[1980-11-08-WWF-Philadelphia] Bruno Sammartino vs Ken Patera

[SAMS]

1980-11-08
WWF
Bruno Sammartino vs Ken Patera
Philadelphia Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
★★★
Card

When Bruno is criticised for just punching and kicking, it’s matches like this that make that hard to refute. The problem with the criticism is that it overlooks all the other elements that are being brought to the table. The “lack” of action may put a cap on any rating somebody would lay down on it, but it doesn’t preclude it from being good.
This match certainly could be described as simple or basic. A large section early on was built around Bruno repeatedly trying to escape a hold Patera had on him, but Bruno is all about emotion, he knows, more than almost anybody, how to channel the energy of the crowd and focus that into the psychology of the match. As soon as Patera began favouring his left arm Bruno was like a dog with a bone and wouldn’t relent until Patera was forced to resort to illegal measures and plastered him with a couple chair shots for the DQ finish.