{"id":96596,"date":"2021-07-27T14:00:12","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T18:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=96596"},"modified":"2021-07-27T06:18:45","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T10:18:45","slug":"superheroes-in-wrestling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/07\/27\/superheroes-in-wrestling\/","title":{"rendered":"Superheroes In Pro Wrestling: From The Battman to Nikki A.S.H."},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Monday night, Nikki A.S.H.<\/strong> (Almost a Super Hero), the recently-debuted new gimmick for WWE Superstar Nikki Cross<\/strong>, shocked the world by cashing in the Money in the Bank contract she had won only 24-hours previously at the WWE Money in the Bank<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>PPV, pinning Charlotte Flair<\/strong> to win the RAW Women’s Championship<\/a>. A former 2x WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion, it marked the first singles championship for former indie star Nikki Storm since she joined WWE in 2016. Prior to joining WWE, the Scottish indie sensation was a 3x Pro Wrestling EVE<\/strong> Champion. While it’s been some time since we’ve seen a new “superhero” gimmick in the WWE (or pro wrestling for that matter), it’s been a part of pro wrestling in the U.S. since the 1960s, and in Japanese puroresu since the 1980s. Since the 1990s, the superhero trope as a gimmick has become more on the comedic side – as wrestling began to take itself more “serious”, the idea of such cartoonish characters in such a cartoonish world of entertainment seemed to almost poke fun at the comic book style heroes and villains that dominated the WWF in the 1980s. But while many superhero-themed characters have done incredibly well as far as moving merch and being cult heroes in pro wrestling, Nikki A.S.H. became the first superhero character to win a World title in a major company – in Nikki’s case, the RAW Women’s Championship – under such a gimmick. While pro wrestling has long been paralleled to comic book superheroes and villains, it’s usually been more to do with the fantastical sense of disbelief with a world featuring people with unusually muscled or chiseled features, akin to the superheroes drawn by the likes of George Perez, Todd MacFarlane<\/strong>, and Rob Liefeld<\/strong>, than the characters actually being superheroes. But as history has shown us, there have been some people who have taken to that mantle literally, as well as figuratively, and that superheroes in pro wrestling have been a thing for the ages.<\/p>\n

(DISCLAIMER: This list does not include any luchadores from Mexico, as they’ve created a much deeper culture of superhero-like wrestlers, nor does it include any wrestlers who have simply worn comic book-inspired looks in tribute, such as Finn Balor’s earlier Prince Devitt make-up designs, Leva Bates’ cosplays, or Johnny Gargano’s TakeOver gear choices, nor legitimate comic book tie-ins, such as the recent Marvel- related characters to appear in AAA or Hellboy in All Japan. These are just a list of notable gimmicks that lasted for an impressionable amount of time, where the wrestler’s character in question truly believed they were real-life superheroes).<\/em><\/p>\n

Battman, 1966<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"Battman<\/a>
\nThe proper introduction of a superhero into the world of American pro-wrestling coincided with the rise of the Silver Age of Comics in the 1960s. In 1966, DC Comics character Batman<\/strong> became a TV star with the release of the self-titled television series, featuring Adam West<\/strong> in his career-defining role. It wasn’t long after that the Dark Knight entered the squared circle. Tony Marino<\/strong> had been wrestling since 1954 and was a journeyman who competed in multiple NWA territories, including Capitol Sports (the promotion that became WWWF in 1963). In 1966, he put on a cowl and created Battman<\/strong> (two T’s to avoid copyright infringements). This Caped Crusader became a fan favourite in the Pittsburgh area, where he caught the attention of WWWF World Heavyweight Champion\u00a0Bruno Sammartino<\/strong>, working for his Pittsburgh territory and then joining the WWWF in the fall of 1966. By 1969, Battman was a frequent tag team partner of Bruno Sammartino, as two great heroes united inside the ring, and they even captured the WWWF International Tag Team titles. He briefly had a male valet in his own Robin, portrayed by Alex Macaluso<\/a>. But Macaluso’s pro wrestling career ended early and so did Robin’s involvement. Marino portrayed the Battman gimmick for five years, finally retiring the cowl in 1971 – oddly enough, the Battman gimmick lasted longer than the iconic TV show, which was cancelled in 1968 after three seasons. In May of 1971, he left WWWF and returned to the NWA, using just his Tony Marino persona, where he would become a 7x NWA World Tag Team Champion (4x with Fred Curry<\/strong> and 3x with Bobo Brazil<\/strong>).<\/p>\n