I can recall back in the 70s going to the Convention Center in Indianapolis for another great WWA show produced by the legendary Dick the Bruiser. One of my favorite wrestlers to go see at the time was Bruno Sammartino. Bruno would team with Bruiser or sometimes with Domenic Denucci and the matches, rudimentary as they were, got over and had a lot of excitement. To say Bruno was anything less than a complete worker and big star would be an understatement.
Over the years Bruno has become less of a fan of the very business he helped build to a crescendo all those years ago. He was the WWWF for many years and for many years after that he was a diplomat for the sport he loved and that enabled him to live comfortably after his leave from the ring. Some of the points Bruno makes in many an interview have validity while others are just the bemusings of a bitter old man whose sport has passed him by. Of the interviews Bruno has done, I am going to look at one in particular that was done with Scott Fishman of the Miami Herald. The original interview can be found here but I am going to take excerpts from the article and make some comments on what Bruno has said.
``We live in the greatest country in the world, and everyone is entitled to what they want to see or do,'' Sammartino said. ``I got very appalled with the direction Vince McMahon Jr. took wrestling. I was concerned from the time I retired to the time I came back as a color commentator. After McMahon's father passed away, and he took over.”
Yes, we do live in the greatest country in the world but that is beside the point. Bruno has a grudge against Vince McMahon and by having that grudge, Bruno often disparages professional wrestling as a whole based on what Vince McMahon has done and that is unfair. There are still many good promotions around who put on quality and family oriented shows and there are some very good workers who are not in the WWE. To lump the entire business as the Vince McMahon show is wrong and Bruno is wrong to begrudge wrestling because he cannot stand McMahon.
“I was appalled with the drugs going on and the steroids. I became very disillusioned. Then I started seeing other changes. The language started getting loose and had all this vulgarity. There was the beautiful looking girls but always wearing these skimpy things. I just became angered and saddened to see the business I spent 22 years in take this direction.”
I have to wonder why Bruno was not appalled with the drug use that was going on back in the 70s? Steroids were a part of wrestling back when Bruno worked as well, they may not have had the focus as today but they were very much a part of wrestling in the 60s and 70s. “Superstar” Billy Graham was an admitted user of steroids and as for recreational drug use, I know of many wrestlers who were caught up in the coke craze of the era. Yet Bruno says nothing about that and that is very telling. You see what you choose to see and Bruno seems to have turned a blind eye.
As for the scantily clad women, when Bruno was the champion it was not uncommon for some of the boys to offer their wives or girlfriends to promoters to get a run on top or with the belt. That is not to say that Bruno ever did so or that Vince McMahon Sr. ever partook in such activities but it did happen. This is one time that just because it was not on TV does not mean it did not happen. The instances of debauchery were just as alive back in the Bruno days as they are today.
``I think he would be appalled because Vince McMahon Sr. was a promoter in the Northeast who got along, or tried to get along, with all the other promoters in the different territories,'' Sammartino said. ``All he asked for was that if he didn't step on anyone's toes, neither would they. It was you run your territory and maybe we could exchange talent. He loved that relationship with other promoters. When his son tried to conquer the whole world, I know for a fact this belief started when the father was still living. I wasn't there, but I heard a few things.
``I know his father was very upset and bothered by what his son was doing because he was doing what he himself never believed in doing. That was to create opposition for the other promoters.''
I have to believe that Bruno was not there for a lot of things when the revolution came to the professional wrestling business. Much like every business in the world there are times when the business model must change in order for a company to stay viable. Look at what happened to Verne Gagne, who probably had the best chance to challenge Vince McMahon and the WWE when McMahon started his blitzkrieg to overtake the wrestling world. Gagne refused to change, to adapt and to accept that the business model needed to be reworked in order to survive. Bruno should know that in order to stay on top you have to be creative, you have to adapt and you have to accept change. The Undertaker has been on top for over ten years because he has been able to reinvent himself over the years to stay relevant.
Opposition is a near must in any competitive business or sport because without competition the product becomes stale. The WWE is struggling right now trying to run three brands, RAW, Smackdown and ECW and the product is stale, especially without any real competition. TNA serves as a reminder of just how powerful the WWE is right now but with the right people at the helm and the right workers, TNA could be a powerhouse.
``You talk about stricter drug testing. Every time there was a death that made some news, you heard they were going to do stricter testing. How do you trust that when the head of the organization is Vince McMahon? An admitted steroid user. It's a joke. Gullible people will believe what they want to believe, but I don't believe in anything they say to be honest.''
The WWE has done more in recent years to help control the drug abuse in the WWE. The Wellness Policy is a step in the right direction and it is a constant work in progress. The WWE deserves praise for offering to help addicts get help and pay for their rehab whether they are or were on the WWE payroll or not. There are always going to be people who use drugs whether recreationally or for legitimate purposes and many wrestlers have addictive personalities. Drugs are a reality in almost every professional sport and there is only so much an organization can do before it is up to the individual.
``What kind of a hall of fame is it, if they don't have a place for it?,'' Sammartino said. ``It's strictly another money angle. What kind of hall of fame is it? Refrigerator [William] Perry is in it? Pete Rose is in it? His McMahon Sr.'s chauffeur is in it? Give me a break.”
This is one area I will agree with Bruno on, the WWE Hall of Fame is a joke and it is just a vehicle for the WWE to generate some extra cash flow during WrestleMania. No legitimate Hall of Fame would or should not have Bruno Sammartino as an inductee. But that being said, this is Vince McMahon’s show and it’s a disingenuous honor to be in the WWE Hall of Fame. This is not news these days and for Bruno to keep going on about being in or not being in is getting old and so are the people who keep asking how he feels about not being there.
``Eight out of the 10 people that come up to me and say they are proud that I've stood by my values and refuse to enter their sham hall of fame. So it's more of a majority that respects my decision.”
Well, I am number nine and number ten and while I respect his decision to not be part of the WWE Hall of Fame, I am tired of hearing Bruno air his beef with Vince McMahon while disparaging wrestling as a whole. As I said, just because the WWE is the main event right now, it does not mean there are not good to great shows being put on in towns across the country using some of the best unheralded talent.
``I spent time there. I am just happy with the simple life. I'm home with my two sons living nearby. I have grandchildren that I see often. Believe you, me, I have no other ambition but to maintain the simple life. That's my whole life now.''
Bruno, you had a storied career, one to be very proud of and one that made you enough money to allow you to live comfortably now that your career is over. Your major issue is with Vince McMahon, not the wrestling business and it is high time that distinction is made before you start talking smack again in another interview. The business has simply passed Bruno Sammartino by and it seems to be difficult for the man to take.
As always I am Jerry Wiseman...and then the bell rings.
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