart of the Federation. He was prescient about its potential long-term dangers.
All of which makes it odd - and heavily ironic - that, in his last match, Sammartino tagged alongside Hulk Hogan to defeat King Kong Bundy and the One Man Gang in August 1987.