David Sammartino

Biography

David Lugogo Sammartino is an American professional wrestler. He is the son of former WWE Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino. Bruno was against David going into professional wrestling, as he did not want him to experience the various horrors he went through when he started. He wanted David to get a college education and pursue a different career. Not taking his father's advice, David headed south and began training and wrestling with a few smaller independent wrestling companies, making his debut as a 20-year-old in 1980. In 1981, Sammartino wrestled for NWA Georgia Championship Wrestling. Throughout 1981, Sammartino picked up where his father left off the year before, feuding with Bruno's former protégé, Larry Zbyszko, on the independent circuit. WWE (1984–1985) Sammartino joined WWE in September 1984, with his father as his manager. He received a big push while teaming with his father, he was also pushed in singles matches. He appeared at the inaugural WrestleMania event in Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on March 31, 1985. Accompanied by Bruno, Sammartino wrestled Brutus Beefcake in the fourth match of the night. The match ended in a double disqualification after Sammartino was thrown out of the ring by Beefcake and slammed by Beefcake's manager Johnny Valiant, prompting Bruno Sammartino to assault Valiant. This led to a series of tag team matches that brought Bruno out of retirement in an effort to get David's career advanced. When Bruno was involved, David was often in the main event or in a high-profile match; when Bruno wasn't involved David would be wrestling preliminary matches. In one of his final WWE appearances, Sammartino was involved in a controversial finish at the Philadelphia Spectrum on November 22, 1985, quickly submitting to a bear hug by jobber Ron Shaw. In 1986, Sammartino left WWE and joined the American Wrestling Association (AWA). He had three championship matches against AWA World Champion Stan Hansen. On February 4, 1986 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Sammartino unsuccessfully challenged Hansen for the championship. Sammartino left the AWA after just a few months and returned to WWE, where he was once again used as a preliminary wrestler. Sammartino's second run ended in 1988 when he was fired from WWE after he was arrested for punching a fan, who spat at him in Watertown, New York. In 1990, Sammartino began wrestling for Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation in California. David also competed for All-Japan Pro Wrestling in 1988, before leaving the company in 1990. Sammartino, occasionally teamed with Joe Malenko in AJPW.