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WWE: Bruno Sammartino criticizes WWE for not taking better care of retired wrestlers

Bruno Sammartino told the Baltimore Sun he met with Vince McMahon a few years ago as a favor to his lawyer. "Vince acted like there were never any ill feelings between he and I. He acted very friendly — ‘Hey, you son of a gun, you look great.’ So we went in a room, and somebody said that Vince has nothing but respect for the old-timers. And boy did that give me the opening. That’s when I had to open my mouth and I have no regrets about it.

"I said, ‘I’m sorry, but I think you have shown nothing but disrespect for the old-timers. You bring some of the old-timers here, whether it’s Lou Albano or [Killer] Kowalski or Domenic DeNucci or [Baron Mikel] Scicluna or whoever, and whether it’s a big show or a pay-per-view, and you toss these guys $1,000, $1,500 or maybe $2,000 if they’re really lucky. But yet you bring in Mike Tyson and you give him $3.5 million to be outside the ring refereeing a special event.

"’You brought Pete Rose and other athletes from baseball and football and you give them six figures for an appearance. People that have done nothing for this business, and a lot of them look at it as a joke. But those who have given their whole life to this business and never made any real money, what do they get for all those years of banging their bodies up? And a lot of them are physically practically handicapped. They get a bone thrown at them. This is respect for the old-timers? Give me a break.’”

You can read the full interview at BaltimoreSun.com.