6 great matches featuring pro wrestling stars who passed on in 2018

#3 Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino

Real Name: Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino

Country of Origin: Italy

Trained by: Rudy Miller

Bruno Sammartino was born in Nazi-occupied Italy, and spent most of his youth hiding from German soldiers. The deprivation of wartime made him weak and sickly. This combined with his lack of being able to speak English made him a target for bullies when he emigrated to Pittsburg, USA.

In order to make himself less of a target, Sammartino got into weightlifting -- and how! He nearly made it on the US Olympic team, and for a time held the world record for a bench press at 556 pounds -- and they didn't use support straps back in that era, and held the weight for longer.

Sammartino began to market his talents as a strongman, and it was there that ex-wrestler and promoter Rudy Miller scouted him. Sammartino is a rarity in that he didn't have to pay dues; He won his first match in just nineteen seconds!

Bruno ranged around the territories a great deal, but his biggest accomplishments are his dual WWWF world title reigns. We remember Bruno Sammartino with this classic Steel Cage bout against another wrestling legend, Stan "The Lariat" Hansen.