How You Become a Pro Wrestler

It's a long story how I ended up on Bruno Sammartino's Wikipedia page, but I'm glad I did. Most people's life story doesn't include this kind of paragraph:

While working in construction in 1956, Sammartino wrestled an orangutan at a carnival. After taking much punishment, Sammartino punched the orangutan in the stomach and was disqualified by the animal's owner. Sammartino left the cage with swollen eyes and shredded clothes. Because of the disqualification, the owner refused to pay Sammartino the $50 he was promised for the match.

I walk away with three questions.

1. Wouldn't life be more interesting if men still wrestled animals?
2. Is there anything the orangutan can do to get disqualified (other than eye rakes and hitting below the belt, of course)?
3. Is this really the day Bruno said "You know, this is what I should do for a living!"