Bruno Mars Pays Tribute to Nickname Namesake Following Death of Wrestling Legend Bruno Sammartino
Less than a year after their first in-person meeting,Bruno Marspaid loving tribute to his nickname namesake on Thursday (Apr. 19) after learning that WWE Hall of Fame legend Bruno Sammartino had passed away. Mars (born Peter Gene Hernandez), was excited last August when he met Sammartino backstage at a Pittsburgh stop on his 24K Magic World Tour and upon Sammartino's death at age 82 the singer recalled that the grappler was "such a gentleman when I met him & really meant a lot to my father & I."
The WWE announced Sammartino's death on Wednesday (Apr. 18) with a tribute that honored the iconic wrestler's amazing life story. "During his childhood in the small Italian mountain town of Pizzoferrato in the Abruzzi region of Italy, Bruno Sammartino heard stories about how the streets in the United States were paved with gold," it read. "Though he believed it literally at the time, Sammartino would experience fortune and fame first-hand as the longest-reigning WWE Champion and the most beloved competitor in the history of the squared circle.
"Life wasn't always so glorious for The Italian Superman. Bruno's brother and sister both passed away at young ages, and Adolf Hitler's Nazi forces seized their town, but Bruno persevered. He and his mother hid in a mountain called Valla Rocca during the German occupation and eventually joined his immigrant father in Pittsburgh in 1950." After he began lifting weights as a young man, growing to become one of the then-strongest men on earth, Sammartino caught the eye of wrestling promoter Vince J. McMahon. He quickly rose to become the second-ever WWE champ in May 1963, when he defeated Buddy Rogers in just 48 seconds. Sammartino held the championship belt for 8 years on his way to becoming a household name.
Mars, nicknamed Bruno by by father as a baby due to his resemblance to the wrestler, posted a picture of the pair when they met last year.
Sammartino was honored by a number of athletes and famous admirers as well.
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