Sports-entertainment lost one of its founding fathers this past weekend with the passing of Angelo Savoldi at age 99. Savoldi, briefly eulogized by Mr. McMahon before Monday’s Raw, was a true lifetime veteran of the sport of wrestling, learning the craft at twelve years old before turning professional out of high school. Savoldi traveled the country and eventually settled in the original WWWF.

“The wrestlers of today have most beat,” he said in an early 1970 interview with Bill Apter. “They have more wrestling abilities of years ago and they think a lot more … great education behind them, and that what makes them great wrestlers of today.”

Watch:  Chairman pays tribute to Savoldi

Even after he moved on from active competition, Savoldi cast a long shadow over the sport he loved, mentoring young competitors and ensuring its survival in years to come.

Savoldi told Apter of his chosen sport, “that’s all I ever did in my life.”