8 things you did not know about Bruno Sammartino

#4 To make money, Sammartino wrestled an orangutan

Before he became champion, Sammartino was wrestling monkeys

This is a story that is sometimes very hard to believe. But during his amateur days, when Bruno Sammartino was working in the construction business and needed money to survive; he was told he would be paid $50 to survive against a wrestling-monkey for 5 minutes.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Sammartino agreed. The monkey was revealed to be an orangutan, who put up a huge fight against the living legend. But Sammartino lasted a whole of 15 minutes, with some great submission moves.

Eventually, he was disqualified for throwing a punch at the monkey which was against the rules.