A way to get Bruno Sammartino into the HOF

[harrythem]

Read this old article by Stately Wayne Manor about how Bruno could get into the Hall Of Fame, thought it was a good read so I'd post it here:

With regard to the Hall Of Fame, Bruno is on record, declaring :"It's a joke Hall....just a money-making thing for the WWE". There is a prominent YouTube video of Sammartino complaining that some of his peers were offered insultingly low payodds to attend the festivities.
"Money-making"? Yes, well that's the main goal of pro wrestling. It was no different in Bruno's heyday in the 1960s and 1970s.
Nowadays, VKM has stockholders to answer to, so, naturally, when a "money-making" opportunity presents itself, he's going to take it. The revenure comes in because fans are eager to pay to attend the HOF ceremony the night before WrestleMania. Others will watch the edited version of it on television. And fans who buy the WM DVD/Blu-ray release do so partly to see the complete televised version of the ceremony.
With respect to Sammartino, it's unclear what is so "wrong" about WWE attempting to recoupd its investment into what is a big budget presentation that only happens once a year and has, despite it's noted flaws, shown proper respect to many TRUE legends of the business.
Still, since money is an essential part of Sammartino's objection, here's a no-lose solution for all parties:

Bruno agrees to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. He accepts no payments for his appearance, beyond his air fare and accommodation. In return, WWE agrees to make a contribution to a charity of Bruno's choosing four weeks before the show and to donate a small percentage of the WM DVD/Blu-ray profit to the same charity. Since WWE is a public company, whose accounts are an open book, it should give Bruno confidence that there would be no financial skulduggery.
This way, everyone wins.
Neither Sammartino nor WWE has the ability to go back in time and correct what are perceived as past wrongs. Both need to accept that, and jettison this unnecessaru bitterness and anger and move on. For the fans, if not for themselves.
Indeed, this is the one WWE event of the year that is truly about being a wrestling fan. No matter what level of regard a ring veteran might have for the WWE HOF, the public accepts it as THE pro wrestling HOF; and out of the thousands who ever participated in wrestling, few are chosen for it, therefore, a nomination should be considered an honour. Bruno needs to understand that. The Hall isn't about Vince McMahon: it's about the inductee and his or her longtime fans having one big public hug.




Now, to me, that seems like the perfect way to get Bruno into the HOF while he's still alive. Come on Bruno, play ball ya big lug!

Thoughts? Different ideas? Disagreements? Let's hear them folks!

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Just about a week or so ago, I read about an interview Sammartino gave in which he stated why he has no interest in going in the Hall of Fame. According to Sammartino, he's really disgusted with stuff that's been done with the Divas in the past, the rampant drug use, the profanity, stuff like Vince's Kiss My Ass Club and says that things like that would have to stop among other big changes.

As I was reading this, I couldn't help but think to myself that the VAST majority of Sammartino's complaints are no longer relevant. The Divas are no longer portrayed as little than pole dancers, swearing during promos is exceptionally low and we haven't seen Vince's Kiss My Ass Club in years. The WWE has had it's wellness policy in place for years and while I most certainly agree that it should've been implemented a long, long time ago, at least it's there now.

I might catch some shit for this but I don't care because I think it needs to be said. Fuck Sammartino. I know he's a legend and I know all this and that but enough is enough already. Bruno Sammartino is an extreme example of an old school wrestler that doesn't want to accept the fact that certain aspects of wrestling had to change in order to survive. You can't run a wrestling company like it was 1971 in this day and age and expect it to survive.

Besides, Sammartino is a guy that tossed his own son out of his life due to his experimentation with steroids during his wrestling career. Oh, and I think he also said he smoked some pot as well.

The WWE has asked Bruno Sammartino numerous times to be in the Hall of Fame and he's refused. The WWE has cleaned up its act a lot but Sammartino is the one that seems to constantly have a bug up his ass about WWE for one thing or another.

 

[TUFFY54]

I agree with Jack Hammer. I would love to see Bruno in the hall of fame, but by now I don't really care. Modern wrestling fans should tell him to go fuck himself. He talks about the garbage from 5 years ago and how he doesn't want to be a part of it. Well, what about all the fans that enjoyed wrestling at that time? Does he think we are garbage as well?

Bruno was an Italian steretype that represented everything that was keeping wrestling from gaining mainstream attention like it did in the 80's. He was the one bringing in all the beer drinkers with big cigars yelling "we want blood". His fans were the one's Vince realized he needed to get rid of if wrestling was ever going to become mainstream.

If he goes in the Hall, great. If not, who gives a shit.

 

[SyndicateSaint]

You know, chalk this up to being 28 years old, but I still have no idea why Bruno hates WWE. Is it just because of the way things were in the attitude era? I pride myself on my knowledge of wrestling history, but this one I just don't get....

 

[Flint]

I hate to say it, but I think the only way Bruno goes into the HOF is for him to die and his son David to accept the nod on his deceased fathers behalf.

I know that sounds morbid, but at this point Bruno is just being ridiculous. There is ZERO reason why he shouldn't just let by gones be bygones and accept the nod.

Otherwise like I said, post Mortum, Bruno is in the next class.

 

[DemonToSome]

The WWE has asked Bruno Sammartino numerous times to be in the Hall of Fame and he's refused. The WWE has cleaned up its act a lot but Sammartino is the one that seems to constantly have a bug up his ass about WWE for one thing or another.

I also listened to this interview. You may have missed it during the interview but Sammartino clearly states that he doesn't know if the things he has problems with are still going on because he doesn't watch the product. He also says that the WWE would have to show him that not only are they not doing it but that they won't be going back to it.

I do tend to agree with the criticisms of Sammartino though. He does need to realize that the WWF/E did what they had to do in order to survive. If they hadn't done the things they did, there might not even be a HOF for him to be inducted into. Besides, it's not like he's condoning their actions by allowing himself to be inducted.

I don't think we'll ever see him in the HOF while he's still breathing.

 

[OlderFan]

I'm afraid I have to disagree but I mean no disrespect to anyone's opinion and I hope no one will take this that way. My purpose for joining this forum was just to have fun and not to insult anyone or try to make anyone feel small.


Having said that, I have to give a nod to Bruno. Whether any of us agree with him or not, he is sticking to his guns and that is not easy to do. As for his point of view, I partially agree with that, too. I hated the Katie Vick thing and the divas division seems to have taken a downward turn again. It lost all the momentum it gained with Trish, Lita, Victoria, Torrie, Chyna, etc. I mean, look at their belt - it's doesn't even resemble a championship belt - it's a butterfly. As for the men's side of the product, there are a few people I miss from the attitude era - SCSA, The Rock, etc. However, there was overkill on the blading and bleeding and even 1 minute of honest opinion can tell anyone that. It went beyond the hard-core stuff of Mick Foley and Cactus Jack - it got to the point where the event wasn't who was wrestling but who was bleeding the most. There was a lot of complaining about going back to PG environment but that's when things started to pick up again. If you think about it, being PG-like back in the early 1980s is what got pro wrestling on a major network - NBC - as Saturday Night Main Event. It didn't air every week but it aired on a regular schedule. Back them Bruno was still an occasionally active performer - case in point, a tag match with Tito Santana.

You can forgive and forget and I'm sure Bruno has, or at least it sounds like he might have. But to stand on principle takes courage. We don't know what else may have gone on between Bruno and his son and being a father doesn't mean you have to eat every shovel-full of shit your kids through at you. There is such a thing as tough love and for all we know Sammartino Jr. may have needed it. If anyone needs a good reason not to forgive drug use, look at Jeff Hardy. That's what happens when people around a user don't take a stand.

 

[trinerigelado]

I think its laughable that Bruno has a problem with profanity, but had no problem with similating violence. If the attack that Larry Zybsko committed on him when Larry did the heel turn was a real life occurence that would be way more disturbing to rational person than someone saying fuck, scantily clad women, and someone voluntarily kissing someone's ass. Oh yeah Bruno complaing amount women not wearing enough clothes is funning when you made a ton of money in your underwear, but I guess its different when a man wears next to nothing.

 

[VABurghman]

Folks, Bruno Sammartino IS in the Hall of Fame. The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. The only one that matters. I have read several articles on why he has turned down the WWE on their HOF induction. Most talk about his differences in opinion with how the WWE product is run. Let's face it, when Bruno wrestled it was a more serious business. But if you look at his reasons for not associating with the WWE, they are still relevant today. Primarily with the drug and steroid use. I would even agree with the comment that the WWE Hall of Fame is a sham. How could a serious WRESTLING Hall of Fame have Pete Rose and Drew Carey among other people in it?

 

[Dream Machine]

You know, chalk this up to being 28 years old, but I still have no idea why Bruno hates WWE. Is it just because of the way things were in the attitude era? I pride myself on my knowledge of wrestling history, but this one I just don't get....

When Vince took wrestling in the 80's and started marketing it to children with gimmicks meant to attract and draw kids more then teenager/adults, Bruno didn't care for the circus theme atmophere and felt it had drifted too far away from what wrestling had always been to that point, which was more of an athletic competition. THen when Vince came out and admitted it was fake and predetermined,Bruno and alot of the older wrestlers thought Vince had crossed the line and ruined the suspension of disbelief element of wrestling.

 

[harrythem]

how could they put an item in the HOF seeing as there isn't a physical building to put it in? Yeah the celebrities in it can be a bit of a joke (as with people like Koko and James Dudley) but, with it's presentation and a large portion of the names in it, I'd say the WWE HOF is THE hof in wrestling. To the general public (and the majority of wrestling fans) WWE IS wrestling so, naturally, they're going to see the WWE HOF as THE HOF. Can argue the toss about the people who should or shouldn't be there but, the fact is that Bruno is, like Bob Backlund, showing a lack of respect to the fans who made him what he was.
Yeah he might be in the other hof but, chances are, 99 out of 100 people don't know it exists or, if they do, they wont think it matters because it's not the WWE hof.

But I'll quite happily wait till he dies and his son takes the cash and runs straight to WWE to get the DVD release of his dad and the rest. Hell, if people like Lou Thesz, Verne Gagne and their ilk can put aside past issues with WWE (Thesz was part of a HOF type thing on a WWF PPV in 1997) then surely Bruno can give it up...especially as it's for the only people he says that matter, the fans