Bruno, Rumble, Shakeup and more
There are several big stories in the world of pro wrestling this week, so let’s get right to them.
Remembering Bruno
There are times when athletes are so transcendent that you only need to hear their first name to know who was being talked about.
Pro wrestling legend “The Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino was one of the first.
When it was announced Wednesday that Bruno passed away, the wrestling world found itself in a collective mourning.
The first star of WWE, then known as WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation), when it was a regional promotion under Vince McMahon, Sr., Bruno was the centerpiece of the promotion.
A native of Italy who escaped from Nazi occupation before ending up in Pittsburgh, he entered the world of professional wrestling in 1959, and won his first WWWF heavyweight title in 1963.
Bruno lost the title in 1971, and regained it several years later.
His two WWE title reigns lasted a combined 4,040 days and over 11 years.
Bruno was such a huge star in the WWWF’s territory, based out of Madison Square Garden (MSG), that he rarely went to other territories.
He was said to have headlined a record number of sellouts at Madison Square Garden, and the number is staggering.
Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013 after refusing to be inducted for years, Bruno was the headliner of the April 6, 2013, event that was held at MSG with it being the 188th and last time he headlined a sellout at the “World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Ken Jugan, a wrestler from the Pittsburgh area for over 40 years and best known in the ring as Lord Zoltan, remembered Bruno.
“There will never be another Bruno,” Jugan said in a somber voice. “He brought dignity and respect to professional wrestling and Pittsburgh.
“No one will ever hold the title as long as he did in an era long gone.”
Jugan, a legend in his own mind who once wrestled Andre the Giant, was not the only person to speak about Bruno.
Tom Leturgey, ring announcer for the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance, shared his thoughts.
“For some, Bruno remains the top athlete regardless of the sport, to hail from Pittsburgh,” he said. “That includes Franco (Harris), Mario Lemiuex, and Roberto Clemente.
“Arnold Schwarzenegger was a fan as was Willie Mays and Vincent Price. Bruno epitomized Pittsburgh.”
For those who want to pay their respects, Bruno is being laid out today at the Freyvogel Funeral Home on Center Avenue in Shadyside from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.
Also, WWE will run a special on Bruno Monday night on the WWE Network as soon as Raw ends.
Greatest Royal Rumble show
WWE is running a WWE Network special event titled “The Greatest Royal Rumble” Friday, and it emanates from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The show will air live on the WWE Network at noon on Friday with a one-hour preshow starting at 11 a.m.
The card is loaded and actually better on paper than WrestleMania.
The event, which will take place at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, will be set up for 52,000 seats.
Roman Reigns will challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal title in a steel cage match in what is expected to be the main event.
There is also a 50-man Royal Rumble with a whole slew of WWE stars and past stars, including Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman and Chris Jericho, among others.
AJ Styles will defend the WWE title against Shinsuke Nakamura, Seth Rollins defends the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor, Bobby Lashley and Samoa Joe in a ladder match.
John Cena faces Triple H; The Undertaker faces Rusev in a casket match; Jeff Hardy defends the U.S. title against Jinder Mahal; The Bludgeon Brothers defend the Smackdown tag titles against The Uso’s; and the Bar, who was just moved to Smackdown, faces Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy for the vacant Raw tag titles.
Superstar Shakeup results
The Superstar Shakeup is in the books and the superstars headed to Smackdown are The Miz, Jeff Hardy, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Samoa Joe, SAnitY, Big Cass, Asuka, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Cesaro and Sheamus, Andrade “Cien” Almas and R-Truth.
Headed to Raw are Jinder Mahal, Sunil Singh, Ruby Riott. Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Zack Ryder, Tyler Breeze, Fandango, Natalya, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, The Ascension, Mojo Rawley, Baron Corbin, Bobby Roode, Mike Kanellis, and Chad Gable.
Lesnar on Raw Monday
In what could be his final appearance on Raw as WWE Universal champion, Brock Lesnar will appear Monday night.
On this date:
In 2013, E! announced that it had the green light for a new series, “Total Divas.”
It was announced that the show would reveal the real women behind the WWE divas.
The show is still on the air.
This week’s question:
Will Roman Reigns win the Universal title on Friday? Stevie, California.
All signs point to it, but then again, all signs pointed to him winning the title at WrestleMania!
Email questions/comments to Bill at powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to me @BillHughes_III