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Very rarely do you get a chance to spend over an hour with one of wrestling's true legends.  That's exactly what happened today on ClubWWI.com when "The Living Legend" Bruno Sammartino joined James Guttman for a 62 minute shoot that is nothing short of explosive.

 

Known for his accomplishments in the ring, Bruno spoke about some of his biggest moments including slamming Haystacks Calhoun, breaking into wrestling, how Vince McMahon Sr.'s deal with Antonio Inoki caused problems, and more.  However, Sammartino is also known for his stance regarding today's wrestling and holds nothing back.  In his 62 minute ClubWWI.com shoot, he discusses the year that WWE reached out to him to join the Hall of Fame, why he thinks it's a joke, whether McMahon would ever induct him without having Bruno actually appear, why he's not in TNA, what he thinks of TNA, Ring of Honor, steroids in wrestling, whether he'd become a wrestler if he was a rookie today, and so much more.

 

One major topic with Bruno is Ric Flair.  Many have spoken about the infamous backstage "snub" where Flair claims that Sammartino refused to shake his hand at a live event.  During the ClubWWI.com interview, James asked about it.  Bruno finds this story laughable and explains his side of what happened.  He tells what happened that day, why Ric Flair is "a liar," and why Flair's reasoning doesn't even make sense.

 

From there, Bruno speaks about Ric's criticisms in his book.  Flair called Sammartino a Northeast star who couldn't draw fans outside New York.  This statement upsets the Living Legend.  Off the top of his head, he runs down over a dozen cities outside the area that he sold out and the opponents he faced.   Besides the false statements themselves, Bruno also explains to ClubWWI.com another aspect of the whole thing that angered him:

 

"Who is this guy to say a stupid statement like that?  I resented him for that because who the heck is he?  What's he talking about?"

 

Guttman says that it seems like a conflict of interest when WWE wrestlers write autobiographies because, in many cases, their views seem to shadow those of the promotion.  Ric's book seemed to take aim at many who were on the outs with the McMahons at the time.  Sammartino responded:

 

"Well, that's the kind of people they are.  What can I tell you?  That speaks volumes about the guy.  But let me go a little bit further.  No, I don't respect Ric Flair.  I don't respect him at all.  Here's a guy we all heard about, which I couldn't believe, he exposes himself on an airplane!  He got sued for it.  Remember that?  He used to get a kick out of jumping on a bar (at) saloons and mooning everybody in the joint.  Here's a guy who almost got arrested and went to jail 25 years ago for not paying income taxes and Crocket Sr. worked out a deal with the IRS to take so much  out of his pay to do it.  Then I found out a year ago, the same thing happened all over again.  What is this a guy to be looked up to?  Give me a break!  Sounds to me like he's a real misfit."

 

Remember, you can hear all these topics plus more in the 62 minute uncut ClubWWI.com shoot including Bruno's in-depth thoughts on Flair, the story of the snub, why WWE's Hall of Fame is a joke, why it was created, the time WWE reached out to him to join, how McMahon Sr.'s Inoki deal caused problems, Bodyslam the Movie, why he's not in TNA, what he thinks of TNA, what he thinks of ROH, slamming Haystacks Calhoun, whether he'd be a wrestler if he were a rookie today, and more on ClubWWI.com. 

 

(Special thanks to Georgiann Makropoulos of Wrestlingfigs.com for setting this week's shoot up! Thanks, Georgie!)

 

In addition to this, you get over 100 guests in over 100 shoot interviews as soon as you sign up for ClubWWI.com.  Some of these names include: Jerry Lawler, Vince Russo, Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, Kevin Nash, The Iron Sheik, Sid Vicious, Paul Bearer, Tito Santana, Tod Gordon, Charlie Haas, Tom Prichard, Jacques Rougeau, Tammy Sytch, Too Cold Scorpio, Ole Anderson, John Heidenreich, Jimmy Hart, Jimmy Valiant, Bad News Brown, Nick Bockwinkel, Dory Funk Jr, Diamond Dallas Page, Rob Conway, Sylvain Grenier, Buff Bagwell, Christian Cage, Jazz, Demolition Ax and Smash, Koko B. Ware, Ricky Morton, Dustin Rhodes, Damian Demento, Fred "Shockmaster" Ottman, Cpl. Kirchner, One Man Gang, Scott Steiner, Shawn Stasiak, Ted DiBiase, Ivory, Chris Masters, Elix Skipper, Kamala, Samoa Joe, Giant Bernard, Bill DeMott, Juvi "Juice" Guerrera, Nora "Molly Holly" Greenwald, Nick Dinsmore, Harley Race, Bull Buchanan, D-Lo Brown, Road Warrior Animal, Missing Link, Slick, Nidia, George Steele, Christy Hemme, Disco Inferno, Vito, Steve Blackman, AJ Styles, Chris Daniels, Dennis Stamp, Shawn Daivari, Kevin Sullivan, B.G. James, Ron Killings, Earl and Dave Hebner, Spike Dudley, Rodney Mack, Larry Zybszko, Rick Steiner, and Mae Young.