I can't Believe it's 5 Years Since We Lost MARK ROLLERBALL ROCCO!1##!!
He was Revolutionary in Changing The Sport for the Better and 'Modernising' The
Image of Wrestling still stuck in the 1950's/1960's!-With his 100 m.p.h. Hard Hitting
Ring Style-His Complete Command of a Myriad Holds and Moves and his Portrayal
Of A Great 'Villain'-He Brought Flambuoyance and Flair and Definitely Knew Just
Exactly HOW to Raise The Ire of The Crowd! ROCCO was an Absolutely Fabulous
Wrestler!!-When he Died-at Just Turned 69 Years of Age-Even Though We Knew he
Was Very Poorly-For Me it was STILL The Biggest SHOCK I'd Felt in 21ST Wrestling!
As My Homage to MARK Below-I'm Showing Some Memories of his Career from his
Early Days to his Last Full Decade in The Sport!
Even Today His Bouts Look Fantastic and his Peers have a Lot of Appreciation for
His Contribution to The GOLDEN Age of Wrestling in This Country!
MARTY JONES Describes him as 'Out of This World' and FRANK 'CHIC' CULLEN
Told Me Personally That He gave ROCCO 100% for his Ring Skills and his
Dedicated Input to The Business!
A Very Tough Competitor-He could Certainly 'Dish it Out' AND Take it too!
A BRITISH Champion and a WORLD Champion at HEAVY-MIDDLEWEIGHT-
Died 30TH JULY 2020-He is Sadly Missed Indeed!
MAIN MASK
As mentioned, hard to believe that it’s been five years since Rollerball Mark Rocco died. A talented wrestler that you always tuned in for, because he was never boring in the ring. And of course one of the best for sure.
Nothing like a workout with your dad.
Mark Rocco was an unbelievable wrestler. Exciting on tv , his bouts on the halls were much more hardhitting, more intense, blood was often spilt on both sides with opponents such as Marty Jones, Fit Finlay etc, usually the last bout of the night as nobody could follow them. A wrestling innovator who was a star in Japan as the original Black Tiger. A total one off, we will never see a wrestler like him again.
The word "legend" is the most overused term for people who are absolutely no legend at all, but that word is 100% appropriate for Mark Rocco, a proper legend. How Joint let him go to All Star and instead kept inferior wrestlers on still rankles with me.
Great selection of items from through the years. My memory is of seeing him on that early Southern tour, shirtless, and with his dad. Quaint to see how they both had to go down by straight falls in So'ton. He must have lost every night on that tour.
My impression is that, by the eighties, he had a far smaller pool of opponents and probably wrestled not only Marty as mentioned, but Kung Fu, Finlay, Saint and a few others not scores but hundreds of times. This really allowed them to hone their performances.
You could always see Rocco pushing himself and his opponents.
You label him a "villain," Main Mask: was he really? Or was he just hard hitting, aggressive, unrelenting, unfriendly, all business? And therefore believable.
Many Thanx NORFOLK SNAKE!-ROCCO versus JONES-Easily Over 100 Bouts!
I have at Least that Many Posters/Programmes/Flyers for This Match-Up!
ROCCO says They had a Love/Hate Relationship where Kicks were REAL Kicks and
Punches were REAL Punches!- Not to Mention the Number of Pile Drivers
Executed by Both!
They Both Started around the Same Time!-Beginning of 1970!
And on Rare Occasions They Actually Tagged TOGETHER!
MAIN MASK
Great photo tribute there ! The one question I always wonder - is just how many times did Rocco and Marty Jones meet ? I guess we'll never know....but very violent and hard hitting affairs for a regular night's work !!