Dino Bravo

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Dino Bravo (born August 6, 1948 in Italy as Adolfo Bresciano , † March 11, 1993 in Laval , Québec ) was a Canadian wrestler of Italian origin. He described himself as "Canada's Strongest Man" ( dt. "Canada's strongest man") and later in the World Wrestling Federation "World's Strongest Man" (dt "Strongest Man in the World."). In 1993 he was murdered under mysterious circumstances.

Career

1970 to 1978

Bresciano started wrestling in 1970. He took his fighting name Dino Bravo from a wrestler in the 1960s who, together with Dominic DeNucci, formed a tag team as the "Bravo Brothers", Dino and Dominic. Bravo was trained by Gino Brito and initially worked with his mentor in a tag team as his cousin. He also formed tag teams with a few other partners, including "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods and DeNucci. Dino was 1.83 cm tall and weighed about 120 kg.

Bravo was alongside Woods NWA World Tag Team Championship from Jim Crockett Promotions . The two won the title from Gene and Ole Anderson and lost it again to the two. Bravo also had a major feud with Blackjack Mulligan , defeating him twice in non-title matches that were televised. Bravo didn't win the US Title from Mulligan, but got the opportunity to compete against NWA World Champion Harley Race .

In the late 1970s, Bravo became popular enough to play singles matches in Montreal . December 1978 he defeated Gene Kiniski in Toronto and became "Canadian Heavyweight Champion".

World Wrestling Federation

From 1978 Bravo joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). With his partner Dominic DeNucci, Dino Bravo received the WWF World Tag Team belt in March 1978 after a fight against Professor Tanaka and Mr. Fuji . Three months later, they lost the belts to The Yukon Lumberjacks .

In the early 1980s, Dino Bravo had a tag team with King Tonga (later Haku) for a while, but this was unsuccessful. In 1986 Dino Bravo was supposed to face Hulk Hogan in a main event in Montreal , but the match was canceled at short notice. Rumor has it that the WWF leadership didn't want the audience to cheer him on instead of Babyface Hogan. Bravo left the WWF but returned in 1987. With bleached hair he joined the stable of John L. Sullivan and took place there after Wrestlemania III Brutus Beefcakes . Bravo became part of the tag team The Dream Team with Greg "the Hammer" Valentine .

A few months later he was active again as a single wrestler and gave himself the gimmick "World's Strongest Man". At the 1988 Royal Rumble , with the help of Jesse "The Body" Ventura, he allegedly pressed 715 pounds (about 325 kg), which would have been a new world record at the time. The weights were prepared, however, in his private life he could probably lift around 500 pounds (about 225 kg). With this gimmick he fought against Don Muraco , Ken Patera , Jim Duggan and Ron Garvin, among others .

He expressed his French-Canadian origins with a fleur-de-lis on his ring pants. At the time, he was managed by Frenchy Martin , who created Heat by holding up a sign that read "USA is not OK". In March 1988 he lost in the first round of a WWF Championship tournament at WrestleMania IV against Don Muraco. However, Bravo, with the help of his manager, won a rematch at SummerSlam in 1988 . At the King of the Ring in 1988 he won a flag match against Jim Duggan. At the Royal Rumble 1989 he teamed up with the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers ( Jacques and Raymond ) and lost a two-out-of-three-falls match against Jim Duggan and The Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ). At Wrestlemania V he won against Rugged Ronnie Garvin.

When his manager Frenchy Martin left the WWF, Jimmy Hart became his new manager. He often tagged with Earthquake . Bresciano showed his strength by performing the push-up with the heavy earthquake on his back. The two fought for a while against a team consisting of Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior .

Withdrawal from the wrestling business

After a loss to Kerry Von Erich ("The Texas Tornado") in Wrestlemania VII (1991), Dino Bravo slowly withdrew from the wrestling business. He performed against "The Mountie" at a few house shows in Canada , but no longer on television. After a European tour in 1992, he ended his active wrestling career and worked as a trainer in Canada.

death

On March 11, 1993, Bresciano was found dead in his apartment at the age of 44. He was shot a total of 17 times by unknown shooters and died of the gunshot wounds. Presumably it was an act of revenge, since Bresciano had obtained additional income by smuggling cigarettes . His wrestling colleague Rick Martel announced in an interview that due to his popularity as a wrestler he was able to acquire many customers among the Canadian indigenous people and was a thorn in the side of organized crime. Bret Hart confirmed in his autobiography Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling that Bresciano had already told close friends that his days were numbered.

Bresciano was a nephew of the gang boss Vic Cotroni and, according to the authorities, worked for some time in his organization.

Bresciano was buried in the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery in Montreal. He left a wife and a daughter.

title

literature

  • Shields, Brian: Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s . Pocket Books, 4th Edition 2006, ISBN 9781416532576 , pp. 174-177.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Dino Bravo . SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
  2. ↑ Worlg Tag Team title history . World Wrestling Entertainment . Retrieved February 28, 2009.
  3. ↑ a b Oliver, Greg: A 10-bell salute for the late WrestleManiacs . SLAM! Wrestling. March 26, 2001. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
  4. ^ Miedzian, Myriam: Boys Will Be Boys: Breaking the Link Between Masculinity and Violence . Lantern Books, 2002, ISBN 1590560353 , p. 214.
  5. ↑ Shields, Brian. Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s , 176.
  6. ^ Royal Rumble 1989 official results . World Wrestling Entertainment . Retrieved June 12, 2008.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bravo, dino
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bresciano, Adolfo (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Italy
DATE OF DEATH March 11, 1993
Place of death Laval , Quebec