Male
Acting
nm0759890
1167702
2025 February 02 (dead at 82 years old)
2.005
4
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship (WWWF Heavyweight Championship during his second reign) for more than 11 years (4,040 days) across two reigns, the first of which is the longest single reign in the promotions history at 2,803 days. He is overall a two-time world champion in professional wrestling.Dubbed The Italian Strongman and The Strongest Man in the World early in his career, Sammartino later earned the title The Living Legend. Known for his powerful bearhug finishing move, he is widely regarded as the greatest professional wrestler of all time. Sammartino became a vocal critic of the drug use and raunchier storylines that became prevalent in the professional wrestling industry after his retirement but he reconciled with WWE in 2013 and headlined their Hall of Fame ceremony that year. Terry Funk commented that Sammartino was bigger than wrestling itself