Bruno Sammartino and Larry Zbyszko were a bromance before anyone knew what the word meant. Sometimes a bromance is just one guy helping another succeed. In this case, it was the legendary Bruno taking the youthful Larry under his wing, and helped him gain entry into the World Wide Wrestling Federation in 1973. Once there, he started learning from the top star in the company, and began perfecting his craft. He went west for a few years, before returning once more as Sammartinos storyline protege. Not all bromances can have a storybook ending, though. This one took a bad turn, when in a classic wrestling moment Zbysko turned on his mentor and bashed him with a chair over the head multiple times. It became one of the biggest angles of all time. As they say, time heals all wounds. Even that chair beating was forgotten, and Larry was able to have a successful career because of the legend. When he entered the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015, he couldnt stop gushing about his inductor Bruno, and how he got him into the wrestling business, and simply didn't have to do it. He wouldn't have made it without him. And because of that, it created one of the greatest bonds in the history of the business.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
