The Times They Are a Changin'

Bruno Sammartino vs. Randy Savage

Bruno of course is "The Living Legend". I've heard a few interviews and he seems like about the nicest guy you could ever meet and definitely the nicest old guy who could probably still beat you up. I have nothing but respect for Bruno. With that noted, Bruno is one hairy Italian man. At this point in his career, Bruno was probably in his late forties early fifties. He didn't look decrepit and orange as many pro wrestlers tend to settle into as they stay in the business too long. His age only showed in the abundant hair growth in areas not near his scalp. Truly, he looked like the proverbial (I believe it's Proverbs 2:23) brick shithouse. The crowd was crazy for this hairy old Italian guy and I remembered "Ahh, this is the Pro Wrestling I love." Savage was the lithe, flippy young heel with the Lovely Miss Elizabeth as his curvy riot shield against the still-chivalrous faces.

The match was surprisingly good, though I was mostly swayed by the fans really buying in to Bruno taking it to the young guy with his offense of stomps and punches. In reality, the match was ok to good, with Savage picking up a count out win after dropping the dreaded ax handle from the top rope to the floor on Bruno. Savage was cheating throughout the match of course and he ended up pushing Bruno a step to far. The best part of this match was the post match. Bruno, this feral mountainous bear, just mauls Savage. As the WWF moved to the WWE via the World Wildlife Fund's protest, perhaps no better metaphor could be made than this ravenous manbeast throwing Savage into the ropes and wrapping his arms around him in a Bearhug. Savage screams and grimaces and fights for all he's worth as the life is squeezed out of him. A squad of referees try to pry the monster's arms apart to no avail. They fall to the ground still in this deathly embrace. The locker room clears out as the faces try to pull the old man's calloused hands apart. After 3 minutes which seemed like a lifetime, nature's fury had made it's point and it yields to the oxygen sucking and seeping back into Savage's lungs. Man is no match for the animal kingdom. A million stars.