Larry Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his work as a wrestler and color commentator for World Championship Wrestling.
81 Facts About Larry Zbyszko
2.
Larry Zbyszko debuted in 1973 as the babyface "Larry Zbyszko", with his name a tribute to 1920s Polish American wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko.
3.
Larry Zbyszko initially wrestled in the Pittsburgh area in 1972, appearing on the local wrestling program Studio Wrestling, before receiving bookings in Vancouver with NWA All-Star Wrestling in 1973.
4.
Larry Zbyszko spent three years in the World Wide Wrestling Federation before traveling to California in 1975.
5.
Larry Zbyszko was one of the attractions in the 1976 Latin America Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight championship, held in Guatemala City, under Jose Azzari promotions.
6.
Larry Zbyszko returned to the WWWF in 1976 and formed a tag team with Tony Garea, with whom he won the WWWF World Tag Team Championships on November 21,1978 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
7.
Larry Zbyszko feuded with Bugsy McGraw, Abdullah the Butcher and Superstar Billy Graham in addition to wrestling Killer Kowalski and Baron Mikel Scicluna.
8.
Larry Zbyszko challenged Sammartino to an exhibition match, claiming this was the only way he could step out of Sammartino's shadow.
9.
Sammartino eventually agreed to the match after Larry Zbyszko threatened to retire if he was not granted the match.
10.
Larry Zbyszko was struck with an iron pole following a match with Ivan Putski, and was stabbed in the buttock following a match with Pedro Morales in the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, New York.
11.
Sammartino and Larry Zbyszko fought one another repeatedly in a lengthy feud that stretched throughout 1980.
12.
In early to mid-1982, Larry Zbyszko appeared with the International Wrestling Federation, where he faced Bruno Sammartino Jr.
13.
In March 1983, Larry Zbyszko joined the Georgia Championship Wrestling territory of the National Wrestling Alliance, where he began claiming to have retired Bruno Sammartino.
14.
Larry Zbyszko initially feuded with Tim Woods and Paul Orndorff, whom he was unable to defeat for the NWA National Heavyweight Championship.
15.
Larry Zbyszko defeated Mr Wrestling II in the tournament final on May 6,1983 in Atlanta, Georgia to regain the title.
16.
Larry Zbyszko continued to wrestle in Georgia until April 1984.
17.
In March 1984, Larry Zbyszko joined the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based American Wrestling Association.
18.
Larry Zbyszko was awarded the newly created AWA America's Championship in January 1985 and engaged in a lengthy feud with Sgt.
19.
Larry Zbyszko feuded with Nick Bockwinkel throughout 1986, losing to him in a Texas death match at Rage in a Cage on April 28,1986.
20.
On May 2,1987, Larry Zbyszko helped Curt Hennig defeat Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship by handing him a roll of dimes to knock Bockwinkel out with.
21.
Larry Zbyszko was suspended "for life" by the AWA as a result of an assault on Bockwinkel during Bockwinkel's rematch with Hennig in July 1987.
22.
In November 1987, Larry Zbyszko joined Jim Crockett Promotions, where he was managed by Baby Doll.
23.
Larry Zbyszko began feuding with Barry Windham, and on January 24,1988 in Uniondale, New York he defeated Windham for the NWA Western States Heritage Championship.
24.
Perez and Larry Zbyszko feuded with Kendall Windham and Dustin Rhodes.
25.
Larry Zbyszko signed with the AWA in January 1989 and the NWA Western States Heritage Championship, which Larry Zbyszko still held at that point, was retired.
26.
Larry Zbyszko took part in an eighteen-man battle royal in Saint Paul, Minnesota on February 7,1989 to fill the vacant AWA World Heavyweight Championship.
27.
Larry Zbyszko kicked out and the two continued in what now appeared to be a conventional wrestling match.
28.
Larry Zbyszko then began feuding with Mr Saito, who defeated him for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship on February 10,1990 at Super Fight In Tokyo Dome during a tour of Japan.
29.
Larry Zbyszko regained the title at SuperClash 4 on April 8,1990, in Saint Paul and successfully defended it against The Trooper, Brad Rheingans, and Nikita Koloff toward the end of his reign.
30.
Larry Zbyszko was stripped of the title after leaving the AWA for World Championship Wrestling on December 12,1990, and the AWA declared bankruptcy in 1991, making Zbyszko the last man to reign as AWA World Heavyweight Champion.
31.
Larry Zbyszko initially teamed with Terrence Taylor, a member of The York Foundation, but was not recruited to the stable.
32.
Larry Zbyszko was paired with Arn Anderson as the Enforcers in the late summer of 1991.
33.
On May 17,1992 at WrestleWar 1992: WarGames, the Dangerous Alliance lost a WarGames match to their rivals after Larry Zbyszko accidentally hit Eaton in the arm with the turnbuckle that he had dismantled, forcing Eaton to submit as a result of the pain.
34.
Larry Zbyszko briefly feuded with Austin and Eaton before retiring from full-time competition to become a color commentator.
35.
Larry Zbyszko hosted an interview segment, "Larry Z's Legends" on WCW television which only lasted a few weeks.
36.
In March 1994, Larry Zbyszko began hosting WCW Pro, alongside Dusty Rhodes and Gordon Solie.
37.
Shortly thereafter, Lord Steven Regal began harassing Larry Zbyszko, prompting him to return to the ring.
38.
On May 2,1994 in Atlanta, Larry Zbyszko defeated Regal for the WCW World Television Championship.
39.
Larry Zbyszko held the title until June 23,1994, when Regal regained the belt in Charleston, South Carolina.
40.
In 1996, Larry Zbyszko was promoted to the WCW Monday Nitro broadcast team, where he announced during the first hour with Tony Schiavone.
41.
Larry Zbyszko remained in the broadcast booth for most of 1997, occasionally refereeing matches involving Hall and the nWo.
42.
On October 13,1997, Larry Zbyszko got involved in a WCW Tag Team Championship match between the Steiner Brothers and Scott Hall and Syxx and counted the ensuing fall for the Steiner Brothers who became the champions.
43.
On December 28,1997 at StarrCade 1997, Larry Zbyszko returned to the ring for a match against Bischoff for control of WCW Monday Nitro with Bret Hart acting as special referee.
44.
Hart ensured that the nWo did not interfere, and Larry Zbyszko won the match, regaining control of Nitro for WCW.
45.
Larry Zbyszko continued to feud with Hall and his lackey, Louie Spicolli, culminating in a match between Zbyszko and Hall at Souled Out 1998 on January 24,1998.
46.
Larry Zbyszko won the match by disqualification after Dusty Rhodes betrayed him, joining the nWo.
47.
Larry Zbyszko returned in January 2000 as a member of the Old Age Outlaws with Terry Funk, Arn Anderson and Paul Orndorff to feud with the revived nWo, then returned to commentary in February until he was released from his WCW contract in late 2000 just before WCW was bought by the WWF.
48.
Larry Zbyszko did an interview with Live Audio Wrestling saying he wanted the job.
49.
In 2001 Larry Zbyszko wrestled several matches for Dusty Rhodes's Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling promotion.
50.
In late 2001, Larry Zbyszko requested that World Wrestling Entertainment cease referring to Chris Jericho as "The Living Legend", claiming that this infringed upon his common law trademark.
51.
In 2002, Larry Zbyszko had a short feud with Chris Harris in the Nashville, Tennessee-based USA Championship Wrestling promotion.
52.
On March 2,2002, Larry Zbyszko defeated Harris for the USA North American Heavyweight Championship.
53.
Larry Zbyszko held the title until March 30,2002, when Harris regained the belt at the Tojo Yamamoto Memorial Show.
54.
Larry Zbyszko debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on January 15,2003 and delivered a speech in which he exhorted the roster to respect tradition.
55.
On January 29,2003, Larry Zbyszko faced Styles in a ten-minute-long match with the stipulation that, should Styles be unable to pin him twice in that time, he would become Styles's manager.
56.
Larry Zbyszko returned for one night on August 6,2003, losing to Kid Kash following interference from Abyss.
57.
Larry Zbyszko made a full-time return to TNA on June 23,2004, assisting Ron Killings in his feud with Jeff Jarrett.
58.
In February 2005, Larry Zbyszko joined Planet Jarrett, Jarrett's dominant heel stable.
59.
On June 19,2005, at Slammiversary, the returning Larry Zbyszko was named Director of Authority, replacing Dusty Rhodes.
60.
Larry Zbyszko's first act as DOA was to give Jeff Jarrett's place in the King of the Mountain match later that night to Raven.
61.
Larry Zbyszko remained neutral for several months, but in October 2005 he became exasperated with Raven, who continually accused him of robbing the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and refusing to grant him a rematch.
62.
Raven lost to the returning Sean Waltman after Larry Zbyszko, who refereed the match after the original referee was knocked unconscious, distracted Raven so that Waltman could deliver an X Factor and then counted to three despite Raven placing his foot on a ring rope.
63.
At Lockdown on April 23,2006, the debuting Christy Hemme handed commentator Mike Tenay an envelope containing a message from "TNA management" stating that Larry Zbyszko had been placed on probation due to his conduct, while Raven had been reinstated.
64.
Raven then entered the arena and approached the ring, causing Larry Zbyszko to evade him until he was removed by security guards.
65.
At Victory Road on July 16,2006, Larry Zbyszko lost to Raven in a hair versus hair match.
66.
Larry Zbyszko interfered in the match after he hit Eric Young with a golf club.
67.
Larry Zbyszko returned to the independent circuit and claimed the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship in AWA Superstars of Wrestling.
68.
Larry Zbyszko started rallying for what he claimed was rightfully his since mid-2007.
69.
Accordingly, Larry Zbyszko was the recognized AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship.
70.
On March 22,2008, Larry Zbyszko was inducted into the XWF Hall of Fame by its creator Jack Blaze at their "XWF March Madness 2008" event.
71.
XWF was later renamed LPW where Larry Zbyszko is still honored in their Hall of Fame- Class 2008.
72.
Brian Logan took his championship reign and belt with him and Larry Zbyszko is recognized as the AWA Superstars World Heavyweight Champion as AWA Superstars of Wrestling retroactively refused to recognize the title change.
73.
In March 2010 Larry Zbyszko started appearing at live events for the WFX in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
74.
Larry Zbyszko competed in one match for the promotion thus far, teaming with Jessie Godderz, to compete against Bushwacker Luke and Eugene Dinsmore.
75.
Larry Zbyszko defeated Palmer Canon for the All Out Mayhem Heavyweight Championship on November 20,2010, in South Portland, Maine.
76.
When this was brought to his attention, Larry Zbyszko proceeded to challenge Jericho to say it to his face and questioned his manhood in a popular internet video.
77.
Larry Zbyszko stated in another video that the reason for Jericho's disrespect was because he could not use the phrase "The Living Legend" in the WWE because it has been used and trademarked by Larry Zbyszko.
78.
On March 17,2012, In Caribou, Maine Larry Zbyszko defeated Ryan Michaels in a lumberjack match to retain the All Out Mayhem Heavyweight Championship.
79.
Larry Zbyszko married Kathleen Gagne in 1988, and has a son who is a professional wrestler: Tim Zbyszko.
80.
Larry Zbyszko has three other sons; Michael, John and Robert.
81.
Larry Zbyszko has appeared in WWE 2K16 and WWE 2K17 as a member of The Enforcers with Arn Anderson, and in WWE 2K18 without Anderson.