On Friday, Bruno Sammartino will be recognized for the 50th anniversary of capturing the WWWF Title from Buddy Rogers on May 17, 1963. In an exclusive interview with PWTorch assistant editor James Caldwell in May 2006, Sammartino discussed the background of that title victory, whose decision it was, and what it meant to him to be a headliner for eight consecutive years.

The following is an excerpt from Part 4 of the six-part interview with Sammartino, which is available for Torch VIP members in the Torch Talk Library.

Not a VIP member? Find out how to access the entire Torch Talk Library spanning 20+ years of interviews with every major player during the era by CLICKING HERE to become a VIP member - PWTorch.com/GoVIP.

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Caldwell: Do you think you ended up working with Vince McMahon Sr. in the WWWF because it was based out of New York?

Sammarrtino: No, when I first broke in the business, I was with McMahon and I ended up doing very poorly. They blackballed me all over the country, for God's sake. I ended up in Canada for almost two years and then I became a big hit in Canada. Then, McMahon told me things were really going down the toilet. They insisted on me coming back, but I wanted to have nothing to do with it because I had bad memories from the short time I had been there. They kept making me offers to bring me back, but I said 'no, I'm doing well in Canada.' Finally, the only thing that brought me back was being able to get in the ring with (Buddy) Rogers.

Caldwell: And that's when you were going to win the WWWF Title.

Sammarrtino: Exactly. That's the only reason why I came back. My memories of New York were not very good at all, believe me.

Caldwell: I believe Vince, Sr. thought you would only amount to a mid-card preliminary wrestler.

Sammarrtino: Well, that's what people made him think so he tried to make me that, but I refused. I said, 'I'm not going to be away from my home in Pittsburgh to be a nobody. I'd just as soon go back to Pittsburgh and be a construction worker.' I was an apprentice carpenter at the time. I said I would rather be at home every day than be on the road being a preliminary boy who's just making enough money to exist on. That wasn't the way I was going to be in the business. I was either going to get a shot or being somebody or I didn't want to be in it at all.

Caldwell: Who was it that made the decision to put the belt on you in 1963? Was it Vince, Sr. or Toots Mondt?

Sammarrtino: It was Toots Mondt because Vince and Buddy were close. It's a story that I really don't like to get into, but believe me, it was an interesting story. Buddy had no choice, I believe.

Caldwell: What do you remember about that title run? You were the second WWWF Champion and it was a major opportunity to be a headliner in, I believe, what was only your fourth year as a full-time wrestler.

Sammarrtino: It was a great opportunity, but that's an opportunity that every wrestler dreams about. I wasn't on top for the glory of being champion. It meant that I would have the opportunity to be the headliner and if I did succeed as the headliner, it meant that you could make a pretty darn good living. Keep in mind that back in 1963, it wasn't like the 1980s where athletes and wrestlers were making millions of dollars. I used to be good friends with Johnny Unitas. Johnny told me that in his first year in Baltimore, he made $6,000 as the quarterback. That's the way it was in the '50s. No athlete made big money.

In time, everything changed. With me, what it meant when I took the belt was that I would be the headliner in all the main arenas. It would mean that I would make some money; hopefully money to support my family; hopefully money to save so that when my time came when I couldn't wrestle anymore, I would be in the position to live a life where my kids would have the chance to go to school and I could give them that opportunity. And, when they grow up, my wife and I could live a respectable life. That was my whole goal. That was what was important in holding the World Championship.

It wasn't 'look at me, I'm the World champ.' To me, wrestling was my job. It was how I made my living. I wanted to be the best I could be. One thing I was always aware of was giving the fans who bought the ticket enough respect. I had to give them the best I had; that I owed to them. In my heart and in my conscious, I felt I always did that. Did I always succeed? No. I can tell you times when my matches stunk. There were times when my back hurt and I couldn't stretch or loosen up. I would go out there and the matches wouldn't be that good. I can always tell you that I went out there and did the best I could.

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[Torch photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch.com]

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