10 Things You Didn't Know About Bruno Sammartino

8. Promoters Blackballed Him For Refusing To Lose

Bruno Sammartino
WWE.com/Pro Wrestling Illustrated

It's often been said that "nice guys finish last". Whilst that wasn't necessarily true in the case of Sammartino, he did have to look after his name value and business when dealing with shady wrestling promoters in the 1960s.

Though Bruno later enjoyed a healthy relationship with Vince McMahon Sr, he outright refused to lose when other promoters asked him to. This was controversial at the time, because Sammartino wasn't quite the box office smash he'd soon become. To promoters, he was an arrogant upstart who thought he was the best.

Bruno's logic was simple: if wrestlers could really beat him, they were welcome to try. That attitude led various promoters in the United States to blackball Bruno from events, and he was forced to seek solace north of the border in Canada.

Unwilling to be a "preliminary guy", Sammartino thought jobbing regularly would typecast him as a loser.

Advertisement
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.