- Tony Marino
Infobox_Wrestler
name=Tony Silipini
names=Tony Marino
Devil Blue (Georgia)
Dino Lanza (Australia )
Battman (Pittsburgh)
birth_date=1936
birth_place=Rochester, New York
resides=Florida
debut=1964
retired=1987Tony Silipini (born 1945) is a former American born Italian professional wrestler who is best known as Tony Marino.
Career
Early career
Tony Silipini was born in 1936. He started wrestling in the 1950s near his hometown of Rochester, NY. He wrestled under a number of names over the years in different areas of the country. In
Australia he was called Dino Lanza.World Wide Wrestling Federation (1966-1972)
With the Battman craze sweeping the country in 1966, Marino created a wrestling version of the superhero. His custom outfits were created by Karl & Hildegarde's of Columbus, Ohio. He debuted the persona in the Buffalo, NY area and had a smaller wrestler dressed as Robin.
Bruno Sammartino , who had purchased the promotional office inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania , brought Marino into Pittsburgh as "Battman" and installed him as a major wrestler in the territory.Teaming with Bruno Sammartino
He formed a tag team with WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino. On
December 8 ,1969 , they defeated Rising Suns for the International Tag Team Championship. It was a phantom switch, because the team of Prof. Tanaka and Mitsu Arakawa had actually lost the belts earlier that week in Madison Square Garden.Teaming with Victor Rivera
On
December 12 ,Victor Rivera replaced Sammartino as Sammartino was already the WWWF Heavyweight Champion. Marino and Rivera were the tag champions for almost seven months. OnJune 15 ,1970 , they lost their titles to The Mongols, the team of Bepo Mongol and Geto Mongol. In 1972, Marino left WWWF.National Wrestling Alliance (1972-1987)
In 1972, Marino started traveling in
National Wrestling Alliance territories. In December 1972, he defeated Kurt Von Hess andKarl Von Shotz along with Fred Curry to win the Detroit version of NWA World Tag Team Championship. OnJanuary 5 ,1973 , they lost the titles back to Kurt Von Hess and Karl Von Shotz. They received their second Detroit titles onFebruary 2 and lost it back to Kurt Von Hess and Karl Von Shotz onFebruary 18 .Marino had then notable feuds with The Stomper, Ben Justice and
Killer Tim Brooks . In 1974, he formed a tag team withBobo Brazil . They defeated Kurt Von Hess and Karl Von Shotz to win the Detroit titles. Marino got his third Detroit Tag Team Championship. The titles were held up in June 1974 in match against Ben Justice and Killer Tim Brooks. They won rematch onJune 15 . They lost their titles to Killer Tim Brooks andAbdullah the Butcher . They defeated Killer Tim Brooks and Abdullah the Butcher and received the titles back. They lost the titles to The Mongols and this was Marino's final Detroit Tag Team Championship. He retired from wrestling in 1987.In wrestling
Finishing and signature move
* Abdominal Stretch
Championships and accomplishments
* "'
National Wrestling Alliance :* Regional:** NWA World Tag Team Championship "(Detroit version)" (7 times) - with Fred Curry (4) &Bobo Brazil (3)* World Wide Wrestling Federation:* WWWF International Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with
Bruno Sammartino (1) &Victor Rivera (1)External links
* [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/t/tony-marino.html Tony Marino Profile]
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