Wrestling Legend Antonino Rocca
Even before it all started, even before legends like Under Taker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Bret “The Hit Man” Hart and Hulk Hogan entered the wrestling ring, there was a wrestler who made wrestling what it is today. He was one of the pioneers of many wrestling strategies and introduced many new wrestling styles. The world knows this wrestler as the high flying Antonino Rocca from Argentine. Antonino entered the world of wrestling even before it professionally developed on commercial bases. In the 1950’s his attraction was only matched or exceeded by Gorgeous George, who is another Hall of Famer. Other wrestlers tried but never achieved the height of popularity which Antonino Rocca enjoyed during the course of his professional wrestling career.
It seemed that the feet of Antonino Rocca were not meant to touch the ground as his aerial manoeuvres always kept him flying over the heads of his opponents. His high flying manoeuvres not only dazzled all his fans but also confused his opponents who found it difficult to get a hold of him in or outside the ring. His signature wrestling finisher called the Argentine Back Breaker became of one of the most popular wrestling moves of that time. This finishing move ended the fighting capacity of his opponent and always resulted in a win for Antonino Rocca.
Antonino Rocca was a huge wrestling attraction of his time. His had a loyal fan following in America which was ready to stand up for their ideal champion. As it happened in 1957, d**k the Bruiser, who was also a famous wrestler of that time, busted open Antonino Rocca which resulted in riots. Security was called in to contain the situation. Part of the fame came from the mixed Italian and Latin American ethnicity of Antonino Rocca which attracted different communities across the United States. Many groups including the Latin Americans started associating them with the success of the high flying Antonino Rocca. It was the legendary Stanislaus Zbyszko who trained the young wrestler. Antonino initially trained in Texas but later came to New York to make a name for him. New York was the place from where he started his professional wrestling career and attracted the highest fan following in the United States of America.
During his storied career, Antonino Rocca never won a world’s championship title but he was always in the main events of different wrestling competitions. Wrestling fans who loved his high flying moves especially demanded to see him as the main athlete in various wrestling competitions. It may be sound unbelievable today but legends like Bruno Sammartino were juniors to Antonino Rocca and looked up to him as wrestling legends.
In 1950’s when many titles were at their evolutionary stage and were introduced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Antonino Rocca held many titles around his waist for a long time. He, along with a famous Puerto Rican wrestler Miguel Perez, formed a tag team and became the first combination to win the United States Tag Championship. United States Tag Championship later evolved to become the prestigious World Tag Team Championship. Antonino Rocca also became the International Heavyweight Champion. He also won several regional NWA championships too. After his retirement from professional wrestling, Antonino Rocca returned to the ring as an announcer for wrestling matches in the late 1970’s. He pursued this announcing job and attracted wrestling fans from around the world till his death in 1977.
The service of Antonino Rocca can never be forgotten as it was he who paved the way for many other wrestling superstars to enter the wrestling world. It was in 1995 when the WWE Champion Diesel inducted Antonino Rocca in the WWE Hall of Fame on the night before Wrestle Mania. All the wrestling legends were present at the ceremony to honour this great fighter and the wrestler. Many great high flying wrestlers of today took their inspiration from Antonino Rocca who set the trends in the wrestling world more than half a century ago.
Tags: