Gee Mr. Weisinger... Could Superman Beat A Wrestler? by Dave Goode

When I first started watching professional wrestling in the early 1960s my favorite grappler was Antonino Rocca. A great athlete and sensational showman Rocca was one of the top box-office draws of the day. And his matches were frequently broadcast on television. But as popular as he was I never expected to see him on the cover of a Superman comic book. But there he was on the cover of Superman No.155 (August 1962) tossing the Man of Steel out of the squared circle to the shock of Lois Lane , Jimmy Olsen and an arena full of wrestling fans.

 The Downfall of Superman was a seven and a half page story written by Superman's co-creator Jerry Siegel and illustrated by the tag-team of Curt Swan (pencils) and George Klein (inks). The story begins with pro wrestling star Antonino Rocca giving a press conference before an exhibition bout that evening with Superman. He demonstrates a few wrestling holds on the Man of Steel's alter-ego Clark Kent.Kent feigns an injury so he has a reason not to be in attendance at the match when Superman wrestles Rocca.

My favorite part of the story has Rocca equipped with an aqualung pinning an octopus to the bottom of a huge water-filled tank. After that exhibition Superman flies into the ring at the Metropolis Arena for his bout with the wrestler. No one in attendance believes Rocca will last more than a second against Superman. And you have to wonder why anyone  would think this match would be competitive. So everyone is shocked when Rocca tosses Superman from the ring.

It turns out that Mr. Mxytpilk has used his magic to make Rocca stronger than Superman to annoy his old adversary. And to further prove his point the 5th dimensional imp materializes both Hercules and Samson from the past to face Rocca who pins both the famous strongmen at the same time with his pinkies. But since this is a Silver Age Superman story everything isn't quite what it appears to be.

 

Of course the coolest thing about it all was having Superman face off against the popular wrestling star. The story goes that Superman editor Mort Weisinger often asked the neighborhood kids what kind of stories they would like to read. This seems like one of those stories. " Gee Mr. Weisinger. Who would win in a fight? Superman or a wrestling champion?

My buddy Vance Capley and I paid homage to this comic several years ago when we had our masked wrestling hero Mr.Incognito take on Superiorman.

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