Marino elevated his career by playing The Caped Crusader.
Batman is one of the most iconic superheroes in the world. Spanning seven decades and being made into comic books, movies, and the iconic lunchbox, there’s no doubt that the Caped Crusader will be the Mickey Mouse of the DC Comics world. He has been portrayed by Michael Keaton, Adam West, Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Robert Pattison, the late Kevin Conroy, Keanu Reeves, and Peter Weller.
But there is a lesser-known interpretation of the character that you might not have known about. Wrestler Tony Marino played him.
During the 1950s, Marino started as an underground wrestler in Rochester, New York, and had an opportunity to go mainstream with the WWWF in 1963. Then, in 1966, three years after Marino signed in with the WWF, the Batman series with Adam West became extremely popular, which was an excellent opportunity for Marino.
The craze inspired the wrestler to become “Battman” in the ring. He debuted this version during a match in Buffalo, with another wrestler playing Robin.
The fans loved it, and the persona became even more popular when wrestling great Bruno Sammartino brought Marino and his Batman persona to Pittsburgh for a match. Sammartino formed a tag team with Marino’s Caped Crusader, and they appeared multiple times on Studio Wrestling.
Marino was on top of the world. Unfortunately, his Battman persona was discontinued in 1970, two years after the series ended.
Sammartino and Marino have passed away, but Batman is still going strong. We can thank Marino for making this superhero even more popular than it otherwise might have been.
