Tribute to a Strength Athlete-Bret Assirati – Iron Game History – January 1991

Bert Assirati, one of history’s greatest strength athletes and wrestlers died of cancer of the bladder on August 31, 1990 at eight o’clock in the evening. So passed a unique man, perhaps the greatest example of the old-time strongman/mat artists of this century. I knew Bert for more than 50 years. He taught me to wrestle the hard way, breaking my nose in the process. Bert was also a fine tumbler and hand balancer, and one of the top professional wrestlers in the game. Standing about 5’7” and weighing as much as 250 pounds, Bert could turn a back flip with ease. In fact, it was his trademark after a match—which he always won—to do a back flip.