Dino Bravo
Dino Bravo | |
---|---|
Birth name | Adolfo Bresciano |
Born | Campobasso, Molise, Italy[1] | August 6, 1948
Died | March 10, 1993[1] Laval, Quebec, Canada | (aged 44)
Cause of death | Gunshot wounds |
Relatives | Vincenzo Cotroni (uncle-in-law) |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Dino Bravo |
Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[2] |
Billed weight | 248 lb (112 kg)[2] |
Billed from | Montreal, Quebec, Canada[2] |
Trained by | Gino Brito[2] |
Debut | 1970[2] |
Retired | 1992[2] |
Adolfo Bresciano (Italian:
After training under
After leaving professional wrestling, Bravo became involved in organized crime, allegedly working for the Cotroni crime family.[3] He was killed in his home by multiple gunshots in March 1993, and the crime remains unsolved.
Early life
Adolfo Bresciano was born in the commune of Campobasso in southern Italy to Mario and Ausilia Bresciano. The family emigrated to Canada when Bresciano was young, settling in the Centre-Sud neighbourhood of the Montreal borough of Ville-Marie. He started training in amateur wrestling from the age of 12.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1970–1985)
Bresciano began wrestling in 1970, taking the name "Dino Bravo" from a wrestler from the early 1960s who had teamed with Dominic DeNucci as the Bravo Brothers, Dino and Dominic. He was trained by Gino Brito and often worked in a tag team with his mentor, billed as Brito's cousin. Bravo worked in a number of other tag teams, partnering with, among others, "Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods and DeNucci.[2] Bravo held the Jim Crockett Promotions version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Woods, winning the title from Gene and Ole Anderson and eventually losing the title to the Andersons. Bravo also had a major program with Blackjack Mulligan, pinning Mulligan twice in a televised non-title match to set up a series of matches for Mulligan's United States title. Bravo did not win the U.S. title from Mulligan, but did receive several shots at NWA World Champion Harley Race during his tenure with Crockett.
By the late 1970s, Bravo had become a big enough draw to get a singles
World Wrestling Federation (1986–1992)
Bravo returned to the WWF in late 1986 with a new look. He was now noticeably more muscular and almost immediately began bleaching his brown hair blonde and turned on the Rougeau Brothers to become a heel. He began working as part of
He played up his
After Frenchy Martin's departure, Bravo joined
Death
On March 10, 1993, Bresciano was found shot dead at the age of 44.
His death was the subject of the sixth episode in the second season of the wrestling documentary series Dark Side of the Ring, airing on April 21, 2020.[24]
Championships and accomplishments
- Grand Prix Wrestling (Montreal)
- Grand Prix Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Gino Brito[25]
- Lutte Internationale
- Canadian International Heavyweight Championship (6 times)[26]
- Tony Parisi
- Maple Leaf Wrestling
- 2 times)
- Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
- Mr. Wrestling (1), Tiger Conway Jr. (1) and Ricky Steamboat(1)
- Mr. Wrestling
- NWA Hollywood Wrestling
- NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Victor Rivera
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year(1978)
- PWI ranked him # 179 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Dino Bravo". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ a b "Dino Bravo". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. March 22, 1993.
- ^ World Wrestling Entertainment. Archivedfrom the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
- ^ "Full WrestleMania III results". WWE. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ a b Oliver, Greg (March 26, 2001). "A 10-bell salute for the late WrestleManiacs". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Full Event Results". WWE. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ Dino Bravo attempts a world bench press record: January 24, 1988, retrieved July 12, 2021
- ^ Greer, Jamie (April 21, 2020). "Before the Dark Side: The 22-Year Career of Dino Bravo". Last Word on Pro Wrestling. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ISBN 1-59056-035-3.
- ^ "Full WrestleMania IV results". WWE. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ Shields, Brian. Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s, 176.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. Archivedfrom the original on December 17, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2008.
- ^ "Full WrestleMania V results". WWE. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ "Full WrestleMania VI Results". WWE. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ "Full WrestleMania VII Results". WWE. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ "WWF @ Scranton, PA - CYC - January 3, 1991". The History of WWE. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007.
- ^ "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database". wrestlingdata.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
- ^ "Events Database - New England Wrestling Federation". Cage Match. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
17.5.1992
- ISBN 978-1-4381-1914-4.
- ^ "Dark Side Of The Ring: Dino Bravo". tsn.ca. April 21, 2020.
- ^ ""Brainroom: Past Deaths of Professional Wrestlers", from FOX News". Fox News. Archived from the original on March 26, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0307355669.
- ^ "The Assassination of Dino Bravo". Viceland. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ "Grand Prix Tag Team Title (Québéc)". Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (March 7, 2020). "Daily Pro Wrestling history (03/07): Bruno Sammartino vs. Giant Baba". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
External links
- Adolph Bresciano at IMDb
- Dino Bravo's profile at Cagematch.net , Wrestlingdata.com , Internet Wrestling Database