Author: Look, up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Big Poppa Pump in a Superman tee, cutting a promo like he’s faster than a speeding bullet. From the pages of comics to the ropes of the squared circle, Superman and pro wrestling have collided in some truly bizarre and brilliant ways. Whether it’s George Reeves body-slamming goons or John Cena channeling the Man of Steel, the connections run deep. Here are 12 unbelievable times Krypton met kayfabe.
Superman’s Wrestler Origins: How The Man of Steel Got His Look
Superman was first introduced to the world way back in 1936, in Action Comics issue 1. Ever since his conception, his image has resembled that of a circus strong man or professional wrestler. It’s a vibe writer and director James Gunn wanted to bring back to his 2025 Superman film, as he told Gizmondo.
"We were trying on all these different versions, and we screened tested with trunks and no trunks," Gunn stated. "And one of the things David said is that Superman wants kids not to be afraid of him.
“He’s an alien. He’s got these incredible powers. He shoots beams out of his eyes. He’s incredibly powerful and could be considered scary.
“He wants people to like him. He wants to be a symbol of hope and positivity. So he dresses like a professional wrestler. He dresses in a way that makes people unafraid of him, but in a way that shows hope and positivity. And that really clicked in for me."
Gunn added, "I think trying to pretend that Superman’s costume doesn’t have some frivolity to it at its base, trying to make it look serious, is silly because he is a superhero. He’s the first one, brightly colored, and that’s who he is."
Pro wrestling has been closely tied to the Man of Steel ever since he first crash-landed from Krypton.
In fact, one of the earliest on-screen portrayals of Superman was through a professional wrestler …sort of.
1. The First Superman Was A Wrestler: Karol Krauser’s Hidden Role (1941)
In five short years, Superman leaped from the funny book pages and onto the big screen in the form of Max Fleischer’s animated serials.
While Bud Collyer continued to provide the voice of Superman, a role he originated in the 1940s radio shows, Fleischer employed a technique called rotoscoping to animate his characters.
Rotoscoping involves taking a live-action actor and using their footage as a reference or template to draw upon. The result was a Superman animation that still looks beautifully fluid some 80 years later.
Fans had wondered who played the body double to the OG Superman for years. It wasn’t until decades later, in 2012, that the Superman Homepage revealed the actor to be pro wrestler Karol Krauser.
In the pro wrestling world, Krauser would find his biggest success in the 1950s and 1960s when he changed his surname to Kalmikoff and teamed with his kayfabe brother Ivan as "The Mad Russians," capturing several NWA tag team titles before Krauser’s unfortunate passing, collapsing after a match in 1964.
2. George Reeves Takes On Wrestling: Superman’s First TV Match (1952)
George Reeves’s beloved portrayal of Superman began with the 1951 movie “Superman And The Mole Men” before bringing the character to the small screen in “The Adventures Of Superman” TV show.
The eleventh episode of season one, titled "No Holds Barred," tells the story of a wrestler called Bad Luck Branagan who has crippled many opponents using his finisher, "The Paralyser."
Editor of the Daily Planet, Perry White, doesn’t trust Branagan and believes his manager, Mortimer Murray, to be crooked, so he sends Clark Kent to investigate.
Not much happens in this episode, with Superman only really doing some Superman-ing towards the end, where he takes down Murray’s stable of baddie bruisers.
It’s key, however, to keep in mind that why this episode came to be stemmed from the fact that pro wrestling was one of the most watched things on television in the early 1950s. This was an attempt to capitalize on its popularity.
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Add Us on Google3. Antonio Rocca Defeats Superman: The Comic That Changed Everything (1962)
Back in the 1950s, Antonio Rocca was one of Vincent J. McMahon’s top stars.
With his incredible athletic abilities – being able to perform high-flying moves such as hurricanranas, flying dropkicks, victory rolls, and flying body presses – Antonio Rocca was somewhat of a "Superman" himself, so it made sense for him to guest star in an issue of Superman from 1962.
In the story, Rocca fights Superman in a charity match, where he easily defeats the hero of Metropolis thanks to some magic by Mr. Mxyspitlyk.
Then, in an overly convoluted plot twist, it turns out Mxyspitlyk wasn’t involved in the bout at all! Rocca was Superman in disguise, Superman was Rocca in disguise, and Mxyspitlyk was, in fact, Krypto the Superdog. Of course.
The ruse was all in aid to capture a villainous gang, but one can’t help but think there must have been an easier way to achieve the same goal.
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4. Buddy Rose’s Superman Transformation Goes Completely Wrong (1980)
Following the death of George Reeves and the cancellation of “The Adventures Of Superman” in 1959, the Superman character fell into obscurity until director Richard Donner rejuvenated the franchise in 1978 with "Superman: The Movie," starring Christopher Reeve.
The film was a hit, spinning three sequels. In 1980, the same year that saw the release of “Superman II,” notorious wrestling heel "Playboy" Buddy Rose decided to pay homage.
On August 16th at the historic Portland Sports Arena, Rose decided to let the world know why "The Playboy always wins the big one!" during an interview segment.
What follows is a slightly uncomfortable few moments while Rose slowly undresses, first removing his jacket, then his trousers, repeating that he’s going to show us why he always wins the big one, in a scene that is just like a madman stripping down to his underwear.
Eventually, Rose takes off his shirt to reveal he is wearing a Superman costume, complete with a cape, but weirdly no trousers. Rose declares himself “The real-life Superman of professional wrestling!” to a chorus of boos from the crowd.
This segment not only gave Rose heat but also stands as an example of why, when Clark changes into his alter ego, he rips his shirt first, as standing there pantless is not a flattering look for any self-respecting superhero.
Later on in the same episode, the then-babyface Roddy Piper would come out for his rebuttal, wearing his own Superman vest, but thankfully also wearing trousers. At least one can presume, as he was filmed from the waist up.
5. Wrestling Legend’s Movie Role You May Not Have Noticed in Superman II (1980)
One memorable part of the second Superman movie is Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) battling against Rocky the Trucker. They first encounter each other shortly after Kent loses his powers, allowing him to live a human life with Lois Lane.
Rocky is a nasty piece of work, and his obnoxious rudeness to the staff in a diner forces Clark to interject, only to get beaten up by the flannel-shirted bully.
Then, at the end of the film, with his powers restored, Clark returns to the diner to seek his revenge, dropping Rocky onto a pie and then shoving him into a pinball machine.
Some say the scene is out of character for Superman, but for anyone who has ever been bullied, it is impossible not to feel some kind of satisfaction when Clark tells the diner workers, "Oh, I’ve been, uh, working out."
Rocky was portrayed by Canadian wrestler Pepper Martin, who wrestled across the United States and Japan from 1957 to 1975, before retiring from wrestling and focusing solely on his acting career.
Pepper Martin reflected on his time working on Superman to Bruce Hart on his Hart Beat Radio podcast.
"Rocky the Truck Driver. Of all the Superman movies ever done, ‘Superman II,’ for reasons, who knows, became the classic. As a matter of fact, its been playing in Los Angeles on TBS or TNT every week now for the last month or so, and it’s been on HBO. That was a lot of fun.”
Martin continued, “We shot that in London, England, and at Pinewood Studios. That’s a long chapter in the book, you’ll enjoy reading about how it all came about, and the problems we had shooting that scene. But yeah, we had a lot of fun."
You can read more about the life and times of Pepper Martin here.
6. Lex Luger Battles Superboy: Wrestling Invades Superman TV (1990)
After the success of Superman I, II & III, Alexander and Ilya Salkind, the “brothers of production” for the first three movies, decided to turn their attention to the small screen.
Superboy premiered in 1988 and was successful enough to run for four seasons.
In the season 3 episode titled "Mindscape," an alien creature causes the lad of steel to hallucinate different realities.
In one trippy dream sequence, Superboy struggles to come to terms with the fact that he is, in fact, a robot, and a replacement has come to take the place of our hero.
That replacement is none other than Lex Luger.
Luger does quite well in his small cameo, cutting a heel promo and informing Superboy that his first official act will be to dispose of him. Lex Luger then proceeds to punch Superboy through various office tables, before our hero blows up into smithereens and starts his next bad trip.
That isn’t where the Luger/Superman connection ends, either. Lex revealed to WGRZ-TV the origins of his ring moniker.
"I was always a huge Superman fan growing up, still am. So Lex Luthor was a heel, he was a bad guy in Superman. So Lex is from him. Luger is actually part of my heritage, I’m Scottish and German. Luger is a German revolver. And back then, Magnum PI with Tom Sellick was a number one show, and I go ‘Well, there’s Magnum and there’s Luger."
7. Big Poppa Pump’s Superman Phase: WCW’s Kryptonian Connection (1998)
What is your favorite era of Scott Steiner? The young mulleted athlete who, alongside his brother Rick, captured WWF tag team gold in the early ‘90s? Or the insane promo-spouting veteran during the later part of his career at TNA?
For many, the sweet spot is in the middle, during his WCW run, when he debuted his bleach-blond hair, signature goatee, and, of course, the Superman ‘S’ on his ring attire.
As WCW was a subsidiary of Time Warner, alongside DC Comics, copyright was never really an issue. So is Big Poppa Pump a big comic geek? Well, according to a report by the Miami Herald:
"Hell no," he said during Florida Supercon at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
"Do I look like a little kid to you? Comic books are a big thing. I looked at them when I was a kid. I’m not a kid anymore, so I kind of grew out of that phase," Steiner said.
"There is obviously a place for them because the movies do so good. The ‘S’ is because my freaks realized they weren’t with a normal man but a Superman. That’s why they called me the "Big Bad Booty Daddy."
Well, that answers that, then.
8. Chris Hero’s Superman Gimmick: From Controversy to Comics (2000)
Before adopting his “Hero” moniker, Chris Spradlin had a rather villainous gimmick.
As his original ring attire featured a wife-beater vest, Chris Hero may have taken the gimmick a little too far, adapting “Wife Beater” as his ring name.
To no one’s surprise, his wrestling persona spouted controversy, with women’s groups boycotting his shows. Speaking on the Sam Roberts show, Chris Hero spoke on how his most well-known persona came to be.
"I got an opportunity to work for an NWA company, and he was just like, ‘No, dude, you gotta come up with a new name. I like your stuff in the ring, I like your shows, but we gotta come up with something different.’ On the way to the show, I came up with Chris Hero.”
At first, Chris would wear a Superman t-shirt, sometimes with the ‘S’ crossed out, before eventually creating his own ‘C H’ insignia based on The Last Son Of Krypton’s shield design.
“My good friend Andy Nick, is a web designer at Dayton Ohio, greatly successful now. He attended the wrestling match with me. When I came up with Chris Hero, I don’t know when the thought entered my mind but I was like, ‘Oh, kind of where the S dips it can be a C,’ when I explained to my buddy Andy, he had a small picture of the Superman thing then just made it with his hand on the computer. He clicked it all together and that’s it.”
9. WWE Superstars Invade Smallville: Superman vs Wrestling’s Elite (2006)
Before becoming a superhero himself, as Drax the Destroyer in The Guardians Of The Galaxy trilogy (which was directed by current DC head honcho and director of the most recent Superman movie, James Gunn), Dave Bautista cut his acting chops on the season 6, episode 8 of Smallville called “Static.”
Bautista plays an escaped villain from the Kryptonian prison dimension known as "The Phantom Zone," and Clark has to travel to Seattle to hunt him down.
Soon after being cast in the role, Bautista shared his excitement with IGN.
"I don’t know the details yet, but I’m really honored to be on the show. I’m a big superhero buff, so I’m really excited about that. It’s also going to give me the chance to really branch out, reach out, and maybe reach some viewers that we don’t already have. I’m hoping they’ll want to check out Smackdown because of my appearance on that show."
When asked about his rise to pop-culture icon status, Dave was a little taken aback.
"Man, I’ve never even thought about that. It’s weird to even think about. I’m really just a kid at heart. That’s what makes Smallville special. I’m a big superhero buff, and it’s one of those things where I’m getting to live out my fantasy on the show, the same with being in the wrestling ring. I’m imagining I’m going to be some kind of villain in the show and to go up against Superman, there isn’t a whole lot that’s cooler than that."
Later that same season, in episode 17 titled "Combat," Clark has to track down another Phantom Zone escapee named Titan, portrayed by Kane.
WWE.com caught up with Kane ahead of the episode’s premiere.
“In this episode, there is an underground death match that is being broadcast on the Internet,” Kane expressed. “Clark Kent sees that, and of course being Superman, the goody two shoes that he is, wants to ruin everyone’s fun and go break it up.”
He continued, “You know, Superman’s pretty tough. The man of steel’s pretty tough. But he’s not the Big Red Machine.”
“Shooting on the set of Smallville was rewarding because I got to do what I like to do. I got to inflict pain and suffering, and I got to scare people,” Kane laughed.
Titan is part of an underground fight club, which also houses another combatant called Athena, played by the late Ashley Massaro.
“Lois Lane starts snooping around this fight club atmosphere, where I am employed, and I have an issue with her snooping around, so we go at it. It’s pretty cool,” Ashley expressed. We have an awesome fight scene. She’s a very tough girl. She can roll with the punches just as well as I can.”
“On TV I get to showcase one side of my personality a lot. That’s the happy, outgoing, friendly Ashley. Also in my matches, I get to show a different side of me. But I like being this character. She’s a bad girl, let’s face it! I tend to be a good girl on SmackDown.”
Massaro went on, “I think the fans are totally going to dig my character on Smallville. It’s very similar to the Ashley they like. I think they’re going to enjoy the fight scene, the gear that I’m wearing, and the character I play. I think it all fits very well.
“The whole thing’s just been a great experience. I’m really, really excited about it and I can’t wait for the fans to see it,” she smiled.
Erica Durance, who played Lois Lane on the show, also gave her opinion about her grappling co-stars.
“I think Ashley is great. She’s right on top of it. I got the sense from her when I met her that she’s a real go-getter. She’s not afraid of anything. She’s willing to work hard and I think that it’s a sign of any good actress.”
Unfortunately, Ashley Massaro passed away in 2019, and you can find more information about her story here.
10. John Cena Faces Superman: The DC Universe Wrestling Connection (from 2022)
Before turning to a life of villainy with a heel turn in WWE in 2025, John Cena was one of the biggest babyfaces in WWE history, standing for truth and justice for over 20 years.
Many, including the man himself, compared Cena’s face run to Superman as he stated on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast:
"John Cena in the WWE existence is quite easy for me to define: Superman. And I don’t mean I’m stronger than everybody, I can outrun a speeding train, or [I’m] stronger than a train, or faster than a bull, or whatever.”
He continued, “I mean, Superman acts with pure virtue. Superman has a moral code. Superman can be conflicted, but when he’s conflicted, his North Star is his moral code and his virtues. It affects the body language. It affects your delivery."
John Cena made his DC movie debut in 2021’s “The Suicide Squad,” playing the role of brutal justice bringer Peacemaker. The following year, the character would receive his very own TV spin-off, where he would eventually come face-to-face with the last son of Krypton.
In the season finale, after a hellacious battle against the butterflies and their giant butterfly cow (not a typo, it’s a long story), Peacemaker and his cohorts walk out of the battlefield victorious but broken, with Peacemaker carrying a mortally wounded Emilia Harcourt.
It’s at this point that the Justice League shows up, consisting of Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, and, of course, Superman.
As the gang walks past the world’s greatest heroes, Peacemaker exclaims, “You’re late, you ****ing ****heads!" and then makes a jab at Aquaman’s relationship with fish – a poignant ending to an excellent show.
11. The Rock’s Superman Encounter: Black Adam’s Epic Showdown (2022)
In 2014, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was announced as Black Adam, originally slated to appear in the Shazam! film before plans changed.
It would take eight years until The Great One’s standalone Black Adam movie hit cinema screens in 2022.
Between that time, The Rock and Kevin Hart co-hosted the 2016 MTV Movie Awards. As the show was broadcast live from Warner Bros. studios, DC’s parent company, Johnson and Hart at one point came out dressed as Superman and Batman, respectively, calling out all of the "Marvel b*****es" in attendance.
“Black Adam” was eventually released in 2022 as one of the last films in the DC Extended Universe.
In the movie’s end-credit sting, Black Adam is imprisoned in his fictional home nation of Kahndaq, with Amanda Waller, an FBI official and head of A.R.G.U.S., telling the powerful anti-hero that if he sets foot outside the country, she will have to call in a favor.
After boldly stating that no one on this planet is powerful enough to stop him, Superman steps in, portrayed by Henry Cavill, returning to the role for the first time in almost five years (not including Zack Snyder’s Justice League Cut).
The two stand face to face, teasing an epic battle that, sadly, will never happen, as an entirely new Superman story has been introduced.
12. The Cast of "Superman" Meet the Stars of AEW (2025)
With both DC Studios and AEW’s broadcast networks, TNT, TBS, and HBO Max, all of which are subsidiaries of Time Warner, it makes sense for there to be little crossover to help promote the 2025 Superman movie.
On July 2nd, 2025, on the 300th episode of AEW Dynamite, that’s exactly what happened.
First, we saw Kenny Omega and Superman actor David Corenswet exchange the famous red cape and the AEW International Championship, much to the dismay of the villainous MJF and Lex Luthor actor Nicholas Hoult.
Then, upon discovering that actress Rachael Brosnahan, who portrays Lois Lane, used to wrestle in high school, Timeless Toni Storm tries to think of a snappy name to help sell herself.
"What about Rachael The Reckoning?…Rachael The Relentless…no, Rachael The Ravishing Raven…no, I know, Rachael The Metropolis Maven!"
Unfortunately for some, following a series of lackluster films, the DCEU came to an end.
Fortunately, James Gunn is now in charge of the new DCU, having helmed the “The Suicide Squad” movie and the “Peacemaker” HBO Max series.
Given the filmmaker’s history of casting wrestlers like Dave Batista and John Cena, it’s likely that Superman will encounter partnerships and interactions with more professional wrestlers in future stories.
From a professional wrestler’s physique inspiring the Last Son of Krypton’s iconic look in 1941 to Hollywood’s biggest stars crossing between the squared circle and Metropolis, the connection between Superman and pro wrestling has endured for nearly a century. These crossovers prove that both Superman and professional wrestling share the same fundamental DNA: larger-than-life characters, mythic storytelling, and the eternal struggle between good and evil.
The next time you see Superman soaring through the sky or watch a wrestler make their entrance, remember: these worlds have been connected since the very beginning, and their greatest crossovers may still be yet to come.
