Mr. Keith,
If you're gonna sell out, go all the way with it. Just wait until Vince does something to piss him off again and then the lawsuits start, though.
Long time reader of yours. Just thought I'd share this with you if you didn't see it.
"Bruno Sammartino is expected to be a character in the WWE 14 video game in an attempt to draw from an older audience." From the 2/25 Observer
This is the funniest thing I've ever read in my life!
That's what I keep thinking. I'm thrilled that he's made peace with the company and we're getting some great things out of it (Hall of Fame, DVD, appearance in video games, I'm sure we'll see a Legends figure down the line) but there is NO WAY that this marriage lasts. I can see Vince maintaining the Wellness Policy, just because he's always going to be under scrutiny, but the second he either gets tired of this family friendly entertainment thing, or another method becomes more profitable, he'll go as raunchy and crude as he wants.
ReplyDeleteThey include legendary performers in MLB and NFL games, dont see what the big deal is.
ReplyDeleteI wouldnt mind if they include a few legends from the 60's, gonna need a lot of rest holds in the game though.
That's going to be one tiny moveset in the game.
ReplyDeleteThey should make him a 75 overall to see how he reacts
ReplyDeleteThey should make sure that he has different looks/outfits... with the unlockable one being massive 'fro Bruno.
ReplyDeleteI just know that my grandfather will FOR SURE be buying this one for his 360.
ReplyDeleteI dont see them going back in that direction. There is more money to be made if it is family friendly.
ReplyDeleteNot to be crass and I certainly am not wishing any ill on Bruno but he's 77 years old. It's not like they'll have to be PG forever.
ReplyDeleteI doubt Bruno knows fuck-all about video games.
ReplyDeleteMoveset:
ReplyDeletePunch
Kick
Bodyslam
Bearhug
Backbreaker
It always amazes me when he goes "I could wrestle any kind of match, etc.." and then I go watch one and they are all the same.
Was Bruno in one of the Legends game on the PS2? I seem to think he was...
ReplyDeleteErm... double negative.
ReplyDeleteRegardless I just wish it would be No Mercy style Bruno.
ReplyDeleteAng Lee wins best director for Hulk!
ReplyDeleteYet he sold out MSG a record number of times.
ReplyDeleteDifferent era, different style. Probably boring to us jaded 2013 smarks, but the dude was money.
He had charisma and he was Italian, in a massive Italian market. He is not by any stretch a good wrestler. Can you tell me how many matches of his you actually enjoy?
ReplyDeleteYep, list me the long list of italians that did what he did.
ReplyDeleteBTW, the best wrestler is the one that draws the most money.
Salvatore Sincere.
ReplyDeleteAfter that I got nothing.
This is damn true. Making money is the name of the game. I have not seen a Bruno match since I was a kid but Im guessing that like Hogan, he knew how to work the crowd and when to make his comeback.
ReplyDeleteI dont think Bruno has ever been in a game as a playable character.
ReplyDeleteStill didn't answer the question - how many matches of his do you actually enjoy?
ReplyDeleteEthnicity, was a huge part of the booking and drawing power of the wrestling landscape of the WWWF at the time. I'm not taking anything away from his drawing power in a certain territory. All I'm saying is in ring his matches are boring as sin.
Italians have a long shelf life.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if WWE pushed hard on this deal in fear that if they waited till he died, David would say that Bruno wanted the both of them to go in together like the Genius is doing with a Savage induction.
He was in the last two Legends of Wrestling games Acclaim made.
ReplyDeleteI meant WWF/WWE games.
ReplyDeleteI remember some of them as boring as sin but you go back and watch the Zbysko feud from start to finish, that was a heat generating feud and it was quite entertaining.
ReplyDeleteThe key is to get people to want to pay to see you kick someones ass or to have your ass kicked. Bruno knew how to do this and that is why he is considered to be the legend that he is.
If he stopped selling out the Garden, the title wouldve been put on someone that would.
I know I liked some of the televised/recorded matches between him and Killer Kowalski, Nikolai Volkoff (1970s not 80s), Larry Z, and the older version of Bruno facing off with Roddy and Savage in their absolute primes.
ReplyDeleteLike what has been stated, he really knew how to work a crowd. His persona seem to have Bret Hart's seriousness and Hulk Hogan's charisma.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoy12scN3vE
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing Fuji damn near kiss the lights in Allentown off a Sammartino backdrop. Wonder how Ziggler would take it?
One match is the same?
ReplyDeleteI have seen some of his stuff on youtube and it's fine if you look at it from an amateur sport perspective. You have to put the in ring style in historical perspective because kayfabe was alive and well in the 60s and 70s and no one would've bought the more modern style as "real".
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sXl26M0gD0
ReplyDeleteHere is a match against Savage, watching Savage bump around to the basic moveset is good fun.
I would have to disagree with you on that one. The most profitable years were the most profane and bloodiest. Cena never outsold Austin in merchandise.
ReplyDeleteIts not just t shirt merchandise though. You keep the kids involved, you sell more tickets, more PPVs, more games, and more figures.
ReplyDeleteThe attitude era was extremely profitable but thats also because wrestling was hot. You really think if someone came out next week and started cursing and the Ho train came back that wrestling would all of a sudden get hot again and make tons of more money?
Ethnicity, was a huge part of the booking and drawing power of the wrestling landscape of the WWWF at the time.
ReplyDeleteCase in point, Ivan Putski. I can't stand him, he's boring as all hell, and he looks ridiculous carrying that much size on such a small frame...
But dude was massively over with the Polish and/or working class.
That's fair. He knows how to work the crowd and there isn't one doubt that the MSG crowd was rabid for him.
ReplyDeleteI've seen it and it's not horrible but nothing I'd watch more than once as a historical curiosity.
ReplyDeleteAnother great point is Pedro Morales.
ReplyDeleteSure, is it was pretty much everywhere in the territory days, but selling out MSG a record number of times and being at the top of the #1 promotion in the country for so many years? You're transcending ethnicity. Shit, Tyson said his hero growing up was Bruno.
ReplyDeleteThere have been plenty of wrestlers that were Italian Americans, it was just not a part of their wrestling gimmick. Randy Savage for example.
ReplyDeleteI know, but they weren't pushed as such. In the days of kayfabe, you never knew Savage was Italian. Plus, we're talking about the 60s and 70s when kayfabe was really alive and wrestling was "real".
ReplyDeleteMy Grandfather wants to play it on his Atari 2600. Is it coming out on that platform??
ReplyDeleteno sell job can ever top HBK's against Hogan, now that was over the top bumping and dare I say excessive??
ReplyDeleteMatches from the same time period that survive are generally a lot better. Hell, even the clipped Thesz/Rocca match shows that- I consider it a damn good match clipped, but if the full version exists it probably wouldn't be.
ReplyDeleteSteve Lombardi maybe?
ReplyDeleteI've only just NOW learned he was Italian by descent.
ReplyDeleteNot for the one week return of The Godfather, no.
ReplyDeleteGodfather was an example,lol. I just think it wasnt the salty language or the scantily clad chicks that made the product hot, it was the product itself. It was simply a better product.
ReplyDeleteHalf the roster is generic nowadays, back in that era, you had guys that seemed more developed. They kept your interest, most of the guys today are boring.
Pretty sure Hulk is partially Italian.
ReplyDeleteGood call...Bollea.
ReplyDeleteHe's also part Panamanian.
ReplyDeleteI've watched a bunch. It was a typo.
ReplyDelete