Bruno Sammartino: The Autobiography of Wrestling's Living Legend

by Bruno Sammartino, Sal Corrente, Colin Bowman (Editor)

BRUNO! BRUNO! BRUNO!The iconic chant that resonated everywhere Bruno appeared, whether he was the Champion at the time or not. It was a combined 11 years, during two title reigns, that Bruno Sammartino was the World Wide Wrestling Federation Champion: 1963-1971 and 1973-1977 (4,040 days). He headlined New York’s famous Madison Square Garden 211 times, including 187 sell-outs, a record that still endures to this day, and will most likely never be broken. In his final headline appearance at Madison Square Garden, he got to address another sold-out crowd as he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.Born in 1935, in a small Italian mountain town, Bruno and his family survived World War II, before emigrating to the USA. From this inauspicious start, his sheer willpower and determination drove him to become of the most popular and respected wrestlers of all time.This is the definitive autobiography of the life of Bruno Sammartino, expanded to 568 pages to cover his life ... from his childhood in Italy through the bumpy road he traveled to become The Living Legend of Professional Wrestling and then beyond the ring.This is the true story as told by Bruno himself, and includes tributes and anecdotes from his peers, friends, and family, with many photos that have never been seen before, including over 275 in color. He may be gone, but his unparalleled career will live on through this book, YouTube, the WWE Network, and most importantly, everyone who ever met him.

Genres: Nonfiction

Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 1990

Reviews

[Jacob VanNieulande · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stone Cold Steve Austin was a domestic abuser. Bret Hart was an unloyal husband, Sting has had very dark battles with his demons, guys like John Cena, Randy Orton and Undertaker are notorious backstage prima Donna's. CM Punk will fly off the rails without a moments notice. Cody Rhodes is a shady politician. Bryan Danielson, lets just say, has some interesting medical opinions. Hulk Hogan, you could write a whole novel on all of his character flaws. fact is, there are very rarely ever any all time greats wrestling aces that don't have some sort of black mark against them. Bruno Sammartino is the rare exception. This book is an incredible documentation of one of the most fascinating lives in the history of the sport. a truly larger than life figure who had no ego. I was always interested in reading about Bruno with the way the WWE always seems to downplay his significance in their company history despite literally being the man who saved the business. And its apparent as to why. Bruno Sammartino along with Pedro Morales, is an ace who represents the working man and woman, the proletariat, the immigrant story, a real man of the people. The aces of today's WWE beginning with Hulk Hogan and continuing through John Cena and Cody Rhodes are just different variations of the labor aristocracy. I've heard many stories throughout the years but after reading, Bruno truly was one of one. From humble beginnings surviving the nazi invasion of Italy in WWII to scraping and grinding his way to the top of the wrestling world while never betraying his values or forgetting where he came from or who supported him, he always was a man of his word and treated everyone with grace and respect. If Hollywood ever made a film adaptation of Bruno Sammartino's life, it'd be the greatest Superman adaptation of all time.

[Lance Lumley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really have been wanting a copy of this book for years, especially since Sammartino was legendary in my area of Columbiana, Ohio, not far from Pittsburgh. The book was lengthy and pricey, but due to a mix-up I got a cheaper version of it, not knowing that almost 100 pages of the 500 plus are photographs.
I had mixed results with this, due to giving credit to those who helped write the book (especially after his death) on detailing the man outside the ring, but there wasn't much information I didn't know about before, and several stories that weren't talked about in depth. For it being a non WWE book, it gives justice to Bruno as a man, but didn't give me much new information that wasn't already mentioned .
For an in depth review, visit my page at: https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/202...

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This just might be my favorite book. It's a long one with lots of pictures, but I actually wish it was even longer. Bruno's life was not easy and he is a real respectable and noble man. And I'm very honored to have read about his life and career as a wrestler.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written back in the day before wrestling admitted matches were not scripted, etc, so a lot of what Bruno says is not the truth. His childhood days of surviving WW2 in Italy are amazing. He is still one of my faves and I'm happy to say I met him many years ago and he was one of the nicest guys I ever met. A tell- all book by him would be amazing, but probably will never happen as Bruno is not that type of guy.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

not quite a kayfabe book, but bruno doesn't throw much shade here. tons of rare photos, etc. including loads of press clippings on bruno's early days as a high school wrestler and promising powerlifter

[Victor Orozco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice story. B