Well, I guess thats it then. Thesz wins. I mean, why even have the vote? I motion we just move Thesz forward. Why waste time. Someone second it and...wait, lets not be too hasty. Maybe someone should at least make an arguement. I mean, if for nothing else to give everyone a good laugh. Guess I could try.
Boring match, there's no debate to be had here, Lou Thesz wins.
Maybe a little debate.
Lou Thesz and Bruno Sammartino have already had a match with each other.
Yes they did.
It happened on Bruno's home turf.
I wouldn't call Toronto, Ontario Bruno's home turf, although I will admit he was wrestling full time in Canada at that time.
And lets not make it seem like Thesz never wrestled there. Wasn't it about one month before thesz won the NWA title from Rogers in Toronto?
It was booked by Bruno's mentor.
One, I have never heard of frank Tunney being refered to as bruno's mentor. True he helped Bruno out when he was blackballed and set up in the USA, and for that Bruno had great respect for him, even going so far as to wrestle for him one sunday a month even when he was WWWF champ. But mentor?
Two, Tunney was the booker but the NWA Board of Directors determined the champs matches, not the booker of a certain area.
It happened during Bruno's prime,
Well, he was younger, but it happened just going into his fourth year as a pro. I would argue his prime was the late sixties until the mid seventies when he broke his neck.
and when Thesz was fifty-seven years old.
Actually the match happened in 1963; Thesz was born in 1916; so he was 47. I understand though, subtracting big numbers is tough.
I will concede that Thesz was 19 years older then Sammartino, and was then an establish wrestler with tons more experience.
True. Lets look at the write up in the paper...
Newspaper account of the Lou Thesz vs. Bruno Sammartino NWA World Title match March 14,1963 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario.
9,000 SEE THESZ RETAIN NWA TITLE Nine thousand fans thronged into Maple Leaf Gardens last night to see if their hero Bruno Sammartino, the Italian Hercules could capture The National
Wrestling Alliance World Title from Lou Thesz. And for almost all of 25 minutes and 44 seconds that the bout lasted it
appeared that the popular Bruno was not only gain the title but dismember the champion Lou Thesz in the process.
The bout started as everybody expected-a battle between the scientific Thesz and the muscular Sammartino. That lasted exactly 3 minutes. A VILLAIN. Thesz apparently realizing that the 15 year spread between he and his much younger opponent, could have a telling effect if the bout went on too long, turned villain. It was unusual and unexpected happening. The champion who has been know for years as one of "the clean men" in the game began clipping on the breaks, throwing illegal elbows, and using the ropes to bolster his holds. Not only that. As the bout progressed and Bruno's superior strength became apparent, the champion ran to the corners to evade the punishing holds,
even begging from a kneeling position at times. EXHAUSTED Finally after repeated headlocks and the occasional bearhug had weakened Thesz, he made a desperation heave while Bruno had Thesz in a tight squeeze.
The thrust threw Bruno backwards and he landed on his head. The champ also ended up on his back, completely exhausted. Neither wrestler moved while referee Tiger Tasker counted. Then just as the count neared the 10 count, Thesz rolled over and laid his arm across Bruno's chest. This according to Tasker, was enough to indicate a pin and he proceeded to count,1-2-3 and that's how Thesz, despite taking a terrific going over retained his title.
Results:
- Lou Thesz defeated Bruno Sammartino with a top spread in 25:44
- Bulldog Brower and Johnny Valentine defeated John Paul Henning and Mike
Valentino, when Valentine used a brainbuster and a bodypress to pin Mike
Valentino in 12:35
-Gene Kiniski used a kneedrop and a backbreaker to pin Stan Stasiak in 11:14
- The Beast was award the decision over popular Billy Red Lyon's when
Lyon's was counted out at 11:14
- Han's Schmidt and Gentleman Jim Hady wrestled to a 15 minute draw
-Taro Sakuro and Ilio Dipaolo wrestled to a 15 minute draw in the opener.
So the much more experienced, all be it older, Thesz begged, cheated and won on a fluke over the less experienced Sammartino. Wonder why Thesz didn't make him submit?
Here Lou Thesz will be in his prime, and wrestling a stipulation that benefits him over Bruno, since nobody in the world thinks that Bruno could hang with Thesz on a technical level.
Here Sammartino will be in his prime and no won thinks thesz will be able to match Bruno's strength. Why does it have to be technical?
Lou Thesz wins, and if Bruno gets a single vote then somebody deserves to be laughed at.
Prepare to laugh.
Easy win for Thesz. Lou has a ton of submissions in his arsenal, Bruno has what a headlock?Thesz to squash
You are right. What am I thinking. Bruno only has a headlock. Its hopeless. Its...wait. Didn't Bruno win his first world title with a hanging backbreaker? Wasn't that his finisher early on? Isn't that a submission hold? Hold it. Didn't Bruno also get submissions with his bearhug? Didn't he make Giant Baba submit to it? In Japan? I think he did. Whether you agree with me on Bruno vs Thesz or not can we all agree that the above post is silly, pointless, and a waste of time?
Finally, I would like to say that even if Sammartino lose 100-1 I will be happy. I regard Thesz as one of the greatest ever and will be thrilled to see him advance. I am also thrilled to see Bacland, Andre and Gagne this far in. I hope that they continue to do well. I just consider Sammartino to be the best ever. Thats my opinion. Prime vs prime I feel Sammartino wins. I just hope people do their own research and vote accordingly and don't just read the first post , decide thats right, and vote like sheep.
