Mad Dogs, Midgets and Screw Jobs by Pat Laprade

Author:Pat Laprade
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ECW Press
Published: 2012-03-15T16:00:00+00:00

DINO BRAVO, THE BABYFACE OF ALL BABYFACES

DINO BRAVO WAS THE LAST MAJOR LOCAL CHAMPION IN MONTREAL (LINDA BOUCHER)

“If you just consider the number of spectators he drew in the ’80s, Dino Bravo must be ranked among the best draws in the history of Montreal. The guys in the preliminaries used to make $300 or $400 per night when he was on the card,” Gino Brito explains. In fact Bravo ranks fifth of all time behind Robert, Kowalski, Hogan and Carpentier. On October 14, 1985, he teamed with King Tonga against Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine, and their match drew 18,997. Two years earlier his match against Masked Superstar, on July 25, 1983, drew 18,394. These are just a few examples of his box office prowess in Montreal.

At the height of his success, and considering the strong relationship between the WWF and International Wrestling, Bravo longed for a WWF championship match. “My dream would be to obtain a WWF world championship match against Hulk Hogan at the Olympic Stadium. Whether I win or I lose, I could at least say that I got my chance,” Bravo explained to Jean-Paul Sarault of Le Journal de Montréal in 1985. In Sunny War Cloud’s opinion it would have worked: “His objective was to beat Hulk Hogan at the Olympic Stadium. I’m sure he would’ve packed the Big O.” A record-breaking crowd would have consolidated Bravo’s place in Montreal history, but Bravo’s dream match wouldn’t take place until four years later, at the Forum, in front of a respectable crowd of 17,340. “The most goose bumps I have ever had in my career were when I refereed the match between Hulk and Dino at the Forum. The energy exuded by the crowd was just incredible,” Nelson Veilleux remembers. Unfortunately the house show match was not part of the WWF’s general programming. It was based on the fact that Bravo “injured” Hogan at an earlier Forum show and had forced him to leave the ring on a stretcher. In 1985, with Bravo seen as a demi-god in the territory and Hogan at his peak, the possibilities would’ve been mind-boggling.

Dino Bravo became interested in wrestling at a young age and had the right contacts. “I knew him when he was three,” Gino Brito says. “I used to live at 7755 Bordeaux, and Dino lived at 7745 Bordeaux. One day Dino came to see me because he trained a lot and asked me to help him become a wrestler.” When Dino Bravo spoke about this period, his passion was obvious: “I started practising amateur wrestling at the age of 12 or 13 and I trained a lot because deep inside I knew that one day I’d practise this sport,” he told Revue Lutte in 1983.

He was born Adolfo Bresciano on August 6, 1948. Promoters wanted something easier for the fans to remember. One of the wrestlers from Jack Britton’s Detroit territory was called Dino Bravo — it was his real name. The original Bravo had teamed with Dominic Denucci, who worked with him as Dominic Bravo.

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