Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, born in Pizzoferrato, Abruzzo, in 1935 and raised in Pittsburgh after his family emigrated in 1950. He took up bodybuilding before starting to wrestle in 1959 and became the leading attraction of the World Wide Wrestling Federation, later WWE, at Madison Square Garden. He won the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship from Buddy Rogers in 1963 and held it for 2,803 days, the longest recognized men's world title reign in wrestling history, then won it again in 1973. After retiring he criticised the drug use and storylines of later eras, and he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.