Canadian Press report on Dino Bravo's death
Michael Jenkinson
the Ottawa Citizen, March 12, 1993.
Laval, Que. (CP)--Dino Bravo, a wrestling star once billed as "the
world's strongest man" was killed in a hail of gunfire early Thursday
as he sat in front of his TV.
Seventeen empty shell casings from two different weapons--a
.380- and a .22-caliber gun--littered the floor of the room near the
body of the former World Wrestling Federation star, said Sgt. Gaby
Lachapelle of the Laval police.
Bravo's wife found the wrestler's body in an armchair when
she returned to their luxurious home after midnight.
"He was shot in the head," said Lachapelle. "There were no
signs of a struggle, robbery or forced entrance to the house.
"He was shot more than twice, but for now it's impossible to
say how many times. We'll have that result after the autopsy. Right
now we don't have any motive or suspects," Lachapelle said.
Bravo, whose real name was Adolfo Bresciano, was 44. He was
a local wrestling hero for years before joining the US circuit. The
father of a six-year-old daughter, he retired from wrestling three
months ago after 22 years in the ring.
Bravo started on the Quebec-based Grand Prix circuit in 1971
on encouragement from his cousin, who fought under the ring name Gino
Brito.
Trained by former starts Brito, Edouard Carpentier and Luigi
Macciara, Bravo's popularity rocketed with his good looks and
acrobatic style.
He made his name performing with ring legends such as Killer
Kowalski and Andre the Giant, who died recently in Paris after an
illness.
He was also part ofthe Italian Connection tag team group
that included Brito, Bruno Sammartino and Tony Parisi.
Bravo changed his image when he jumped to the World
Wrestling Federation in 1987.
A slim, dark-haired, high-flying hero of the past, he dyed
his hair blond, bulked up to 255 pounds and became what wrestling
people call a heel--the villian who loses to the crowd favorites.
-30-
Michael
Your man in Ottawa.
Ken Deegan
>Laval, Que. (CP)--Dino Bravo, a wrestling star once billed as "the
>world's strongest man" was killed in a hail of gunfire early Thursday
>as he sat in front of his TV.
I'm sorry to contribute to the rash of Dino Bravo articles on the net,
but there are a couple of facts that have been missed that people
maty find interesting. Firstly, as has been reported, Dino was suspected
of having gotten into the illegal cigarette trade. According to the
paper (quoting Gino Brito) Dino became a pack a day man after his
wrestling career. He thought that Dino may have invested in the
ciggy trade. Both Brito and Edouard Carpentier (who helped train
him at the Grand Prix Wrestling school in 1969) said he was too nice
a guy to have been involved in anything like that.
For those that do not know, the illegal cigarette trade in canada
(particularly Quebec) is VERY big. Taxes make a pack of smokes as
much as $7.00 a pack, so no one buys them at the corner store
anymore. This is literally closing the stores down. This is the
basis of a lot of the Indian trouble that you may hear about.
The Mohawks bring a lot of cigarettes throught the reservations
that lie along the Canada U.S. Border.
Dino Bravo was a nephew of Frank Catroni (sp?), organized crime
in the city of Montreal. I do not want to give you the guilt by
association thing, but merely point out that he had connections
and may have gotten mixed up with the big boys. He did have a
temper, and just a little bit of the ATTITUDE. He was once arrested
for refusing to pay for a bus ride, claiming the Important Persons
Act.
I would like to end by saying a couple of nice things about Bravo.
I grew up and still live in Montreal. I was priveleged to watch
some great wrestling in Montreal. I remember when Gino Brito brought
in a raw kid and they became a tag team to recken with. The young
kid was Dino Bravo. These two along with Edouard Carpentier,
Dominic DeNucci (sp?) Tony Parisi and others (not the least Sailor
White and Tarzan Tyler) made a fan for life. Dino Bravo went on to
become the best wrestler that Montreal had produced in long time.
It was a travesty what Vince did with this guy. A lot of you people
in the states did not get to see asnything but a fat bufoon. But
picture Lawler in Memphis and you have Bravo in Montreal.
--
Ken Deegan Concordia University
k...@davinci.concordia.ca Montreal Quebec Canada
Dept. of Elec & Comp Engineering
Melvin Klassen
> For those that do not know, the illegal cigarette trade in canada
> (particularly Quebec) is VERY big. Taxes make a pack of smokes as much as
> $7.00 a pack, so no one buys them at the corner store anymore.
Nonsense! This generalization is a slur against all Canadians.
> This is literally closing the stores down.
Nonsense, again. Corner-stores make profits on all the items they sell,
and they certainly don't make "windfall" profits on cigarettes.
> This is the basis of a lot of the Indian trouble that you may hear about.
Nonsense, cubed. This claim trivializes their legitimate claims
regarding sovreignity, self-government, tax-exempt status, and land claims.
> The Mohawks bring a lot of cigarettes throught [sic] the reservations that
> lie along the Canada U.S. Border.
True, but there is nothing illegal about this, because the Mohawks resided
there before the Canada-USA border was drawn. Therefore, they have aboriginal
rights to cross the border, at will, carrying whatever merchandise they wish,
for consumption within their reservation lands.
However, it is an interesting question whether they can sell that merchandise
to non-residents of their reservation land. These sales **are** being made.
However, there **is** a large "black-market" operating, where cigarettes are
getting smuggled into Canada, sold to retailers, and sold "under-the-counter",
for much less than Canadian cigarettes, due to non-payment of taxes.
Certainly, this **is** illegal!
Sean P. Ryan, Hardcore Alaskan
nothing whatsoever to do with rec.sport.pro-wrestling, and I'm simply
attempting to move it to a more appropriate newsgroup (namely
soc.culture.canada). Please carry on any additional discussion on
this in s.c.c. Thank you.
In article <1993Mar15.0...@sol.UVic.CA>, kla...@sol.UVic.CA (Melvin Klassen) writes...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sean Patrick Ryan****fs...@aurora.alaska.edu or se...@freds.cojones.com
3215 Oregon Dr. #2, Anchorage, AK 99517-2048****907-272-9184****fnord
A Usenet reminder - Friends don't let friends use .QWK****or kill me
Abortion stops a beating heart****Disclaimer: I didn't inhale, either
"I'm black, y'all - And I'm black, y'all - And I'm black and I'm black
and I'm black, y'all." - Afro-centrist rapper in CB4 (in theatres now)
Bob Rusbasan
>I have nothing to say, really. It's just that this article has
>nothing whatsoever to do with rec.sport.pro-wrestling, and I'm simply
>attempting to move it to a more appropriate newsgroup (namely
>soc.culture.canada). Please carry on any additional discussion on
>this in s.c.c. Thank you.
[ ENTIRE additional article deleted ]
Sean, Dino Bravo was killed recently, and some of the newspaper
reports posted here said it was suspected he may have become involved
in the illegal cigarette trade. Like many other ignorant Americans,
I had absolutely no idea that there was any illegal cigarette trading
in Canada, and I am glad that two people took the time to explain
the situation so it makes sense to us.
I know you feel you are on a mission to save this newsgroup, but please
use a little discretion when attempting to move threads out of it.
Maybe the whole situation with Kerry Von Erich's foot could have
been cleared up long ago, but you jumped in and moved the thread to
alt.medicine.prosthetics, leaving us all in the dark. ;-)
I know, I know -- that joke is funny to doctors the way Canadian
jokes are funny to Canadians.
Just the janitor logging in to catch up on the group...
--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
/ Bob Rusbasan | Dance to the tension \
/ rusb...@mentor.cc.purdue.edu | of a world on edge \
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-