The Great Debate `08 - Bruno Sammartino vs. Harley Race [KayFabe Commentaries]

The Good
Two huge stars from the 1970s, Bruno favors the 1960s a little and Harley worked well into the late 1980s, but regardless, two true legends. I think if you like listening to either of these two you'll find this enjoyable. Bruno Sammartino had such an amazing career and he is as opinionated as he is experienced. Harley's career perhaps had more variety and scope to it and while he has his views, he's not really abrasive. Since this was billed as a "debate," I expected questions that would put them on opposite sides of a topic. Largely they saw eye-to-eye, so there was little disagreement between them. So, this turned into a tandem shoot of sorts. If you accept that reality, then you can probably see this as a very good one. Sean Oliver is excellent at organizing questions and making things flow well and these two have so much mutual respect that it makes for good back-and-forth. The structure and specific questions made this a little different and I'd certainly recommend a one time listen.

The Bad
If you wanted a heated argument about the supremacy of the NWA versus the WWWF, why a champion should be a heel versus a face or what makes a good promoter, you won't get it. Bruno and Harley are largely in agreement on the issues raised and other than a few slight differences of opinion (that are usually played down as being relative to a region). Those agreements aside, these two are very respectful of one another and seem unwilling to even try to steal the spotlight here. While the Great Debate concept is a neat one, it simply did not happen here. This needed to be like Jim Cornette and Vince Russo, Jerry Lawler and the Honky Tonk Man or Billy Jack Haynes and a sane person to have a real debate. A nice shoot, but not an out-of-the-park-homerun.

The Rating: ***3/4

Bruno Sammartino [RF Video Shoot Interview]

The Good
Eric Gargiulo's RF Video shoot interviews are so hit-or-miss. While I tend to think he is significantly better than Rob Feinstein, he is not as good as a number of other interviewers. This shoot interview goes nearly three hours and the advantage that Gargiulo has here is that he has interviewed Bruno Sammartino more times on his Pro Wrestling Radio show than anyone, so he has a good rapport with Bruno and knows which stories to get him to tell, which issues will make him bristle and probably which questions to avoid. That being said, Bruno is one of those people whose interviews I will always listen to because he is well-spoken, he is honest and he has a legacy that is second-to-none. Gargiulo is pretty familiar with Bruno's history, so he is able to direct things coherently and chronologically. The story of his journey from a sickly child hiding from the SS in the Italian mountains to a weightlifting standout and eventually one of the biggest drawing cards of all-time is remarkable. He goes into being blackballed early in his career, building a legacy in Toronto that led to his New York City return and all the amazing feuds and people he rubbed shoulders with over the years. Bruno has a million stories and he shares some of the best ones here.

The Bad
Interestingly, I would say if you can only listen to one Bruno Sammartino interview, I'd listen to this one. Although I personally prefer his shoot with Jim Cornette, this was a little more comprehensive. However, if you've heard a lot of interviews with Bruno (and he has definitely done a lot), you might find a lot of this redundant. It seems like Gargiulo's intent was to get that career overview interview while making sure Bruno tells some of his best stories along the way. This is the standard RF Video shoot in many ways.


The Rating:  ****1/2

Bruno Sammartino - Straight Shootin' with Jim Cornette


The Good
Jim Cornette's run in Ring of Honor was perhaps highlighted by his involvement with the Straight Shootin' series where he interviewed legendary personalities.  I'd heard parts of the Bobby Heenan interviews, which were gold, but this was the first one I'd been able to really focus on and hear all the way through.  I'll be the first to admit, I'm a big mark for Jim Cornette and I tend to think any project he involves himself in is improved by his involvement.  Now TNA might be the exception, but whether its shoot interviews, documentaries, books, radio shows, audio commentaries on DVDs or whatever, he is a genius in the modern product with his old-school ways.  Bruno Sammartino is a great interview in my view.  He led a storied career, he's opinionated, he tells great stories, he has integrity and he is honest (although his perspective is his perspective), so why should he not be?  I'd seen Corny paired with Heenan (his idol), Percy Pringle/Paul Bearer (a colleague) and Bill Watts (former boss), but Bruno Sammartino?  This odd couple worked so well though.  Cornette did his homework himself, inserts comments, guides the interview well and builds respect with the interviewee (him being in the business certainly helps greatly).  I've heard Bruno with many good interviewers and many not-so-good interviews and this blew them all away.  These two had great chemistry and it spilled out in a way that I'd love to see more often.  Les Thatcher has the same knack although he's a less of a historian than Cornette, but has seniority, variety of experiences and extensive in-ring experience in his favor.  This was one of the best talkers paired with a respectable talker and only great results coming out.

The Bad
Bruno Sammartino's viewpoints are his own and he owns them inarguably.  Whether you agree with them or not, one must respect him for sticking to his guns.  He makes factual errors as you should realistically expect, but nothing that is completely ridiculous or offensively false.  Jim Cornette could have probably called him out on a few comments, but he kept it positive and keeping that rapport between he and Bruno was probably more important than doing a hard-hitting interview.  You could fault Corny for that, but I think his respect for Bruno Sammartino trumps his need to be a tough interview.

The Rating: *****