My jaw has been wired and rewired. It's incredible to think people would fake that.
Bruno Sammartino
Professional wrestlers are human beings like anybody else.
In 1959 I had broken the bench press record by lifting 565 pounds, and I could lift 715 pounds from a squat.
I could never imagine myself living anywhere but Pittsburgh.
There were promises made to me as far as if I became a professional wrestler, that I was going to be given every opportunity to be a headliner... and that's the only reason why I accepted.
Ivan Koloff was great. I had a lot of great matches with him.
If I were to tell you that my day was all pure wrestling, I wouldn't be honest with you. Because there were crooked promoters. There were a lot of guys that knew that they couldn't even compete with other guys. But to suggest that every match was like that wouldn't be true.
Anybody who sees me in person will see the worst cauliflower ears I think you have ever seen.
I only survived because of my mother's love and care.
The things that Billy Graham says, I really have no idea why he says them. He talks about things without really knowing all the facts. I just think there's something wrong with the man.
I knew a little bit about training and what it took to transform your body into something impressive looking.
They said Babe Ruth built Yankee Stadium and Bruno Sammartino built the Garden. It always was my favorite place.
I would be a fool to tell you that there was no fixing. You ask if wrestling is for real? Well, I think my own body answers that question.
Anytime that people feel that you accomplished enough to enter into a Hall of Fame, of course this is a tremendous, tremendous thrill for me.
The last thing I want to do in Europe is drive.
Wrestling was my way of making a living. I did the very best I could.
I'm an old-school guy.
Throughout the '60s and '70s, I saw many operas in New York and Philadelphia. When people found out about that, they were always shocked, because I was a professional wrestler. Why are athletes any different than any other profession? People have many other interests.
In talking to Paul Levesque, I made it clear, I've had issues with WWE and wrestling in general, because there were other organizations. I didn't like the direction they had taken. It was bothersome to me.
Besides wrestling, in my younger years, I also competed in Olympic lifting and power lifting.
When I broke my neck, I was told that I came within a millimeter of dying or being paralyzed from the neck down. When it happened, I was numb on one side. In spite of how serious they were telling me it was, I never took it seriously. I kept saying it's going to be OK, I trained too hard to get hurt. Which is silly.
I'm an opera lover.
I busted my nose 11 times. My fingers are all busted. My ribs. Both my arms. I can't straighten them out.
Franco Corelli is my favorite tenor.
I never wrestled for the money or the fame. I just wanted to be able to take care of my family. I wanted to be able to educate my children. I wanted them to have it better than I did.
I complained about the gimmicks. All the nonsense and garbage. After a while I just said I would not wrestle with the guys wearing masks, or guys that had some get-up on. It was demeaning. I refuse to go onto the mat against a Christmas tree.
I'm not bragging, but my reputation among my peers was Bruno was a horse I never got tired.
We didn't have shoes until we came over to America.
I weighed 84 pounds when I was 14. I was an easy target for the other kids.
I'm totally dedicated to training no one trains harder than I do.
I wasn't a 97-pound weakling. I was an 80-pound weakling.
I had a lot of my success due to appearing at the Garden. I wrestled there over 200 times, it's where I won the title, and it's where I picked up 630-plus pounds of Haystacks Calhoun.
Wrestling is how I made my living and supported my family, but it's over. I don't want anything to do with it anymore.
I didn't care if I was aching or hurting. I wanted to give the fans their money's worth.
I sweat an awful lot.
They call me 'The Maniac' as far as training goes. I'm a fanatic. I run 10 miles every day and I train three hours every other day with barbells. Nobody trains that hard. And that's not bragging.
I'm very violent in the ring. I don't know if it's the Italian temper, I can get very nasty in there. But outside, I'm the easiest-going guy in the world.
I would have loved to sing opera, but I have no voice. I used to sing along with records.
She was absolutely my hero. She would do without if she could help somebody else. My mom showed the courage of the lion to keep her kids alive, and the sacrifices she made were incredible. I don't know if I would have been man enough to do what she did.
Everything that I am, everything that I've done, everything that I hope to be is because of my mom.
You look at success and thank God and the fans for the success. It's why I always feel indebted to the fans.
I was never a fan of Hogan because I was never impressed with his quality of performance in the ring.
To be honored with the WWE Hall of Fame, I cannot put into words how big it is for me.
I always used to get goosebumps in Madison Square Garden, because as soon as I started making my entrance, people would be chanting my name. 'BRU-NO! BRU-NO!'
Stan Hansen was a different ballgame. I broke my neck wrestling him in Madison Square Garden. I spent a month in the hospital and for a while it was touch and go because the doctors told me I came within a millimeter of being paralyzed from the neck down.
The only thing I like about doing autograph shows is that the people who used to be fans are so wonderful. They'll come over and give such wonderful compliments.
I lost a brother and a sister, and I came down with rheumatic fever.
I was never going to do anything that would have brought shame to my family. I owed too much, and I wanted them to be proud to say that they were Bruno Sammartino's mother and father.
In every city, I had my favorite place. In Baltimore, it was Sabatino's.
Honestly, when I left the business, in time, some people might remember you and some might say they knew the name. But, people move on and there are new interests and all kinds of different things go on all the time. So, it surprised me how people have not forgotten.
