Sammartino has said that the crowd's reaction disturbed him while he sat in the dressing room after the match.

In his retirement, Sammartino has publicly criticized the direction professional wrestling has taken, making reference to lurid storylines, over-the-top theatrics, and drug and steroid abuse.

Sammartino has refused to provide commentary on WWE-produced retrospectives of his career, instead participating in a series of independently-produced documentaries, including Bruno Sammartino's Legends Never Die, La Roccia, The Passing of the Belt, and The Boys are Back.

In addition, Sammartino has rejected numerous invitations by the WWE to be inducted into its Hall of Fame.

However, Sammartino has since stated he would consider going into the Hall of Fame but would need to see more change from WWE.

Often prone to blading, Aguayo has been described by American pundits as a cross between Terry Funk and Bruno Sammartino ( for his willingness to brawl and overpower opponents ).

In 1974, Volkoff appeared in a memorable match at a sold out Madison Square Garden and wrestled one of the sport's most famous champions, the great Bruno Sammartino.

Sammartino initially refuses to remain on the set until Orton – who by now had regularly appeared on the set as a " bodyguard " – left the ring, knowing that Orton liked to sneak attack his guests.

The match plans fell apart when Sammartino refused to take on the enlarged schedule and Thesz demanded a high guarantee for doing the job.

Albano was soon joined by fellow managers Ernie Roth and Freddie Blassie, forming the " Triumverate of Terror ," managing heel opponents for Sammartino and later champions Pedro Morales and Bob Backlund.

As a fan favourite, Morales could not be expected to feud with fellow fan favorite Bruno Sammartino for his WWWF World Heavyweight Championship belt.

The Curriculum Materials Library and Technology Center in Sammartino Hall on the Rutherford campus collects children's literature, curriculum guides, and other teaching materials for grade levels kindergarten through twelve.

The Curriculum Materials Library and Technology Center, located in Sammartino Hall on the Rutherford campus, collects children's literature, text books, curriculum guides, periodicals, and other instructional materials suitable for use in the classroom.

He is the second longest-reigning WWF Champion of all time ( after Bruno Sammartino ) and the longest-reigning of the 1980s, having held the title for 1, 474 days from 1984-1988, as well as the longest-reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion of all time, with a 469 day reign from 1994-1995.

Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino ( born October 6, 1935 ) is a former Italian born American professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation ( WWWF ), holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign in professional wrestling history.

Sammartino became known for performing strongman stunts in the Pittsburgh area, and sportscaster Bob Prince put him on his television show.

It was there that he was spotted by local wrestling promoter Rudy Miller, who recruited Sammartino for professional wrestling.

Because of the disqualification, the owner refused to pay Sammartino the $ 50 he was promised for the match.

Sammartino found himself with even fewer dates and payoffs than the first time he wrestled for McMahon.

Sammartino found out that his suspension was due to his skipping a match he was booked for in Baltimore.

In his autobiography, Sammartino states that he believed McMahon set him up, by double-booking him and not informing him of his match in Baltimore, as a way of punishment for working for Kwariani.

Sammartino did not trust Rogers ( who had a reputation for taking cheap shots ) and the two did not work together very much during the match.

Sammartino kept this title for seven years, eight months, and one day ; it still stands as the longest continuous world title reign in men's wrestling history.

Sammartino was so popular that in 1965 he was picked by the National Wrestling Alliance board to wrestle against the legendary Lou Thesz in a match for both the NWA and WWWF titles.

Sammartino, already working an extremely busy schedule, refused the title match opportunity for fear that winning the title would make his schedule even more hectic.

Meanwhile, on January 14, 1972, Sammartino returned to Los Angeles, California for the first time in five years to participate in the highlight of promoter Mike LeBelle's year: a 22-man battle royal.

2 weeks later, all syndicated wrestling shows in the WWWF showed a clip of Morales and Sammartino signing a contract for a title match at Shea Stadium.

Sammartino ( right ) signing an autograph for Kathy Segal in August 1974

After two months, Sammartino famously returned, and faced Hansen in a rematch on June 25, 1976 at Shea Stadium, which was on the closed circuit TV undercard of the famous Ali vs. Antonio Inoki match for WWWF cities.

Sammartino was rushed back into action by Vince McMahon Sr. when the advance gate for the show was a disaster.

During this time period, Sammartino did a rare " clean job " for Killer Kowalski in Canada.

Miller knew that Sammartino could easily be marketed as an ethnic strongman, and that he would appeal to Italian immigrants who supported wrestling.

Within six months of his debut in wrestling, Sammartino was headlining at Madison Square Garden ( starting in tag matches, teaming with Antonino Rocca ).

In a controversial ending, Graham had both feet braced on the ropes ( which is illegal in pro wrestling ) while successfully pinning Sammartino.

Sammartino retired from North American wrestling full-time in 1981, in a match that opened the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The primary reason Sammartino returned was an attempt to promote the wrestling career of his son David Sammartino, who became a wrestler against his father's wishes.

On October 8, 2011 Sammartino briefly returned to the Pro Wrestling scene as a special guest when he joined a wrestling show held in his honor by Adriatic Wrestling League, an Italian pro-wrestling promotion.

Gotch is one of the longer reigning World Champions in the history of professional wrestling, with a reign that spanned nearly 5 years ; the only other champions to have longer reigns than Gotch are Bruno Sammartino, who held the WWF World Heavyweight Championship for a record of 7 years and 8 months, Lou Thesz, whose fifth NWA title reign lasted 7 years and 7 months and Verne Gagne who held the AWA World Heavyweight Title for 7 years and 3 months.

Despite his huge size, which was now in excess of 400 pounds, Monsoon had great agility and stamina, often wrestling Sammartino to one-hour time-limit draws.

Following the encouragement of fellow wrestler Bruno Sammartino, in 1969 Albano retired from active wrestling to focus on managing.

With a quick wit and a grating personality, Albano delivered memorable promos and earned the scorn of the wrestling audience as he attempted to dethrone World Wide Wrestling Federation superstar and WWF champion Bruno Sammartino.

The result was a Madison Square Garden sellout when Verdu faced Sammartino in June 1970, the first for the company in five years and a then-record gate for a wrestling event in that arena.

Other wrestling greats like Ric Flair, Freddie Blassie, and Bruno Sammartino also made cameo appearances in the film.

Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s.

After turning against Sammartino, Zbyszko was approached by the WWWF's " Unholy Trio " of managers ( Fred Blassie, The Grand Wizard, and " Captain " Lou Albano ), but he decided to continue wrestling without a manager.

Because Wisniski was also wrestling in Texas at the same time, he got only sporadic main event matches against Sammartino during this feud.