WWE: 10 Most Shocking Moments In Wrestling

8. Bruno Sammartino Loses The WWWF World Title To Ivan Koloff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNngXluEkRk As anyone who watched the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony will have learned, in the 1960s and early 1970s, Bruno Sammartino was the face of the promotion, then called the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). The promotion held major shows at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City on a monthly basis, and Bruno still holds the record for the most sellouts of the famous building. Bruno was the MSG, and the MSG was Bruno. It was his home. With a large Italian-American population in the city, Bruno was their cultural figurehead, the man who survived the rigours of the Second World War as a child and emigrated to the States in the 1950s. He embodied the trials and tribulations that the Italian-Americans of New York had endured together. To illustrate what a big deal he was, Bruno was even granted a private audience with the Pope at the Vatican. On January 18th, 1971, Bruno stepped into the ring at the MSG, for a title defence against €œThe Russian Bear€ Ivan Koloff. Koloff, a Canadian in reality, had been pushed to the top of the bill by the tensions of the Cold War, and Soviet heels were the €˜in-thing€™ at the time. However, Koloff was not considered to be a huge threat to the invincible Bruno and Bruno€™s loyal fans packed the Garden, expecting to witness another triumph by their favourite son. However, it was not to be. Koloff held his own in the match, and then picked up Bruno for a bodyslam. With the champion prone on the floor, Koloff scaled the turnbuckles and came off the top rope with a kneedrop to Bruno€™s midsection. Three seconds later, we had a new champion. Never before has the phrase €˜stunned silence€™ been so appropriate. The commentator said that you could hear a pin drop. It was so quiet that Bruno actually thought that his hearing had been damaged during the match because he couldn€™t hear anything. Koloff had his arm raised in victory and was quickly ushered out of the ring while Bruno stayed in the ring to provide a distraction for Koloff to make his escape. He was not presented with the belt in the ring for fear of causing a riot. Bruno held the WWWF World title for an astonishing seven and a half years, the longest reign in history and something that is unlikely to ever be broken. Koloff, however, enjoyed less success, losing the belt to Pedro Morales a mere 21 days later, acting as a transitional champion to move the belt from Bruno to Pedro without having to have the two babyfaces face each other.