Dino Bravo

Ex WWF wrestler Dino Bravo was gunned down some years ago, something about contraband cigarettes.
Does anyone have details?

He was supposedly involved in cigarette smuggling in Canada and allegedly had ties to the Mob. I remember reading that he was shot "execution-style" but I don't remember (or have) any other details.

Welcome to the boards, Deacon!

Edit: Curiosity got the better of me and I did some quick research on the net. I came up with a small article (copied below) on the subject:

Adolfo Bresciano, 44, was a family man from Vimont, Laval, who doted on his 6-year-old daughter and was known to be friends with plumbers and bus drivers he grew up with in Rosemont. He was also Dino Bravo, a star 20-year veteran of professional wrestling circuits around the globe. To this day, fans still recall his famous battles, which included a nearly victorious title fight against Hulk Hogan. Bravo's scissor kicks, speed, showmanship and powerful arms--which could bench 500 pounds--are still fondly remembered around the world.

But on March 11, 1993, he was just another fan watching the Habs play the Islanders on TV. He wouldn't see the end of the game, nor the Stanley Cup parade a few weeks later. Two gunmen, one wielding a .22 calibre, the other a .380, sprayed 17 shots in his living room, hitting him in the head seven times.

According to the Journal de Montréal, an unnamed Laval police officer claimed to have found evidence of Bravo's involvement in cigarette smuggling on the scene. All of the press picked up on the rumour and the wrestling hero suddenly became, in death, a lowly cigarette smuggler, in spite of the absence of a trial, conviction or witnesses.

"What the papers printed was bullshit," says Gino Bresciano, the wrestler's younger brother. "I feel rage in my heart, it really makes my blood boil. I never heard from the police since that day, yet I live for the day they catch his killer. I always wonder who really did it, a jealous husband, an old wrestling rival, maybe someone at the top of the wrestling world--that's a multi-billion dollar industry. There's no way of knowing. I'm powerless in this and I really miss him."

They used to bill him as "The Strongest Man In The World". :rolleyes:

I remember seeing him pull a locomotive or something on a WWF show on TV.

I knew he was "gone" but I just never heard the details. Thanks for posting-up with the info SC.

Kayfabe Memories is the best site I've seen devoted to professional wrestling. If you're a fan, check it out.

tony b.

...who's still very proud of his Dick "The Bruiser" Afflis and Wahoo McDaniel football cards!

I took a quick look, YTB. Interesting site. I didn't know the Big Bossman had also passed away.

I used to be a big pro wrestling fan back in the 60's, when the main idea was to try and make it look as real as possible.

I lost interest as it got more and more stupid and ridiculous as the years went on.

Do you remember when "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers won the championship, beating Pat O'Conner at Chicago's Cominsky Park in front of about 40,000 fans? Around 1961-62 or so.

And do you know what the term "Kayfabe" Means? (I know; I was wondering if you do)

I go back to the days of Antonino Rocca, Gorgeous George, Haystacks Calhoun, the Graham Brothers (Eddie and Dr. Jerry--"noted tree surgeon"), etc. My brother, sister and I used to watch with a supply of rubber bands, which we shot at the bad guys, like The Shiekh, who had a female handler dressed in veils who he used to slap around before matches. My son and his pals took it up in the days of Sargeant Slaughter, Magnificent Muroco, Jimmy Snuka, Bob Bachlund, etc.

Lets not forget Killer Kowalski, Johnny Valentine, BoBo Brazil and Shohei Baba (Baba the Giant).

Wanna see a familiar face? Its none other than Lenny Montana (Luca Brasi) in his wrestling days.




To get back to Dino Bravo - One of Rick Porello's sites lists Bravo as the driver for Vic Cotroni of the Montreal Mob.

t seems like every year or so we get a wrestling thread going, and the oldsters like us can reminisce about the good old days.

I remember all of the guys you mentioned, TB.
Here's a few more:

"The Golden Boy", Arnold Skaaland (never won a match).
"Cowboy" Bob Ellis (Bulldog headlock)
The "Fabulous" Kangaroos (Roy Heffernan, Al Costello, and their manager "Wild" Red Berry)
"Skull" Murphy and "Brute" Bernard
Argentine Appollo (a Rocca copier--white tights and wrestled barefoot)
"Sailor" Art Thomas (Big Black guy, with a tremendous physique)
Bobo Brazil
"Handsome" Johnny Barend & "The Magnificent" Maurice

And, of course, the announcer, live from the Capitol arena, Ray Morgan.

And, when announcing the card for next week...."The Dark Match. Positively not seen on television...."

I've posted this once before when we discussed old time wrestling, but anyway....

I always knew what we saw on TV was fake, even though I had an uncle who swore by it.

But I'll never forget...The NY Times used to report on the results of the shows at the Garden, and I swear, I remember once reading this as their lead sentence:

"The honest wrestlers returned to Madison Square Garden last night...."

It had me believing for quite a while that the TV shows were phony, in order to build interest for certain matches and hype the gate for the shows at MSG.

I mean if the NY Times said it, it had to be true, right? :rolleyes:

Thanks for the input SC.
Kayfabe memories is a great site.

plaw big boss man passed away about 3 days ago...I believe it was a heart attack

I was too young to remember that particular Comiskey Park event. I started watching the AWA on Bob Luce Wrestling when I was in grammar school around 1970. When I first tuned-in, they were still buzzing about a recent Comiskey Park show where the main event was a tag-team match pitting Maurice and Mad Dog Vachon against Dick the Bruiser and The Crusher. I believe the highlight of the bout was that Mad Dog Vachon somehow got thrown out of the cage OVER THE TOP. Keep in mind this is 1970 and they're taking a bump like this!

The first big outdoor show that I remember being promoted was in the early '70's at Soldier Field. The main event was a tag-team cage match featuring Dick the Bruiser and The Crusher against the Blackjacks, Lanza and Mulligan, managed by "Pretty Boy" Bobby Heenhan. Special referee for the match was boxer Jersey Joe Wolcott.

It was a bloodbath. Talk about "painting houses"...everybody got "wet" in that bout!

I googled for the meaning of "kayfabe" when I first found that web site a few years ago. I had heard the term before I found the web site, and I always thought it was a perversion of pig-latin for the word "fake." After googling, I saw a bunch of different definitions, but I guess the commonly accepted definition has to do with staying in character, keeping up with the illusion that it's real...and it may have been derived from a carnival term...though I can't say that I'd know how to use it in a sentence!

What's the definition that you have, plaw?

I don't mind that McMahon made pro wrestling what it is today...but somehow, somewhere, it lost its entertainment value for me. I've been to some shows run by smaller promoters with less experienced wrestlers (those grammar school and high school gymnasium events) and I get a bigger kick out of that than I do from watching the WWF/WWE on TV.

tony b.

Now you're talkin my language!!!!

When Vince McMahon jr. took his organization national he was in serious danger from the territorial promoters. He had been warned by his father that if he ignored the territories he life might be in jepardy.

Another messy wrestling death is King Kong (Bruiser) Brody. His stabbing in Puerto Rico has never been fully explained.
Wrestling has always been a shady business.

...and I'm not so sure I understand how an accident like the one involving Owen Hart could occur. I guess if you take bigger risks, and more of them, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised when something catastrophic eventually happens.

I also remember the Spanish language Luche Libre which originated from the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles ("for tickets, call RIchmond 9-5171"). Jimmy Lennon, SENIOR was the ring announcer. That was when I first became aware that wrestling in Mexico and Latin America had a style steeped in the scientific tradition with greater emphasis on speed and action and real work in the ring. I always thought Owen Hart was one of the best at that style among modern North American wrestlers.

The Olympic Auditorium was also home to Roller Derby's Los Angeles Thunderbirds!

Next to music, wrestling might very well be my favorite guilty pleasure and trivial pursuit.

tony b.

Great photo of Lenny Montana, SC! Thanks! You are a font of interesting stuff! That photo goes well with the one in Lebo's book where he's wearing an undershirt and smoking with a cigarette holder. Tres elegant.

Pretty much the same as yours. Supposedly it's an "inside" term that just the wrestlers use among themeselves.

About four or five years ago, when my now-fifteen-year-old was interested in wrestling, I got him a book that defined the term exactly. I'll have to look it up.

Lo and behold, I sat down at breakfast this morning with a copy of the Chicago Tribune and there is a small article on the front page (below the fold) about independent wrestling in the Chicago area! Mostly fluff, but a great photo of an outdoor ring at a street festival on Chicago's South Side. A pleasant surprise!

tony b.