What a great find ! The earliest bout that's out there of a young Rocco. Great to see him developing his style with many of his moves already in place that he would continue to use throughout his career. Be nice if some more bouts from this era and earlier came to light !

Under used on TV...hence I presumed under rated ....its just my take on events and my use of words and I used a question mark. As with all my (and presumably others too) posts its to get the old wrestling community searching their memory banks and sharing stories, prompting debate and it looks like I 've succeeded on this occasion !

Many thanks - great memories that I 'm sure we all wish could be re lived !

Big Daddy and We Shall Not Be Moved springs to mind. Mighty Quinn by Manfred Man for Big John, Belfast by Boney M for Fit Finlay and Japanese Boy for Fuji Yamada were all regulars in the 80s, but the one in the halls that always set the tone for what was to come was TNT by AC DC when Rollerball Rocco was coming in - it had the perfect lyrics and rock sound that seemed to set both the crowd and Rocco alight before the match began. I still think of Rocco even now when I here that riff....

So I live in this strange world where I was the most enthusiastic punter, I lived and breathed it live and on the telly but then I made the jump to actually doing it albeit for only 6 years and only on local shows and as sometimes a substitute on bigger Dixon shows. It was a hard transition for many reasons. For a while I still watched to learn...but gradually my passion as a punter waned, I stopped recording the matches I saw, the results, collecting the programmes etc. What was the point I thought. But now I wish I had carried on with that side of it when I read all these posts today. Then I knew I 'd never reach the heights of my heroes and eventually quit. Funnily enough I look back at that era still with the eyes of a punter although I was pleased to have had a go and actually wrestle some of those I used to cheer on and boo. In contradiction to many of the posters on here, I got the 'fun' side of it - Big Daddy, Catweazle etc but even then it was good v evil, something that seems for the most part missing today. More importantly for me in the 80s I saw the rise of a harder hitting style which as a punter looked so believable and real. I read those old Wrestler magazines retrospectively from cover to cover when I was given virtually the lot from 66 to 72 and so wish I could have seen all those characters and bouts I had missed out on yet read about. The sad thing was and I hate to say it here but when I did actually get to see a lot of those 1970s matches that were shown on The Wrestling Channel etc in latter days I was slightly disappointed. The likes of Logan, Marino, Szackacs etc looked tired, old and far less believable than the matches we were seeing in the 80s. For me in my time a lot of the bouts particularly Dixon shows were more like the real deal. Until I see lots more of those missing TV bouts that are hidden away in the ITV archives the 1980s was and will always be my golden era of UK wrestling.

Ha....you oldies speak for yourselves !! Some of us came into it in the late 1970s through to the early 90s....the glory days of Rocco and Marty Jones, the peak of Steve Grey, the arrival of the Mighty John Quinn, new youngsters like Dynamite Kid and Fit Finlay then later still Danny Collins, Richie Brooks, Kid McHoy....the list goes on. I am gutted to have missed George Gordienko, Billy Robinson's heyday, Albert Rocky Wall, the Hells Angels and Black Diamond tag teams, Adrian Street feuding with George Kidd, Jack Pye, Bert Assirati....another long list that goes on and on... but that's life. We all think the era we are most familiar with was the best, but again that's life, without a crystal ball who are we to say ? But I miss those days, the dimming of the lights, the roar of the crowd, the sound of the bell, the silence and polite applause of a scientific encounter, the venom and hatred of the villains, the commentry of Kent Walton....nothing in the modern world of wrestling compares to what we saw live or on the telly through our eyes in our era....but the fans of Will Ospreay and the AEW/WWE would think what we all still rave about as boring old hat...yea that's life !

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 !!

I think that the Enrique Marquess of the 1980s was a different wrestler as my recollections was of a younger man than 1958/1962 bouts would suggest. Could have been a case of Brian Dixon using an old name from the past ?

Steve Grey...yes just as good, his matches with Jim Breaks had us all wincing when the wrist cracked !

At King's Lynn Corn Exchange in late 80s/early 90s, a punter jumped into the ring and smashed Psycho Shane Stevens in the face, before leaping out and dashing out of the back door. Psycho was left with a genuinely black swollen eye and cheek. Definitely a real unscripted moment. Another similar event that I have mentioned before came at the same venue. 4 man KO tournament - Fit Finlay, Rocco, Danny Collins and Steve Regal. Rocco beats Collins in one of their usual hard hitting high flying matches. Finlay takes on Regal and is giving him a hammering when a big and renowned King's Lynn hard nut enters the ring. At that moment Finlay has Regal in a head lock so is unaware of the new addition to the ring. He side swipes Finlay in the face with a helluva punch. Finlay looks shaken momentarily and lets go of a bemused looking Regal, and rocks back into the ropes before unleashing a fearsome one-two punch combination and leaving the big fella swaying and then falling out through the ropes. Finlay looks unphased and beckons him to come back but the big chap looking battered and shaken shouts he will be back 'with others' before leaving through the side door. The bout continues, Finlay wins and then its time for the match everyone wants to see Finlay v Rocco. I'm pretty sure Finlay took the decision after another brutal match up. We all wanted to see it, but I don't know, it lacked something. Two villains, no poor brutalised blue eye to cheer on. Both had been so hated it obviously left all the punters unsure of who to will on. Rocco was definitely the less hated of the two on this occasion and for once became the unlikely hero of the day. I don't think I ever saw Finlay in that role, he was always the bad guy, a role he excelled in like no other. Great memories from a time when every punter in that packed hall believed every hold, punch, kick and throw were for real...and for one unfortunate chap from King's Lynn on that night they were every bit the real thing !

For the brief 6 years I wrestled in late 80s/ early 90s I was told not to swear. Whether this was the same for the bigger names I dont know, but I d imagine so as anyone who took the mic in those days never swore either

Theres a couple of bouts between Jones and Wright on Youtube. One I recall from watching back in the 80s when Wright was knocked out...Wright took some amount of punishment and high bumps that look brutal and real even to this day. The knockout dropkick from Jones looks devestating and very real. Was it a knockout for real ? .Interesting that nephew Alex who wrestled for WWE and WCW in the States at one time sported the same mohawk hairstyle as Uncle Bernie when he came back to Britain as a Canadian rule breaking villain.

Karl Gotch and Billy Robinson....the bout everyone wanted to see in the 60s. There is a latter day match (1980s) on Youtube ftom Japan

I used to think Tally Ho Kaye was up there with Breaks, Rocco, McManus etc in the mid 70s on TV wrestling. Great interactions with the crowd and loved it when he blew his hunting horn when they were announcing the opponents. Showmanship aside he always did the business and often displayed great ability sometimes with an array of unorthodox holds that showed he really did know the job.I have seen he used to tag with Rocco occasionally, but they would have made a great permanent combination.

6 years from 1986/87 for small East Anglian promotions (Brian Trevors, Trevor Denny, Dave Daring) and regular stand ins for All Star at Norwich/King's Lynn. Also a belated comeback in 2008 for WAW...Met and wrestled some great chaps Best bouts - Ivan Trevors (lots of times and always great, he should have gone further than his one TV appearance which never really showcased his abilities), King Ben and the Irish lad Tony Stewart (Billy Reid also) - what a fantastic lightweight he was !

More sad news, a good capable heavyweight mostly for All Star Promotions when I saw him although he did some work for Joints too. Always thought he ' d have been greatin a tag team with Caswell Martin. Their style and build were very similar. Did they ever tag ?

I wonder if this was a case of a non Tv bout in a venue where the reports never made it back to the mainstream....such things happened with other wrestlers; champions losing but back with the belt in bigger venues and in more high profile bouts ?

Thats interesting in the respect it reports Billy beating Gagne twice to win the win the AWA World title - in all the old magazines and the AWA documented online history there is no reference to this ever happening ? Was that widely documented or something that was kept under wraps ?

I m curious too about all the controversy surrounding this bout. To my eyes it looks just like a heavy worked bout certainly not a shoot. Some in the States call them 'squash' matches. Surely there are loads of similar matches out there. Finlay went through a series of similar bouts in a build up to making him.'superman' Fit Finlay and a feud with Big Daddy. See his bouts against Grasshopper, Jackie Turpin and a young Danny Collins. He pulverised the latter as much he did Black Prince. If you wanted to see an equally brutal match watch Marty Jones v Bernie Wright. A heavy 'work' but was it a real knock out?

Those adverts were from Eastern Daily Press 1980. Modern wresting has changed so much, its really a completely different 'sport' to what it used to be. I cant take too much of it either but I can appreciate how much the WAW has changed with the times and produced some great performers. I would love to see many of todays current stars from all promotions go back to the WOS styled matches, rounds, rules and moves. There woud be some great matches and competitors for sure!