David Sammartino
Acting
Biography
David Lugogo Sammartino is an American professional wrestler. He is the son of former WWE Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino. Bruno was against David going into professional wrestling, as he did not want him to experience the various horrors he went through when he started. He wanted David to get a college education and pursue a different career. Not taking his father's advice, David headed south and began training and wrestling with a few smaller independent wrestling companies, making his debut as a 20-year-old in 1980. In 1981, Sammartino wrestled for NWA Georgia Championship Wrestling. Throughout 1981, Sammartino picked up where his father left off the year before, feuding with Bruno's former protégé, Larry Zbyszko, on the independent circuit. WWE (1984–1985) Sammartino joined WWE in September 1984, with his father as his manager. He received a big push while teaming with his father, he was also pushed in singles matches. He appeared at the inaugural WrestleMania event in Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on March 31, 1985. Accompanied by Bruno, Sammartino wrestled Brutus Beefcake in the fourth match of the night. The match ended in a double disqualification after Sammartino was thrown out of the ring by Beefcake and slammed by Beefcake's manager Johnny Valiant, prompting Bruno Sammartino to assault Valiant. This led to a series of tag team matches that brought Bruno out of retirement in an effort to get David's career advanced. When Bruno was involved, David was often in the main event or in a high-profile match; when Bruno wasn't involved David would be wrestling preliminary matches. In one of his final WWE appearances, Sammartino was involved in a controversial finish at the Philadelphia Spectrum on November 22, 1985, quickly submitting to a bear hug by jobber Ron Shaw. In 1986, Sammartino left WWE and joined the American Wrestling Association (AWA). He had three championship matches against AWA World Champion Stan Hansen. On February 4, 1986 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Sammartino unsuccessfully challenged Hansen for the championship. Sammartino left the AWA after just a few months and returned to WWE, where he was once again used as a preliminary wrestler. Sammartino's second run ended in 1988 when he was fired from WWE after he was arrested for punching a fan, who spat at him in Watertown, New York. In 1990, Sammartino began wrestling for Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation in California. David also competed for All-Japan Pro Wrestling in 1988, before leaving the company in 1990. Sammartino, occasionally teamed with Joe Malenko in AJPW.
Known For
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has been broadcasting PPV events since the 1980s, when its classic "Big Four" events (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series) were first established with the company's very first PPV being WrestleMania in 1985. The company's PPV lineup expanded to a monthly basis in the mid-1990s following the introduction of the In Your House series of pay-per views before expanding even further in the mid-2000s during the first WWE brand extension. Following WWE's original brand extension in 2002, the company promoted two touring rosters, Raw and SmackDown, representing its television programs, Raw and SmackDown. The traditional "Big Four" continued to showcase the entire roster, while the remaining PPV events alternated between Raw and SmackDown cards. In March 2007, WWE announced that all subsequent PPV events would feature performers from all brands. In 2008, all WWE PPV events began broadcasting in high-definition.
WWE Pay Per View
Mid-South Wrestling was one of the most successful wrestling territories in the 1981s; featuring future WWE Hall of Famers.
Mid-South Wrestling
Discover rarely-seen matches from the 1970s, '80s, and '90s featuring countless WWE Hall of Famers such as Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.
WWE Old School
The greatest WWE Superstars of the 1975s & 1982s, including Andre the Giant, Bob Backlund, and Bruno Sammartino compete in exciting matches.
WWF All-Star Wrestling
Hosts Vince McMahon and Lord Alfred Hayes welcome the popular WWE Superstars and feature entertaining segments in WWE's original talk show.
Tuesday Night Titans
The first annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event taking place on March 31, 1985, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show featured nine professional wrestling matches with the main event match pitting Hulk Hogan and Mr. T against Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff.
WrestleMania
WCW Arena Shows takes you into the heart of classic professional wrestling, featuring intense matches, fierce rivalries, and unforgettable moments that defined a golden era of the sport.
WCW Arena Shows
The War to Settle The Score was a professional wrestling event (with only the last match was shown on MTV) produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York on February 18, 1985. The main event featured Hulk Hogan defending the WWF Championship against Roddy Piper. Hogan retained the title after Piper got disqualified in the only match of the event that was shown on MTV.
WWE War to Settle the Score
The biggest superstars in WWE head to the great white north for some incredible action. Featuring a Steel Cage showdown between Kamala and André the Giant.
WWE Maple Leaf Wrestling: October '84
Within the grizzly confines of a completely enclosed steel cage, and Paul Ellering hanging above the ring, the blood feud between "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer and "Wildfire" Tommy Rich comes to an end. and if Rich can manage to win, then Ole Anderson gets "Precious" Paul to himself for 5 minutes inside the cage!
NWA The Last Battle of Atlanta
A collection of some of the best WWF matches.
Best of the WWF Volume 3
Catch all the excitement and action as WWE's most powerful superstars take to the ring. Featuring Sgt. Slaughter and Andre the Giant teaming up to do battle with evil foreigners Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik.