Insane Insights From Dark Side Of The Ring - Dino Bravo
In the professional wrestling business, there have been a lot of ties to the mafia. Some examples are the Yakuza in Japan, Bruno Sammartino & Freddie Blasse's confrontation with Mafia members, Johnny K-9, and many more. One of the more notable cases of a professional wrestler being involved in the mafia is focused on Dino Bravo. Dino Bravo was assassinated on March 10th, 1993. Dark Side of the Ring did a documentary on Dino Bravo and it is very Insane.
10. This Is The First Time Dino's Family Spoke About Dino Bravo Publicly
This documentary about Dino Bravo was a lot more different because his family participated which is quite the queue. Dino's family hadn't publicly spoken about what happened publicly until this documentary came out. Dino's widow Diane sounds like a really nice lady and the same goes for Dino's daughter Claudia. It was difficult hearing them talk about their memories of him, but it was a big get to have them speak.
9. Dino Had a Piece Of Ownership of International Wrestling Promotion
Dino Bravo during the territory era of professional wrestling was a big star in International Wrestling in Quebec. The company was so bathat according to historian Patric Laprade, the promotion got 2 million people to watch weekly. It helped that the promotion got the Rougeau, Andre the Giant, Rick Martel, etc. However, Dino Bravo was the company's meal ticket.
Something interesting is that Dino Bravo bought into ownership and had a piece of the International Wrestling company. Tony Mule and Gino Brito were the other promoters and were close with Dino.
8. Why WWF Was Afraid of Putting Dino Bravo Against Hulk Hogan
When WWF was starting to expand and Vince was taking down the territories. He wanted to take over in Montreal and in order to get it, they needed Dino Bravo. Bravo was working for WWF in 1985 with a partnership International Wrestling had with WWF. A fascinating fact not mentioned is WWF gave him a title called the Canadian Championship. It was defended in 1985 and was used to help get Bravo over with their promotion for a match with Hulk Hogan.
That was the original plan bringing Dino in as Vince wanted the Montreal market. The match with Hogan was teased, but WWE canceled it as Vince feared Bravo would be cheered more than Hogan. The moment that happened, Bravo made his International Wrestling promotion competition, but it was too late.
7. Dino Bought His 4-Year-Old Daughter A Car
Dino Bravo signed with the WWF and got a contract that had 300,000 dollars guaranteed and there was a chance to make up to a million dollars. After securing a gigantic contract, Dino decided to live a lavish lifestyle. He bought a huge house in Montreal and a ton of cars. One of those cars was gifted to his 4-year-old daughter. What type of person in the right mind would buy a 4-year-old a legit car? Especially, when they can't drive it for another decade and a half.
Dino loved to show off his success to others, but that ended up hurting him in life. The best advice I've ever been given regarding finances is "It's not about what you make, it's what you save.". From how Dino spent lavishly he didn't save it that is for sure.
6. Dino Hated His WWE Career
With signing with the WWF, he was given a new look. Instead of a face like he normally would wrestle, Bravo turned into a bleach anti-American heel. Dino hated that gimmick and hated bleaching his hair as when he did it he burned himself. The locker room was even laughing in front of his face with how he looked. Dino hated everything, but he loved it make money and he wasn't his boss anymore.
Another thing that Dino hates is doing jobs and taking the pin. Getting beat week after week doesn't paint his character well with the crowd. It was clear that Bravo's ego got damaged too and had to keep it in check in order to make money.
Dino was not getting over and it didn't help his broken English accent made it hard for the crowd to understand him. With Dino also getting older, WWE didn't see the value of keeping him around. As a result, his contract expired in 1992 and it was not renewed.
5. He Was The Nephew of Vic Cotroni
Leaving the WWF was the end of his professional wrestling career. Due to his luxury lifestyle, he had a lot of financial problems. According to his wife, Dino was in survivor mode because all he knew about was wrestling and he didn't have any skills to fall back on when his wrestling career ended.
With being put in a bad spot and needing money he got desperate. Dino did have some connections to crime. His uncle led the first Mafia of Quebec, Vic Cotroni. According to reporter Andre Cedilot, Cotroni was a professional wrestler in the 1930s. This wasn't mentioned, but Cotroni used his in-ring name Vic Vincent as an alias while committing crimes as late as the 1960s.
Another reporter named Claude Poirier was interviewed and the Cotrini were very powerful. They had a big involvement in the cigarette and alcohol smuggling operation. Cotroni had approached Bravo and wanted him to get involved as an enforcer and debt collector. This makes sense due to how strong he is and can be intimidating for those in debt with the Mafia.
4. How Jacques Rougeau Found Out About Dino Death
In Dino Bravo's final days, he called Jacques Rougeau as he wanted Jacques to come and see him. Which was bizarre as they were not even close friends. Jacques was about to go see him and went to get gas to fill up. Well, an employee told him that Dino died. Jacques rushes to the paper and sees the headline about his death. Dino Bravo was assassinated and was shot 17 times. 10 of those shots were to the body and 7 of them were to the head.
3. Interesting Details Regarding The Crime Scene
Dino was discovered dead by his wife who was coming home with her daughter. Dino was found dead on his chair.
The investigation details are intriguing. There was no break and Dino's door was left unlocked. So it's likely that Bravo knew his killers and allowed them to enter his home. The murder looked to have been done by a professional and there might have been 2 of them. The weapons used had 2 different casings and the weapons themselves were left by his body.
An interesting clue is that there were 2 others who lived near Dino who were killed in a similar style. Those two men also were linked to the Mafia and cigarette snuggling.
2. The Only Person Who Knows the Full Details of Bravo's Crime Career is Rick Martel
The only person who knew in detail about Bravo's Crime life was Rick Martel. Martel had declined to participate in this documentary, but they showed previous footage of an old interview he did in 2007. He provided a lot of information regarding Dino's Crime life.
Apparently, Dino had gotten the trust of the native americans who were tremendous wrestling fans. It was a big get as it allowed the mafia to pass illegal cigarettes on their river. The cigarette business got a tremendous boom, and the top cocaine dealers wanted to get involved. Who did they contact? Dino Bravo.
It was going well for Dino until the police seized a 400-thousand-dollar shipment of cocaine. When the cocaine dealer went to pick it up they were not happy. Now the finger-pointing game began and that large amount of money being lost was enough for someone to be killed. Heck, there are gangsters who were killed for a lot less.
1. It's Still An Open Case Today
The documentary tried to get the Quebec police to talk about Dino's death. However, the case is still open to this very day and the documentary would put a graphic on the number with a tip line. Claudia is still upset about it to this very day as his death filled a void that can't be filled. She hopes that whoever killed her dad got what they deserved. As for remembering Dino, she wants him to be remembered for his passion.
My Thoughts On The Documentary
This was a fascinating episode. Here is a guy who went from being one of the top wrestlers in Montreal to being an associate of the Cotroni Mafia Family.
The big disappointment is that the documentary couldn't get Rick Martel to be interviewed as Dino and him were best friends. Martel knew a ton about his crime life, but I understand why he chose not to participate. After all, this is an unsolved crime involving the mafia, so it's probably smart he declined.
It was a big get for the Vice crew to get Dino's family to talk. It was emotional and sad hearing Dino's daughter Claudia talk about her father. She was the star of the documentary and it sucks what happened to her dad.
As for who killed Bravo, we're never going to know the answer. This case while still open, has been cold since 1993. Unless the person who did it confesses to their death bed, the mystery of who killed him will remain unsolved. There are two big takeaways from this documentary. Never Join the Mafia and always save your money.
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