10 Unbelievable Times Batman Beat Superman
9. Batman: The Dark Knight #5
This may come as a shock, but the majority of the time, Batman and Superman DON'T want to fight each other. Like, not even a little. Not even when one is being mean. They're friends, and friends don't typically resolve any issues they have with each other by beating the living daylights out of the other.
So in order to GET them to fight each other, writers have to come up with convoluted misunderstandings or, failing that, the tried and true mind control plotline!
In Batman: The Dark Knight #5, Batman gets hit with a new strain of Scarecrow's fear toxin, turning him into a raving lunatic with super strength. It comes down to Superman to get him to snap out of it, only for Bats to take advantage of the fact that Clark doesn't want to hurt him by beating him to a bloody pulp.
Superman technically wins, downing Batman with a solid right hook, which is what keeps this entry from getting any higher, but the Caped Crusader was close to - for the first time - downing the Man of Steel with no tricks, gadgets, or edgelord robot suits.