What differentiated Sammartino’s fallout with McMahon from other notable names was it had little to do with money or creative disagreements. Instead, Sammartino seemed to take issue with several factors, the first being with the overall change in the WWE product, particularly when it came to McMahon’s philosophy of style over substance. Having been a product of 1960s and 70s wrestling, which focused more on athleticism and presenting the idea of legitimacy, Sammartino was not a fan of McMahon moving wrestling away from that and more towards spectacle and cartoonish, larger than life characters. In later years, Sammartino would also come down hard on the WWE Attitude Era, believing many of the storylines to be vulgar and inappropriate for a business that was more family friendly in Sammartino’s time.

But those philosophical clashes weren’t Sammartino’s only, or biggest, issue with McMahon’s WWE. What bothered him even more was the rampant use of steroids and performance enhancing drugs that took place in WWE under McMahon’s watch, a scandal that would eventually see McMahon tried by the federal government. Though McMahon was ultimately acquitted, it didn’t stop Sammartino from launching some of his harshest barbs at the WWE Chairman, especially when Sammartino became a frequent talking head about drug issues in wrestling for platforms such as CNN, “The Phil Donahue Show,” and “Geraldo.” During these appearances, Sammartino referred to WWE wrestlers as “druggies,” and at one point questioned WWE’s drug testing protocols, which began in the early 90s. With fighting words like that, it’s not hard to see why it took so long for the wounds between Sammartino and WWE to heal.