Funeral held for pro wrestling great Bruno Sammartino

PITTSBURGH – Former professional wrestling champion Bruno Sammartino has been laid to rest in Pennsylvania, where he was remembered as one of the sport’s good guys.

Sammartino fled the Nazis from Italy as a child and built a career beating a string of bad guys in the 1960s and 1970s. He was the World Wide Wrestling Federation champion for more than 11 years over two title runs. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.

Sammartino was buried on Monday outside Pittsburgh. Mourners, including WWE chairman Vince McMahon, remembered Sammartino’s humility and work ethic, even as he ascended the wrestling ranks. The Rev. John Rushofsky called him “a man of honesty and integrity.”

Sammartino died last week after a two-month hospitalization. He was 82.