10 Most Memorable WWE Underdog Victories

4. Ivan Koloff Defeats Bruno Sammartino - WWWF 1971

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNngXluEkRk First things first, Ivan Koloff had himself a very successful career, especially working for the NWA, winning singles and tag titles all over the world. This isn't taking anything away from him, or any of his accomplishments. However, the reason he is here is because of a single number... 2,803. That number represents the days Bruno Sammartino had held the World Wide Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Title before dropping it to Koloff. That is over seven-and-a-half years of Bruno beating challenger after challenger after challenger. Bruno truly transcended the wrestling business in his time as champion. He had a private audience with the Pope at the Vatican during his title reign. He very nearly had the WWWF and the NWA come together to merge their titles, just to give him something else to accomplish, which would have changed the wrestling business forever. The crowd at Madison Square Garden was so shocked at Koloff's win that Sammartino famously said he thought he had lost his hearing during Koloff's kneedrop from the top rope because he didn't hear a thing after the bell. Koloff couldn't even have the title belt handed to him, for fear of the crowd starting a riot. When Sammartino began leaving the ring, many in the crowd broke down into tears. In the time long before the internet and overall fan cynicism, this left people stunned. Sammartino's reign had to end at some point, of course, but with successful defense after successful defense, you had to feel fans were beginning to forget that sometimes.