Larry Zbyszko to Be Inducted Into the WWE Hall of Fame

On Monday Night Raw last night, March 16, the WWE announced that Larry Zbyszko will be the latest inductee into the Hall of Fame Class of 2015. Inducting Zbyszko will be his mentor and former rival, WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino.

Larry Zbyszko, new WWE Hall of Famer, on his career: “I got shot at, people wanted to kill me, but I was working!" https://t.co/yf3oPpwKjK

— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) March 16, 2015

Zbyszko started wrestling in the early 1970s and worked his way through the independent circuit before reaching Vincent J. McMahon's WWWF. There he feuded with "Superstar" Billy Graham and had his career take off after turning on Sammartino.

Zbyszko amassed a total of 15 championships with the AWA, NWA, WCW and WWE -- with just one of those titles coming from the WWE, when he won the Tag Team Championship with Tony Garea. Another highlight in Zbyszko's long career came in 1980, when the Wrestling Observer Newsletter said he was the Best Heel and Most Improved Wrestler and had the Feud of the Year with Sammartino. That year, he and Sammartino went toe-to-toe several times.

You can watch one of their legendary matches below. In this one, he and Bruno face off for 20 minutes in Madison Square Garden.

After leaving the then-WWF, Zbyszko went to WCW, and there fans dubbed him the "Cruncher" after breaking the arm of the beloved Barry Windham. Also in WCW, Zbyszko was one of the original Paul Heyman guys when he joined up with Heyman's Dangerous Alliance.

"I'm a fan at heart," Zbyszko told Rolling Stone. "I love this business, and the Hall of Fame is an awesome part of the business. This has been my life, and if I had to do it again, I'd do it all the same -- except maybe not get married so many times."