Dino Bravo Adolfo Bresciano ( August 6 , 1948 – March 11 , 1993 ) was an Italian - born Canadian professional wrestler , best known for his work as Dino Bravo , self - proclaimed as " Canada ' s Strongest Man " . Professional wrestling career . Territories . Bresciano began wrestling in 1970 , taking the " Dino Bravo " moniker from a wrestler from the early 1960s who had teamed with Dominic DeNucci as the Bravo brothers , Dino and Dominic . He was trained by Gino Brito and often worked in a tag team with his mentor , billed as Brito ' s cousin . Bravo worked in a number of other tag teams , partnering with , among others , " Mr . Wrestling " Tim Woods and DeNucci . Dino ' s actual height was 5 ' 11 " and he weighed in around 255 pounds . Bravo held the Jim Crockett Promotions version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Woods , winning the title from Gene and Ole Anderson and eventually losing the title to the Andersons . Bravo also had a major program with Blackjack Mulligan , pinning Mulligan twice in a televised non - title match to set up a series of matches for Mulligan ' s United States title . Bravo did not win the U . S . title from Mulligan , but did receive several shots at NWA World Champion Harley Race during his tenure with Crockett . By the late 1970s , Bravo had become a big enough draw to get a singles push in the Montreal territory . In December 1978 , he defeated Gene Kiniski in Toronto to win the new Canadian heavyweight title as recognized in that area World Wrestling Federation . With Dominic DeNucci , Bravo captured the WWF World Tag Team Title in March 1978 from Professor Tanaka and Mr . Fuji . Three months later in June , The Yukon Lumberjacks defeated Bravo and DeNucci for the title . In the early 1980s , Bravo and King Tonga ( later known as Haku ) formed a tag team for a brief while , but never got much of a push . Bravo was scheduled to headline a card against Hulk Hogan in 1986 , but the match was canceled on short notice , with Bravo leaving the company shortly thereafter ; the rumor was that the company did not want the Montreal crowd to cheer Bravo , the hometown hero , over Hogan , and that Bravo quit after finding out . Bravo returned to the WWF the next year , almost immediately dying his brown hair blond and working as part of Lucious Johnny Valiant ' s stable with Greg " The Hammer " Valentine and Brutus Beefcake . Beefcake was kicked out of the stable at WrestleMania III and Bravo took his place in The Dream Team tag team with Valentine . Bravo returned to singles competition after a few months and began a strongman gimmick . At the 1988 Royal Rumble , Bravo ( who was legitimately strong and was said to be able to press more than 500 pounds ) attempted to bench press what he claimed was 715 pounds , which would have been a world record at the time . Commentator Jesse " The Body " Ventura helped lift the bar at one point , but Bravo played the lift as a success and began billing himself as the " World ' s Strongest Man . " In this gimmick , Bravo feuded with Don Muraco , Ken Patera , Ron Garvin , and Jim Duggan . Bravo yelled " Bah - Ah " every time he got the upper hand on an opponent to get crowd heat . He played up his Québécois identity wearing the Fleur - de - lis and was managed by Frenchy Martin ; who often toted around a sign reading " USA is not OK " . In March 1988 , Bravo lost in the first round of the WWF Championship tournament at WrestleMania IV against Don Muraco . During a rematch at SummerSlam in August , Martin distracted Bravo ' s opponent Muraco to allow Bravo to get the victory . In October at the King of the Ring , Martin managed Bravo in a win over Jim Duggan in a flag match . At the Royal Rumble in January 1989 , Bravo , accompanied by Martin , teamed with The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers ( Jacques and Raymond ) but lost a two out of three falls match against Jim Duggan and The Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ) . At WrestleMania V Bravo defeated Rugged Ronnie Garvin . After Frenchy Martin ' s departure , Bravo joined Jimmy Hart ' s stable and often teamed up with Earthquake , and Bresciano would often display his strength by doing push ups while the 460 lb . Earthquake sat on his back ( although Tenta kept his feet on the floor , so not all of his weight was on his partner ) . The team of Earthquake and Bravo would have a lengthy feud with Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior . Retirement . Following a WrestleMania VII loss to Kerry Von Erich , he disappeared from WWF TV for several months before having a short run on several Canadian house show s as a babyface in matches against The Mountie . Bresciano left the WWF and retired from active competition following a tour in Europe in April 1992 . After his retirement , he helped train wrestlers in Montreal . Death . On March 11 , 1993 , Bresciano was found shot to death . He was 44 years old . Bresciano was thought to have been shot up to 17 times to the head by a gunman while watching hockey in his Vimont , Laval , Quebec apartment . It is widely believed that his alleged role in illegal cigarette smuggling in Canada led to his murder . Rick Martel has stated in interviews that because of Bresciano ' s notability from being a popular professional wrestler , he was able to attract many customers ( specifically Aboriginals ) to switch over to having him as a supplier of illegal cigarettes , thus crossing the mafia . According to various sources , right before his death Bresciano had confided to close friends that he knew his days were numbered . He was a nephew by marriage of Montreal crime boss Vic Cotroni , and was believed by authorities to be involved in his organization for some time . Bresciano ' s remains are in a mausoleum at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal , Quebec . He is survived by his wife , Diane Rivest and their daughter .