David Lugogo Sammartino (born September 29, 1960) is an American personal trainer and semi-retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. He is the son of former WWWF/WWF World Heavyweight Champion,

Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavywei ...

Professional wrestling career

Early career

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. Throughout 1981, Sammartino picked up where his father left off the year before, feuding with Bruno's former protégé,

Larry Zbyszko Lawrence Whistler (born December 5, 1951), better known by the ring name Larry Zbyszko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his w ...

, on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

World Wrestling Federation (1984–1985)

Sammartino joined the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(WWF) in September 1984, with his father as his

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. He received a big push while teaming with his father, he was also pushed in singles matches. He appeared at the inaugural

WrestleMania WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event held annually between mid-March and mid-April by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Since premiering in 1985, 37 editions followed, mos ...

event in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, New York on March 31, 1985. Accompanied by Bruno, Sammartino wrestled

Brutus Beefcake Edward Harrison Leslie (born April 21, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship ...

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 John L. Sullivan (born Thomas Sullivan; November 25, 1946 – April 4, 2018) was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, Johnny Valiant. He competed in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which be ...

, 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 WWF appearances, Sammartino was involved in a controversial finish at the

Philadelphia Spectrum The Spectrum (later known as CoreStates Spectrum, First Union Spectrum and Wachovia Spectrum) was an indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Opened in September 1967 as part of what is now known as the South Philadelphia Spo ...

on November 22, 1985, quickly submitting to a bear hug by

jobber Jobber may refer to: Athletics * Job (professional wrestling) - A professional wrestler who routinely loses a match. * Wichita Jobbers, a minor league baseball team in the Western Association from 1905 to 1911 Commerce * A person or corporation ...

Ron Shaw.

Various promotions

In 1986, Sammartino left the WWF and joined the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

(AWA). He had three championship matches against AWA World Champion

Stan Hansen John Stanley Hansen II (born August 29, 1949) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Hansen is known for his Glossary of professional wrestling terms#S, stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to his poor eyesigh ...

. On February 4, 1986 in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, Sammartino unsuccessfully challenged Hansen for the championship. Sammartino left the AWA after just a few months and returned to the WWF, where he was once again used as a preliminary wrestler. Sammartino's second run ended in 1988 when he was fired from the WWF after he was

arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...

ed for punching a fan, who spat at him in Watertown, New York. In 1990, Sammartino began wrestling for

Herb Abrams Herbert Charles Abrams (July 9, 1955 – July 23, 1996), also known by the nickname Mr. Electricity, was an American professional wrestling promoter from Queens, New York, who founded the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) in 1990. Early life ...

' Universal Wrestling Federation in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. David also competed for

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...

(AJPW) in 1988, before leaving the company in 1990. Sammartino, occasionally teamed with

Joe Malenko Jody Simon (born June 4, 1956) is an American pharmacist and retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Joe Malenko. He is the son of Boris Malenko and the older brother of Dean Malenko. Professional wrestling career Japan M ...

in AJPW. Sammartino returned to wrestling in 1995 and competed for NWA New Jersey, where he unsuccessfully challenged Tommy Cairo for the NWA North American Championship twice. Sammartino left the promotion shortly thereafter. Sammartino re-emerged in 1996 in

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

(WCW), competing in the promotion's cruiserweight division. Sammartino was only used in two matches in WCW. On the December 16, 1996 episode of ''

WCW Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the Unite ...

'', Sammartino challenged

Dean Malenko Dean Simon (born August 4, 1960), better known by the ring name Dean Malenko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a senior producer. He is best known for his time with Extreme ...

for the

WCW Cruiserweight Championship World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...

, but was defeated. The other match was a

dark match Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...

, defeating preliminary wrestler, Rex King. In 2000, Sammartino defeated Jimmy Cicero to win the New York State Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

. In 2010, Sammartino appeared at an International Wrestling Cartel event called "IWC Night of legends" defeating former rival

. In June 2010, Sammartino teamed with Zbyzsko, against

Frank Stalletto Frank Stalletto (born November 5) is an American professional wrestler. He was a mainstay of the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic independent circuit for much of the 1990s and early 2000s. One of the most popular stars of Pittsburgh's Steel City Wr ...

, and

Lou Marconi Lou Marconi (born June 19, 1973Pro Wrestling Illustrated. "Statistics for Professional Wrestlers." ''PWI 2001 Wrestling Almanac and Book of Facts''. Vol. IV. No. 1. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: London Publishing Co., 2001. (pg. 46)) is an Amer ...

at Deaf Wrestlefest 2010 in a winning effort.

Personal life

Sammartino is currently semi-retired and has worked as a

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...

since 1996. He sometimes appears in "Legends" events, where he wrestles along with other veteran wrestlers. He had a strained relationship with his father, Bruno.

Championships and accomplishments

* North American Wrestling ** NAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'' **

PWI Rookie of the Year This is a list of both active and inactive ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' awards which are voted on by ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') readers every year from 1972 onwards, expanding to more categories in later years. Unlike other wrestling ...

(1981) ** PWI ranked him No. 480 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003 * Southern Championship Wrestling ** SCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* *
''David Sammartino lets it all out in shoot''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sammartino, David 1960 births American male professional wrestlers American people of Italian descent American professional wrestlers of Italian descent Living people People from Pittsburgh Professional wrestlers from Pennsylvania 20th-century professional wrestlers