Antonino Rocca (born Antonino Biasetton, April 13, 1928 – March 15, 1977) was a professional wrestler from Argentina of Italian descent. Rocca was an enormously popular "good guy" with both Italian-American and Hispanic audiences.
Wrestling career
As a former national champ rugby*, (most sources list him as a soccer player), and overall tremendous athlete, Rocca was known for his unique wrestling style, wowing audiences with his dazzling aerial maneuvers. He was responsible for the revival of the New York territory in the late 1940's, which would eventually become the modern day World Wrestling Entertainment. Rocca became one of the most well-known wrestlers during the golden age of television. He also had a successful tag team career, forming a popular tandem with Miguel Perez. The two would draw large crowds to Madison Square Garden on a regular basis.
Midwest Wrestling Association (1942-1944)
Rocca started his professional wrestling career in 1942. He was trained by Stanislaus Zbyszko as a professional wrestler. He made in-his ring professional wrestling debut on January 15, 1942 (He had already been a "..national, (Argentine), champ rugby,(soccer), player.." *, but began pro wrestling when he was still only 13 years old? ) , and spent his early career wrestling for Midwest Wrestling Association. He left the company in 1944.
American Wrestling Association (1944-1948)
After leaving Midwest Wrestling Association, Rocca had a stint with American Wrestling Association as Argentine Rocca. He wrestled for that promotion wrestling in its Ohio and Montreal territories capturing their World titles.
National Wrestling Alliance (1948-1952)
In 1948, Rocca left American Wrestling Association territories and went to wrestle for the newly born National Wrestling Alliance. He won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship on August 6, 1948 from Dizzy Davis. He lost the title to Danny McShain on November 12. He would get his second Texas Heavyweight title by defeating Danny McShain on November 30. This time, he lost the title to Dizzy Davis on January 1, 1949.
Capitol Wrestling/World Wide Wrestling Federation (1952-1963)
In 1952, Rocca started wrestling for a territory that rose in New York, Capitol Wrestling Corporation (now World Wrestling Entertainment). He was responsible for the starting of CWC. In 1953, it joined NWA.
Rocca was so popular that he was being used as a main eventer by Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt who was the co-founder of CWC. Unfortunatley, Mondt was unable to keep Rocca happy. Rocca formed a tag team with Miguel Perez in 1957 and they both were a successful tag team within their audiences. They both captured the NWA Capitol World Tag Team Championship which was used in CWC.
During the same time, Rocca participated in a tournament for the CWC International Heavyweight Championship. He defeated Buddy Rogers in the finals to become the first-ever International Heavyweight Champion.
He was a successful International Heavyweight Champion who defended his title successfully against opponents. In 1963, the promotion left NWA and was renamed World Wide Wrestling Federation. Here, they also started a tournament to crown the first WWWF World Heavyweight Champion. Rocca advanced to the finals and was defeated by Buddy Rogers on April 29, 1963 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He later left WWWF and the WWWF International Heavyweight Championship was abandoned. He was the longest reigning WWWF International Heavyweight Champion.
Appearances in Japan (late 1960's-early 1970's)
Rocca was involved as a wrestler, but also as a referee in Japan during these years. He refereed a number of matches for the Japan Prowrestling Association (JPA), and later followed Antonio Inoki to New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1972. Among his matches as an official was the first main event of the first New Japan card, in which Karl Gotch defeated Inoki.
World Wrestling Council (1973-1976)
There is not much information on where Rocca worked in the following ten years, but it is known that in 1973, he joined the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico with partner Miguel Perez. They captured the WWC North American Tag Team Championship on September 11, 1976 by defeating Los Infernos. They lost the titles to Higo Hamaguchi and Gordon Nelson on October 16.
Gorilla Monsoon V/S Andre The Giant
On February 25, 1977, in his last days, Rocca made an appearance with World Wide Wrestling Federation, officiating a boxing match between Gorilla Monsoon and Andre the Giant at the famed Madison Square Garden.
Death
On March 15, 1977, Rocca died in New York City. He was later inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame Class of 1995 by Diesel.
Wrestling facts
- Finishing and signature moves:
:*Airplane Spin
:*Backbreaker
Championships and ccomplishments
- American Wrestling Association (Montreal)
:*AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Montreal version) (1 time)
- American Wrestling Association (Ohio)
:*AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Ohio version) (1 time)
:*NWA World Tag Team Championship (Capitol version) (1 time) - with Miguel Perez
:*NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
:*WWF Hall of Fame (Class of 1995)
:*WWWF International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
:*Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)
Personal life
He had a love for Opera and was described as having an excellent - if untrained - singing voice. Famed maestro Arturo Toscanini, a rabid wrestling fan, was good friends with Rocca, ( Unlikely: Toscanini was 75 when the 13 year-old Rocca began wrestling).
Rocca was depicted wrestling Superman on the cover of the Superman #155 (August 1962) comic book. The 1976 horror film Alice Sweet Alice, featuring child actress Brooke Shields, includes Rocca in a bit part.
External links
Other pages about Argentine professional wrestlers
-Antonino Rocca -Jorge Gonzales -Juan Kachmanian -Martin Karadagian -Miguel Perez (wrestler)
Other pages about Italian-Argentines
-Agustin Calleri -Albano Bizarri -Alberto Mancini -Alberto Tarantini -Alejandro de Tomaso -Alfio Basile -Alfredo Di Stefano -Alicia Bruzzo -Andres D'Alessandro -Andres Nocioni -Andy Bellatti -Antonino Rocca -Antonio Porchia -Antonio Quarracino -Antonio Roma -Antonio di Benedetto -Argentina Brunetti -Ariel Montenegro -Arturo Frondizi -Arturo Umberto Illia -Astor Piazzolla -Attilio Demaria -Bernardo Romeo -Blas Giunta -Bruno Marioni -Bruno Premiani -Carlos Bianchi -Carlos Delfino -Carlos Marinelli -Carlos Nieto -Carolina Peleritti -Cesar Carignano -Cesar Luis Menotti -Charly Alberti -Claudio Basso -Claudio Borghi -Claudio Caniggia -Daniel Cordone -Daniel Montenegro -Daniel Passarella -Dario Vittori -Delio Onnis -Diego Bucchieri -Diego Cagna -Diego Logrippo -Diego Milito -Diego Peretti -Diego Placente -Eduardo Berizzo -Eduardo Francisco Pironio -Eduardo Tuzzio -Eleonora Cassano -Emiliano Sanchez -Emilio Pettoruti -Enzo Trossero -Erminio Blotta -Ernesto Bessone -Ernesto Sabato -Esteban Cambiasso -Evangelina Carrozzo -Ezequiel Alejo Carboni -Ezequiel Lavezzi -Fabricio Coloccini -Fabricio Oberto -Federico Luppi -Fernando Belluschi -Fernando Forestieri -Fernando Gago -Fernando Tissone -Franco Costanzo -Franco Di Santo -Franco Squillari -Gabriel Batistuta -Gabriel Fernandez (basketball) -Gabriel Milito -Gabriel Paletta -Gabriela Sabatini -Gaston Mazzacane -Gino Padula -Guillermo Ariel Pereyra -Guillermo Barros Schelotto -Guillermo Francella -Guillermo Jose Garlatti -Guillermo Stabile -Gustavo Cerati -Gustavo Reggi -Hernan Cattaneo -Hernan Paolo Dellafiore -Horacio Carbonari -J. Posadas -Javier Mascherano -Javier Zanetti -Javier di Gregorio -Jonas Gutierrez -Jonathan Bottinelli -Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio -Jorge Lanata -Jose Cuneo -Jose Ingenieros -Jose Luis Cuciuffo -Juan Diego Botto -Juan J. Campanella -Juan Manuel Fangio -Juan Manuel Fangio II -Juan Raponi -Juan Zanotto -Julian Speroni -Julio Bocca -Julio Hernan Rossi -Julio Libonatti -Julio Mazzaro -Leandro Cufre -Leandro Grimi -Leandro Somoza -Leo Franco -Leon Ferrari -Leonardo Ponzio -Leonardo Talamonti -Leonor Fini -Leopoldo Galtieri -Lionel Messi -Lionel Scaloni -Luca Prodan -Lucas Bernardi -Luciano Galletti -Lucio Fontana -Luis Cesar Amadori -Luis Monti -Luis Ramacciotti -Manu Ginobili -Marcos di Palma -Maria Emilia Salerni -Mariano Barbosa -Mariano Pavone -Mario Baroffio -Mario Gallo (director) -Mario Soffici -Martin Castrogiovanni -Martin Demichelis -Martin Palermo -Matias Emanuel Lequi -Matias Emilio Delgado -Mauricio Macri -Mauricio Pellegrino -Mauricio Taricco -Mauricio Vincello -Mauro Camoranesi -Maxi Biancucchi -Maxi Lopez -Maxi Rodriguez -Nadia Di Cello -Nicolas Burdisso -Nicolino Locche -Norberto Fontana -Norma Cappagli -Norma Nolan -Oscar Bonavena -Oscar Ruggeri -Oscar Ustari -Pablo Cavallero -Pablo Mastroeni -Pasta Dioguardi -Patricio Borghetti -Patricio Prato -Paulo Ferrari -Pedro Pasculli -Pedro Troglio -Princess Maxima of the Netherlands -Quirino Cristiani -Ramiro Pez -Renato Civelli -Ricardo Caruso Lombardi -Ricardo Giusti -Roberto Abbondanzieri -Roberto Ayala -Roberto Bonano -Roberto Colautti -Roberto Lavagna -Roberto Nanni -Roberto Nestor Sensini -Roberto Pettinato -Rodolfo Ranni -Roman Gonzalez -Sebastian Battaglia -Sebastian Rulli -Sergio Marchi -Sergio Zanetti -Soledad Pastorutti -Tamara Paganini -Valeria Mazza -Vicente Pernia -Yesica Toscanini
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Antonino_Rocca
