Posted in: WWE Spoiler: Next member of the WWE Hall Of Fame revealed
By Hustle
Feb 4, 2013 - 5:09:45 PM
ESPN.com is reporting that Bruno Sammartino will be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame this year.
Sammartino has been involved in a long-time feud with Vince McMahon and WWE, but has been reached out to by Triple H on numerous occasions about being inducted. After having various changes explained to him, including the detailed Wellness Policy and the shift from the edgier TV-14 product to a much more family-friendly TV-PG product, Sammartino agreed to be inducted.
“Being inducted into the Hall of Fame at Madison Square Gardens is the biggest thing in my life,” Sammartino said in an exclusive interview for ESPN Playbook. “Anytime that people feel that you accomplished enough to enter into a Hall of Fame, of course this is a tremendous, tremendous thrill for me. I had a lot of my success due to appearing at the Garden. I wrestled there over 200 times, it’s where I won the title, and it’s where I picked up 630-plus pounds of Haystacks Calhoun.”
Earlier reports that Sammartino would only agree to be inducted if he didn't have to see or talk to Vince McMahon were apparently incorrect, as Triple H is trying to organize a face-to-face meeting between Sammartino and McMahon.
“Clearly, Vince knew about this right from the get-go, and when I said I wanted to reach out to Bruno, Vince was probably thinking, ‘Well, good luck with that,’” Levesque said. “So Bruno and I established this relationship, and as we came to an understanding on all of this, Vince asked me, ‘Hey, do you think I should call Bruno? I’d like to talk to him.’ At the same time, Bruno said, ‘Do you think I should have a conversation with Vince?’ And I said no to both of them. I didn’t think it was right to do over the phone. They had bad blood for a long time, and we’ve all kind of buried the hatchet here, and it’s a new beginning and a fresh start and everybody is in a great place with this. But going back to what Bruno said about being old-school, I think we should all get in the same room together and the two of them should look each other in the eyes and shake hands. This should be in person. I don’t think it’s right to do over the phone. They both agreed to do that, and while it hasn’t happened yet, Hall of Fame is probably where we’ll make that happen. Vince and Bruno will see each other for the first time in years and officially, in person, look each other in the eyes and bury that hatchet.”
