BRUNO SAMMARTINO REVEALS HOW WWE ASKED HIM TO JOIN HOF
- 02/17/2008 (1:12:27 pm)
- WorldWrestlingInsanity.com
Why he refused, and why its a scam….
BRUNO SAMMARTINO REVEALS HOW WWE ASKED HIM TO JOIN THE HALL OF FAME, WHY HE REFUSED, AND HOW THE HALL ITSELF IS A "SCAM"
By WorldWrestlingInsanity.com
By WorldWrestlingInsanity.com
The 104th edition of JG’s Radio Free Insanity is on the air and available right now at WorldWrestlingInsanity.com (Flash and MP3 download) This week's show features the Living Legend himself, Bruno Sammartino.
James Guttman starts the show off by talking about Bruno Sammartino. For many old school fans, Bruno was more than the Hulk Hogan of his day. He was an icon in wrestling before anyone fought over the term. As WWWF Champion for over 11 years combined, Sammartino was their reigning title holder for nearly one quarter of the company's existence. Now, years later, due to the outspoken nature of the Living Legend, he's not even in their Hall of Fame. For many, it's a black eye on the WWE Hall and shows that it's not about how well you did when you wrestled in your day, but rather how well you play ball with the powers-that-be today.
Bruno spent over one hour with James Guttman on ClubWWI.com this past week and granted him a 62 minute shoot that you don't want to miss. Forget everything you've heard about him. It's time for you to hear from him as Sammartino talks about everything including: the story behind his infamous backstage "snub" with Ric Flair, why Flair is a liar, drugs in wrestling, the Chris Benoit coverage, the changing face of wrestling, steroids, the Funks, comparing Vince McMahon Sr. to Vince McMahon Jr, why the WWE Hall of Fame is a "joke," Herb Abrams and the UWF, those who say Bruno was a New York draw only, why he's not in TNA, slamming Haystacks Calhoun, whether he'd be a wrestler if he was a young man today, sex in wrestling, how his deal with Baba caused friction with Vince Sr, how Bodyslam - The Movie caused friction with Vince Jr, why kayfabe didn't exist in his day, and much more.
Remember, Bruno is one of well over 100 stars you can hear uncut on ClubWWI.com. Some of these names include: Jerry Lawler, Vince Russo, Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, Kevin Nash, The Iron Sheik, Sid Vicious, Paul Bearer, Tito Santana, Tod Gordon, Charlie Haas, Tom Prichard, Jacques Rougeau, Tammy Sytch, Too Cold Scorpio, Ole Anderson, John Heidenreich, Jimmy Hart, Jimmy Valiant, Bad News Brown, Nick Bockwinkel, Dory Funk Jr, Diamond Dallas Page, Rob Conway, Sylvain Grenier, Buff Bagwell, Christian Cage, Jazz, Demolition Ax and Smash, Koko B. Ware, Ricky Morton, Dustin Rhodes, Damian Demento, Fred "Shockmaster" Ottman, Cpl. Kirchner, One Man Gang, Scott Steiner, Shawn Stasiak, Ted DiBiase, Ivory, Chris Masters, Elix Skipper, Kamala, Samoa Joe, Giant Bernard, Bill DeMott, Juvi "Juice" Guerrera, Nora "Molly Holly" Greenwald, Nick Dinsmore, Harley Race, Bull Buchanan, D-Lo Brown, Road Warrior Animal, Missing Link, Slick, Nidia, George Steele, Christy Hemme, Disco Inferno, Vito, Steve Blackman, AJ Styles, Chris Daniels, Dennis Stamp, Shawn Daivari, Kevin Sullivan, B.G. James, Ron Killings, Earl and Dave Hebner, Spike Dudley, Rodney Mack, Larry Zybszko, Rick Steiner, and Mae Young.
James says that the interview was nothing short of fascinating. Bruno's ClubWWI.com shoot was one of the exact reasons why the site was created. Before he opened the site, JG used to hear and read the same gossip we all do. You hear all about a particular star and think you know them through second, third, and ninth-hand (and in some cases - made up) stories. These shoots give listeners a chance to hear from the people themselves, learn their thoughts, and understand their personalities. Bruno was no exception and Guttman feels that many will be surprised at what he has to say.
Guttman thanks Georgiann Makropoulos of Wrestlingfigs.com for helping to set up the interview. He then talks about the latest pictures from Toy Fare, WWE's upcoming action figures, their break with Jakks toys, and more. He also reminds listeners that there will be real time coverage of No Way Out live as it happens on WorldWrestlingInsanity.com
From there, James cues up clips from Bruno Sammartino's 62 minute ClubWWI.com shoot interview.
We join the interview in progress as James Guttman is asking Bruno Sammartino about the Hall of Fame. Two names that stand out when you hear "WWE Hall of Fame" aren't two names that are in it, but rather two names that aren't. One is Randy Savage. The other is Bruno himself. As something that was started to thumb their nose at people who weren't on good terms with the company, the H.O.F. has become something that has only made people think about Sammartino more because his absence from it is a glaring negative. JG asks Bruno his thoughts on the Hall and whether there's anything that Vince McMahon could say to get him to join.
Bruno explains that the Hall of Fame was created in order to "show" Bruno Sammartino. The first year, Sammartino's name didn't even come up.
"He was gonna show me, I guess. But it backfired on him…"
Sammartino says he heard how WWE got a number of letters asking how they could have a Hall of Fame without him. That's why, "even though he didn't like it," a year went by and…
"Finally, his attorney contacted me one time and tried to talk me into going into that Hall of Fame. That they would love to have me in it and all this kind of stuff. In all honesty, I would never have any part of that because, first of all, I have been very critical of this organization - everything about them. I've been very, very critical. Therefore, if I accept their Hall of Fame, it would make me, I think, a hypocrite because on one hand, I'm criticizing the heck out of them. Then on the other hand, "Oh yeah, thank you. You're inducting me to the Hall of Fame." But besides that, I don't believe in it anyway because what Hall of Fame is it? If you want to go to this Hall of Fame to watch all of this, where would you go?"
Guttman laughs and says he knows what Bruno means.
"It's a joke! In my opinion, and people don't understand this, it's a gimmick for McMahon to make even more money. What they do, they have this Hall of Fame thing. They make DVDs out of it. They do the thing when WrestleMania is on, the day before or whatever, all this publicity. Then he's in 120 or so markets around the world. The Hall of Fame inductings, blah, blah. They sell it. They sell it. They make money. But in my opinion, it's all a scam. It's not a legitimate Hall of Fame."
- ClubWWI.com -
James Guttman jumps back in and explains how Bruno Sammartino goes on to talk about some of the other inductees in the Hall and whether or not Vince McMahon would ever induct him into the Hall without having him appear.
Before playing the next clip, James gives some background. Following the release of Ric Flair's book, he had an "altercation" with Bruno backstage at a wrestling show. Flair claims that Bruno snubbed him. Sammartino denies this and gives his side of the story to ClubWWI.com including why Ric's logic is flawed and why the criticisms he levied in his book don't hold water. Oh…and that's not all. He has his own opinion on the Nature Boy too. With that, Guttman plays the clip:
- ClubWWI.com -
In progress, Bruno is saying, "Who is this guy to say a stupid statement like that? I resented him for that because who the heck is he? What's he talking about?"
Guttman says that it seems like a conflict of interest when WWE wrestlers write autobiographies because, in many cases, their views seem to shadow those of the promotion. Ric's book seemed to take aim at many who were on the outs with the McMahons at the time. Sammartino responded:
"Well, that's the kind of people they are. What can I tell you? That speaks volumes about the guy. But let me go a little bit further. No, I don't respect Ric Flair. I don't respect him at all. Here's a guy we all heard about, which I couldn't believe, he exposes himself on an airplane! He got sued for it. Remember that? He used to get a kick out of jumping on a bar (at) saloons and mooning everybody in the joint. Here's a guy who almost got arrested and went to jail 25 years ago for not paying income taxes and Crocket Sr. worked out a deal with the IRS to take so much out of his pay to do it. Then I found out a year ago, the same thing happened all over again. What is this a guy to be looked up to? Give me a break!"
Bruno spent over one hour with James Guttman on ClubWWI.com this past week and granted him a 62 minute shoot that you don't want to miss. Forget everything you've heard about him. It's time for you to hear from him as Sammartino talks about everything including: the story behind his infamous backstage "snub" with Ric Flair, why Flair is a liar, drugs in wrestling, the Chris Benoit coverage, the changing face of wrestling, steroids, the Funks, comparing Vince McMahon Sr. to Vince McMahon Jr, why the WWE Hall of Fame is a "joke," Herb Abrams and the UWF, those who say Bruno was a New York draw only, why he's not in TNA, slamming Haystacks Calhoun, whether he'd be a wrestler if he was a young man today, sex in wrestling, how his deal with Baba caused friction with Vince Sr, how Bodyslam - The Movie caused friction with Vince Jr, why kayfabe didn't exist in his day, and much more.
Remember, Bruno is one of well over 100 stars you can hear uncut on ClubWWI.com. Some of these names include: Jerry Lawler, Vince Russo, Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, Kevin Nash, The Iron Sheik, Sid Vicious, Paul Bearer, Tito Santana, Tod Gordon, Charlie Haas, Tom Prichard, Jacques Rougeau, Tammy Sytch, Too Cold Scorpio, Ole Anderson, John Heidenreich, Jimmy Hart, Jimmy Valiant, Bad News Brown, Nick Bockwinkel, Dory Funk Jr, Diamond Dallas Page, Rob Conway, Sylvain Grenier, Buff Bagwell, Christian Cage, Jazz, Demolition Ax and Smash, Koko B. Ware, Ricky Morton, Dustin Rhodes, Damian Demento, Fred "Shockmaster" Ottman, Cpl. Kirchner, One Man Gang, Scott Steiner, Shawn Stasiak, Ted DiBiase, Ivory, Chris Masters, Elix Skipper, Kamala, Samoa Joe, Giant Bernard, Bill DeMott, Juvi "Juice" Guerrera, Nora "Molly Holly" Greenwald, Nick Dinsmore, Harley Race, Bull Buchanan, D-Lo Brown, Road Warrior Animal, Missing Link, Slick, Nidia, George Steele, Christy Hemme, Disco Inferno, Vito, Steve Blackman, AJ Styles, Chris Daniels, Dennis Stamp, Shawn Daivari, Kevin Sullivan, B.G. James, Ron Killings, Earl and Dave Hebner, Spike Dudley, Rodney Mack, Larry Zybszko, Rick Steiner, and Mae Young.
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