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95-500: Robert James " Gino " Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon , was an American professional wrestler , play-by-play commentator , and booker . Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyweight main eventer, and later as the voice of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), as commentator and backstage manager during the 1980s and 1990s. He also portrayed

190-458: A Brawl for All contest between Bart Gunn and Butterbean at WrestleMania XV . Because of his frail appearance and rapidly declining health, the camera only focused on Monsoon during his introduction as a judge, for which he received a standing ovation. His final occasion on television with WWF would be as a guest commentator on the August 29, 1999 international version of Superstars . Marella

285-452: A legitimate neck fracture in a match against Stan Hansen at Madison Square Garden, when Hansen improperly executed a move and dropped Sammartino on his head. After two months, Sammartino returned and faced Hansen in a rematch on June 25, 1976, at Shea Stadium , which was on the closed circuit TV undercard of the Ali vs. Antonio Inoki match for WWWF cities. The match was rated 1976 "Match of

380-530: A Texas Death rematch to the same team. A year later, after defeating teams such as Al Costello & Dr. Bill Miller and Bobo Brazil and Earl Maynard , they went on to lose a main event to Sammartino and Victor Rivera. Monsoon had semi main event matches with Spiros Arion as well as Bobo Brazil in his key heel years. Also in 1968 he won the IWA World Heavyweight Championship (Australia) defeating Mario Milano on February 2 and dropped

475-553: A backstage incident between Sammartino and Gorilla Monsoon. Watts wrote that Monsoon "soon found himself in deep water" when messing with Sammartino, and he did not go into further detail on the incident out of respect for Monsoon. On July 26, 2004, Sammartino and Ric Flair were involved in the "Who snubbed who?" non-confrontation at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. Flair had denigrated Sammartino's wrestling ability in his book To Be

570-409: A berth on the 1956 U.S. Olympic team, which went instead to eventual gold medalist Paul Anderson . In 1959, Sammartino set a world record in the bench press with a lift of 256 kilograms (565 lb), done without elbow or wrist wraps. When he brought the bar down, he did not bounce it off his chest, but set it there for two seconds before attempting the press. He trained in wrestling with Rex Peery,

665-617: A birthday greeting in his hometown of Pittsburgh. On March 28, 2015, Sammartino inducted Larry Zbyszko into the WWE Hall of Fame. Sammartino is included in two DVDs summarizing his career and life: Bruno Returns to Italy With Bruno Sammartino (2006) and Bruno Sammartino: Behind the Championship Belt (2006). Both were only released in Pittsburgh. Sammartino is honored on the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame. Sammartino

760-613: A building that held 3,500. Sammartino retired from North American wrestling full-time in 1981, in a match that opened the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey . Sammartino pinned George "The Animal" Steele in his match. Sammartino then finished up his full-time career by touring Japan. It was during this time Sammartino found out through Angelo Savoldi , a recently fired office employee of Capitol Wrestling Corporation, that he had been cheated by Vince McMahon Sr. on

855-405: A feud with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper after Piper insulted his heritage on a segment of Piper's Pit at Madison Square Garden. Sammartino faced Piper in both singles and tag team matches. Sammartino teamed with Paul Orndorff in his matches against Piper, while Piper would tag with his "bodyguard", Ace "Cowboy" Bob Orton . Sammartino would eventually get the upper hand in the feud, by defeating Piper in

950-462: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked

1045-494: A loss to Abdullah Tamba in San Juan , Puerto Rico (also in 1983). The next phase of his career began, as the voice and backstage manager of WWF. In the early 1980s, Vincent J. McMahon's son, Vincent K. McMahon , began assuming the reins of the promotion from his father. The elder McMahon asked his son to take care of long-time employees who had been loyal to him. The younger McMahon agreed, and in 1982, Vince bought Marella's shares in

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1140-601: A match finish involving Sammartino, who took a shot at Cimino in the ring and the argument continued backstage. Sammartino ended up in a screaming match with Cimino on Pittsburgh's local Studio Wrestling program, and Cimino suspended him for a month. Irvin Muchnick mentioned the incident in his book, Wrestling Babylon . In his autobiography, The Cowboy and the Cross: The Bill Watts Story: Rebellion, Wrestling and Redemption , Bill Watts told of witnessing

1235-689: A new national powerhouse. At the time, the WWWF was the dominant wrestling promotion in the Northeast U.S.. Marella formed a friendship with McMahon, and became a one-sixth shareholder in the WWWF, controlling bookings in several WWWF territories. He also became one of the promotion's top heels, feuding with popular babyface champion Bruno Sammartino in sellout arenas across the country. Despite his huge size, then in excess of 400 pounds, Monsoon had great agility and stamina, often wrestling Sammartino to one-hour time-limit draws. Monsoon first wrestled Bruno Sammartino for

1330-710: A result was suspended in those territories. California honored the other state's suspension, leaving Sammartino out of work. In his autobiography, Sammartino states that he believed McMahon set him up, by double-booking him and not informing him of his match in Baltimore, as a way of punishment. Sammartino was forced to return to Pittsburgh and found work as a laborer. On the advice of wrestler Yukon Eric , Sammartino contacted Toronto promoter Frank Tunney hoping to take advantage of Toronto's large Italian population. Sammartino made his Toronto debut in March 1962 and very quickly, with

1425-765: A series of matches between Flair and Randy Savage in June 1996. In 2006, he signed an independent deal with Jakks Pacific to produce an action figure , which is part of the WWE Classic Superstars line, Series 10. On March 25, 2010, Sammartino was honoured at the 74th annual Dapper Dan Dinner, a popular awards and charity fundraising event in Pittsburgh, with a lifetime achievement award, for which fellow former Studio Wrestling personalities Bill Cardille , "Jumping" Johnny DeFazio , Dominic DeNucci , Frank Durso, and referee Andy "Kid" DePaul were all present. In 2013, Sammartino accepted an invitation for induction into

1520-645: A short time in 1977 and feuded with André the Giant , and the two engaged in a special boxing match in Puerto Rico (where Monsoon owned stock in the territory), with André winning the match. As a face, he had major wins in Madison Square Garden, including over Killer Kowalski as well as "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd . On June 1, 1976, a famous incident occurred in Philadelphia involving boxing great Muhammad Ali during

1615-603: A special appearance at the NWA pay-per-view event Halloween Havoc , where he was the special guest referee in a " Thunderdome " cage match which featured Ric Flair and Sting taking on Terry Funk and The Great Muta . Sammartino worked several WCW events in a minor analysis role in the early 1990s, as well as a brief run doing color commentary with Jim Ross on Saturday Night in 1992. He also acted as special guest referee in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for

1710-606: A steel cage match at the Boston Garden. In 1986, Sammartino competed in a 20-man battle royal at WrestleMania 2 at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago. Sammartino's final match was at a WWF house show in Baltimore on August 29, 1987, where he teamed up with Hulk Hogan to defeat King Kong Bundy and One Man Gang in the main event. Sammartino continued doing commentary on Superstars of Wrestling until March 1988. After leaving

1805-514: A taping for the syndicated WWWF TV show. Ali, preparing for his upcoming crossover bout with Antonio Inoki in Japan later that month, jumped into the ring as Monsoon (who rarely appeared as a wrestler on their TV shows) was concluding a short match against Baron Mikel Scicluna . Ali removed his shirt and started dancing around Monsoon while gesturing and throwing jabs at him, to which Monsoon responded by grabbing Ali in his Airplane Spin and slamming him to

1900-560: A tribute that aired on October 7, 1999, on an episode of WWF SmackDown! , McMahon described Marella as "one of the greatest men I have ever known." McMahon was reported to have broken down and cried after recording Marella's tribute. WCW commentator Tony Schiavone acknowledged Marella's death on the October 11, 1999, episode of WCW Monday Nitro . Bobby Heenan insisted on doing a tribute to Marella, even though Marella never worked for WCW. Heenan said on-air: "Gorilla will be sadly missed. Now he

1995-751: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It

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2090-486: A very nice career". Martin reported that fellow wrestlers "generally speak pretty highly" of Monsoon, with particular praise for his movement and portrayal of his character. WE described him as "one of the most feared competitors" in professional wrestling, adding, "Whether in the ring, at the mic or behind the scenes, Robert 'Gorilla Monsoon' Marella will always be remembered as one of the greatest of all-time." He has been inducted into various wrestling halls of fame, including

2185-637: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by

2280-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It

2375-884: The German occupation of Italy during World War II . In 1950, he came to the United States with his family, where they would settle in Pittsburgh . Sammartino would later take up bodybuilding before beginning his career as a professional wrestler in 1959. 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, Sammartino wrestled for various territories in

2470-626: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) before joining the WWWF territory. Already recognized as a future star, Sammartino won the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in 1963 after beating the inaugural champion, Buddy Rogers , in 48 seconds. He then held the title for a reign of a record 2,803 days – nearly 8 years. While doing so, Sammartino became a popular attraction in Madison Square Garden , selling out

2565-614: The University of Pittsburgh team coach. He also became known for performing strongman stunts in the Pittsburgh area, and sportscaster Bob Prince put him on his television show. It was there that he was spotted by local professional wrestling promoter Rudy Miller, who recruited the young man into the ring. Sammartino made his professional debut in Pittsburgh on December 17, 1959, pinning Dmitri Grabowski in 19 seconds. Sammartino's first match in Madison Square Garden in New York City

2660-484: The WWE Hall of Fame , after having declined several times in prior years. He finally accepted the offer to join because he was satisfied with the way the company had addressed his concerns about rampant drug use as well as vulgarity. The ceremony took place at Madison Square Garden on April 6, 2013, and Sammartino was inducted by Arnold Schwarzenegger . Sammartino appeared on October 7, 2013, episode of Raw and received

2755-612: The WWF Hall of Fame in 1994 . Monsoon's announcing has garnered both praise and derision. In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter ' s annual awards poll, readers voted Monsoon Worst Television Announcer a record six times between 1985 and 1995. Appraising his commentary in 1988, journalist Stately Wayne Manor remarked, "Monsoon is aptly named after a counterproductive wind storm that nobody welcomes." Writer Dave Meltzer referred to conversations with "irate wrestlers in

2850-482: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and

2945-728: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and

Gorilla Monsoon - Misplaced Pages Continue

3040-503: The 1980s boom period in WWF, especially his work with Bobby Heenan ". Eck acknowledged the criticism of Monsoon among sections of the audience, but defended his use of absurdity and cliché as "entertaining", and argued that "he sold the angles well and got the characters over ". PWInsider ' s Dave Scherer said of Monsoon, "I did love him as an announcer". Rolling Stone ' s Joseph Hudak reported that Heenan and Monsoon "are regarded as

3135-565: The 80s who hated Monsoon killing their psychology ". Todd Martin of the Pro Wrestling Torch noted that some regard Monsoon as "one of the all-time great announcers", while others feel he was "self-indulgent" and "dismissive of certain wrestlers", and had a tendency to "undermine the drama" by questioning the effectiveness of particular maneuvers. Baltimore Sun journalist Kevin Eck wrote that "a lot of people have fond memories of [Monsoon] from

3230-507: The Dark ). The Ventura/Monsoon duo of heel and babyface were the original broadcast duo, setting the standard which all who followed would attempt to emulate, especially Ventura's charismatic pro-heel character which was a first of its kind as previous wrestling commentators had almost always been in favor of the fan favorites. The pair commentated on all the WWF pay-per-views together with the exception of

3325-673: The Key to the City in Jersey City, New Jersey . May 17, 2013 was declared "Bruno Sammartino Day" in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania . In 2013, Sammartino appeared as one of the Board of Governors in the nationally televised 69th Annual Columbus Day Parade . In the late 1960s, Sammartino was involved in a fight with former Pennsylvania Athletic Commissioner Joe Cimino. Cimino was new to his post and intervened in

3420-561: The Man . Flair said Sammartino refused to shake his hand at the event, while Sammartino said Flair saw him coming down the hall, turned, and rushed away. Sammartino underwent heart surgery in 2011. He died on April 18, 2018, at the age of 82 from multiple organ failure due to heart problems following a two-month hospitalization. WWE honored his life with a ten-bell salute before a house show in Cape Town, South Africa later that day, and again on

3515-696: The United States. Sammartino won the title on May 17, 1963, defeating Rogers in 48 seconds. Sammartino and Rogers faced each other two months later at Madison Square Garden in a tag team match, with Rogers and Johnny Barend defeating Sammartino and Bobo Brazil by 2 falls to 1. Rogers pinned Sammartino for the third and deciding fall. Rogers retired prior to their scheduled title rematch on October 4, 1963, in Jersey City, New Jersey's Roosevelt Stadium. Sammartino instead that night had his first match against new number one contender, Gorilla Monsoon . Because Monsoon won

3610-549: The WWE, Sammartino became an outspoken critic of the path on which Vincent K. McMahon had taken professional wrestling. He particularly criticized the use of steroids and "vulgar" storylines. He appeared in the media in opposition to the WWE on such shows as The Phil Donahue Show , Geraldo , and CNN . Sammartino worked as a commentator for the Universal Wrestling Federation . On October 28, 1989, Sammartino made

3705-400: The WWF weeknight show, Prime Time Wrestling . Monsoon also served as co-host of Georgia Championship Wrestling on WTBS during McMahon's short-lived ownership of the promotion. Marella stepped down as the WWF's lead commentator at WrestleMania IX (where he was Master of Ceremonies) to make way for WCW recruit Jim Ross . He was phased out of Wrestling Challenge with Bobby Heenan and

3800-410: The WWF's syndicated programs, WWF Championship Wrestling and WWF All-Star Wrestling . On January 22, 1980, his former student Larry Zbyszko turned on him at the World Wrestling Federation 's Championship Wrestling show. Sammartino, shocked and hurt by Zbyszko's betrayal, vowed to make Zbyszko pay dearly. Their feud culminated on August 9, 1980, in front of 36,295 fans at Shea Stadium. As

3895-520: The WWWF World Championship on October 4, 1963, at Roosevelt Stadium, in Jersey City, New Jersey Monsoon qualified by winning a partially televised Ring Wrestling Magazine tournament, where he pinned Killer Buddy Austin in about a minute. Monsoon's disqualification win over Sammartino in NJ triggered a series of rematches at Madison Square Garden , and they would renew the feud again there in 1967. At

Gorilla Monsoon - Misplaced Pages Continue

3990-607: The WWWF showed a clip of Sammartino and Morales signing a contract for a title match at Shea Stadium . When McMahon Sr. gestured for them to shake hands, both wordlessly turned and walked away. On September 30, 1972, Sammartino and Morales wrestled to a 65-minute draw at Shea Stadium in New York. Eventually, on December 10, 1973, Sammartino regained the WWWF Heavyweight Championship by defeating Stan Stasiak . During his second reign, on April 26, 1976, Sammartino suffered

4085-466: The Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated . In early 1977, Sammartino informed McMahon Sr. that he felt he could no longer continue as champion due to his injuries. On April 30, 1977, he was defeated by Superstar Billy Graham for the title. His second title run lasted three years, four months, and twenty days (1,237 days). Despite a very long series of rematches against Graham, Sammartino was unable to regain

4180-475: The air. He would work in Toronto, Calgary, St. Louis and Japan. Marella garnered moderate popularity but soon realized that fans paid more attention to outlandish monster heel gimmicks , and they, therefore, made more money. Marella totally revamped his image, growing a long beard and billing himself as Gorilla Monsoon, a terrifying giant from Manchuria . Supposedly born on an isolated farm, "Monsoon" traveled across

4275-663: The arena numerous times throughout his career. Sammartino would later reclaim the WWF Heavyweight Championship in 1973 for another reign of 1,237 days before gradually retiring from full-time competition. After his retirement, 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". Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino

4370-407: The belt to Spiros Arion. In 1969, Monsoon became a babyface, befriending his former arch-rival when Sammartino rescued him from an attack by "Crazy" Luke Graham , a former tag team partner of Monsoon. The stage was set for Monsoon to become a fan favorite of the 1970s and feud with top heels of the decade, including champion Superstar Billy Graham ; he then began to speak English. He turned heel for

4465-533: The broadcast booth included Lord Alfred Hayes, Luscious Johnny Valiant , Johnny Polo , "Superstar" Billy Graham , Hillbilly Jim , Tony Schiavone , Jim Neidhart , Randy Savage and Jim Ross . Monsoon called the first eight WrestleManias from 1985 to 1992. Monsoon was the lead commentator on the syndicated show, WWF All Star Wrestling , its successor WWF Wrestling Challenge , and the USA Network weekend show, WWF All American Wrestling , as well as hosting

4560-549: The championship at Madison Square Garden to Ivan Koloff . Sammartino recalled the shocked silence that greeted the result, remarking he thought he had damaged his ears. Later that year, he won the International Tag Team Championship for the second time by teaming with Dominic DeNucci . Sammartino took a hiatus from the company in 1971 and 1972 working in Japan , and various territories. Later in 1972, Sammartino

4655-479: The championship in Canada. One match ended in a draw and the other with Thesz scoring a fluke pin after a collision, despite Sammartino controlling the 20 minute match from the beginning. This match was booked by NWA promoter Sam Muchnick as a preliminary to the forming of the WWWF, to ensure the dominance of the senior organization and its championship. After the first WWWF World Champion, Nature Boy Buddy Rogers ,

4750-466: The championship, as titles cannot change hands via countout or disqualification. He was often teamed with Tito Santana and his old enemy George "the Animal" Steele (who was a fan favorite at this point in his career) to wrestle Savage and "Adorable" Adrian Adonis . The climax of their feud came was a victory for Sammartino and Santana in a steel cage match in Madison Square Garden. Sammartino also engaged in

4845-511: The company in exchange for a guarantee of lifetime employment. As he had been to his father, Marella became a close confidant of the younger McMahon, and assumed a prominent backstage role within the then WWF. Marella would then become an announcer for the WWF starting in 1982. In addition, McMahon needed a new commentary team to head up his television programming, and installed Marella with the recently retired Jesse "The Body" Ventura in 1985. Marella and Ventura had great chemistry, with Ventura as

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4940-474: The countryside with a gypsy caravan wrestling bears, spoke no English, ate raw meat, and drank his victims' blood. The story given on WWWF television was a bit different: his first manager, Bobby Davis, claimed to have discovered Monsoon in Manchuria wading nude in a mountain stream. The Monsoon character was far more successful, and fans were genuinely afraid of him, sparking a huge financial windfall for Marella. In

5035-477: The end of his career, he was up around 375 pounds, although he had weighed as much as 440 pounds at points. Marella debuted in 1958, originally billing himself as Gino Marella, a proud Italian American babyface who would sing in Italian prior to his matches. Even after changing his ring name , "Gino" stuck as Marella's nickname among friends and colleagues, including Jesse Ventura , who would call Marella "Gino" on

5130-589: The end of the Jersey City match, as Monsoon was sitting on the mat, a fan (not part of the show) jumped into the ring and broke the back of a wooden chair over Monsoon's head. Monsoon teamed up with Killer Kowalski with success. In November 1963, they defeated Skull Murphy and Brute Bernard to win the U.S. Tag Team Championship . The following month, the duo lost the belts to the Tolos Brothers (Chris and John) in Teaneck, New Jersey . Monsoon and Kowalski reunited in

5225-579: The first two SummerSlams and the 1990 Royal Rumble (at SummerSlam 1988 Ventura was the guest referee for the main event so Monsoon commentated with "Superstar" Billy Graham, while Ventura was paired with Tony Schiavone at both SummerSlam 1989 and the Royal Rumble). When Ventura left the WWF in mid-1990, he was replaced in commentary by Monsoon's Prime Time Wrestling co-host, heel manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , another duo that subsequent wrestling commentary teams have often tried to emulate. Though

5320-433: The greatest color-commentary team in pro-wrestling history", and "had a Martin-and-Lewis like chemistry behind the mic". Heenan consistently named Monsoon as his favorite announcing partner. In contemplating his " Mount Rushmore of wrestling announcers", veteran commentator Jim Ross stated, " Gordon Solie , Bob Caudle , Lance Russell , Gorilla Monsoon would be four off the top of my head that I would put on there." In

5415-638: The help of self-promotion in local newspapers and radio programs, became an attraction. His ability to speak Italian also ingratiated him with that immigrant population. With Whipper Billy Watson , Sammartino won his first professional wrestling championship in September 1962, the local version of the International Tag Team Championship . Soon, he was in demand by other promoters in different Canadian territories. Sammartino also challenged NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz twice for

5510-477: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which

5605-432: The late 1960s to defeat champion Bruno Sammartino and Victor Rivera 2 falls to 1 in Madison Square Garden in a main event, marking the first, and possibly only, time that Sammartino & Rivera lost as a tag team. Monsoon also teamed with Professor Toru Tanaka in 1967, and they had a number of tag matches in Madison Square Garden. They won a main event on disqualification over Sammartino and Spiros Arion and later lost

5700-491: The line in a match against Ken Patera . Monsoon lost and only wrestled a few more matches, retiring several weeks later. Following this he fought only four times: wrestling a six-man tag team match at Madison Square Garden in 1981, a match in 1982 as a substitute for André the Giant where he defeated Swede Hanson , taking part in Big John Studd 's "Body Slam Challenge" in 1983, and wrestling at WWC 's tenth anniversary show in

5795-521: The main event of 1980's Showdown at Shea , Sammartino defeated Zbyszko inside a steel cage. In his autobiography, Hulk Hogan claimed that his match with André the Giant was the real reason for the huge draw at Shea Stadium; however, the feud between Sammartino and Zbyszko sold out everywhere in the build-up to the show. In contrast, Hogan and André headlined exactly one card in White Plains, New York before they wrestled at Shea, and they drew 1,200 in

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5890-455: The mat. Marella would never reveal whether the incident was preplanned. In an interview, he commented, "I never saw him before and haven't seen him since." A kind of torch bearer of the Vincent J. McMahon-era WWWF, Gorilla Monsoon was rabidly supported by New York audiences. On June 16, 1980, a young and up-and-coming Hulk Hogan was booked to face him at Madison Square Garden . At the time, Hogan

5985-587: The match by disqualification , Sammartino retained his belt. On December 8, 1969, he teamed with Tony Marino to win the WWF International Tag Team Championship by defeating The Rising Suns ( Tanaka and Mitsu Arakawa ). Company policy meant that Sammartino could not hold two championships simultaneously, so he was replaced by Victor Rivera . Sammartino held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship for seven years, eight months, and one day (2,803 days). On January 18, 1971, Sammartino lost

6080-529: The most famous athlete-entertainers ever to don tights". Longtime industry journalist Bill Apter remarked, "He was one of the best heels – what wrestlers call a bad guy – in the business... the Gorilla Monsoon image was genuinely frightening." Todd Martin of the Pro Wrestling Torch commended Monsoon's physical agility, and noted that he became "a significant star in a lot of different places and had

6175-510: The on-screen role of WWF President from 1995 to 1997. In professional wrestling, the staging area just behind the entrance curtain at an event, a position which Marella established and where he could often be found during WWF shows late in his career, is named the "Gorilla Position" in his honor. Marella attended Jefferson High School in Rochester, New York , becoming a standout athlete in football , amateur wrestling , and track and field . At

6270-448: The pair were frequently at odds on screen — with Monsoon regularly yelling, "Will you stop?" in response to Heenan's denigration of fan-favorite wrestlers — in real life they formed a close friendship that Heenan often recalled fondly. In his WWE Hall of Fame induction speech at the 2004 ceremony , Heenan finished by saying that only one thing was missing – that he wished Monsoon was there. Other people who were often paired with Monsoon in

6365-726: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: Bruno Sammartino Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018)

6460-535: The pro-heel color commentator and Marella as the pro-face "voice of reason". Marella and Ventura called five of the first six WrestleManias together (the notable exception was WrestleMania 2 , where Marella commentated on the Chicago portion of the event with Gene Okerlund , Cathy Lee Crosby and Ernie "The Cat" Ladd while Ventura commentated on the Los Angeles portion with Lord Alfred Hayes and Elvira, Mistress of

6555-402: The promised gate percentages for his entire second title run. Sammartino filed suit against McMahon Sr. and his Capitol Wrestling Corporation. The suit was eventually settled out of court by McMahon Sr's son, Vince McMahon after his father had died, and included an agreement for Sammartino to return to the company as a commentator. At the inaugural WrestleMania on March 31, 1985, Sammartino

6650-601: The ring, Monsoon dominated opponents with vicious chops, the dreaded Manchurian Splash, and his signature move, the Airplane Spin. In 1963, Vincent J. McMahon reformed the Capitol Wrestling Corporation into the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) (currently known as World Wrestling Entertainment ), breaking his territory away from the National Wrestling Alliance in an attempt to create

6745-457: The storyline WWF President in the summer of 1995 (replacing Jack Tunney ). The WWF President's role was to arbitrate disputes between wrestlers and make matches, similar to later WWE "general managers". In January 1996, Monsoon was attacked and ( kayfabe ) severely injured by Vader : Roddy Piper became interim WWF President until WrestleMania XII , when Marella assumed the position again. Health concerns forced him to relinquish this role during

6840-492: The summer of 1997. Instead of naming a replacement, the WWF decided to retire the role of "President" and introduced Sgt. Slaughter as the new WWF Commissioner in August 1997. Marella's health deteriorated from there. In late 1998, Marella returned briefly to call the international version of WWF Superstars . In 1999, Marella appeared in a WWF Attitude commercial featuring Freddie Blassie , Ernie Ladd , Pat Patterson and Killer Kowalski . He appeared as one of three judges for

6935-554: The summers he was at Ithaca College, he was a construction worker in Rochester. One of the buildings he helped construct was the Rochester War Memorial Arena . Marella's size and athletic ability attracted the attention of New York promoter Pedro Martinez, and he went to wrestle for Martinez after graduating from Ithaca in 1959. Gorilla was 6'5" and weighed around 330 pounds when he first started wrestling professionally. By

7030-502: The time, he weighed over 300 pounds (136 kg) and was affectionately called "Tiny" by his teammates. Marella was also a standout athlete after high school at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York . He continued to wrestle, now weighing over 350 pounds, and took second in the 1959 NCAA Wrestling Championships . He also held several school athletic records, including an 18-second wrestling pin, and several track-and-field distinctions. During

7125-619: The title. His final attempt was in Philadelphia, just a few days before Graham was scheduled to lose the title to Bob Backlund . After his second reign ended, Sammartino leisurely toured the U.S. and the world. He wrestled then NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race to a one-hour draw in St. Louis . He also wrestled and defeated Blackjack Mulligan , Lord Alfred Hayes , Dick Murdoch , Kenji Shibuya , and "Crippler" Ray Stevens . Also during this time, Sammartino began serving as color commentator for

7220-568: The top of a nearby mountain called Valla Rocca. During this time, his mother would sneak into their German-occupied town for food and supplies. In 1950, she and the children joined her husband in Pittsburgh. When the Sammartinos arrived in the U.S., Bruno spoke no English and was sickly from the privations of the war years. This made him an easy target for bullies at Schenley High School . He turned to weightlifting and wrestling to build himself up. His devotion to weightlifting nearly resulted in

7315-409: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude

7410-442: Was a widely followed heel character, while Monsoon was still a babyface. However, in order to push the new talent, McMahon told Hulk Hogan to beat Monsoon in under a minute. Upon that outcome, the crowd became livid and chased Hogan when he was leaving the arena, turning over his car. Policemen on horses had to be summoned to quiet the mob. As the 1980s began, Marella's in-ring career wound down. On August 23, Monsoon put his career on

7505-527: Was an Italian-American professional wrestler . He is best known for his time with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Sammartino's 2,803-day reign as WWF World Heavyweight Champion is the longest in the championship's history as well as the longest world title reign in WWE history. Born in Italy to a family of seven, Sammartino grew up in poverty. As a child, Sammartino survived

7600-559: Was asked back by McMahon Sr. to regain the title. After refusing McMahon Sr.'s initial offer, Sammartino was offered a percentage of all the gates when he wrestled and a decreased work schedule that only included major arenas. Soon after, Sammartino and then champion Pedro Morales teamed up for a series of tag team matches. In a televised match, Professor Toru Tanaka blinded both men with salt and they were maneuvered into fighting each other. When their eyes cleared, they kept fighting each other. Two weeks later, all syndicated wrestling shows in

7695-541: Was billed on-camera as Bob Marella rather than as Gorilla Monsoon. Marella died on October 6, 1999, of heart failure brought on by complications of diabetes , at his home in Willingboro Township, New Jersey . He was 62 years old. His body was buried next to his son, Joey Marella, at Lakeview Memorial Park in Cinnaminson, New Jersey . Nick Ravo of The New York Times described Monsoon as "legendary" and "one of

7790-510: Was born in Pizzoferrato , Abruzzo , Italy, to Alfonso and Emilia Sammartino on October 6, 1935. He was the youngest of seven children, four of whom died during his early childhood. When he was four, his father emigrated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . During World War II , Pizzoferrato was invaded by troops of the Waffen SS , leading Emilia to hide Bruno and his siblings in a remote hideout at

7885-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as

7980-549: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with

8075-935: Was here." In 2007, when Anthony Carelli made his debut with WWE, he was given the ring name "Santino Marella", as a tribute. Marella was inducted into the Section V Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2010 along with longtime childhood friend Frank Marotta who gave a speech on his behalf. Gorilla Monsoon was posthumously honored at the 50th anniversary show of the World Wrestling Council . Ring name Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or

8170-548: Was hospitalized three times in April 1963 for chest pains, Vince McMahon Sr. and Toots Mondt made a command decision to make an emergency title switch. Between Antonino Rocca and Bruno Sammartino they went with the younger Sammartino who was 27 years old at the time. The match was scheduled to be concluded quickly so as not to risk Buddy's health any further. Promoters Mondt and McMahon Sr. cleared up Sammartino's suspension by paying his $ 500 fine, allowing him to return to wrestling in

8265-549: Was in his son David 's corner for his match against Brutus Beefcake . The match ended in a double-disqualification after the Sammartinos began brawling with Beefcake and his manager Johnny Valiant. He returned to in-ring action soon after with his son, as they wrestled against Beefcake and Valiant at Madison Square Garden. The Sammartinos also teamed against "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff and Bobby "the Brain" Heenan in various arenas. Sammartino's highest-profile feud during this run

8360-506: Was married to his wife Carol from 1959 until his death in 2018. They had three sons together, David and fraternal twins Danny and Darryl. They were grandparents of four grandchildren. The Sammartinos lived in Ross Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh from 1965 on. In 1998, he said he had been estranged from David since retiring from wrestling against David's wishes for a tag team. On April 6, 2013, Sammartino received

8455-589: Was married to his wife, Maureen, for more than 40 years and had three children: Sharon (born 1960), Joey (1963–1994), and Valerie (born 1966). Víctor Quiñones (1959–2006) was listed in Gorilla's obituary as his son as well. On July 4, 1994, his son, Joey Marella, fell asleep at the wheel and died in a car accident on the New Jersey Turnpike , while returning from refereeing a WWF event in Ocean City, Maryland . He

8550-505: Was moved to All-American Wrestling with Lord Alfred Hayes on April 11, 1993. He commentated with Jim Ross on WWF Radio for the broadcasts of SummerSlam 1993 , Survivor Series 1993 and Royal Rumble 1994 . He returned to the television broadcast team to call the King of the Ring 1994 with Randy Savage as well as covering a few episodes of Monday Night RAW in 1993 and 1994 whenever Vince McMahon

8645-441: Was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. Fellow WWF employee Mike Chioda later commented that Marella was "heartbroken" about his son's death. In early 1994, Marella co-hosted the short-lived morning variety/game show Bingo Break on WBFF in Baltimore, Maryland, which also featured fellow WWF on-air personality Sean Mooney as the bingo caller. The program did not acknowledge Marella's wrestling career, and as such he

8740-497: Was on January 2, 1960, defeating Bull Curry in five minutes. Feeling like he was being held back in the New York territory in favor of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) star Buddy Rogers , Sammartino gave his notice to Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) owner Vince McMahon Sr. and planned to go to San Francisco to work for Roy Shire . While on his way to California, he missed two bookings in Baltimore and Chicago , and as

8835-488: Was one big tough man. He was a decent honest man. And we're all gonna miss him very much. And you know the pearly gates in heaven? It's now gonna be called 'the Gorilla position.' Goodbye, my friend." He was inducted into the Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973. When Heenan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004 , he ended his acceptance speech with, "Only one thing's missing: I wish Monsoon

8930-404: Was unavailable. He was also called upon sporadically to return to Challenge from 1993 to 1995, calling action with Stan Lane , Ted DiBiase , and Ross again. Monsoon also did various work for Coliseum Video . Marella's last pay-per-view commentary was for the 1994 Survivor Series , with Vince McMahon on play-by-play. Marella remained in his backstage role and appeared on-air frequently, becoming

9025-556: Was with "Macho Man" Randy Savage . An irate Sammartino attacked Savage during a TV interview, after Savage bragged about injuring Ricky Steamboat , by driving the timekeeper's bell into Steamboat's throat during a televised match. Sammartino defeated Savage in a lumberjack match for the WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship via disqualification at the Boston Garden . This allowed Savage to keep

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