Ivan Koloff vs. Bruno Sammartino

[PJohnson223]

How bout that! Didnt think he would win clean. He shoulda had a longer run w/ the belt!

[RobFinlay]

This is the actual footage but the sound is not genuine, the commentary would have been dubbed at a later date with generic crowd noise in the background.

[dflowers30]

That was a good match, they shouldve kept the title on Ivan Koloff a little longer

[ThyDisciple13]

This is defiantly the real match. All the details are there. The ref raised Kolov's arm three times, Kolov didn't get the title right away because they were afraid he would get attacked by the crowd. And that dead silence right at pinfall were all details in the real match that are in this match.

[OCcrazy1]

notice the commentator said its the greatest match of all time at very start

[Leosaco123]

Back then when wrestling was real!Now wrestling became fake only because of an accident happended with Shane Jumping off 70 feet to big show.

[capnfooDRIVEin]

@Leosaco123 wrestling was fake even back then dude, they just had a lot more shoot fights...Bruno knew he would lose the title going into this match.

[jtc1148]

@capnfooDRIVEin

Not only did Bruno know, he actually requested that he lose. Bruno was tired of the travel and responsibility of being the champ and carrying the wwwf. He wanted to spend more time at home with his family. The fact that he came back a few years later as champ proved Vince Sr needed him to draw more fans.

[jtc1148]

@Leosaco123

Wrestling has been "fake" since the 1920's when Ed Lewis was champ and the Gold Dust Trio were the top promoters.  LOL at Shane having anything to do with it, Shane's grandfather wasn't even around yet in the business

[sjustice16]

I read about this match back in the day in one of the popular wrestling magazines of the time. Never thought I would actually see it. One of the best matches ever! Thanks for posting!

[Derby14]

I don't get the point of the ref taking a bump if it was going to be a clean finish anyway...

[Metallicghost81]

Ivan spoke at my church today and he was talking about how Bruno picked him to win the belt so he could take some time off.

[FOXGotMeBanned]

2,803 days, jesus.

[TheBeastinAlex]

When was this?

[glenngarofano]

#3 notice you never see the W.W.W.F. Championship belt on Bruno and you never see Ivan getting the W.W.W.F. belt after the match was over. Ivan got out of the ring immediately not expecting nothing as the video shows.Bruno was not the champion on this night,Pedro Morales was the champion and this match looks like it was very late 1971 0r early 1972 @ the Baltimore civic arena which was probably head lining a double main event around Holidays?THAT'S HOW VINCE MCMAHON SR. WORKED.

[glenngarofano]

THIS IS NOT THE MATCH WHERE BRUNO LOST HIS BELT!!! very sorry to tell all my wrestling friends.I was in the front row with my Dad,I was 18 years old.The real ending was exactly the same as this match except 1#I didn't see myself run up to Ivan & reach up to grab his left ankle when he was on the top rope as security grabbed me away to my seat. 2# he was on the top rope hesitating for 5 seconds, not 1 second as this video shows.

[hayesman76]

My "conspiracy theory" re Bruno's loss to Ivan Koloff: Nixon was president in 1971 and at that time was busy with his famous "detente" policy, warming up U.S. relations with the USSR and China. He even visited both countries, the first U.S. president to do so. In my personal opinion, the loss of Sammartino to Koloff was part of a plan by the Nixon Administration as part of that policy. It would not surprise me if the Nixon team had convinced the WWF to let Koloff win "in the national interest."

[hayesman76]

article and learned that the UNTHINKABLE had happened: Bruno had lost the belt to Koloff! I was both truly shocked and disheartened. Funny thing I do remember, though: the report stated that Bruno was "bleeding profusely." As a 12-year-old kid I had no idea what "profusely" meant and so I looked it up in a dictionary. Who says pro wrestling isn't edumacational?

[hayesman76]

In 1971 I was a huge fan of WWF wrestling. I distinctly remember being in bed on that cold winter day iand having just woken up when my father (as I had asked him to do the previous evening) brought me a copy of that day's New York Daily News. At mach speed I turned to the back pages, searching for the short (usually only a few inches of text) article about the prior night's championship fight between Bruno Sammartino and Ivan Koloff. I was absolutely heartbroken when I found the (continued)

[Derby14]

You can here a pin drop...they're going to riot!!!

[TheTzdope]

@Derby14 he wasn't kidding!

bruno would rarely lose at the garden because of the fear of fan repercussions!!

[Derby14]

@TheTzdope I don't doubt that at all...I was just trying to note the inconsistency of a crowd so silent that you could hear a pindrop with a crowd ready to riot. I don't think the commentator really knew what he was talking about.

[mrpogo72]

whos the annoying commentator? why didnt tell him not to talk

[mjbab73]

@mrpogo72 I'm pretty sure that's Captain Lou Albano :/

[mrpogo72]

@mjbab73

its bad lol

[MrDCWood]

I could be wrong about this, but is this the earliest footage of a world title change that the WWE has?

[MrBlackFabio]

Is Bruno Sammartino in the WWE Hall Of Fame. If not, he should be.

[antsman88]

@MrBlackFabio he's not. they offered him the chance but he refused

[kimv020887]

BRUNO still HATES VINNIE MAC and the WWE nowadays. Bruno still won't come back to WWE even if its PG now (which I hate). To be honest with you, Bruno Sammartino, is the BEST WRESTLER alongside Hogan, Austin, Flair, etc.

[OldSchoolRasslin]

Why is this in black and white?

Bruno was a very poor wrestler, he had low workrate and a limited moveset.

[RPenta]

@OldSchoolRasslin Horsecrap. IF you saw the matches with Koloff, Morales, Zybysko, Don Leo Jonathan, Kawolski you would not say that; not to mention vs. Giant Baba.

[todd62164]

@OldSchoolRasslin.  The wrestling "style" in the 60's & 70's had very few high spots. It was alot of grappling and brawling.

[GlorifiedTruth]

According to Wikipedia, the crowd was so stunned at the end of this that Bruno thought he might have had his hearing damaged!

[marshallsimon]

I wish Lou Theisz is in the Hall Of Fame.

[lopas961]

how is it possible to hold a title for eight years???

[Stugazza]

@lopas961 Bruno was a great champ that only lost when wanted to. He sold out everywhere he went & the WWWF lives on today because of Bruno & promoter Toots Mondt. Bruno dropped the belt here to have time off from the game. He held the belt another 4 years from 73-77

[AmericanNohbuddy]

@lopas961

Back then and before it was very common. No wrestling shows like now where people would get sick of a wrestler having it for that long.

[mrpogo72]

@lopas961

Thats what would happen if you knew how to draw

[jerryofox]

Put Ivan in the Hall of Fame! (or at least the Koloff's at Atlanta of all places April 2011). Throw Barry Darstow of Krusher Kruschev and Demolition for good measure. All Hall of Fame worthy!

Bruno of course would turn down the honor.

[AmericanNohbuddy]

@jerryofox

Bruno is just pissed the wrestling industry changed.

[CombatSportFan]

@AmericanNohbuddy Rightfully so. Sammartino had no real problems with the way wrestling was in the 80s as he was still a part of the WWF until 1987 and then went on to be associated with WCW until 1992. His problem was that the promoters like McMahon took the focus off of the wrestling which sort of defeats the point of wrestling righteously kills the business set up.

[AmericanNohbuddy]

@CombatSportFan

And he should get over it. It put 70 thousand people in a stadium.

[CombatSportFan]

@AmericanNohbuddy 70,000 people in a stadium once a year means nothing if you have trouble putting 5,000 people in a basketball arena twice a week. And last year's Wrestlemania was heavily papered as well.

[AmericanNohbuddy]

@CombatSportFan

Raw and smackdown get more than that. Plus they get good crowds for the PPVs.

Bruno needs to get over it and realize the industry past him by and evolved.

[jerryofox]

Put Ivan in the Hall of Fame! (or at least the Koloff's at Atlanta of all places April 2011

[jerryofox]

Put Ivan in the Hall of Fame!

[angus506]

stop screaming about wrestlemania

[YSolaceY]

Big ahhmbaaah.

[JoeyPencils]

Bruno was large back then...solid and hairy

[Steverulz97386]

Lol it sounds like Al Paccino is doing commentary for this match.

[3000BCto1985]

bruno was a genius, his matches were all different, he could wrestle scientifically against pedro morales, pit strength against strongmen like superstar graham & ken patera or brawl with tough guys like bruiser brody, killer kowalski & the sheik - his matches were different whereas guys like hogan & flair had routines that they did n every match they wrestled ...

[elc1960]

@3000BCto1985 More so Hogan than Flair. You knew Hogan was about to win when he did his "hulking up" thing, then he would point at his opponent and shake his finger at him. Then came Hogan punching and kicking hiim, then the whip into the ropes and the foot in the face on the rebound, and then the big legdrop for the win. Very predictable because Hogan, despite his charisma and ability on the mic, had a very limited repertoire in the ring and couldn't vary his routine because of it.

[SnoojaDogg]

Man... this match didn't get the attention it deserved. This was the end to the longest WWE Championship reign in history. 8 freakin' years!

[elc1960]

@SnoojaDogg It got lots of attention at the time, even in other promotions. Over the years, people have tended to forget his accomplishments. Not to disregard them, but we've become so infatuated with Flair, Rhodes, Hogan, Austin, The Rock, HHH, Cena and the rest that we've forgotten that it was guys like Bruno who made all that possible.

[mrpogo72]

@elc1960

HHH really isnt that great.

If he wasnt fucking stephanie he'd be in TNA doin jobs to eric young

[TADO2005]

I HAVE GOTTEN TO KNOW BOTH WRESTLERS PERSONALY TRUE GENTLEMEN MCMAHON YOU RUINED PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING FOREVER!!! YOU GREEDY #%@$!

[ravensfan222008]

Actually one of the few clean victories of a heel over a face for the WWE championship.

[WWEChampion16]

Why would Vince Sr. decide that Bruno should drop a title to a Russian?

[joestone1972]

Koloff was actually from Canada. But just like with Slaughter in the 90's beating The Warrior and the Iron Shiek beating Backlund back in late 83 they were just transitional champs.

[oldschool6804]

@WWEChampion16 he was canadian and bruno back was screwed thats why the title changed.

[RangerRob2009]

Two great wrestlers, Koloff and Sammartino. The two of them added so much class to the sport of wrestling.

[Sneezlebob]

7:40 worst leg drop ever

[Earl1965]

@Sneezlebob thats because it was a knee drop

[Earl1965]

@Sneezlebob that's becasue it was a knee drop

[frelvis77]

@GoreFreeTennessee For the most part, the old WWF champs stayed in the Northeast. They occasionally did a Japanese tour, as WWF had a working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling, and there were a couple "Title Unification" matches (Backlund vs Flair in Atlanta, Graham vs Race in Tampa) but they usually didn't stray from teir territory until Vinnie Mac Jr. took them national.

[GoreFreeTennessee]

Did the WWF champion travel worldwide like the NWA champion did or did he stay in his general area?

[piyasdv]

Why do they call him Russian, he is Bulgarian

[cbpointblank]

@piyasdv

He's not Russian or Bulgarian. Ivan's real name is Jim Perras, and he's from Montreal, Quebec. He's French Canadian.

[piyasdv]

@cbpointblank His grave is in Bulgaria : # " I feel strong, because I'm a Bulgarian " - When offered to change his citizenship

# " Harry, let's go back to Bulgaria, there's not a country like her " - To his friend and wrestler Haralampy " Harry " Stoev

[elc1960]

@piyasdv Huh? The last I knew, Koloff was alive and well and living in North Carolina. He became a born-again Christian a number of years ago. He's a lay-minister at a church down there, and makes occasional speaking engagements at churches and does appearances at wrestling fan conventions around the country.

[roberthungry]

who is doing the voice over?is it handsome dick manitoba?anyhoo,classic match by my fave of all time,bruno!

[Tw3pwn]

it's funny when one of the commentators says "wrestlemania", almost sounds like a mention of the wwe's top ppv which would happen 14 yrs after this event.

[katasestric]

is bruno and ivan friends?????????

[RangerRob2009]

@katasestric ... The were very good friends. Bruno gave Ivan his big break beacause he saw a great wrester in Koloff. Ivan is a fantastic man even today. Lives in North Carolina now.

[BOOGE64]

I was under the impression that the title change was a screw job, like when Superstar Graham beat Bruno in 1977. No, it was a clean, in the middle of the ring pin fall. Five stars to whomever uploaded this match!!!!!!

[sonofabelch]

mrlucky, Bruno's neck was broken a few years later in a match with Stan Hansen (when Bruno lost the title the second time), not in this match.

[guglielmo64]

@sonofabelch Bruno never lost his title to Stan Hansen. The second time Bruno lost his title was to Superstar Billy Graham in 1977.

[sonofabelch]

Ahh thank you. Nothing like late night posting to confuse my brain :)

[guglielmo64]

No problem!

[Derby14]

This is incredibly historic. I was under the impression that no footgae of this match existed. It is not on any WWE releases of the history of the Championship. In fact, I think on the old Coliseum Video they specifically say it does not exist. I never thought I would see this. Thank you for posting it!!

[Taylorslade123]

@Derby14 The WWE have produced some great DVDs over the last few years, and the WWE championship DVD was quite good, but the fact that they left this is out was a massive blunder on their part, and make no mistake about it though, they have it in their archives, no doubt.

[afcajaxhuntelaar]

there is one thing i dont understand

why did Sammartino held that title for over 7 years?

[RangerRob2009]

First off he was built like a brick shit house. He was 5'9" and around 270 pounds of brute muscle. Secondly he was Italian. That was the big draw to places like Madison Sq Gardens, Boston Gardens, and most other big Arenas.

[elc1960]

@RangerRob2009 Exactly. That was also the reason they put the belt on Pedro Morales, because the audience had shifted from Italian to Hispanic in the Northeast cities that the then-WWWF promoted in.

[RangerRob2009]

@elc1960 no, Bruno wanted to cut back on his wresting and he told them he wanted a title change. He thought Ivan would keep the belt at least a year, but Vince thought differently. You are correct, they did feel that Morales would be a good draw if they could not have Bruno. Believe me, Bruno wanted to leave, not Vince wanting to change champions. They begged Bruno to remain champion.

[elc1960]

@RangerRob2009 OK, thanks. By the way, I can't help wondering why they brought Pedro in and put the belt on him when they had Victor Rivera already in the upper midcard and every bit as popular as Pedro. They would have had no holes in the midcard because Chief Jay Strongbow and Gorilla Monsoon were there, as well as Antonio Pugliese (Tony Parisi) and Tony Marino. Just wondering.

[bronxboy1952]

@afcajaxhuntelaar

Because during his time as a champ, he kicked the crap out of all of his opponents.

[mrlucky777]

a lot of "mistakes" happened in this match,supposedly,not the least of which is Bruno breaking a vertebrae, if I remember correctly.

[ddenuci]

i never understand the move at 7:15 , where the ref clearly throws himself in front of Koloff as Bruno whips him into the turnbuckle. Typically, this was done so that the ref would be "knocked out" so that Bruno could pin Koloff, but not get the 3 count since the ref would be MIA. The typical scenario would then have Bruno go over to help the ref, and Koloff attack from behind and pin him. Immediately following that, the ref would regain consciousness just in time to give the match to Koloff.

[ddenuci]

For the people who asked, the commentator on this video is Stan "Rocky" Raymond. My understanding is that he filmed mostly matches from the Boston Garden.

[nfwvideo]

suorised wwe dose not have this

[RangerRob2009]

I know Sammartino's billed weight was 265 and Koloff 293 for this fight, but knowing their actual heights (Sammartino was 5'9 1/2" and Koloff 5'8 1/2"), do you think they weighed that much???? Possible I guess.

[mtoth82]

one of my best friends is bruno's grandson

[josegr21]

is that capt. lou albano?

[RickJ32]

he was koloff's manager that day.

[Originalman320]

This was about 3 months before my birth.

[outbackdakota]

two of the greatest wrestling performers of that era.

[lettersfromaboy]

Of all time aswell

[bdegrande]

Koloff was an excellent heel, he cut very intelligent promos, a big step over the usual screaming and ranting.

[talbotfisher1984]

1. The man doing the commentary is annoying. 2. Good match, surprised that Sammartino lost cleanly. 3. No disrespect meant for Koloff, but how much better would it be if it had been Morales vs. Bruno instead? Cut out the Koloff and Stasiak middlemen.

[TheMachoMadness]

talbotfisher1984, Back then it was taboo to see face vs face matches.

[lettersfromaboy]

Unfortunately, it is like that today. I mean Cena vs Jeff Hardy at Wrestlemania would have been great, oh well.

[hurikayne1]

There was a Sammartino-Morales match at Shea Stadium in 1972. There were about 55000 people there and they wrestled to either a 60 or 90 minute draw. The card was a precursor to later Wrestlemania type cards a decade later. There were quite a few big matches on it.

[RangerRob2009]

@hurikayne1 That match was done so they could try and sell Morales. He was not the draw Sammartino was and they figured if they could show the world Morales could draw with Sammartino, he would sell better and they could make some money on him. He didn't, and they brought Bruno back again for another 3 1/2 years.

[elc1960]

@talbotfisher1984 No one remembers that Pedro and Bruno wrestled to a one hour draw at Shea Stadium in September 1972. They had a match that was set up by them teaming on TV against Tanaka & Fuji. Bruno and Pedro had salt thrown in their eyes and started throwing punches because they were "blinded". When their eyes cleared, they could see that they had been punching each other, and so started slugging each other again.

[SheriffTankStoner]

Although ithe song came out a month or so after this. I always associated 'Riders On The Storm' with this match because the last 3 minutes of the song gives me a picture of people walking out of MSG crying and weeping as rain cascaded down from the skies.

[JTZissman]

One thing is for sure, the fans REALLY cared

[wildstar145]

after koloff won he made a quick exit out of the ring he later said he was scared to death

[mferg240]

look at the size of these two men, they are huge, steroid free. bruno and ivan were actually friends, ivan is actually a canadian, and bruno gave him his first big break in the wrestling buisness.

[RVD2267]

bruno sammartino wrestled 75 minuts

[erkall01]

man Ivan Koloff was a beast man was this the first time Bruno Sammartino lost the title after having it for 8 years

[666DevilDarkSide999]

7 years

8 months

+

1 day

to be precise

[LCARLAN2]

This is pro wrestling.....Bruno would constantly sell out every arena he wrestled in. He did this without PPV, 15 hours of TV time, or the internet. All he needed was 1 hour TV time on WOR channel 9 on Saturday Nights in NYC. I miss those days.

[yardlet6]

Don't forget the Apter mags.

[jbez29e]

I saw Bruno wrestle in Altoona Pa in 1969. He was THE MAN. Watch these clips...while liked, he did what he had to to win! Not a heal, but close at times. He took a lot off of IK. From these posts, I've changed my opinion of IK...BS liked him so IK is OK!

[KieranPolland]

When that bell rang, that crowd went silent as hell.

[outbackdakota]

Morales, like Gorilla Monsoon had some interests in the wrestling business world. Morales was around for a long time. They believed he would be the man to draw that Hispanic crowd.

[subardecraze]

wrestling rly sucked back then

to end 8 yr long streak with russian leg drop and 5 min match

talk what u want but today it would probably take 60 min ironman match to end it

[40colby]

Dude, that is some fans footage... there are gaps in the tape... it was NOT a 5 minute match.

[MrYankeesguy56]

it was 15 mins i think right?

[Sanguiluna]

Dude, this was back when wrestling was actually WRESTLING. Not this sports entertainment "Attitude" crap we have now.

[bronxboy1952]

@Sanguiluna You are so right!!! Wrestling was so much better than it is today. The packaging that it has now, its a damned soap opera that is just garbage to the time when Bruno was champ! No wonder he has repeatedly cricized the current state that his sport is now in.

[laxi1015]

@Sanguiluna you honestly enjoy watching this more, its sloppy as fuck

[Sanguiluna]

That's because this was back when wrestling was taken seriously. All those gimmicky hell in a cell, iron man matches weren't part of it. This was before wrestling became entertainment, so they couldn't have a 60 minute iron man match, otherwise it wouldn't make the match look real.

[MrYankeesguy56]

knee drop, not leg drop

[raydennis1980]

I can't I came across this. What I don't get is why, since this footage apparantly exists, has WWE always maintained that it doesn't and has never shown it anywhere

[LOKITUPISBACK]

this is probably bootleg footage. the audio is obviously fake. wwe most likely doesnt own this and the person who filmed this was most likely tracked down and his footage was used in this tape. a company called rf video that has shoot interviews with wrestlers used to film ecw shows. they still own the footage even though wwe bought the remanants of ecw in 2001

[40colby]

WWE probably doesn't have their own footage of the match. The video is from a fans 8 milimeter camera footage.

[TonySpargo]

Bruno actually was tired of the title responsibilities and told them he was going to somewhat semi retire. They felt the one to replace him would be Pedro because they owed him a title and he would be a great draw to the Hispanic crowd. They found they were wrong and wanted to replace Pedro fairly quick.

[italstal624]

I think most of what you said was accurate...Bruno was tired of the travel and being away from his family...Koloff was a transition champion, dropping the belt to Pedro Morales within a month...I think McMahon Sr. thought he could appeal to the Hispanic demographic on the East Coast...Pedro actually held the belt for about 2 and a half years and was a good champion...But he was no Bruno...When they brought Bruno back he had agreed to a year as champion but they kept sweeting the pot...

[elc1960]

@TonySpargo What you said was true, except the part about them wanting to replace Pedro quickly as champ. He continued the wrestling sell-out streak at MSG for almost three years, then Bruno came back and sold it out for another 3 years. The only time in the last 40 years that wrestling lost interest at MSG was during the early '90s, when fans stopped caring about the "cartoon characters" like Hogan and Ultimate Warrior that Vince was ramming down their throats.

[Sage80]

Props for posting this! You deserve recognition.

[samsdaddy0525]

From what I read about this, Bruno was tired of travel and demands of being champ. He wanted a break. Also, the fans were silent and in a near state of disbelief that Bruno lost.

[3ringsAIKMAN]

Thats an interesting point and a valid reason for the end of Bruno's reign....However, I had heard that Vince McMahon Sr wanted to draw an hispanic following to the WWF.... If I'm not mistaken, Koloff held the title for a very short time, (not even a month) and he was defeated by Pedro Morales......Morales held the title for a few years, with a growing hispanic following.

[samsdaddy0525]

I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't truth in both of our statements. I bet Bruno wanted a break and Vince Sr. saw the potential of Pedro bringing in Hispanic fans by putting the belt on him.

[40colby]

Well, actually Pedro held the belt for a year or two and couldn't draw the crowds. He was certainly young enough to have continued as champ. But due to his not being able to fill the arenas Vince SR brought Bruno back due to Bruno's continued drawing power... and kept Bruno for another 4 years and Bruno once again had to say, enough is enough and told McMahon that if he'd retire with the title unless he let him go, so Mc Mahon let him go.

[elc1960]

@40colby Pedro COULD draw the crowds. Back then, most of the major cities of the WWWF had large Hispanic populations (Boston, Baltimore, Philly, NYC, Providence, New Haven, etc). It was the last few months of Pedro's reign that crowds started to slack off in the smaller towns, and that may have been why Pedro dropped the belt, but that's just conjecture on my part. I do know that MSG wrestling had non-stop sellouts from the late '60s to the early '90s.

[elc1960]

@3ringsAIKMAN Koloff held the belt for 4 weeks to the day. He won it at one MSG show and lost it at the very next one. In between he defended the belt only a couple of times (one was against Chief Jay Strongbow in Philadelphia - Koloff won by countout). The reason the two matches were 4 weeks apart was that MSG shows back then were 4 weeks apart, and always on Monday nights.

[MrYankeesguy56]

true, Bruno even thought he lost his hearing, he said that in an interview after the match

[TonySpargo]

Bruno was actually a hero to Ivan Koloff.  Bruno really gave him his big breaks.

[utubacount14789]

its refreshing to see a heel cleanly winning the title. i wonder if that will happen between ortan and hhh at wm25(not bloody likely) anyway thanks for posting this video.

[CharlieMagnante]

I was at one of the Sammartino, Koloff matches. They were billed as weighing 295 ilbs for Koloff and 276 for Sammartino. Two huge men.

[86lenny]

Thanks for posting this great piece of wrestling history ! I never knew film of this historic event existed !

Ivan Koloff is one of the most underrated wrestlers in history and should be in the WWE Hall of Fame.

[RangerRob2009]

@86lenny Ivan Koloff was indeed one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. He has done so much for wrestling. He was screwed by Vinny McMahon when they had him lose the title to Pedro. Ivan honestly thought they would allow him to hold it for at least a year. He deserved it.

[thebattman1967]

great ,bruno,bruno,bruno!

[kaar20]

this is the real deal man and wat made this fight so good they wher all most the same by size power and skill

[9InchWarrior]

Who's commentating since he mentioned WrestleMania, I can safely assume its not the original commentary

[LFirstbasema]

One of the most shocking title losses in history!

[yonkeykong420]

why??

[malfoy2]

Because Bruno had the belt for over 7 years. This was before wrestling was 'out'. Fans truely believed he was unbeatable.

[yonkeykong420]

ohhh okay...thanks for the info

its crazy how long people used to hold the title unlike today where people are lucky to have the belt for a year

[malfoy2]

They didn't even anounce the win of fear of a riot.

[miggy25]

Ivan Koloff was a monster back then...Bruno was almost invincible, having held the title since 1963...people were stunned when this happened (so i've heard--i wasn't born till '81)

[DotDotkins]

I'm amazed that this footage exists especially after being told for years that it didn't exist.

[xwingt16]

is this the original?

[theultimatezztopfan]

Bruno Sammartino was the Shit man.

Sure this took place well over 10

years before I was born but hey,

nothin' beats classic old school

professional wrestling.

[y2j420]

Great find!