Tony Silipini (April 20, 1931 – May 28, 2021) was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

, better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

, Tony Marino.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1954-1963)

Tony Silipini was born in 1931. He started wrestling in 1954 near his hometown of Rochester, NY. He wrestled under a number of names over the years in different areas of the country. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

he was called Dino Lanza.

World Wide Wrestling Federation (1963-1972)

When Marino started wrestling in the WWWF in 1963 in preliminary matches. With the

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

craze sweeping the country in 1966, Marino created a wrestling version of the superhero. His custom outfits were created by Karl & Hildegarde's of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He debuted the persona in the Buffalo, NY area and had a smaller wrestler dressed as Robin.

Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavywei ...

, who had purchased the promotional office in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, brought Marino into Pittsburgh as "Battman" and installed him as a major wrestler in the territory. As The Battman, Marino became a fixture and very popular wrestler on Pittsburgh's very popular

Studio Wrestling ''Studio Wrestling'' was a live professional wrestling show broadcast from WIIC-TV Channel 11 in Pittsburgh every Saturday evening. In 1959, WIIC began broadcasting professional wrestling from their studio located in Fineview. The show was hoste ...

TV show. By 1970 the Batman gimmick was phased out.

Teaming with Bruno Sammartino

He formed a tag team with

WWWF World Heavyweight Champion The WWE Championship is a World championship (professional wrestling), world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand di ...

Bruno Sammartino. Marino wrestled with a mask as "The Battman" on the Pittsburgh circuit.

Teaming with Victor Rivera and return to singles

On December 9, 1969, Tony teamed with Victor Rivera in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

, where they defeated WWWF International Tagteam Champions

Professor Toru Tanaka Charles J. Kalani Jr. (January 6, 1930 – August 22, 2000) was an American professional wrestler, professional boxer, college football player, soldier, actor, and martial artist who, in fighting rings, was also known as Professor Toru Tanaka, or ...

and Mitsu Arakawa in 2 straight falls. Marino and Rivera were the tag champions for almost seven months. Along the way, they scored wins over Killer Kowalski and Waldo Von Erich at Madison Square Garden, and Kowalski and Krippler Karl Kovacs at

Sunnyside Gardens, Queens Sunnyside Gardens is a community within Sunnyside, Queens, Sunnyside, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. The area was the first development in the United States patterned after the ideas of the garden city movement initiated in ...

, NY. On June 15, 1970, at Madison Square Garden, they lost their titles 2 falls to 1 to The Mongols, the team of Bepo Mongol and Geto Mongol. Both tagteams were undefeated up to that point. After the Battman gimmick was obsolete, Marino returned to jobbing. In a 1971 match against George The Animal Steele, Marino broke his leg. In 1972, Marino left the WWWF.

National Wrestling Alliance (1972-1987)

In 1972, Marino started traveling in

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

territories. In December 1972, he defeated

Kurt Von Hess William Terry (April 10, 1942 – March 13, 1999) was a Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ring name Kurt Von Hess, who competed in North American and international promotions during the 1970s and 1980s, including International Wrestli ...

and

Karl Von Shotz John Anson (born April 7, 1949) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, known by his ring name "Handsome" John Anson, who competed in North American and Japanese promotions from the mid-1960s until the early-1980s, including International ...

along with

Fred Curry Fred Thomas Koury Jr. (born June 12, 1943) better known by his ring name ”Flying” Fred Curry, is an American professional wrestler of Lebanese people, Lebanese descent. The son of Bull Curry, "Wild Bull" Curry, Fred Koury was one of the most p ...

to win the Detroit version of NWA World Tag Team Championship. On January 5, 1973, they lost the titles to Kurt Von Hess and Karl Von Shotz. They received their second Detroit titles on February 2 and lost it to Kurt Von Hess and Karl Von Shotz on February 18. Marino had then notable feuds with The Stomper, Ben Justice and Killer Tim Brooks. In 1974, he formed a tag team with

Bobo Brazil Houston Harris (July 10, 1924 – January 20, 1998) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Bobo Brazil. Credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling, Harris is considered one o ...

. They defeated Kurt Von Hess and Karl Von Shotz to win the Detroit titles. Marino got his third Detroit Tag Team Championship. The titles were held up in June 1974 in match against Ben Justice and Killer Tim Brooks. They won rematch on June 15. They lost their titles to Killer Tim Brooks and

Abdullah the Butcher Lawrence Robert Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling matc ...

. They defeated Killer Tim Brooks and Abdullah the Butcher and received the titles back. They lost the titles to The Mongols and this was Marino's final Detroit Tag Team Championship. Marino retired from wrestling in 1987.

Personal life and death

Marino's granddaughter, who wrestles as

Lady Frost Brittany Rae Steding (born March 14, 1985) is an American professional wrestler, currently performing on the independent circuit under the ring name Lady Frost. Professional wrestling career WWE (2018) Steding made her professional wrestl ...

participated at the

NWA 73rd Anniversary Show The NWA 73rd Anniversary Show (also simply known as NWA 73) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that was held on August 29, 2021, as the second of two PPV events to take place from th ...

. Marino died at the age of 90 on May 28, 2021.

Championships and accomplishments

* Big Time Wrestling ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Detroit version)'' ( 7 times) - with

(4 times) and

(3 times) *West Virginia **West Virginia Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with José Marino This was a different Tony Marino who along with his brother Jose wrestled the WV circuit **

WWWF International Tag Team Championship The WWF International Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship in the World Wide Wrestling Federation from 1969 to 1972 and in the renamed World Wrestling Federation and New Japan Pro-Wrestling for a short time in 1985. Reigns Names ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) - with

(1 time) and Victor Rivera (1 time)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marino, Tony 1931 births 2021 deaths American male professional wrestlers American professional wrestlers of Italian descent Professional wrestlers from New York (state) People from Rochester, New York Stampede Wrestling alumni 20th-century professional wrestlers