Triple H Pays Tribute To WWE HOFer On What Would Have Been 87th Birthday

On this day 87 years ago, Bruno Sammartino was born, a man who would go on to have one of the most legendary careers in professional wrestling history, setting impressive records that may never be shattered. Sammartino, who helped sell out Madison Square Garden for WWE many times, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013 by Larry Zbyszko, a man with whom Sammartino once had a massive rivalry in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

On April 18, 2018, Sammartino passed away due to heart problems caused by organ failures. WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque took to Twitter to honor the WWE Hall of Famer on what would've been his 87th birthday.

"Bruno Sammartino set the standard for what it means to be a @WWE Superstar. One of the toughest competitors to ever step into the ring, a legendary champion and a true friend... we remember Bruno today on what would have been his 87th birthday."

Sammartino, who hailed from Pizzoferrato, Italy, is possibly best known for his first legendary and historic WWE Championship reign which lasted 2,803 days, more than seven years. During that reign, which lasted from May 17, 1963, until January 18, 1971, Sammartino defeated notable names such as Killer Kowalski, Gorilla Monsoon, and the man he originally defeated for the title, Buddy Rogers, before losing the title to Ivan Koloff.

This reign was not the only impressive reign Sammartino had while in WWE, as his second lasted 1,237 days, which still stands as one of the longest reigns in WWE history. Not even three years after dropping the title to Koloff, Sammartino won it back and defeated Stan Stasiak for the WWE Championship in 1973 before dropping the title to "Superstar" Billy Graham.