Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino was an Italianborn 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 4040 days across two reigns the first of which is the longest single reign in the promotions history at 2803 days He is overall a twotime 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