Salvatore Bellomo
Salvatore Bellomo | |
---|---|
Born |
Hornu, Belgium | June 18, 1951
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) |
Salvatore Martino Salvatore Bellomo Crazy Belshlomo Centurian Marsella Jason Martino The Italian Stallion Adonis Romano Wildman Bellomo |
Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
Billed weight | 240 lb (110 kg) |
Billed from | Calabria, Italy |
Debut | 1974 |
Retired | 2006 |
Salvatore Bellomo (born June 18, 1951) is a retired Belgian-Italian professional wrestler with a career spanning more than three decades.
Career
Working in North America under various ring names of Italian derivation, Bellomo started out portraying a mild-mannered, clean-cut fan favorite with respectable technical wrestling skill. In later years, Bellomo would portray a wildman in the ring, thought to be unpredictable and/or brutal by wrestling audiences. The list of titles he has held over the years is almost as colorful and includes everything from the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship to the WXW Heavyweight Championship.
World Wrestling Federation (1983–1987)
Bellomo's solid in-ring work eventually landed him a stint in the growing pro-wrestling empire of Vince McMahon. At first, his record was actually quite favorable - particularly in Pennsylvania throughout 1983 and 1984, where the then-World Wrestling Federation put him over the likes of Johnny Rodz, Tony Colon and Butcher Vachon on a regular basis. Bellomo also wrestled former heavyweight champion Bob Backlund at the Philadelphia Spectrum on August 4, 1984, jobbing for Backlund in what would be Backlund's last WWF match of the decade.
From this point on, Bellomo was most recognizable as a jobber on WWF programs throughout the mid 1980s. He even lost cleanly to Bobby "The Brain" Heenan in a match at Madison Square Garden in November 1984. Being the fall guy was not necessarily ignominious, as Bellomo got to work with a veritable who's-who of professional wrestling in some of the biggest venues to hold wrestling around the world. During one "Piper's Pit" segment, Bellomo made an "unscheduled" appearance, inspiring host Roddy Piper to quip, "What are you doing here? I didn't order a pizza."
Eastern Championship Wrestling (1993–1994)
Bellomo was an early performer for NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1993, wrestling in the first-ever ECW Championship match (losing to Jimmy Snuka). His final matches came at the May 13, 1994 TV tapings, winning over Don E. Allen (air-date May 31) and Billy Firehawk (air-date June 7).
Later life
Although retiring at BWS: Collision Detected on November 25, 2006, Bellomo continues to be active in the business up to the present day, working as a trainer for the Belgian Wrestling School located in Terhagen and Flémalle (Belgium). He often tries to send his kids home with his trademarked expression of saying "Cha Cha!".
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Managers
- The Cosmic Commander
Results
- WWF All-Star Wrestling 2/4/84-Salvatore Bellomo def. Israel Matia
- WWF All-Star Wrestling 2/25/84-Salvatore Bellomo def. Goldie Rodgers
Championships and accomplishments
- NWA All-Star Wrestling
- NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (2 times) - with Mike Sharpe (1) and Bill Cody (1)
- NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time)
- NWA Hollywood Wrestling
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him # 276 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1992.
- World Xtreme Wrestling
- WXW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- WXW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with The Mad Russian
References
- SalvatoreBellomo.com, Salvatore's official website
- Belgian Wrestling School
- BodySlamming.com: Salvatore Bellomo
- Salvatore Bellomo at Online World of Wrestling
- WrestlingInformer results for 1983