Bruno Sammartino and Freddie Blassie – Too Real for the Mob

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Bruno Sammartino took the wrestling business seriously — so seriously, in fact, that he refused to break kayfabe longer than almost anyone else from his era.

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It was Sammartino’s commitment to kayfabe that put Freddie Blassie in severe real-life danger.

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Bruno's straightforward, no-nonsense attitude allowed generations of fans in the northeast United States to believe in him, and he didn’t want to let those fans down.

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Freddie Blassie had just finished up as WWA "world" champion in Los Angeles. Bruno Sammartino was in the middle of an epic 7.5-year run as the WWWF champion.

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The two met at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey, on June 26, 1964. Sammartino was a huge favorite with the pro-Italian crowd.

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"Bruno and I had a real brawl. I grabbed his cauliflower ears and twisted them, then paused and looked at the crowd to piss them off," Blassie wrote.

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After the matches, things got serious backstage when members of the Italian mob took the action in the ring too seriously.

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Had it not been the quick thinking of Sammartino, Blassie's life could have ended right then and there.

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