The sad news broke late last week. George “The Animal” Steele died Thursday in Florida at 79. Ivan “The Russian Bear” Koloff passed Saturday in North Carolina at 74. Two pro wrestling icons were gone. Two of my all-time favorite sports characters.
I immediately called Bruno.
To hear his memories of Steele and Koloff, sure. But more to make sure he was OK.
Bruno Sammartino was my sports hero as a kid, right there with Roberto Clemente. I spent most of the Saturday evenings of my youth watching “Studio Wrestling” on Channel 11. Bill Cardille. Ringside Rosie. Pie Traynor. And, of course, Bruno, who didn’t need a last name for fame in Pittsburgh, across North America and around the world.
“I turn 82 on Oct. 6,” he said. “I’ve had 10 major operations. Four back surgeries. A hip replacement. A broken neck …
“But I consider myself lucky. I keep thinking after all these surgeries, my luck is going to run out. But I’m functioning fairly well.”
The deaths of Steele from kidney failure and Koloff from liver cancer hit Sammartino hard for a couple of reasons. One, it was a painful reminder of his own mortality. And two, he had helped to discover Steele and Koloff and was a big reason they became wrestling stars.
“Steele’s real name was Jim Myers, and he was a school teacher and coach in Michigan,” Sammartino said. “He wore a mask at the time because he didn’t want his school or his students to know what he was doing on weekends. I saw him when I was wrestling in Detroit. He must have weighed 300, 310 pounds. I thought, ‘Who is this guy?’ I was impressed with his wrestling maneuvers. I asked him if he wanted to wrestle in New York. He said he would love that. That was the big time.”
Steele ended up wrestling Sammartino often from the late 1960s through the 1980s, here and at Madison Square Garden, among other venues. By that time, he had lost his mask and become “The Animal.” He wrestled with a green tongue that constantly hung out of his mouth. He would bite off a chunk of the turnbuckle and chew on the padding. When he spoke, he mumbled unintelligently, saying little more than “You! You!” or “Mine! Mine!” No one knew he graduated from Central Michigan with a master’s degree.
“He was hairy as a bear except on the top of his head,” Sammartino said. “I didn’t particularly like his act, but the promoters liked gimmicks. He became very successful. He was very popular with the fans.”
So was Koloff.
Like Steele, Koloff was a “heel” or villain. He was Canadian but portrayed himself during the prime of his career from the 1960s through the 1980s as a Russian to capitalize on the emotions of the Cold War. He would enter the ring wearing a singlet with the hammer-and-sickle emblem of the Soviet Union and waving the Soviet flag as the Soviet anthem was played. His real name was Oreal Perras.
“I never knew his real name,” Sammartino said. “He was about my size, maybe 5-foot-11, but he must have weighed 300, 305 pounds,” Sammartino said. “He looked like a bull, but he was very quick and did everything well in the ring.”
Sammartino mentioned Koloff to Vince McMahon Sr., his boss with the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Koloff was managed by well-known “Captain” Lou Albano.
“The next thing I know, Koloff and I are wrestling,” Sammartino said. “It became big. We always turned people away.”
Koloff and Sammartino provided the most memorable night in wrestling history. Jan. 18, 1971. Madison Square Garden. Koloff won the match, taking Sammartino’s championship belt. He did it with a knee to the head, a body slam and a leap from the top rope onto Sammartino’s chest before he pinned him. The referee counted Sammartino out. They said you could hear a pin drop in the world’s most famous arena.
“People thought I was unbeatable,” Sammartino said. “Some people were literally crying. They told me, ‘Bruno, you always will be our champion.’ That touched me so deeply. I felt like I hurt a lot of people …
“Here’s the truth. I had held the belt for almost eight years. I was wrestling all but two days a month. I felt like my body was broken. I couldn’t go on at that time. I was cheating the public. I kept putting pressure on Vince McMahon to find somebody else. They picked Koloff.”
In his 2007 book, “Is That Wrestling Fake?,” Koloff wrote, “It’s both 100 percent entertainment and 100 percent real. The story lines and outcomes are scripted, but the falls and injuries are real.” Sammartino agreed. He has the scars to prove it.
“They say it’s all fake, but there’s nothing fake when a guy picks you up and slams you down or throws you out of the ring onto a concrete floor. They say, ‘Yeah, but you know how to land.’ Well, you try landing on a concrete floor.”
Sammartino says he was shocked when he saw Koloff last fall.
“He was so crippled up, bent over, looked like he was about 5-foot-5. The same thing happened to Killer Kowalski. All of the body slams and body drops and hard hits took their toll on all of us. That’s why I say I’m lucky.”
Sammartino had a much happier reunion with Koloff in January 2013 when Sammartino was inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden. For years, Sammartino had feuded with the WWE because of the “steroids, vulgarity and profanity” that had taken over the sport. Pittsburgh neurosurgeon Dr. Joe Maroon helped to broker peace between the two sides. Arnold Schwarzenegger presented Sammartino for induction. Koloff was on hand for the festivities. There were other dignitaries on the dais, as well.
“This guy comes into my room and tells me he was a big fan and how grateful he was to meet me,” Sammartino said. “He asked if he could bring his daughter in for a picture. His son came in. He even asked for my autograph. He couldn’t have been nicer.”
The man was Donald Trump.
“I saw the presidential debates and thought, ‘Is that the same guy?’” Sammartino said.
I’m guessing news of Steele’s and Koloff’s passing reached the White House. I’m guessing the president was sad, too.
Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com and Twitter@RonCookPG. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Poni” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.
First Published: February 22, 2017, 5:00 a.m.
