WrestleReunion

07/10/2024

Today would have been the 89th birthday of my friend and client Bruno Sammartino. Hard to imagine that he is gone so many of us thought that he would just go on at least longer than we did. Even at 80 he was still a strong man.

There for sure would have been a conversation today if there could have been. I had Bruno in Yonkers several times at Giulios Resturant I will never forget when Bruno told the waiter since Giulio Notaro says we are from the same place in Italy have him prepare something native to our area. I can remember Bruno being very impressed when his meal arrived.

We sat down with Leonard and Mayor Mike Spano Mike Spano a couple of times. Once in 1999 when we had an event at Lincoln High School and again in 2016 at Giulio's when we did Bruno's final appearance in NY.

There was also kind of a reunion once with Richie Giannantoni who met Bruno when he was a young boy, after Bruno and Tony Marino wrestled at the Glen Park they went to the home of Casmir Sabatini a relative of Richie's. A mutual friend of Bruno's and Casmir requested the get together.

I have so many Bruno stories but these are personal to Yonkers.

He was a great man if you haven't gotten the book and read about the adversity and the odds that he overcame I suggest you do it. You don't have to be a wrestling fan to enjoy this book and appreciate Bruno the man not just Bruno the wrestler.

https://www.amazon.com/Bruno-Sammartino-Autobiography-Wrestlings-Living-ebook/dp/B07PHP8TWN?ref_=ast_author_dp

10/08/2024

Bruno Sammartino: The Autobiography of Wrestlings Living Legend was an honor to bring to the public. With the help of CB Wolf this book was finished and has been available for about five years. One of the most rewarding things about the book is that non wrestling fans have read it and absolutely loved the story of the man not the wrestler. The first one to tell me that was actress Cindy Morgan of Caddyshack.

I was recently sent these comments by Brad Zawacki a former wrestler. I am glad that more and more people are becoming aware of the challenges he faced in his rise to the top while staying very humble.

The book is available in color and black and white.

Sal, the Sammartino book is fantastic. I grew up in Pittsburgh and my parents grew up there. My dad met Bruno more than one occasion and was a gentleman every time.
My wife read the book, and she is neutral at best when it comes to understanding pro wrestling.

Hands down a phenomenal book, definitely be proud of writing this masterpiece

BZ

09/08/2024

I woke up this morning to a text from Andrew Anderson about the passing of Kevin Sullivan. I was in the ring with Kevin many times as a referee. In 2005 he was part of some of the WrestleReunion events. I am posting a picture of Kevin and Abdullah from the inaugural event in Tampa January 2005. He was in a tag team match with C.M. Punk and Abdullah the Butcher as his partners with Sir Oliver Humperdink as manager in our main event. Dusty,, Dustin and Mike Graham on the other side with Harley Race.

As we grow older the news of deaths comes much to often and is much to relevant. R.I.P Kevin Sullivan. Photo credit goes to George Napolitano

19/04/2024

This has been a rough week for me for several years now. My younger sister who was born on April 14th fell victim to Pancreatic Cancer. My aunt born on April 17th passed away from Cancer and on April 18th I got the call from Blackjack Brown that Bruno Sammartino had passed away. I was only about 25 feet from where I was standing when I told a second lane had flown into the World Trade Center.
I truly believe that Bruno Sammartino couldn’t be pinned if he didn’t want to be. He had far out lived the life expectancy of someone who had suffered from Rheumatic Fever. He stayed in great shape always but like with all of us at one point or another the tide turns, and we end up looking at the lights.
So many of you are fans of “Wrestling’s Living Legend Bruno Sammartino as any true wrestling fan should be. I wish that all of you could have gotten to know Bruno Sammartino the man. He believed in fairness and principles. He conducted himself with honor and represented the business of Professional Wrestling with Honor. He treated fans with respect and always made sure that someone that met him left feeling like it was worth their time.
As long as I am still around this will always be a tough week for me. The dates between April 14th-April 18th bring many smile and memories but still a tremendous loss.
If you have read the book, Bruno Sammartino: The Autobiography of Wrestlings Living Legend you should have an idea of the kind of man that Bruno Sammartino was if you haven’t you should consider it. In a day where so many “heroes” fall short Bruno Sammartino stayed steady and always worthy of the term Living Legend. He was a great friend to WrestleReunion doing all he could to make the first two events memorable. Bruno Mars got the chance to meet the man he was named after not long before Bruno passed away. R.I.P. Bruno Sammartino

16/12/2023

It's been almost 19 years since the original WrestleReunion event in Tampa. I am still asked about the videos of the matches. As I indicated many times these videos were held up in a legal battle. I have regained full control of all film taken place in 2005 which includes the matches.

There are NO PLANS to put this out on DVD. I am looking for a private buyer or WWE for Peacock TV or All Elite Wrestling to purchase and produce for their libraries.

I did make a sizzle reel which I will post here for all of you that have asked to see what happened on those three weekends.

The opportunity has now presented for this never before seen footage to be available to the world. I am kicking around some other ideas but a purchase would be in the interest of the fans. I hope that you enjoy.

30/07/2023

Wordle 771 5/6

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23/11/2022

Steve Esquer Moran

15/11/2022

For any of you that attended WrestleReunion Miami at the Hotel Deauville a very famous venue the building was demolished on Sunday. We had a great event there. It was our next to last event to date. Here is the video of the collapse.

27/03/2021

Over the years many people have asked about the three events held in 2005. As most of you know the matches have never been seen. The tapes have been held up in a legal battle for about 15 years. I am happy to announce that my attorney Chris Rodems has secured the tapes back. I have them in my possession and we have the rights back to do whatever we would like with them.

It is my goal to monetize these three events and the other footage that was filmed over the weekends. The final WrestleReunion match of 2005 was "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes vs Terry Funk with Mick Foley as guest referee. It all started with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and "The Boogie Woogie Manboy" Handsome Jimmy Valiant vs Col. DeBeers, "Pl***oy" Buddy Rose and "Ace" "Cowboy" Bob Orton with a lot of interesting and one time or last time only battles.

We appreciate all of the interest that myself, Bill Apter and others have had in these historic events in independent wrestling.

23/09/2020

Sad news to report this morning. Joseph Laurinaitis better known as Road Warrior Animal passed away this morning. This photo is from WrestleReunion Miami. I had the pleasure of working in the ring with The Road Warriors and many War Game Matches. They also did a main event match for me in Kannapolis at the Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium in 1997 My condolences to his brothers Marcus and John that are friends of mine. Many likely know this but for those that don't Animal is the person who recommended the former Scott Simpson for the role of Nikita Koloff. They grew up together in Minnesota. One of the great tag teams of all times is reunited in heaven today.

13/09/2020

I wanted to pose a question to everyone and get some feedback. There have been some celebrities participating in small Zoom events. This would be different than the online auctions that are being held with wrestlers currently where merchandise is being sold. If WrestleReunion was to start doing Zoom events with wrestlers and or classic tv stars would there be an interest? They are small events no more than 25 people. You would have a chance to ask a question and get a verbal response. You would also get to hear everyone else's questions and responses. It would last from 6f0-90 minutes depending on how many participants there were. Of course there would be a cost somewhere around $100.00. Please feel free to let me know your thoughts. I want to be sure that this would apply to Legends and perhaps some Indy people as well.

10/09/2020

It's hard to believe that its been 15 years since the Davie Florida WrestleReunion event. It was a good night there was some rain that night at the Bergeron Rodeo Arena. We put together a good card for the night. Six of the guys are no longer with us. One of the matches that I was most proud of was Team 3D against The Midnight Express. I remember Team 3D being very happy to work with The Midnight Express for the first and likely only time. The name Team 3D was created for the former Dudley Boyz after an email came the day before explaining how the name The Dudley Boyz couldn't be uses. I don't know if they even had a match in between our two events. My only regret was that it couldn't be a six man tag since Stan Lane had a previous commitment for his Powerboat Racing announcing job.

Here is the card from Sept 10th 2005

“Carolina’s Own” David Isley vs Hack Myers- Winner David Isley
Sumie Sakai vs Amy Love-Winner Sumie Sakai
Bugsy McGraw vs The Warlord-Winner Bugsy McGraw
Mike Graham vs Kevin Sullivan-Winner Mike Graham
The Blue Meanie vs Kamala” The Ugandan Giant” w/Lew Specter-Winner The Blue Meanie
Jake Roberts vs Antonio Banks Winner Jake “The Snake” Roberts
Greg “The Hammer” Valentine vs Tito Santana Winner Greg Valentine
Tully Blanchard with James J. Dillon vs “Outlaw” Ron Bass-Winner Tully Blanchard
Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon vs The Midnight Express “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton and “Loverboy” Dennis Condrey. Winners Team 3D
“The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes vs Terry Funk Special Referee Mick Foley Winner Declared No Contest.

15 years sounds like so long ago but in some ways it seems like yesterday. We also had Joey Styles and Jimmy Hart with us that night as well. I remember Dusty throwing those elbows at Terry Funk something I had seen so many times before but now they were doing it for my company. It's nice to remember good times sometimes.

Many fans still ask about the WrestleReunion events. Its very nice to hear how we affected people in such a positive way.

10/03/2019

For any fans of WrestleReunion you know that Bruno Sammartino was a large part of our events. I am pleased to announce that I am happy to announce that the updated Bruno Sammartino: The Autobiography of Wrestling's Living Legend is now available on Amazon. It comes in a Color and Black and White Version. It is now 568 pages and the color version has around 275 color pages. While Bruno and I were working on the book we had plans to promote it together. Since Bruno passed away on April 18th, 2018. I have had to get used to a life with a man that many of us believed would always be here. I hope the book allows people to know him a little better and that it answers many of the questions people have had for years.
Make no mistake that for those of us that knew Bruno Sammartino knew him as a champion in and out of the ring but at the same time a very humble man. I was very happy when he initially agreed to the expansion of the book and allowing me to tell the some of the real stories that fans wanted to know about.
For those of you that were fans of Bruno Sammartino this will be a great read for anyone that wasn’t that wants to read a real life story of a family living in occupied Italy and a young boy stricken with Rheumatic Fever that finally made it to America not being able to speak English and a young boy that came to the United States a scrawny weakling who through dedication became the strongest man in the world and the longest reigning Professional Wrestling Champion that there will likely ever be and a Living Legend. You will be amazed at the strength and determination of a woman Emilia Sammartino that her son Bruno would live as sick as he was. It is the true story of the absolute love of family and the success of the American Dream.
I greatly appreciate the support of the Sammartino family, Colin Bowman formerly the Executive Editor of WCW Magazine and the numerous contributors to the book from our wrestling fraternity.

https://www.amazon.com/Bruno-Sammartino-Autobiography-Wrestlings-Living/dp/1729634346/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=bruno+sammartino&qid=1552193817&s=books&sr=1-2

BRUNO! BRUNO! BRUNO!The iconic chant that resonated everywhere Bruno appeared, whether he was the Champion at the time or not. It was a combined 11 years, during two title reigns, that Bruno Sammartino was the World Wide Wrestling Federation Champion: 1963-1971 and 1973-1977 (4,040 days). He head...

24/10/2017

Statement on Behalf of Bruno Sammartino -UPDATED at 8:57PM

Please pass this along to anyone in the Wrestling Community regarding Bruno Sammartino. while just about anyone is free to contact me as I pass along all offers although Bruno Sammartino is retired from attending events outside of Pittsburgh. In speaking with Bruno today he tells me numerous people have called his home with offers for bookings, your calls will not be accepted and messages will not be returned. Also many items are sent to Bruno for him to sign all items pictures etc are being discarded they will not be signed and sent back. He gets multiple items each day at this point you are wasting your money.

In speaking with Bruno he doesn't understand why when we announced he was retiring that people are still contacting us about bookings. Now in saying that we continue to accept offers for Private Signings if they are held in Pittsburgh only. We have already done one and believe we will be doing another one if your interests go beyond that I have only gotten indication that Bruno is permanently retired from traveling to autograph events and personal appearances. I hope that everyone can understand that Bruno traveled for many years and very much enjoys his time with family. Thank You
Sal

14/09/2014

This event has been postponed until 2015.

06/09/2014

I am sending this statement on behalf of Bruno Sammartino. He has been advertised to appear on an event in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ the weekend of Oct 25th 2014. There was never an agreement for Bruno to appear at this event and he will NOT be appearing there. If you have purchased tickets in advance please ask for a refund you will not be able to meet Bruno at this event. I handle Bruno's appearances, I have not spoken to the organizers of this event and neither has Bruno Sammartino. At this point I can assure you that Bruno will NOT be there. If you want to meet Bruno in person you can meet him in Yonkers NY Oct 17th or in Fishkill, NY on Oct 18th all information can be found at www.northeastwrestling.com

05/09/2014

Pro Wresting Comes to the Yonkers PAL on October 17th 2014 come and meet legends Bruno Sammartino and Ricky Steamboat and see a great night of wrestling.