| Dino Bravo |
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| Dino Bravo
Height: 6'0" Weight: 248 lbs. Real name: Adolfo Bresciano Hometown: Laval, Quebec, Canada Finishing move: Airplane Spin (Montreal), Side Suplex (WWE) Pro debut: 1970 Other aliases: The World’s Strongest Man, The Italian Strongman, Canadian Strongman Career highlights: NWA Americas Heavyweight Champion, NWA Americas Tag Team Champion, NWA Georgia Tag Team Champion (w/Mr. Wrestling), NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champion (2), WWWF Canadian Champion, WWWF World Tag Team Champion (w/Dominic DeNucci), Canadian Heavyweight Champion (3), Canadian International Heavyweight Champion (6), Canadian International Tag Team Champion (w/Tony Parisi), Grand Prix Tag Team Champion Trained by: Gino Brito Bresciano began wrestling in 1970, taking the "Dino Bravo" moniker from Pepe DiPasquali, who wrestled as "The Italian Casanova, Dino Bravo." He was trained by Gino Brito, and often worked in a tag team with his mentor in his early matches, being billed as Brito's cousin. Bravo worked in a number of other tag teams, partnering with, among others, Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods and Dominic Denucci. By the late 1970's Bravo had become a big enough draw to get a singles push in the Montreal territory, and won a tournament for the new Canadian Heavyweight Championship. Bravo had primarily worked for Canadian promotions and the NWA, but when one of the Canadian promotions was bought by the World Wrestling Federation in the early 1980's, Bravo began working for the McMahon family. Unfortunately for Bravo the WWF wanted access to the Canadian markets more than it wanted the promotion's talent. Bravo was scheduled to headline a card against Hulk Hogan in 1986, but the match was cancelled on short notice, with Bravo leaving the company shortly thereafter; the rumor was that the company didn't want the Montreal crowd to cheer Bravo, the hometown hero, over Hogan, and that Bravo quit after finding out. But Dino Bravo returned to the WWF the next year, with his hair dyed blonde and working as part of a stable with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Brutus Beefcake. When Beefcake left the stable, Bravo took his place in the "Dream Team" tag team with Valentine. Bravo returned to singles competition after a few months, and began a strongman gimmick. At the 1988 Royal Rumble, Bravo (who was legitimately strong and was said to be able to lift more than 500 pounds) attempted to lift what he claimed was 710 pounds, which would have been a world record at the time. Commentator Jesse "The Body" Ventura helped lift the bar at one point, but Bravo played the lift as a success, and began billing himself as the "World's Strongest Man." In this gimmick, Bravo feuded with Don Muraco, Jim Duggan, Ron Garvin and the Ultimate Warrior. He often teamed up with Earthquake, and Bresciano would often display his strength by doing push ups whilst the 460 lb. Earthquake sat on his back (although Tenta kept his feet on the floor, so not all of his weight was on his partner.) |