MSG Wrestling - Bruno Sammartino vs Stan The Lariat Hansen

[Mr61929480]

Bruno all-time favorite

[AJ36sXe]

@Mr61929480 Definitely in the Top 3 of all time, unfortunately he's barely remembered because the common wrestling fan only remembers as far back as 1996.

[Dietpepsivanilla]

@AJ36sXe Unfortnately, that's true. Only those of us over 40 truly remember how great Bruno was and for that matter all of wrestling back then. Hansen was a great heel as was the great Superstar Graham, Ken Patera, The Magnificent Muraco, Killer Khan, et al. And I know a lot of people didn't like him, Bob Backlund was also a great champion. But Bruno was the best!

[AJ36sXe]

@Dietpepsivanilla Luckily the internet is around or else I would've known nothing. I'm 18, so most fan my age call this stuff crap, hate anything current, and LOVE the Attitude Era. So, I guess that makes me one of a kind (no RVD reference). Some of the people you named and several more will never grow old and should forever be loved by fans both young and old.

[troydawg47]

How old was Hansen like late 20s? Didn't know he had blond hair.

[Holyspiritguide]

Stan was one of the stiffest wrestlers. Had not one graceful bone in his body. He was almost legally blind due to his eyesight being so bad. He injured many guys just due to that alone.

[MrOldschool416]

i just found out that stan broke brunos neck does n e one have that footage of that did vince even air the match at a later date i herd the match was stoped when it happened,just wondering

[aitraining]

@MrOldschool416 The match was actually not stopped. Hard core Bruno stuff. Stan Hansen accidently dropped Bruno on his head when he was giving him a body slam. It wasn't this video though. Bruno not only stuck in the match he then sold the broken neck as a lariat hit (Hansen's signature move) which came later on. Crazy stuff. Tough bastards back then.

[wannabenj]

@aitraining You hit the nail on the head when you said tough bastards back then.I was thinking how would Triple H,Xpac,Shawn Michaels,Scott Hall,Kevin Nash and the rest of WWE do against someone like Mad Dog Vachon,The Crusher or The Bruiser.I think they wouldn't do so well.

[mighty690am]

@wannabenj they get theis asses beat both in the ring and off by thr promoters if they tried the pre madona crap they do now!

[HardrockGX]

@MrOldschool416 This was the match I saw when I was in elementary school that got me hooked into pro wrestling. There is footage of the whole match as it was a house show broadcast on HBO/Cablevision at that time. This clip was from MSG spotlight. If I recall, it might have been a piledriver instead of a bodyslam. 2-3 weeks later in the Garden, Hansen busted up Ivan Putski. Wrestling mags had captions of Stan Hansen has crippled 2 men, who is next?

[HardrockGX]

@MrOldschool416 Hansen/Bruno rematch occurred in Shea Stadium in June of '76. That was the card in which they televised from Japan, Antonio Inoki vs Muhammad Ali (15 rounds of boredom). The card @Shea also had Chuck Wepner (Stallone's idea for Rocky) vs Andre the Giant. In the rematch, Bruno basically kicked Hansen's ass. Hansen did have the Lariat loaded (too obvious), and he was giving elbow smashes to the back of Bruno's neck. Bruno got the pad off of Hansen & beat him with it.

[andycf87]

Man that crowd response was insane when Bruno started attacking again after being busted open... amazing how gullible the fans were back then... seriously how in the hell do u make somebody bleed by gently nudging them with your elbow??? lol if Vince managed 2 keep a lid on the "secrets" of wrestling there would have never been a need 4 the attitude era and all that extreme BS and Bruno would be in the hall of fame... oh well fuck WWE!!!!!!

[elc1960]

@andycf87 Hansen's gimmick was that his elbow pad was "loaded" with some type of foreign object; it was later shown on TV to be a bunch of silver dollars. He had just used it to bust open some jobber and Vince McMahon demanded to see if Hansen had loaded the pad. When Hansen and his manager Freddie Blassie protested, McMahon grabbed the elbow pad, and as Hansen pulled the pad out of McMahon's hand, the silver dollars fell out on the arena floor.

[jrekdal]

@elc1960

Lethal Silver Dollars! LOL

I always thought they could do better than that.

[Mulder25j]

@andycf87 Hansen loaded the lariet which in turn busted Bruno wide open. Didn't you see it? lol

[andycf87]

@Mulder25j ... what did he load it with??? Btw lame gimmic but it was cool in that instance with Bruno going nuts after blading and making it look like a real brawl... Bruno is the man, the best there is the best there was and the best there ever will be

[SadisticScott]

@Mulder25j actually, it was actually a botched bodyslam that injured Bruno, if I'm not mistaken. The Lariat was just kayfabe

[Plexpara]

@carl22069:

ye you can see how he cut himself.

i hate when you can see that in a match.

[BrickhouseB2]

Stan Hansen is a blind sack of Shinola.

[msw600]

One can't wrestle with a broken neck. A neck injury like a whiplash one can wrestle with. A REAL NECK FRACTURE NO WAY CAN ONE CONTINUE IN THE SAME MATCH.

[oldschool6804]

@msw600 he had a real neck fracture you don't know shit! it was areal fracture not just whiplash!

[daredevilpre]

McMahon might have suggested this was how Bruno broke his neck, and he actually did, but this is freaking nonsense. Bruno says Hansen totally blew up during the match and accidentally dropped him on top of his head, attempting a common body slam.

I saw footage from the match and Bruno got thrown really hard into the corner and snapped his head, but the body slam is very plausible.

This was before Hansen was the ultra-scary cowboy heel, that silly lariat couldn't hurt anyone.

[Towncrier123]

Anyone have any footage of their rematch at Shea Stadium ?

[meekrob]

Stan Hansen with Ric Flair hair is just WRONG :)

[tremendous112233]

@meekrob Stan looks so different with that hair and like another “Big Bad” Bobby Duncum Sr. LOL. In 1994, he showed up in a sports show variety here in Japan and one of his matches from his first ever arrival in Japan in September 1975 was aired there and the host said to him, “Looks like your hair is so different now.” and he said with a grin, “With ages, my hair has become more conservative.” He continued that hair style until the spring 1977 and the new one reminds me of Blackjack Mulligan.

[HardrockGX]

@elc1960.. This was the conclusion of this match. Bruno was slammed earlier in the bout which was the accidental neck breaking move. This was the match that got me hooked into pro wrestling..

[elc1960]

This footage was shown as a tag on an episode of "Championship Wrestling", supposedly a "Progress Report" on Bruno's injury.  An even more edited version of this was used as part of the old syndicated series "Greatest Sports Legends" which aired in the late '70s (the version hosted by Tom Seaver, not the one hosted by Joe Namath - the episode is here in its entirety on YouTube). You get to see Bruno showing Tom Seaver some wrestling holds in it.

[elc1960]

They always claimed it was Hansen's "Lariat" that broke Bruno's neck. It was a botched bodyslam that broke his neck. Bruno was bloody and they were both perspiring heavily when Hanses picked Bruno up for a slam, but Hanses lost his grip and Bruno landed on top of his head near the corner of the ring. The ref stepped in immediately and stopped the match, claiming Bruno was too severely cut to continue. Bruno went back to the locker room and collapsed while showering off.

[landrykkb]

@elc1960 You have to admit it would look ridiculous on TV if it was explained that Bruno Sammartino had his neck broken in a body slam,so it just was more logical to the fans if Stan Hansen "broke" Bruno's neck with a lariat.

[elc1960]

@landrykkb Very true, although not so much ridiculous as hard to explain without giving away the "secrets" of pro wrestling, in that they slam each other carefully so as not to drop each other on their heads and cause cervical damage.  But yeah, you've got the right idea about it.

[armyvettech14]

Is there a full version of this match available?

[elc1960]

@armyvettech14 There used to be a YouTube channel named luckychucky777 that had the full match, but the channel was taken down last year. They also had the Bruno vs Zbyszko TV match in its entirety (including the gory ending with Bruno face down on the mat in a spreading pool of blood).

[Stugazza]

It does not matter, We can just enjoy watching these great old matches anyway.

[Stugazza]

Idiotic comment. 

[dwe253]

At 1:19 Bruno cuts himself and slips something back in his trunks.

[meanlezbo]

how sweet, too bad stan didn't kill bruno...

[BigMDS67]

Bruno gets His neck "Broken" by Stan Hansen. Stan was a bad mofo!

[Stugazza]

Was actully a botched bodyslam because Hansen was not in the shape of bruno

[johnnykov]

All one has to do is read the biographies of Superstar Billy Graham and Larry Zybysko to see how ALL of the wrestlers looked up to (and loved) Bruno. How Bruno lobbied to Vince sr. to have SSBG remain champion and even do a "face" turn instead of handing the title to Backlund. How Bruno and Larry came up with Larry's "heel" turn and war with Bruno to get Larry's career as a heel way over

[oldschool6804]

@johnnykov larry didn't always get along with bruno they have had tension for over 20 years, they recently reconciled.

[johnnykov]

@oldschool6804 All you have to do is read Larry's book from about 5 years ago

[gabethebabe10]

Good to witness real wrestling by real athletes, no story line's or actor's, pure wrestling and fighting..................

[cbaldwinjr]

@gabethebabe10

But it's not 'real'...not when something is predetermined. No more real than a stuntman

[patc71s]

Great footage.

 I'll take Bruno any day over Harley Race. I always thought Race was extremely overrated and boring as hell to watch and not as good as Bruno, Backlund, Flair, The Briscos, the Funks, Pat Patterson, Ray Stevens, Nick Bockwinkel, Verne Gagne, etc.

[cbaldwinjr]

In many ways Sammartino and Hogan were alike. Despite limited in ring skills, they were BELOVED by all fans. And even as other fans claimed that another 'world champion' (harley race for sammartino, ric flair for hogan) was a better in ring 'performer'...no two guys put more asses in the seats than Hogan and Sammartino. How he isn't in the WWF (fuck that E shit) hall of fame is beyond me, feud or not. Hogan ELEVATED that company to insane heights, but Sammartino MADE it.

[HowTingz]

Didn't Sammartino get inducted with Andre The Giant?

[cbaldwinjr]

@HowTingz

Sadly no. He's not in to this day. Pete Rose and Refrigerator Perry in but Randy Savage and Bruno Sammartino out? Ridiculous

[HowTingz]

@cbaldwinjr But that's a freakin insult however I'm not surprised.

If you take a good look at the Hall Of Famers you'll see that there is always some story behind that certain legend being inducted at that certain time.

It's safe to say that at The H.O.F. kayfabe rules which is why Eddie Guerrero was inducted before Tito Santana and why you barely hear about Bruno Sammartino.

[elc1960]

@HowTingz The reason Eddie Guerrero was inducted before Santana was because WWE was putting out a video of Guerrero's career at the time, just like when Hogan was inducted and Bret Hart as well. Bruno always had "heat" with the McMahon family, going back to the early '60s because he would always stand up for himself, and it came to a head when Vince was indicted of steroid distribution and Bruno went on Larry King and Phil Donahue's shows accusing him of it. THAT'S why Bruno isn't in.

[Stugazza]

I agree. Bruno is not bitter at all. Bruno takes crap from no one & did what he thought was right. He also stood up for the boys since he had pull & that is one reason that he was so respected. Really the McMahons did not treat him well & they have done things I do not like either. That is why I quit watching. Bruno is the main reason for the WWWF's survival all of these years because of what he helped build. Also. there are more deserving guys to be in the HOF

[elc1960]

@Stugazza Don't EVEN get me started on that bullshit "Hall of Fame". 500 characters is not enough space for me to say how I feel, and trust me, you don't want me "speechifying" here. Someone will hurt themself tripping over my "soapbox" on their way out.

[Stugazza]

I agree there too. It is a bullshit deal. There is no building with tangible items. The one in Schnectady has tangible items & Bruno wants nothing to do with that one either. I hear you talking

[JimScythe]

@Stugazza He's not in the WWE's "HOF"?

[Stugazza]

Bruno wants nothing to do with it. Read other posts & listen to him on you tube. He has legit points on why & I agree

[JimScythe]

@Stugazza I knew he didn't but everyone has changed but I really don't blame him. I mean even if he was who would know who he was.

[Stugazza]

Not many people anymore & it is really sad Jim. Bruno worked for a successful promotion & he built it up even more. He is one of the main reasons they did well. Rogers was not selling out as champ, so Bruno became champ & filled up arenas everywhere they went. Too bad McMahon does not treat the old timers with any respect since they were the ones that built his fathers business

[BrickhouseB2]

@Stugazza You are partially correct. Rogers sold out every arena he wrestled in. He was the single biggest draw of the mid 50's through the early 60's. The man had a heart attack shortly after McMahon & Mont decided to pull out of the NWA, so they put the belt on their second biggest draw...Bruno. Where you are correct is that Bruno went on to work his tail off to make the WWWF title the # 1 money making title in the biz. In my book, he's the greatest of all time.

But Rogers isn't far behind.

[landrykkb]

@JimScythe Then again,today's fans don't know who "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd,Bobo Brazil,Pedro Morales,Buddy Rogers,& Baron Scicluna are either and guess what?They're all in WWE's Hall Of Fame.

[JimScythe]

@landrykkb True and that is very sad. Very sad.

[landrykkb]

@cbaldwinjr Of course,a lot of why Bruno's not in the WWE Hall Of Fame has to do with his stubbornness because he feels it's a joke.Well,it's a bigger joke if he doesn't accept an induction into it,if you ask me.He really should have been inducted first.

[infernityzero2011]

@landrykkb he could have been inducted first if vince didnt start the hall of fame for andre the giant after he died and he was the only one inducted in 93

[Stugazza]

Never put Bruno in the same class as Hogan. It seems that no one realizes that Bruno trained at Pitt & could handle himself in shoot as well as anyone. Bruno was as talented as anyone. He brawled more than wrestled because McMahon Sr. had more brawlers than wrestlers that could shoot as well. Look back at the 60's & 70's. You will find that these guys were tough as most promoters did not want guys that could not handle themselves. They were invited to start & kick asses in bar fights.

[cbaldwinjr]

@Stugazza

If I was talking about the NCAAs, that statement might have merit. I was referring to PRO wrestling. You know, the 'sport' that is predetermined based on a promoter/owner of a company and not actual wrestling ability. You know, the reason why guys like Brad Rheingans were mid-carders and George Steele was a main eventer. That's dumb logic to devalue Hogan because he couldn't shoot. HE DIDN'T HAVE TO IN THE 1980s! Good Lord, some of you fans are just as delusional as these wrestlers.

[Stugazza]

Really, you do have a good point. & I hear you. I was not clear on my thoughts. I was not ripping Hogan at all. He was a great performer since the 80's was not about hook & shoot. It is dumb logic to say Bruno & Hogan had limited ability since Bruno was a legit shooter that mostly brawled and we saw a different Hogan in Japan that could wrestle. The times changed & they went with what the promoters had in mind. That is what I was saying.

[cbaldwinjr]

@Stugazza

Okay man...fair enough. You force me to apologize now for lumping you in with some of these numbnuts that talk about pro wrestling. Those are all very legitimate points. And I'd NEVER knock Bruno Sammartino. The man was idolized for 20 years.

[Stugazza]

Thanks man. There a lot of folks that do not know about the background of these guys.

[elc1960]

@cbaldwinjr Yes! Glad to see someone say that. Before Hogan, Bruno was WWWF/WWF/WWE's biggest money maker and the other "boys" knew Bruno would go to the wall for them as well as for himself if anyone had legitimate issues with management. Even during his career, Bruno wanted the other wrestlers to (here comes the dirtiest word of all to WWE bigshots) unionize, but the boys backstage were afraid to lose their jobs; Bruno was not expendable at that time but they were.

[hartman8883]

Bruno is the man...

[Corbu3]

Bruno is doing all of this with a legit broken neck (from Hansen's botched body slam earlier in the match). Amazing. Thanks for the post.

[Reg197844]

@Corbu3 You have to think Bruno didn't really feel the pain until he got into the locker room. The adrenaline probably carried him through the rest of the match.

[elc1960]

@Corbu3 The actual injury took place AFTER the action shown in this clip (see my earlier post). They just used that as an excuse to hype the feud. Bruno actually came back early because McMahon needed Bruno to help hype the gate of the Ali vs Inoki closed circuit match because ticket sales were not as good as they had hoped. That's why they had that Shea Stadium undercard match where Bruno basically "squashed" Hansen, because Bruno was not up to the rigors of a give-and-take match.

[Corbu3]

@elc1960

Not sure I understand what your saying about the sequence...there doesn't seem to be any action after what's shown in the clip...it seems to show the match's conclusion. I always understood that the botched slam was earlier in the match, before Hansen's lariat. And, yep, I've heard the interviews where Bruno explains how McMahon begged him to come back early for the Shea card. What a jerk (McMahon), risking Sammartino's recuperation for gate receipts.

[elc1960]

@Corbu3 That's because they carefully edited the footage to leave that part out (Bruno's injury occurred AFTER the footage shown here). They only show Bruno being looked at by a medical person and Bruno retaliating on Hansen. When he was slammed by Hansen, Bruno was already bleeding and both were covered in perspiration. This footage here is from the first 5-6 mins. of the match; the entire match took about 10-12 minutes and Bruno was slammed very near the match's conclusion.

[Corbu3]

@elc1960

Thanks for the clarification. FYI, while I think McMahon was a jerk for insisting Bruno be part of the Shea card, it certainly is true that the combined card from NY and Japan would have sucked without Bruno/Hansen and Andre/Wepner. Ali/Inoki was a farce that I paid good money to see via the closed circuit showing in Philly at the Spectrum (I'm showing my age here). Glad there were the other, better bouts to see.

[elc1960]

@Corbu3 So YOU were the guy who went to see that! (Just kidding.) That Ali/Inoki match was so hideous that even the Japanese fans were booing Inoki. It took a few years for him to rebuild his fan base after that debacle. The Shea undercard was basically the same as a typical night of WWWF wrestling at MSG - good solid matches leading up to the Bruno vs Hansen return match.