David Lugogo Sammartino (born September 29, 1960 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional wrestler

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

. He is best known for being the son of former World Wide Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Champion

WWE Championship

The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...

 Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign...

.

Career

Sammartino was initially not trained by his father, because Bruno did not want his son to go into wrestling and experience all the horrors he did when he started. He wanted him 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 lot of little indy outfits. He debuted in 1980. Throughout 1981, Sammartino feuded

Feud (professional wrestling)

A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...

 with Larry Zbyszko

Larry Zbyszko

Lawrence "Larry" Whistler is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s....

 (who had engaged in a bitter feud with Bruno Sammartino throughout 1980) on the independent circuit

Independent circuit

In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...

. David was only 5'6" and he weighed around 190 pounds. Like most wrestlers, his stats were fabricated.

Sammartino joined the World Wrestling Federation

World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

 in September 1984, with his father as his manager

Manager (professional wrestling)

In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

. His most notable appearance with the WWF was at the inaugural WrestleMania

WrestleMania (1985)

WrestleMania was the first annual WrestleMania professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on March 31, 1985, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The attendance for the event was 19,121 fans...

 event in Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 on March 31, 1985. Accompanied by Bruno, Sammartino wrestled Brutus Beefcake

Edward Leslie

Edward Harrison "Ed" Leslie is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Brutus The Barber Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship Wrestling under a variety of names, mainly as "The Disciple" of real-life best friend...

 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

John L. Sullivan (wrestler)

John L. Sullivan is a retired professional wrestler better known as Johnny Valiant. He competed in the World Wide Wrestling Federation , which became the World Wrestling Federation during his time with the promotion. He won the World Tag Team Championship two times...

, 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.

However, it soon became clear that Vince McMahon was only using David's career as a lure to get his famous father to wrestle and draw huge crowds. When Bruno was involved, David was in the main event; when he wasn't, it was back to the prelims. Frustrated, David quit the WWF several times and was only brought back with the assistance of his famous father. Finally, Sammartino was fired from the WWF after he was arrest

Arrest

An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...

ed for punching a fan, who spat

Spitting

Spitting or expectoration is the act of forcibly ejecting saliva or other substances from the mouth. It is currently considered rude and a social taboo in many parts of the world including the West, while in some other parts of the world it is considered more acceptable...

 at him in New York. Bruno Sammartino later speculated that the fan was a plant hired by WWF owner Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon

Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...

 to provoke Sammartino in order to give the WWF an excuse to terminate his contract.

In one of his final WWF appearances, Sammartino was involved in a confusing and controversial finish at the Philadelphia Spectrum

Wachovia Spectrum

The Spectrum, formerly known as the CoreStates Spectrum , First Union Spectrum , and Wachovia Spectrum was an indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

 on November 22, 1985, quickly submitting to a bear hug by preliminary wrestler

Job (professional wrestling)

In professional wrestling slang, the term job describes a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect kayfabe. As professional wrestling is scripted, inevitably a wrestler will be required to lose to an opponent.The term...

 Ron Shaw in a match Sammartino is believed to have been booked to win. The alleged changing of the finish by Sammartino (Shaw and the referee apparently were caught by surprise) has caused this to be known as the "Phantom Submission Match."

In 1986, Sammartino joined the American Wrestling Association

American Wrestling Association

The American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...

. On February 4, 1986 in Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

, Sammartino unsuccessfully challenged Stan Hansen

Stan Hansen

John Stanley Hansen, Jr. is an American former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Stan Hansen. As a wrestler, Hansen was well known for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to poor eyesight, as he is nearly blind without glasses...

 for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship

AWA World Heavyweight Championship

The American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the highest ranked championship in the defunct American Wrestling Association. All AWA trademarks, including the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, are now owned by WWE...

.

In 1990, Sammartino began wrestling for Herb Abrams

Herb Abrams

Herb C. Abrams was an American professional wrestling promoter from New York.-Career:Abrams founded the Universal Wrestling Federation in 1990 and remained CEO of the company until his death...

 Universal Wrestling Federation

Universal Wrestling Federation (Herb Abrams)

The Universal Wrestling Federation was an American wrestling promotion based out of Marina del Rey, California.-History:Herb Abrams founded the UWF in 1990 with hopes of returning professional wrestling back to its roots...

 in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Sammartino re-emerged in the mid-1990s in World Championship Wrestling

World Championship Wrestling

World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...

, competing in the promotion's cruiserweight

Cruiserweight (professional wrestling)

In professional wrestling, a cruiserweight is a wrestler weighing 220 lb and less, sometimes 215. The older term junior heavyweight, which was used to describe the division, is more favored in Japan, where many titles for lighter-weight competitors are called junior heavyweight titles...

 division. On the December 16, 1996 episode of WCW Monday Night Nitro, Sammartino challenged Dean Malenko

Dean Malenko

Dean Simon is a retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Dean Malenko. He is currently signed to WWE working as a road agent. He is best known for his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling , New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling...

 for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, but was defeated.

In 2000, Sammartino defeated Jimmy Cicero to win the New York State Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship in New Rochelle, New York

New Rochelle, New York

New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...

.

He is currently semi-retired, and has worked as a personal trainer

Personal trainer

A personal trainer is a fitness professional involved in exercise prescription and instruction. They motivate clients by setting goals and providing feedback and accountability to clients. Trainers also measure their client's strengths and weaknesses with fitness assessments...

 since 1996.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Figure four leglock

• Signature moves
  • Backbreaker rack
  • Front facelock

Championships and accomplishments

• New York State Wrestling Federation
  • NYSWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• North American Wrestling
  • NAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  Pro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
  
  
  • PWI Rookie of the Year (1981)
  • PWI ranked him #480 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003

• Southern Championship Wrestling
• SCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

External links