The Word LEGEND is bandied about all the time in Sporting Circles these days!-but in the
Case of MARK ROCCO- It is an Understatement!
Not merely just a Fantastic Wrestler with a superb array of Wrestling Moves-ROCCO pretty
much single-handedly 'Revolutionised Wrestling in the 1970's/1980's in this Country!
Bringing High Energy and Excitement to our Rings coupled with a new Aggressive and Hard
Hitting Style ROCCO Transformed Wrestling and Turbo-Charged a Fading and Waning Sport
into a Reborn FightFest of Must-See Combat!
Pioneering High Risk Moves-Acrobatic Skills and 100 m.p.h.Total Action-This Super Fit and
Superb Athlete could 'take it' as well as 'dish it out'
Like NAGASAKI before him in the 1960's-many of his Matches were pulled from T.V.-
deemed too Violent and Explosive!
My Support Material for this Topic begins with the Mini-Poster/Flyer for probably his FIRST
EVER Bout on his Birthday-MAY 11TH 1970 against STEVE BEST at BRADFORD'S
ST.GEORGES HALL!-and ends with the Programme for one of his LAST EVER Bouts
Partnering BOMBER PAT ROACH at NOTTINGHAM on 30TH NOVEMBER 1990-against
KENDO NAGASAKI/ROCK'N'ROLL EXPRESS!
His Career spanned exactly 20 Years-20 Very Memorable Years!-Early on he adopted the
Names of ROLLERBALL and MEAN MACHINE-See my 2 Rare mid '70's BELLE VUE
Programmes which I attended- and he soon embarked on Rivalries!
ROCCO'S first Target was BERT ROYAL'S HEAVY-MIDDLEWEIGHT BELT which he first
Won in 1976!-Wrestlers like ROYAL couldn't live with the MEAN MACHINE!-Very few could
keep up with him-One who could was MARTY JONES-and in the latter half of this Decade
these Two had some Epic Battles-still there to Watch on You Tube!-The War with JONES
Spilled over into the 1980's-with many Title Matches-see the Posters for these!!
Other Notable 'Enemies' at the Time were DYNAMITE KID and KUNG FU!
Then in 1982-ROCCO went to JAPAN and adopted a New MASKED Persona Wrestling as
BLACK TIGER in a Series of Feud Matches against TIGER MASK and Others!
In All ROCCO Wrestled 38 Times in JAPAN!-See Article on Title Match with TIGER MASK!
Returning to our Shores a New Rival Targeted ROCCO-and a Grudge Series began against
FIT FINLAY-Another Great Wrestler-See Posters! Also in the late '80's ROCCO very
Successfully Teamed up with KENDO NAGASAKI!-This Alliance went Spectacularly wrong
in a Match against DAVE TAYLOR/IRONFIST when ROCCO attempted to save KENDO
from being UNMASKED but ended up assisting when Drop-Kicked backwards with the
MASK still in his hands!-A Furious NAGASAKI blamed ROCCO and another WAR started
that lasted 2 Years and was pretty Vicious!-See Programme Article!
Sadly and unexpectedly this Great Wrestling Career was suddenly Halted for good at
WORTHING in early 1991 when ROCCO collapsed in the Dressing Room after a Bout against FIT FINLAY!-His Heart was found to be only functioning at 30%!
My Top Accolade as the BEST Wrestler-outside HEAVYWEIGHT- during these two Decades
goes to MARK ROLLERBALL ROCCO!-A Total Wrestler-He had Everything going for him
and was also a Top Champion!-So ends my Tribute to the MEAN MACHINE!
MAIN MASK
Interesting pictures of Tiger Mask above but it isn't Rocco, you'll never see Mark without a vest. There was a reason for that which most will probably know and wouldn't be fair to discuss on a public forum. But it sure ain't Mark