The Living Legend
He was groomed to be the biggest name in wrestling. He was trained by the WWWF champion. He faced wrestlers around the country. The guy was young, athletic, and could talk on a microphone. He didn't become the world champion because he was way more interesting as a heel and heels don’t become big champions in a lot of divisions.
Born Lawrence Whistler, Larry wanted to be a professional wrestler since he was a child. He studied the past and at that time current rosters.He even took the name Zybsyko as an homage to Stanislaus Zbyszko, a wrestler from 1909 to 1925. Bruno Sammartino who was the World-Wide Wrestling Federation champion trained Larry. Zbyszko debuted in the WWWF in 1973. There were federations around the country at the time. These federations would loan out talent but they wouldn’t mix into each other’s territory. Larry wanted more experience so he would leave the WWWF and come back in 1976. He fought the big names of the time like Bugsy McGraw, Abdullah the Butcher, Killer Kowalski and Superstar Billy Graham.
I had read that Zbyszko was one of the many wrestlers that thought he would be the big champion when it was time for Sammartino to give up the belt. That didn’t happen. Larry became another wrestler that has nothing positive to say about Bob Backlund when he became the next champ. This is unsubstantiated by Zybsko, but I’ve read it in wrestling blogs.
Zbyszko turned heel to fight Sammartino in 1980. The disgruntled student turned against the beloved teacher. He bloodied Sammartino on television. The crowds hated Zbysko for this. This feud lasted months till they faced in the Showdown at Shea on August 9, 1980. You read about that in the blog from January 7, 2017. After this big feud and no main title, Zybysko left the WWWF in 1981. He wrestled for the NWA and the AWA.
At the time Travis name-drops Zbyszko in Mix Tapes and Stolen Tests, he was a journeyman wrestler bouncing between federations through the south and west. He was known for big feuds with some big names. He won titles, but didn’t have long reigns.
I started this blog saying that he didn’t reach the heights promoters originally thought he would. That is not entirely true. To his credit, he was in the PWI Match of the Year for 1980 with Sammartino.
He nicknamed himself “The Living Legend” to mock Sammartino but it stuck and became his name among fans and opponents. He is in Wrestling Hall of Fame. The guy lived up to the legend name.
He wrote a book called Adventures in Larryland that is still available so you can read his exploits.
this information came from wikipedia, memories and things that I read over the years.