Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I don't want this to come out the wrong way, but in the '60s and '70s, I don't know anybody who was known around the world like I was.
People have no clue how demanding my schedule was back in the day. There were times when I might be home for just one or two days a month.
I would be a fool to tell you that there was no fixing. You ask if wrestling is for real? Well, I think my own body answers that question.
Anytime that people feel that you accomplished enough to enter into a Hall of Fame, of course this is a tremendous, tremendous thrill for me.
With Paul Levesque and the conversations we have had I've found him to be a straight shooter and everything he said with me he kept his word 100%.
People are always asking me where they can get some of my matches on tapes and DVDs. The people always tell me they see me on Youtube or whatever.
I held the title for almost eight years the first time and then I lost it at the Garden. But, then I came back and took it again for another four years.
I'm very violent in the ring. I don't know if it's the Italian temper, I can get very nasty in there. But outside, I'm the easiest-going guy in the world.
I always used to get goosebumps in Madison Square Garden, because as soon as I started making my entrance, people would be chanting my name. 'BRU-NO! BRU-NO!'
The only thing I like about doing autograph shows is that the people who used to be fans are so wonderful. They'll come over and give such wonderful compliments.
In Argentina, in Brazil, I remember going to Australia, all the trips I did in Japan, you know how they'd advertise me? 'From Madison Square Garden, Bruno Sammartino.'
I am humbled that Arnold Schwarzenegger will be inducting me into the WWE Hall of Fame. The kindness and support that Arnold has shown me over the years is truly overwhelming.
If people took the time to leave their homes and bought a ticket with their hard-earned cash to see me perform, the least I could do was give it everything I had every time out.
I was never going to do anything that would have brought shame to my family. I owed too much, and I wanted them to be proud to say that they were Bruno Sammartino's mother and father.
I had a lot of my success due to appearing at the Garden. I wrestled there over 200 times, it's where I won the title, and it's where I picked up 630-plus pounds of Haystacks Calhoun.
Listen, when I was real young, I thought I was made out of steel. I didn't think anything could hurt me, I was so powerful. But as time goes on, you find out you are not made of steel.
The things that Billy Graham says, I really have no idea why he says them. He talks about things without really knowing all the facts. I just think there's something wrong with the man.
I've had 10 major operations. Four back surgeries. A hip replacement. A broken neck... But I consider myself lucky. I keep thinking after all these surgeries, my luck is going to run out.
There were promises made to me as far as if I became a professional wrestler, that I was going to be given every opportunity to be a headliner... and that's the only reason why I accepted.
They call me 'The Maniac' as far as training goes. I'm a fanatic. I run 10 miles every day and I train three hours every other day with barbells. Nobody trains that hard. And that's not bragging.
When it came to the Hall of Fame, I've been very critical of the direction they've taken and I'd feel like a hypocrite if I just accepted this Hall of Fame while I'm so against what they're doing.
I didn't care for Steve Austin because of his mouth. He was a very, very vulgar individual and anybody who is like that I can never be a fan of. So, any of his positives were overshadowed by the negatives.
In talking to Paul Levesque, I made it clear, I've had issues with WWE and wrestling in general, because there were other organizations. I didn't like the direction they had taken. It was bothersome to me.
In my day, I, myself, in my prime, in the late-'50s-mid-'70s I was about 270-275. After I broke my neck and I was in the hospital for a month or so, I dropped the weight to about 250 and I kept that weight until I retired.
They say it's all fake, but there's nothing fake when a guy picks you up and slams you down or throws you out of the ring onto a concrete floor. They say, 'Yeah, but you know how to land.' Well, you try landing on a concrete floor.
The sacrifice musicians make, the results they achieve are fantastic. These are the big people as far as I am concerned. So if they are temperamental, I don't hold it against them after all they had to go through to get to the top.
A lotta stuff has been written about me that I never said. Stories that were lies. One guy wrote that young as I was during World War II, I actually got a rifle and fought off the Germans. Which is ridiculous, insane. I was just six.
I complained about the gimmicks. All the nonsense and garbage. After a while I just said I would not wrestle with the guys wearing masks, or guys that had some get-up on. It was demeaning. I refuse to go onto the mat against a Christmas tree.
She was absolutely my hero. She would do without if she could help somebody else. My mom showed the courage of the lion to keep her kids alive, and the sacrifices she made were incredible. I don't know if I would have been man enough to do what she did.
Stan Hansen was a different ballgame. I broke my neck wrestling him in Madison Square Garden. I spent a month in the hospital and for a while it was touch and go because the doctors told me I came within a millimeter of being paralyzed from the neck down.
Honestly, when I left the business, in time, some people might remember you and some might say they knew the name. But, people move on and there are new interests and all kinds of different things go on all the time. So, it surprised me how people have not forgotten.
Throughout the '60s and '70s, I saw many operas in New York and Philadelphia. When people found out about that, they were always shocked, because I was a professional wrestler. Why are athletes any different than any other profession? People have many other interests.
If I were to tell you that my day was all pure wrestling, I wouldn't be honest with you. Because there were crooked promoters. There were a lot of guys that knew that they couldn't even compete with other guys. But to suggest that every match was like that wouldn't be true.
After I retired, I spent a quarter of a century in the business, and when I retired and a new regime took over, Vince McMahon Jr. and that, and in the beginning I went back to help out. I color commentated with him, but then I started to see things that were disturbing to me.
I really don't understand because I love opera, because I respect the Michelangelos and da Vincis, that it should be shocking because I am a wrestler. Because I am a wrestler does it mean that I am some kind of a robot who only knows to go into the squared circle and pound on somebody?
When I broke my neck, I was told that I came within a millimeter of dying or being paralyzed from the neck down. When it happened, I was numb on one side. In spite of how serious they were telling me it was, I never took it seriously. I kept saying it's going to be OK, I trained too hard to get hurt. Which is silly.
Kurt Angle, I knew he was from Pittsburgh and I knew his background very well and his amateur days and, of course, going to the Olympics and all that. When he went into professional wrestling, he was very good at adjusting and displaying a lot of great moves. It was something that the fans could look at a say, hey, that's wrestling.