 Rocca in 1956 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Antonino Biasetton (1921-04-13)13 April 1921[2] |
| Died | 15 March 1977(1977-03-15) (aged 55)[3] New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Antonino Rocca Argentina Rocca |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 224 lb (102 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Argentina[1] |
| Trained by | Stanislaus Zbyszko[1][2] |
| Debut | 1942[2] |
| Retired | 1976 |
Antonino Biasetton (13 April 1921 – 15 March 1977) was anItalian-Argentineprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring nameAntonino Rocca. He innovated the "high-flying" style of wrestling in the United States,[4] and was best known for his work withCapitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), later known as theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation (WWF), both as a singles wrestler and in atag team withMiguel Pérez.
Rocca proved especially popular with Hispanic and Italian audiences in New York, where he was long based.[4] He was a one-timeNWA World Tag Team Champion (with Pérez) and the inauguralNWA/WWWF International Heavyweight Champion. He was posthumously inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame as a member of theclass of 1995 and theWrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996.[5]
Biasetton was born inTreviso in theVeneto region of Italy in 1921. His family emigrated toArgentina in the mid-1930s when Biasetton was a teenager, and he was later naturalized as an Argentine citizen. Living inRosario,Santa Fe Province,[6] he participated in several sports as a young man, includingsoccer,swimming, andrugby. He attended theNational University of Rosario, where he studied electrical engineering and was a member of its rugby team.[6]
After being trained by formerWorld Heavyweight Wrestling ChampionStanislaus Zbyszko,[1][2] Biasetton began wrestling underBuenos Aires promoter Karl Nowina in 1945. He was brought to Texas in the late 1940s by Nick Ellitch, who billed him asArgentina Rocca.[7] In the early 1950s, he held two regionally recognized World Heavyweight Championships while still headlining nationwide, frequently in territories where other wrestlers were the recognized champions.[citation needed]
In 1949, Rocca started wrestling in the New York City-area territory forJoseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt, and the Johnston family of promoters, which controlled wrestling atMadison Square Garden, and Mondt owned Rocca's exclusive contract. The territory had been one of the four largest-grossing areas up until the mid-1930sNew York, and would later be run byCapitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC, now WWE).[citation needed]
Rocca later formed atag team withJose Miguel Pérez in 1957. Together, they captured theNWA World Tag Team Championship, which was the top tag team title used in the CWC, and like so many other titles, was a regional one. They were never defeated after winning this title, but the appellation was abandoned after about five years.
In 1959–60, Rocca worked withKola Kwariani and underJack Pfefer, took effective control of the Garden's wrestling office. Kwariani had just broken away from his partnership withVince McMahon, Sr. Rocca then set the post-World War II record for wrestling-attendance at Madison Square Garden's 49th–50th Street location, drawing 21,950 fans in a singles match against an obscure wrestler named "The Amazing Zuma", also known as "Argentina Zuma", on 2 January 1960, as reported inThe New York Times.[citation needed]
This was part of a series of three matches between the two held during a four-month period, when the pair drew, on another night, almost as many fans to the Garden. Rocca had also been provided with new wrestlerBruno Sammartino as a tag team partner. However, when this team failed to sell-out the Garden, the pair was split up to wrestle each other in the hopes that business would pick up, but it did not.[citation needed]
McMahon Sr. eventually took back the New York territory and built it by first featuring"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers and then, a few years later, the by-then charismatic Sammartino as its champion.[citation needed]
In 1963, the CWC left the NWA when it was renamed theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). WWE history lists a tournament final to crown the firstWWWF World Heavyweight Champion asBuddy Rogers over Rocca on 29 April 1963 inRio de Janeiro,Brazil,but this tournament is fictitious.[clarification needed][citation needed] Rogers had legitimately held theNWA World Heavyweight Championship, but lost that title toLou Thesz in Toronto earlier in 1963 in a match – and rematch – ignored by the New York City and Chicago promoters.[citation needed]
After a demotion, and with the arrival of Buddy Rogers as the featured star at the Garden in 1961, within a few years Rocca left the WWWF and briefly set up a competing promotion (supported byJim Crockett and others) based at theSunnyside Arena in Queens, New York. In the mid-1970s, he teamed up withVince McMahon to handle the color commentary on the WWWF's weekly television show. He provided color commentary onWWF Championship Wrestling andAll-Star Wrestling from 1972 to 1976,[8] a role later filled by Sammartino.
Rocca was involved as a professional wrestler, but also as a referee in Japan during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He refereed a number of matches for the Japan Pro Wrestling Association (JWA), and later followedAntonio Inoki toNew Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1972.[citation needed]
In 1973, he joined theWorld Wrestling Council (WWC) inPuerto Rico with partner Miguel Pérez. They captured the defunctWWC North American Tag Team Championship on 11 September 1976 by defeating Los Infernos. They lost the championship to Higo Hamaguchi and Gordon Nelson on 16 October.[9]
Rocca was depicted wrestlingSuperman on the cover of theSuperman No. 155 (August 1962) comic book. The 1976 horror filmAlice, Sweet Alice, featuring child actressBrooke Shields, includes Rocca in a bit part. His fame extended into various media outlets, from numerous interviews for national newspapers and magazines to meeting PresidentRichard Nixon to a guest appearance onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.[10]
MaestroArturo Toscanini, a professional wrestling fan, was good friends with Rocca.[11]
Rocca died on 15 March 1977 at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City after complications following a urinary infection. His funeral was attended by thousands and made the front page of New York newspapers.[3]
Rocca was known for his unique, acrobatic, off-the-ground, flying wrestling style.[4] He is credited with innovating or popularizing severalhigh-flying maneuvers that have since become commonplace, such as thedropkick (which he is claimed to have invented, though that's usually attributed toAbe Coleman[12] orJoe Savoldi[13]), thehurricanrana, the victory roll, the flying body presses, and most notably theArgentine backbreaker rack.[6][7]
Antonio Inoki (born Kanji Inoki) derived hisring name from Rocca.
,Cagematch,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
