Adrianna "Adrian" Pennino (10 March 1950 – 11 January 2002) was the wife of American heavyweight world champion Rocky Balboa. She met her husband through her brother, Paulie Pennino, while working at a pet store in Philadelphia; she became her husband's number-one supporter, and she always supported him until her death from ovarian cancer in 2002.
Biography[]
Adrianna Pennino was born in South Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1950 to a working-class, Catholic Italian-American family. She was the younger sister of Paulie Pennino, who befriended fellow South Philadelphia native Rocky Balboa, an amateur boxer. Adrianna, nicknamed "Adrian", worked at the J&M Tropical Fish pet store, which was frequented by Balboa whenever he needed to buy food for his pet turtles. In November 1975, she and Balboa began dating at the behest of Paulie, and they married on 8 February 1976, a month after she witnessed Balboa's famous first match against Apollo Creed. They moved into a new home together and purchased a Pontiac TransAm, and Balboa retired from boxing. However, financial difficulties forced Balboa to give his car to Paulie and come out of retirement, while Adrian returned to the pet store. Later in 1976, Balboa defeated Creed in a rematch, becoming the world heavyweight champion, and the family began to live a more extravagant life due to Balboa's success. In 1982, she provided moral support to him before his rematch against Clubber Lang, who had defeated Balboa a year earlier, and Balboa proceeded to win the rematch. She later accompanied her husband to his match against Ivan Drago in 1986, promising that she would always be there to support him. After Balboa's victory, Adrian announced her husband's retirement to general surprise. Back at home, Paulie inadvertently gave Balboa's accountant a power of attorney, and the accountant embezzled and squandered the Balboas' money on soured real estate deals, costing the Balboas their entire fortune and virtually all of their assets. They were forced to move into Paulie's home, and Pennino again returned to the pet store, while Balboa returned to boxing. In the autumn of 2001, Pennino discovered that she was dying of ovarian cancer, and she died surrounded by family on 11 January 2002. Her husband would open a restaurant, "Adrian's", in her honor, and it allowed for him to rise above poverty again.