Mark Hussey was born on May 11, 1951 in Manchester, England. He is a fourth-generation wrestler, and his father was ‘Jumping’ Jim Hussey. Mark turned pro in 1970. Not long after, he became known as Mark Rocco and started appearing on World of Sport Wrestling on ITV in 1970. At 190 lbs., ‘Rollerball’ Mark Rocco was often the lighter wrestler in a match, as he was not afraid to battle heavier opponents in catchweight bouts. While he was great at getting heel heat from the crowd, he was even greater at making his opponents look good. He was definitely not a selfish worker.

Mick McManus and Jim Breaks were two of the top heels appearing on the World of Sport Wrestling TV show back in the day, but, with all due respect to those who enjoyed their theatrics, they were rather ridiculous wrestlers, as they were merely characters pretending to be world class wrestlers. At least Les Kellett was just a full-fledged comedy heel who didn’t pretend to be otherwise, and was therefore more watchable and funny than McManus and Breaks, who got boring and stale really quickly.

Mark Rocco was in a class of his own. He was a true badass heel who took care of business. In other words, he was a truly great wrestling heel. You’d respect him for his ability, and you’d cheer his opponent for fighting back. Rocco was great at controlling and dictating the pace yet still being able to make his opponent look like a million bucks in the end. He was great at being heel while still being a competitive wrestler at the same time. So, this made him come across as a genuine mean and tough dude, a "Mean Machine" if you will, as opposed to the comedy clowns who were merely entertaining the old ladies swinging around their purses in anger at ringside. Kent Walton summed it up quite well when he once said on commentary: “Such a good wrestler this man Rocco, just a pity he gets a little wild.”

In 1982, New Japan Pro-Wrestling picked Rocco to portray Black Tiger, and he was in fact the First Black Tiger (and in the future, there would be a Black Tiger II and a Black Tiger III, portrayed by Eddy Guerrero and Silver King respectively). Rocco became one of the three main rivals of the First Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) in NJPW. During the late 1980s, Rocco also briefly feuded with Keiichi Yamada (Jushin Liger), and Rocco had even been involved with some of the early training of young Yamada. Rocco and Yamada ended up wrestling each other in TV matches in England, Wales, and Japan.

Rocco was one of the most outstanding British in-ring performers of the 1970s and 1980s. He was great at carrying opponents and making them look good, which helped in getting those opponents (who were usually the babyfaces of the matches) over with the crowd, and helped in making the matches more exciting. When Rocco had a match on the card, it would often be the most memorable match of the show.

Let’s have a closer look at some of Mark Rocco’s matches, and have a closer look at what made him so great…

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 2/4/76 Southend, England, Middleweight Title: Mark Rocco vs. Kung Fu. Kung Fu (Ed Hamill) was a Northern Irish wrestler who was masked at the time. Mark Rocco was 24 years old, and had over 5 years of pro wrestling experience by the time of this match. Rocco had been appearing on World of Sport Wrestling since 1970. Mark Rocco was like a machine, as he just kept going and going. Kung Fu would occasionally fight back, which would result in Rocco bumping and selling like crazy to make the crowd go wild for Kung Fu. Rocco would let Kung Fu do just enough to please the crowd, but he was in control enough to make the match good. Kung Fu was perhaps hindered by the gimmick, as it felt like he wasn’t wrestling very freely. Still, this was quite an action-packed match by 1976 standards. Near the end of the match, Rocco even executed a tope suicida. Kung Fu got his nose bloodied. Of course, six years later, Rocco would end up battling a far more famous masked wrestler. Good match. ***¼ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 6/30/76 Lincoln, England: Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones 22:31 (5:00, 5:00, 5:00, 0:37, 5:00, 0:57, 0:57). This bout was scheduled for eight three-minute rounds. Like many great wrestlers from that era, they were both from the Manchester area. They had previously met in matches on 11/21/73 and 3/17/76 (of which there currently is no footage available, unfortunately). This was their third televised bout against each other. In general, both men displayed some great athletic skills, and they were solid technicians. There was enough sense of a true rivalry between these two men that everything they did had roughness behind it, as if they just wanted to show the opponent they really wanted to beat them. Rocco started wrestling rougher and rougher as the bout progressed. The heat between the two escalated to the point that both men received public warnings. The referee tried to keep control of this, but it felt like it could get out of control any second, and at some point he even tripped over Jones. In the first round, it all started with them trading technical wrestling holds. They didn’t allow the opponent to catch much of a breather, and they were very evenly matched, as both were of similar size at the time. Rocco had a couple of years more experience than Jones. In round 3, Rocco was a lot more aggressive than in the previous two rounds. Jones wasn’t too concerned about Rocco’s attitude and was ready to fight. Jones’s arm wasn’t in good shape by the end of round 3. In round 4, Rocco immediately went back to working over Jones’ left arm and shoulder. The action went back and forth. Rocco was great both in being in control and being the aggressor yet making Jones look as good as possible in the process. Jones was great at showing fighting spirit, and had great chemistry with Rocco. Both had excellent timing and execution. Judging from the footage currently available, this was one of the best matches of the 1970s. *****   

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 5/11/77 Southend, England: Mark Rocco vs. Lee Bronson. Mark Rocco sarcastically clapped his hands when the crowd booed him. This is a great example of Rocco having very brief interactions with the crowd that showed his discontent with the crowd. Other than that, Rocco was all business, and would let his rough actions in the ring do all the speaking. Rocco was an amazing bumper. He’d bump all the way to the floor off a shoulder block. He’d do it in a way that was realistic and not too exaggerated. The crowd genuinely didn’t like Rocco due to his unfriendliness and unpoliteness, but there wasn’t anyone doubting his wrestling ability. Lee Bronson, who was merely an average wrestler from London, looked like a million bucks (at least in the eyes of the marks watching) thanks to Rocco’s amazing ability to carry his opponent. Very good match. ***¾  

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 7/29/77 Picketts Lock, England: Mark Rocco vs. Steve Veidor. Both men were from the North West of England. Both men had a good amount of experience. Steve Veidor, who was a bit more experienced, had toured NJPW in 1975. Mark Rocco hadn’t toured Japan yet at this stage of his career. Mark Rocco, who had shaved his mustache prior to this bout, once again did a superb job of carrying the match. Steve Veidor, a 212-lb. heavyweight, was quite a heavy load to carry. Rocco managed to rile up his opponent so much that Veidor received two public warnings. Good match. ***¼ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 11/7/77 Aylesbury, England: Mark Rocco vs. Kung Fu. Kung Fu (Eddie Hamill), from Northern Ireland, was not wearing his mask this time, so he was clearly just a sympathetic-looking European dude who had apparently studied martial arts, as opposed to being a mysterious man from the orient (so he wasn’t quite as mysterious as Kwang). Kung Fu was significantly more capable and aggressive compared to their previous televised meeting. Perhaps the mask no longer being a distraction was helpful. Kent Walton mentioned that the back elbow to the throat used to be illegal, but was perfectly legal now. The match became progressively more exciting. The match ended when Kung Fu jumped over the top rope onto Rocco, who was standing on the apron, and both fell to the floor. Very good match. ***¾  

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 6/5/78 Catford, England: Mark Rocco vs. Leon Fortuna. ‘Mean Machine’ Mark Rocco battled a wrestler from Tonga here. Rocco did a good job of carrying the rather primitive-style wrestler. It was a rather easy win for Rocco, as he scored the win via KO in the second round. Decent match. **½ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 6/5/78 Catford, England: Mark Rocco vs. Clive Myers. “Rollerball” Rocco faced ‘Iron Fist’ in the final of this tournament. Rocco had beated Leon Fortuna, and Clive Myers had beaten Dave Bond. Rocco did a really good job of carrying Myers to an exciting bout. Myers was doing things he’d normally never do, and certainly didn’t show in his lackluster bouts against Steve Grey. Even Mick McManus, who had joined Kent Walton for color commentary, noticed that he had never seen Myers this inspired before. Rocco drew out of Myers a super exciting and futuristic bout. There were plenty of big bumps, and some high flying moves. It wasn’t quite as good as Rocco’s best bouts with Marty Jones, because Jones was a much better all-round worker than Myers, but it definitely had somewhat similar energy as those bouts. While Grey was able to point Myers towards a toolbox with tools that were available, Rocco was able to show Myers how to use the tools. Excellent match. ****  

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 7/26/78 St. Albans, England: Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones (3:00, 3:00, 1:20, 1:22, 3:00, 1:20). This was their fourth televised bout against each other. Unfortunately, not all of those televised bouts are currently available for viewing. Mark Rocco tried to give Marty Jones as rough of a time as possible, but Jones wouldn’t surrender, and would always try to fight back. Jones was one of the most talented opponents Rocco had to face, so the way he wrestled his matches against Jones was a bit different from the way he wrestled against less talented wrestlers. Against the less talented wrestlers, Rocco had to try with all his might to make the matches good, but against Jones, Rocco knew he could use Jones’ skills to his advantage, and have a spectacular bout featuring some of the most high-end wrestling seen in the wrestling world at the time. The first round was a round that featured mostly technical wrestling. In the second round, Rocco was becoming wild and out of control, viciously attacking Jones, who remained calm, cool and collected. Jones fought back in a technical manner, as he didn’t want to let his emotions get the best of him. Jones managed to take the match back to the mat. Rocco would continue to be wild and aggressive. Jones almost scored a pinfall, but Rocco was still too fresh. Rocco missed a dropkick and Jones took advantage of it. After the round was over, Rocco sneakily attacked Jones. In the third round, the high-quality work continued. The wrestling was fast-paced and energetic. They were constantly moving and coming at each other, not giving each other too much chance to recover. In this third round, Rollerball Rocco scored the first pinfall. This brought a big grin on Rocco’s face, satisfied that his no-nonsense and non-crowd pleasing approach was paying off. In the fourth round, Rocco took a big upside down bump in the turnbuckle after Jones launched him. Jones was able to take advantage of Rocco’s overconfidence, and scored the equalizing pinfall via a flying bodypress. In the fifth round, Jones executed a beautiful top-rope dropkick. Rocco was bumping around like a madman, something he did so well. Jones’s offense looked slick and well timed. Things were getting more heated and public warnings were given to both men. It was now time for the sixth round. After a hard-fought battle, Rocco was able to pin Jones. Rocco grabbed the mic and challenged Jones for Jones’ title. Jones had an even better idea, and said they should have a title vs. title match! Rocco yelled at Jones: “This belt is 200 years old, when I’m finished with you, you’ll look 200 years old!” Great match. ****¾     

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 9/13/78 Woking, England, British Heavy-Middleweight Title vs. British Light-Heavyweight Title: Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones. This was the big title vs. title bout! The first title vs. title bout in World of Sport Wrestling history. This was their fifth televised match against each other. Marty Jones was very prepared, and had even trimmed down to make weight for this bout. He was very quick on the mat, which seemed to annoy and surprise Rocco early on in the match. Jones is so on top of his game that he almost scored a pinfall relatively early, which rattled Rocco to the point that Rocco wasn’t acting as cocky as usual. Rocco still had a meanstreak and still acted heelish, though, but that was just his villainous self shining through. Overall, Rocco was definitely more cautious than usual, which was a compliment for Jones, as, in the story, Rocco clearly was concerned about the outcome of this huge title vs. title bout. Jones was very focused and alert. Both Rocco and Jones took some tremendous bumps. Jones scored the first pinfall in round 5. Rocco visibly showed that he was upset with himself for letting it happen. Rollerball Rocco showed he was all business in round 6 by scoring the equalizing fall. Rocco took a huge bump to the floor and couldn’t make it back into the ring. Jones was declared the winner. This was almost on the same level of their previous matches, but it was just lacking that little bit of extra intensity that would have made it great. Excellent match. ****¼ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 9/11/78 Rotherham, England, King of the Ring Quarter Final: Mark Rocco vs. Bert Royal. Joined in progress in round 4. 46-year old Bert Royal was known as a man who played by the rules. He was quite a well-known wrestler and was actually in the first-ever televised wrestling match to be broadcast on ITV back in 1955! His selling was at times a bit hilarious, yet cool at the same time, because it looked like he was in lots of trouble. Other than that, his performance here was just average. He was definitely not bad, but he wasn’t doing anything that would make anyone want to see more of his work from the late 1970s. Good match. *** 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 10/11/78 Walton-on-Thames: Mark Rocco vs. Alan Dennison. 49-year old Alan Dennison had been a pro wrestler for 20 years by this point in time. Dennison was an average wrestler who should mainly just be known for being Dynamite Kid’s opponent in Dynamite’s first World of Sport Wrestling TV match in 1976. Dennison gave a mediocre performance here. Even Mark Rocco couldn’t really do much with Dennison. Okay match. **¼ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 11/20/78 Catford, England, British Heavy-Middleweight Tournament Semi-Final: Mark Rocco vs. Mal Sanders. English wrestler Mal Sanders had only been wrestling since 1977. Mark Rocco did a superb job of carrying the 20-year old wrestler. Sanders showed potential, and combined with Rocco’s tremendous ability, this turned into quite a good match. ***¼  

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 12/6/78 Blackburn, England, British Heavy-Middleweight Title Tournament Final: Mark Rocco vs. Chris Adams. A lot of you old school wrestling fans might remember ‘Gentleman’ Chris Adams from his days in Texas. He was only a rookie back in 1978. He had only been a pro wrestler since June 1978 after having been a judoka. This young lad from the West Midlands in England showed lots of potential here in this bout against the great Mark Rocco. In attendance for this big match was Mark Rocco’s dad, Jim Hussey. Kent Walton made a good point on commentary, as he said that it felt like Chris Adams was a challenger here, even though both competitors were fighting for the vacant title. Adams did a very good job selling and reacting and following Rocco’s lead while coming across like someone who was capable of doing something himself as well. Adams’ intentions were good, but his execution wasn’t always as good. Still, this match ended up being quite enjoyable. Good match. ***¼  

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 1/16/79 Middlesbrough, England: Mark Rocco vs. Kid Chocolate. Joined in progress in round 3. Kid Chocolate was billed as being from Dominique. He won the first fall, and not too long after, Rocco scored the equalizing submission. Rocco did a good job of carrying Chocolate, but it wasn’t really much of a match, especially with the short falls interrupting the momentum. Rocco won quite easily by submission in round 5. Okay match. **¼   

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 4/10/79 Leamington Spa, England: Mark Rocco vs. Bert Royal. Mark Rocco bumped and sold like a madman to make the middle-aged Bert Royal look better than average. Royal would occasionally have some sudden movements, which made him more dangerous than he looked. Rocco scored a pinfall after a wicked tombstone piledriver, after which Kent Walton said that the piledriver should be cut from the wrestling rulebook. Rocco took a big upside down bump into the corner after Royal threw him into the corner. Rocco started assaulting Royal by ramming his head into the canvas. Royal received a public warning after accidentally kicking Rocco in the crotch area. They did a really good job at making things more heated, as you could cut the tension with a knife. Royal finally scored the equalizer, much to the delight of the crowd. Royal came across as a bit of a clumsy but sympathetic veteran. Rocco eventually got disqualified for his rough tactics. Good match. ***¼  

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 6/12/79 Southend, England: Mark Rocco vs. Chris Adams. ‘Black Belt’ Chris Adams was an English wrestler who would eventually become quite well known for his work in Texas. Adams showed quite a bit of improvement compared to their meeting from six months prior. His execution was slightly better than six months ago. Rocco was dictating and carrying the match, but Adams would do a very good job of showing he was a hungry young man who wanted to prove himself. Rocco did a good job of acting like he felt threatened by Adams’ martial arts-type teases. Adams’ unusual approach to a wrestling match, and his overall inexperience as a pro wrestler wasn’t really allowing for the match to have any really smooth momentum. However, Rocco’s tremendous ability helped put over the idea that this was a tough battle he was in. Rocco’s selling and bumping made Adams look good, and it made the crowd happy. Rocco would occasionally unceremoniously throw around or knock down Adams to show he wasn’t just going to let this youngster get away with everything. Good match. ***¼ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 7/7/79 Wembley, England Wembley Arena: Mark Rocco & Steve Logan vs. Chris Adams & Pat Patton. Chris Adams was getting smoother each time he wrestled Mark Rocco, mostly thanks to the fantastic way Rocco was setting up Adams’ offense along with being a great bumper and seller for him. At one point, Adams hit a flying cross bodypress off the top rope. This rather short tag match was really mainly about Rocco vs. Adams. Pat Patton didn’t stand a chance against Rocco, and Rocco even hit three wicked piledrivers on Patton. Good match. *** 

IWE 10/79 WWU World Jr title: Ashura Hara vs. Mark Rocco. The commentators name dropped Dynamite Kid. Mark Rocco was quite a bit more polite here than he usually was in his matches back home. Ashura Hara was his usual capable but dull self. Hara enjoyed throwing Rocco around. Rocco became a bit more aggressive towards the end. Hara kept throwing Rocco around, though, and Hara scored the win via pinfall. Decent match. **¾ 

IWE 10/79 Mark Rocco vs. Isamu Teranishi. Joined in progress. Even though Isamu Teranishi wasn’t quite as competitive here as Ashura Hara was in his battle against Mark Rocco, the match was of similar quality as the Hara match. There was action, but it wasn’t quite as energetic as Rocco’s matches from England. Rocco did a good job of making the most out of this match. Rocco’s selling for Teranishi’s dropkicks was certainly tremendous. Rocco scored the win via pinfall. Decent match. **¾  

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 6/25/80 Southport, England: Mark Rocco vs. Mal Sanders. Mal Sanders had matured as a wrestler, and was more capable than he was in November 1978 when these two last met on television. This meant it was easier for Mark Rocco to carry the match this time, and he was able to focus more on storytelling. ‘Rollerball’ Rocco was quite aggressive when he was on offense in round 2. When ‘Superstar’ Sanders fought back, Rocco complained to the referee about Sanders being rough, which riled up the crowd, since it was obviously Rocco who had started this. Rocco continued his wicked ways, but Sanders was able to occasionally fight back, much to the crowd’s delight. Rocco scored the win via KO in round 5 after hitting his vicious tombstone piledriver. Very good match. ***½    

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 9/3/80 Morecambe, England: Mark Rocco vs. Bobby Bold Eagle. Bobby Bold Eagle, an American wrestler from Arizona, had been wrestling since 1968. He had the typical Native American gimmick. Unfortunately, his wrestling not only was a poor fit stylistically, it also wasn’t of very high quality. ‘Mean Machine’ Mark Rocco did what he could to make Eagle look passable. Okay match. **¼ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 5/28/80 Solihull, England: Mark Rocco vs. Pete Roberts. ‘Super Destroyer’ Pete Roberts battled ‘Mean Machine’ Rollerball Rocco in a catchweight bout. Both men started the match off with some technical wrestling. It was a slow and methodical yet snug start of the match. As expected, Rocco played a bit rougher than Roberts did. However, Rocco’s roughness seemed to inspire Roberts to become a bit more aggressive himself. The match ended in a draw. While the wrestling was perfectly fine, the match never became more than good and never became truly memorable or spectacular. Good match. *** 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 11/26/80 Walthamstow, England: Dynamite Kid vs. Mark Rocco 11:22. This aired 12/13/80 on WOS. This was an excellent match between Dynamite Kid and Mark Rocco. Dynamite and Rocco worked at a steady pace. Rocco showed some sneaky and heelish tactics early on whenever he saw the chance. The execution was tremendous. Dynamite’s offense was executed in a very precise and effective manner. Dynamite had an amazing way of countering a wrist lock. Instead of simply reversing a wrist lock, he performed a really nice series of moves where he did a kick-up, a cartwheel, a backdrop on Rocco (while Rocco was holding onto a wristlock) and then Dynamite countered the wrist lock with a wrist lock of his own. The intensity shown was great in this match. At some point, there was a cool sequence where Rocco Irish whipped Dynamite into the ropes and went for possibly a backbreaker as Dynamite came off the ropes, but Dynamite flipped backwards and executed a backbreaker of his own, followed up by a falling headbutt and a released German suplex. Dynamite went for the cover and won the first fall via a pin in the third round. However, immediately after the third round had ended, the referee stopped the match because Dynamite Kid was bleeding too much. The result was a no contest. It was a disappointing finish to a match that deserved better. By this time in his career, Dynamite’s repertoire had really become an explosive blend of British, Northern American and Japanese wrestling. Rocco was a top worker, and I like how Rocco really put a lot of effort in his pinning attempts, like he was really trying to pin his opponent. The action was non-stop, and the crowd was really into it. Both workers really put over that they were trying to rough each other up, to the point that the referee had to calm them down a bit (old school World of Sports-style British wrestling was supposed to be played by the rules). Excellent match. ****¼    

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 12/30/80 Burnley, England: Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones. Joined in progress in round 4. Marty Jones pinned Mark Rocco to score the equalizing fall. Jones hit a tombstone piledriver and executed a somersault off the top rope onto Rocco. They both showed that winning this match would be something they truly wanted. The match ended in a draw. What is available of this match looked like the typically exciting wrestling between these two. Excellent match. ****

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 2/11/81 Bury, England: Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones. All of their matches are always slightly different, which is nice, because variety is a good thing. This match was more of a rough stompin’ and brawlin’ type of match with Rocco being the aggressor. This was a heated and intense bout. Jones’ enthusiasm when going for a pin was similar to that of a sports team member about to have the opportunity to score a goal or points. That’s the kind of thing that’s often missing in today’s wrestling, this enthusiasm and sport-like feel to the matches. While this was entertaining and fun to watch, this certainly wasn’t showy by any means. It was a no-nonsense wrestling match that was always almost about to get out of hand, since both workers were so determined to beat the other. Jones’ top-rope dropkick wasn’t merely done for the sake of it or to show off, he did it in an attempt to take out Rocco by any means necessary. The crowd was also really invested in this, and Rocco even got hit by an angry woman when he was on the floor. These two bitter rivals were so obsessed with destroying each other that they both hit a tope suicida in spite of wrestling on the floor being quite illegal. The match ended in a draw. Excellent match. ****¼  

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 4/4/81 Hemel Hempstead, England: Mark Rocco vs. Sammy Lee 9:36 (5:00, 3:36, 1:00). Satoru Sayama was known as Sammy Lee during his run in England. Mark Rocco was easily Sayama’s best opponent during Sayama’s tours of England. This was an excellent way for Sayama to prepare for his run as the First Tiger Mask, which would start later that month in Japan. Sayama moved around at an amazing pace and with amazing agility. He executed flips, spin kicks and all kinds of exciting stuff. Rocco bumped and sold well for Sayama’s offense. Of the few pre-Tiger Mask matches that we have available of Sayama’s early career, this is the best one. Rocco was definitely a suitable opponent for Sayama. It’s not a surprise that Rocco was chosen to be repackaged as the villainous Black Tiger and to become one of Sayama’s main rivals. The match slowed down a bit when Rocco was on offense, but Sayama would still be able to impress through impressive counters. For example, when Rocco executed a monkey flip, Sayama would land on his feet and hit a spin kick. Sayama scored a pinfall in the second round, and he won the third round by DQ after Rocco had broken the rules too many times. The match potentially could have been excellent, but it felt more like a teaser for the next phase of Sayama’s career, the phase in which he is a superhero in Japan. Very good match. ***½

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 6/18/81 Wembley, England Wembley Arena: Mark Rocco vs. Mal Sanders. Mal Sanders once again showed improvement, as he had become an even smoother worker than before. Mark Rocco gave a strong performance, but he wasn’t at his most aggressive or energetic here. Either way, Rocco did a very good job of bumping, selling and being in the right position for Sanders’ offense. When Rocco himself was on offense, he executed his moves very well. His elbow off the second ropes and his back suplex were tremendously executed. The pace of this match was steady and effective, and there was always something happening. Sanders had learned from what happened previously in the match, as he was able to avoid Rocco’s second attempt to hit an elbowdrop off the ropes. However, Sanders wasn’t able to avoid Rocco’s second attempt of his back suplex. Good match. ***¼ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 7/15/81 Morecambe, England: Mark Rocco vs. King Benn. King Ben(n) was an English wrestler who had been wrestling since 1974. He was an energetic babyface Mark Rocco sold well for. Rocco did a very good job of carrying the match, as usual, but King didn’t seem to be one of the better opponents Rocco faced, which is why the match wasn’t as exciting as most of Rocco’s matches against more capable opponents. Good match. *** 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 8/26/81 Southport, England, World Heavy-Middleweight Title Decision Match: Mark Rocco vs. Joel de Fremery. Joel de Fremery was from Paris, France, and he was trained by Albert Ben Chemoul (father of Rene Ben Chemoul). He had first started touring the United Kingdom back in the mid 1960s. He certainly came across as a slower and older wrestler here in this footage from 1981. Mark Rocco did his best to carry his opponent to as good of a match as possible. It was a relatively slow and old-fashioned type bout with Joel de Fremery focusing on simplistic moves that weren’t always executed very well, while Rocco focused on trying his best to make this bout less dull and trying to make his opponent move around a bit more. In the end, Fremery simply appeared to be too ancient for this match to be actually good. Credit to Rocco for making the most out of this, though. Decent match. **½  

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 9/29/81 Croydon, England: Mark Rocco vs. Chris Adams. ‘The Golden Boy of Professional Wrestling’ Chris Adams had dropped his judo gimmick and was now performing like a WOS Wrestling-style pro wrestler. Adams had improved significantly compared to his work from the late 1970s. Mark Rocco did a very good job of showing that he was trying to stay one step ahead of Adams. While this was a pretty good match, it felt like the match never really seemed to get underway and thus never reach its potential. Rocco became a bit more aggressive towards the end, both in his offense, as he started dumping Adams on top of the ropes. He also started bumping more energetically when the match started reaching the final stages. Adams lost via TKO after hitting his head while executing a backdrop suplex on Rocco. Good match. ***¼ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 11/18/81 Oldham, England: Dynamite Kid vs. Mark Rocco 9:50 (5:00; 2:00; 1:30; 1:20). This aired 12/19/81 on WOS. “Mean Machine” Mark “Rollerball” Rocco was clearly the heel in this match. Dynamite Kid was briefly on tour in England. It was interesting to watch Dynamite back in action in England, the country he was born in and started his career in. This was scheduled for six five-minute rounds and two-ouf-of-three falls. Dynamite showed his explosiveness from the start. Dynamite took a huge back body drop bump. The first round was tons of fun. The second round saw Rocco, who was a great worker as well, acting more aggressive and heelish. No wonder he was chosen for the role of Black Tiger in NJPW. Rocco hit a tremendously executed back suplex and that got him to win the first fall, two minutes into the second fall. In round three, Rocco continued the aggression. It was interesting to see Dynamite in the babyface role after watching so many matches of his as a heel in Calgary and Japan. Rocco took a big bump in the corner that sent him over the top to the outside. Dynamite beautifully executed a knee drop and then followed it up with an even more amazingly executed knee drop off the top rope. This got him a “public warning” from the referee. Dynamite hit a back suplex and got the pin, scoring the equalizing fall. In the fourth fall, Rocco executed a monkey flip, Dynamite almost landed perfectly on his feet and followed it up with a dropkick. Dynamite hit a wicked tombstone piledriver. Dynamite hit a beautiful diving headbutt. Dynamite threw Rocco into the ropes and when Rocco came off the ropes, Dynamite executed a gutwrench suplex to win the third fall and the match. What really stood out in this match was the high-level execution of moves. Everything looked intense and explosive. ****¼  

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 11/30/81 Catford, England, World Heavy-Middleweight Title Match: Mark Rocco vs. Dynamite Kid 12:50 (3:00; 3:00; 3:00; 3:00; 0:50). This match had some snug work and it was a joy watching these two wrestling against each other. This aired 1/16/82 on WOS. This was scheduled for 15 three-minute rounds and two-out-of-three-falls. Just as the first round had ended, Dynamite was about to follow-up a gutwrench suplex with a knee drop, but he decided to stop and be all about fair play here. Dynamite hit a back body drop on Rocco, who took a big bump. It’s funny to see Dynamite executing a back body drop because that’s one of the main moves Dynamite usually likes to bump big for, but this time the roles were reversed, and someone else was doing the big bumping for the move. The action was non-stop and it was quite intense. They basically picked up where their excellent match from 11/18/81 left off. Rocco executed a monkey flip, Dynamite landed perfectly on his feet and dropkicked Rocco through the ropes. Dynamite hit Rocco with a forearm smash, Rocco replied with a forearm smash. Commentator Kent Walton said: “Oh, I hope this isn’t going to turn into a forearm smash contest.” Dynamite hit a really well-executed knee drop. In the third round, Dynamite hit another knee drop. Dynamite executed an armdrag, a leapfrog and another armdrag. In the fourth round, Dynamite took a huge bump of a back body drop. Rocco went for a top-rope back elbow, but Dynamite moved. Dynamite hit a beautiful double-underhook suplex, but Rocco’s legs were in the ropes. Rocco hit a well-executed back suplex. The fifth round ended when Dynamite suplexed Rocco over the top rope and Dynamite went to the outside as well. Both men failed to make the ten-count. The result was a no contest. It was another excellent match between these two. ****

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 2/3/82 Burnley, England: Mark Rocco vs. Kung Fu. Kung Fu was still an interesting character, but he didn’t seem to have developed much as a wrestler, based on the various times we’ve seen him face Mark Rocco. And Rocco probably sensed this, so he did a fantastic job of going all out in order to make this bout a spectacle. Rocco was aggressive and energetic. He truly lived up to his ‘Mean Machine’ moniker. That being said, the match was perhaps a bit too showy to be considered more than just good. It was definitely enjoyable to watch, and it was quite a speedy match. However, the match slowed down a bit towards the end, which gave the match a bit of an anticlimactic feel. Overall, this felt like a hard-fought match that sent everyone home happy, except for those who don’t like to see the heel win. Rocco scored the win after a vicious tombstone piledriver. Good match. ***¼   

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 2/17/82 London, England Royal Albert Hall: Mark Rocco vs. Steve McHoy. Steve McHoy was a wrestler from Manchester who had been wrestling since 1981. He was the son of Wild Angus (a Northern Ireland-born Scottish wrestler who toured AJPW in 1978). Mark Rocco did an excellent job of trying to make the inexperienced McHoy look like a seasoned veteran, as he bumped all over the place for him. McHoy was extremely green here, and he definitely needed a great and experienced worker like Rocco to guide and carry him. Rocco is such a fluid seller and spectacular bumper that he can make almost anyone look like a skilled pro wrestler. This definitely wasn’t one of the best matches in World of Sport history by any means, but it was certainly fun to watch Rocco do his thing. Decent match. **¾  

NJPW 4/21/82 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, WWF Junior Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger 14:17. The First Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) started feuding with his new foe, the First Black Tiger (Mark Rocco). There would be other people portraying the Black Tiger gimmick in future, most notably Black Tiger II (Eddy Guerrero) in 1993-1998 and Black Tiger III (Silver King) in 2001-2006. Sayama and Rocco had battled each other before in England, but this was the first time they wrestled each other with the tiger gimmicks in Japan. After lots of fast-paced and exciting action in the ring, Rocco threw Sayama out of the ring and executed a tope suicida. Sayama showed his quickness and explosiveness when Rocco threw Sayama off the ropes and Sayama countered with a handspring followed up by a dropkick that sent Rocco through the ropes to the floor. The action went back and forth. Black Tiger was a tough opponent, but Tiger Mask kept fighting back harder. Sayama executed a Mil Mascaras-esque flying cross body block. After a tombstone piledriver, Sayama went for a move off the top rope, but Rocco moved. Rocco executed a back suplex and started showing more ferocity. The villainous Black Tiger hit a low blow. Tiger Mask fought fire with fire when he threw Rocco crotch-first onto the top rope. Sayama then dove on top of Rocco with a pescado. Rocco tried to make it into the ring, but Sayama held on to his legs, and threw Rocco into the ringpost. Sayama was now acting like a wild animal and snapped, as he kept attacking his foe on the floor, even after the bell had rung. Despite the double count-out finish, this was an excellent high-workrate match. This was particularly spectacular for the time, as only Sayama’s matches with Dynamite Kid were comparable to this level of excitement. Rocco did a great job in his first outing under the new gimmick. It felt he was perhaps a bit too polite and respectful for Sayama, as he didn’t show the amount of aggression and heelishness he showed in his WOS Wrestling matches in England (perhaps due to him having to adjust to being a masked character and/or to the large NJPW ring). Still, his ability to be a top heel leading a top babyface to an excellent match shone through in this memorable match. He was certainly a notable presence, yet he didn’t impose too much, allowing Sayama to be the brightest star. Excellent match. ****¼     

NJPW 5/26/82 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, WWF Junior Heavyweight Title: Black Tiger vs. Tiger Mask 14:15. Tiger Mask had won the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title the day prior to this match by beating Les Thornton, which was a match that was kinda average because of Thornton not being able to come even remotely close to matching Satoru Sayama’s speed and ability. In this match against Black Tiger (Mark Rocco), Sayama found himself once again in the challenging position, as Black Tiger had won the vacant WWF Junior Heavyweight Title on 5/6/82 by defeating Gran Hamada. The reason the title was vacant was because of Sayama getting injured on 4/30/82 and missing more than two weeks of the tour. By the way, in case someone wasn’t aware of this, the WWF Junior Heavyweight Title was used in NJPW at the time because of NJPW’s working agreement with WWF. Now that Sayama was back in action, he wanted to take revenge on his villainous foe for giving him a low blow in their previous match, and Sayama obviously wanted to win back the title that he never was defeated for. The wrestling in this match was very good, but it took a little while for the match to become really heated. Sayama did the tiger feint as he teased a dive, but then went for a pescado that he missed because of Mark Rocco stepping aside. Just like in their previous match, Rocco hit a low blow on Sayama. Rocco went for a backwards elbow drop off the top rope, but Sayama moved. Sayama hit a tremendous tombstone piledriver, followed up by an amazing moonsault that got him the win. It was a really good match with action that was quite advanced for the time, but because it took a while to get really interesting, it wasn’t quite as excellent as their previous match. It felt like Rocco wasn’t really taking advantage of his ability to be a great leading heel as much as in their previous battle. He was more relying on standard bumping and selling in between some short breaks where he’d grab a hold to tame the other tiger. That gave this match a bit more of a disjointed stop-start-stop-start feel than their previous bout, which felt more like one whole organic piece. Still, along with Sayama’s feud with Dynamite Kid, this was one of the most exciting feuds in wrestling at the time. The final two minutes were particularly spectacular. Very good match. ***¾  

British Wrestling Federation Reslo TV 8/11/82 Llandudno, Wales: Rollerball Rocco vs. Chic Cullen. Reslo (Reslo = wrestling in Welsh) was an interesting TV show from Wales that in 1982 started featuring wrestlers like Johnny Saint and Mark ‘Rollerball’ Rocco. Ever the professional, Rocco worked hard here in Wales, just like he had done in his matches in England and Japan earlier in the year. 1982 was certainly a super year for Rocco in terms of international recognition. ‘Dynamite’ Frankie Cullen (a.k.a. Chic Cullen/Robbie Stewart) was a really good Scottish wrestler. This was an action-packed match that was moving at a high speed. Both men took big bumps and both men worked hard. Rocco was great in his role as the heel that was leading the match, and Cullen’s ability matched well with what Rocco liked to do. The fact that these two had excellent chemistry together helped this match be exciting and fascinating from start to finish. This match featured one of Rocco’s strongest efforts of the year, which says a lot. Excellent match. ****¼  

British Wrestling Federation Reslo TV 8/18/82 Caernarfon, Wales: Rollerball Rocco vs. Tony St. Clair. Tony St. Clair had been wrestling since 1966. He was a lanky heavyweight, who didn’t do much technical wrestling, but he was actually quite a decent worker, for sure. Mark ‘Rollerball’ Rocco was obviously more than capable of carrying him anyway. St. Clair’s armdrags definitely looked awesome. This was certainly quite the action-packed match, as they kept moving at a good and steady pace. Rocco hit a backwards elbow drop off the top rope that looked awesome. And he hit a beautifully-executed back suplex for a pinfall in the third round. Rollerball was definitely on a roll in this match, as not only did his offense look great, but his bumping and selling looked great as well. St. Clair scored a pinfall in round 4, which brought a smile to his face. At some point, St. Clair was thrown to the outside, and as he was about to reenter the ring, Rocco greeted him with a tope suicida. Rocco did more tope suicidas than virtually any other wrestler from this era (at least, as far as footage availability allows us to make a statement like this). This bout was definitely lots of fun to watch. Very good match. ***½  

NJPW 8/27/82 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Tatsumi Fujinami & Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger & Pete Roberts 10:47. Black Tiger attacked Tiger Mask before the match even started, which helped put over the heated rivalry they were in. Tatsumi Fujinami and Pete Roberts both gave solid performances, but the match was definitely at its best when the Tigers were in the ring together. Satoru Sayama’s speed and explosiveness are always a joy to watch, and in Mark Rocco he had an opponent who was fast and agile enough to work exciting sequences with. Rocco was the one mainly responsible for pushing the pace. Rocco was also so heelish that even his tag team partner initially wondered why he was acting that way. The match ended when Fujinami pinned Roberts to win the match. The finish kinda came out of nowhere after a brief accelaration, but this bout was satisfying overall. Very good match. ***½

NJPW 8/29/82 Tokyo Denen Coliseum, WWF Junior Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger 18:03. There is only rare handheld footage available of this match. There was a funny spot where Tiger Mask had Black Tiger tied up in the ropes like Andre the Giant would always get tied up in the ropes, and Tiger Mask then balanced himself in between the ropes on the other side to say in a mocking manner that he could now relax. Since this was a house show and not a televised show, you’d maybe think they’d approach this differently, but to their credit, they still gave a performance that would have been suitable for television. This definitely helps uphold the idea that whenever these two wrestled each other, it was going to be quality wrestling, no matter when or where the meeting took place. There was a bit more mat-based action and less moving around than in their televised matches, but they never gave the impression they weren’t giving a good effort. Mark Rocco hit a nice tope suicida. What’s even more remarkable is that Satoru Sayama had to fly to Madison Square Garden in New York City after this match to have a really good match with his other main rival, Dynamite Kid. Rocco executed a back suplex off the second ropes and he did a backwards bump immediately after hitting the move. These two once again showed they had really good chemistry, as they had yet another smooth match together. Very good match. ***¾     

NJPW 9/21/82 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, WWF Junior Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger 19:08. Mark Rocco gave a very strong performance and carried the match well. He mainly worked over Satoru Sayama’s knee while he also kept the action going so that it never felt like a dull match. Sayama spent a large part of the match selling his knee. Rocco hit Sayama with a low bow again, but Sayama would pin Rocco soon after that. The finish kinda came out of nowhere and felt odd after Rocco had been in control so much. It was a worthwhile match, but it was not quite as good as their previous matches. Good match. ***¼ 

British Wrestling Federation Reslo TV ?/82 Wales: Rollerball Rocco vs. Ian Wilson. Ian Wilson was an unathletic-looking wrestler from England. His work in this match indicates he was also a little bit clumsy. Mark ‘Rollerball’ Rocco was obviously anything other than clumsy and was very effective in his carrying of this bout. Wilson certainly tried, but he tried to do things he wasn’t capable of doing well. Rocco made quick work of his opponent here, as this was essentially an extended squash. Okay match. **¼ 

NJPW 2/7/83 Tokyo Sumo Hall, WWF Junior Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger 6:23 of 15:18. This match seemingly became progressively more spectacular. It’s a shame less than half the match was shown. This appeared to possibly have been one of their best matches against each other, judging from the six minutes that were shown. After hitting a tombstone on the floor, Satoru Sayama went for a splash off the top rope to the floor, but Mark Rocco rolled away. Once back in the ring, Sayama managed to avoid a couple of low blow attempts by his villainous foe and took Rocco down with a spin kick to the back. Sayama then lifted Rocco up for a bridging German suplex, which resulted in a pinfall victory for Sayama. ***¾  

British Wrestling Federation Reslo TV 7/12/83 Rhyl, Wales: Rollerball Rocco vs. Kung Fu. These two were quite familiar with each other, as they had battled each other several times before. Rocco did a very good job of carrying and leading the match, but he also seemed a bit tired of wrestling Kung Fu. Rocco still showed a lot of viciousness, though. The match was longer than it needed to be, but the hard work made the length feel less detrimental. Rocco cheated to win after there was an uncharacteristic ref bump. Decent match. **¾  

British Wrestling Federation Reslo TV 7/13/83 Llandudno, Wales: Rollerball Rocco & Dave Larsen vs. Chic Cullen & El Bandito. El Bandito was the alter ego of the Welsh promoter and wrestler Orig Williams. He had been wrestling since 1950 and was one of the top stars in Wales. He was alright. Dave Larsen, the least impressive worker of the match, was a British heavyweight. Chic Cullen and Mark Rocco were impressive, as always, and the match was at its best when they were wrestling each other. Okay match. **

WWF 12/28/84 New York City Madison Square Garden, WWF Junior Heavyweight Title Decision Match: Black Tiger vs. Cobra 7:00 of 12:31. The WWF Junior Heavyweight Title was vacant due to Dynamite Kid jumping from NJPW (who had a working relationship with WWF at the time) to rival league AJPW. During this bout at MSG, commentator Gino Monsoon kept going “whoa!” and understandably so, as these two were definitely showing some of the most advanced wrestling since Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask took place at this very same venue on 8/30/82. Cobra (George Takano) dropkicked Black Tiger (Mark Rocco) to the floor and followed up with a tope suicida. Rocco executed a back suplex to perfection. He also executed a tremendous tombstone piledriver. Rocco went for another piledriver, but Cobra reversed and followed up with a senton for the win. Cobra became the new WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion. Good match. ***¼  

NJPW 2/3/85 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center: Black Tiger vs. The Cobra. This was from the unusual brief time period in which The Cobra was the top babyface in the NJPW junior heavyweight division. It certainly was a transitional period of sorts. Black Tiger was a consistent factor, though, as he had been around in the division as a major villain since April 1982. Cobra certainly didn’t have nearly the same popularity as ‘Tiger Mask’ Satoru Sayama had (and he obviously wasn’t even close to having a similar amount of talent as the all-time great Sayama did), so this rivalry between Tiger and Cobra didn’t quite have the same feel to it. When the Cobra was announced, Black Tiger gave two thumbs down to show his disapproval. These two kept the action going, and Tiger showed his skills as a ring general, guiding Cobra to a match that flowed well. They didn’t really do anything wrong, but they could have shown a bit more urgency to make things more exciting. Tiger did a good job of working over Cobra, but the audience didn’t seem to care about whether or not Cobra was getting beat up or not. Cobra didn’t really do anything to garner sympathy. Tiger once again gave two thumbs down to show he didn’t really care for Cobra either. All of a sudden, after minutes of selling and not getting much offense in, Cobra caught Tiger, who was climbing towards the top rope to go for his signature falling backwards elbowdrop, and hit a backdrop suplex off the top for the win. Good match. ***

All Star Wrestling 12/27/86 London, England Hippodrome: Mark Rocco vs. Chic Cullen. World of Sport no longer existed by this point, so this was just pro wrestling appearing as a stand-alone program on ITV. This was not nearly as good as their excellent bout in Wales in 1982. Still, they did enough good things and were generally good enough in spite of this not being their most energetic effort. During the final minute, Rocco hit an elbowdrop off the top rope and then went for an inside cradle that got him the pinfall win. Good match. ***¼ 

All Star Wrestling 11/25/86 Catford, England: Johnny Saint vs. Mark Rocco. Joined in progress in round 2. By this point, Joint Promotions wasn’t the main league in the United Kingdom anymore. All Star Wrestling had taken over. Ironically, these two greats who had been featured prominently in Joint Promotions now finally wrestled each other in ASW after never having a televised bout against each other in Joint Promotions (as far as I know). They wrestled more of a Mark Rocco-style match than a Saint-style match with more of a focus on them leaping at each other, and not too much chain wrestling. Very good match. ***¾  

All Star Wrestling 1/13/87 Croydon, England: Mark Rocco & Kendo Nagasaki vs. Fuji Yamada & Clive Myers. Fuji Yamada is Keiichi Yamada (Jushin Liger). Mark Rocco bumped and sold very well for Yamada. The British Kendo Nakasaki was a well-known wrestler at the time. He worked a typical average heavyweight style and was more of a remarkable gimmick than a remarkable wrestler. Clive Myers didn’t do anything of note here, but Rocco did a good job carrying him. The match was certainly at its best when Yamada and Rocco were wrestling each other, as they were able to provide a more high-end wrestling display together. One of the highlights took place when Rocco executed a tremendous superplex on Yamada. It was a fun tag team match that varied quite a bit in quality, depending who was in there. Okay match. A ringside woman was so invested in the match that she helped Yamada back into the ring. Unfortunately for Yamada, soon after, Rocco hit a wicked tombstone piledriver for the win. Okay match. **¼  

Ffederasiwn Reslo Cymru Reslo TV 2/5/87 Amlwch, Wales: Rollerball Rocco vs. Johnny South. Johnny South was a wrestler from England who had been wrestling since 1965. Rocco bumped well for Johnny’s armdrags. It was a rather average bout. Rocco worked well, but this wasn’t one of his most memorable matches, even if it was mainly due to having a rather uninteresting opponent. Okay match. **

Ffederasiwn Reslo Cymru Reslo TV ?/87 Caernarfon, Wales: Rollerball Rocco vs. Fuji Yamada. Mark Rocco had been involved in the early training of young Keiichi Yamada, who idolized English wrestler Dynamite Kid. This match between Rocco and Yamada was a fast-paced one. Rocco did a very good job of being the heel who was being overwhelmed by the exciting babyface. Yamada provided plenty of nice-looking high flying moves. Rocco hit a nice superplex. The finish was spectacular as well, as Rocco’s suplex sent both crashing to the floor all the way from the ring. It was a straightforward but fun match. They worked hard and used their time well. Good match. ***¼ 

All Star Wrestling 4/28/87 Catford, England, World Heavy-Middleweight Title: Fuji Yamada vs. Mark Rocco. Some of the spots didn’t look as smooth as you’d expect from these two, but they gave a strong effort overall. Whenever they weren’t doing spots, they were kinda wandering around, though. So while this gave the feel of a methodical title match, it was actually a more stretched out version of their match in Wales. This means they didn’t really use their time as well as they could. Yamada scored a pinfall via a bridging German suplex. Rocco scored a pinfall after a double underhook suplex. Yamada missed a missile dropkick when Rocco stepped aside. In the end, Rocco scored the pinfall after a tombstone piledriver. Rocco had become the new champion. Rocco did a good job of guiding, but he opted for a rather light match. Good match. ***

NJPW 9/1/87 Fukuoka International Center: Mark Rocco vs. Keiichi Yamada 6:07 shown. Mark Rocco was determined to give Keiichi Yamada a rough time. The match was worked at a relatively high pace. The crowd was quite enthusiastic. This match happened not long after the big one-night IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title tournament, so the division was on a roll in terms of excitement around that time. What they did well was initially create a vibe where Yamada was in a lot of trouble against a gaijn who was driven to succeed. Then, they gave the fans what they wanted when Yamada managed to make a big and quick comeback. The comeback was a bit too brief, though. It would have been interesting to see a bit more of a back-and-forth situation near the end. Either way, it was good to see these two have a match in Japan. Good match. *** 

NJPW 9/7/87 Kyoto Prefectural Gym: Keiichi Yamada & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Owen Hart & Mark Rocco 16:21. Mark Rocco and Keiichi Yamada picked up where they left off in their feud of 1987. They were keeping the pace high and the action coming. This was arguably Rocco’s best match in Japan not involving the First Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama). Rocco had some memorable bouts with Sayama earlier in the decade when Rocco was known as (the First) Black Tiger. Owen Hart was still in his prime back then, and he played a big role in this match being so good. In fact, this match took place two weeks into Owen’s very first tour of Japan, and he was certainly making a great impression on this tour. Him and Yamada worked some cool-looking sequences in this match, and the match definitely benefited from them working together. They were two of the most promising young junior heavyweight talents out there at the time. It’s no surprise they would both become superstars. Nobuhiko Takada was the weak link of the match, but he was actually motivated to work harder than usual, partially because he had no choice, since the other three were pushing the pace so much. Especially Owen did a very good job of forcing Takada to keep moving. In fact, Takada was not in the way at all and helped to make some contributions to the match, albeit smaller contributions than the other three were donating. And Owen also moved around super gracefully, executing several moves to perfection. This inspired Yamada to up his game as well. Excellent match. ****

All Star Wrestling 11/4/87 Wallasey, England: Mark Rocco vs. Danny Collins. Commentator Kent Walton mentioned that World Heavy-Middleweight Champion Mark Rocco had been in Japan earlier in the year. After some solid wrestling, Collins scored the first fall in round 3. Rocco scored the equalizer in round 4. Rocco had already received two public warnings by this point. In round 5, Rocco scored the win via a submission by applying the sasorigatame. Walton also mentioned that Rocco recently had back surgery, which at least partially explains his decline. Of course, age and injuries were slowly catching up with Rocco. He still gave a strong effort, but his body wasn’t going as fast as it used to. Danny ‘Boy’ Collins did well, but it wasn’t necessarily one of his best performances. Also, by this point, wrestling in the U.K. didn’t really resemble the old British style wrestling anymore. It was all more watered down and generic. Good match. ***

Ffederasiwn Reslo Cymru Reslo TV ?/88 Denbigh, Wales: Rollerball Rocco vs. Danny Collins. This was a fun action-packed match. There were some cool spots here and there, but it wasn’t a must-see match or anything like that. Good match. ***¼  

Ffederasiwn Reslo Cymru Reslo TV ?/88 Porthmadog, Wales: Rollerball Rocco vs. Tony St. Clair. Both men had slowed down a bit by this point in their respective careers. Decent match. **¾ 

All Star Wrestling 6/8/88 Bedworth, England, Mid-Heavyweight Title: Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones. These two were both a few years removed from their peak years. Good match. ***

NJPW 7/12/89 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match 3Min 10Rd: Jushin Liger vs. Black Tiger 14:53 (R5 2:53). IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title matches were usually not contested under these modified British-inspired rules, but since both men had been wrestled each other in England (albeit under different names), it was indeed a fitting idea to incorporate that experience into a NJPW match. In the first round, they already set the pace quite high. In the second round, Black Tiger was being more mean and aggressive, as he showed sparks of his old self. Jushin Liger did a great job overcoming the adversity, fought back, executed a tombstone piledriver and a cannonball off the top. Liger went for a plancha to the floor that half missed. In round 4, they continued to display plenty of intensity. Tiger executed a superplex for a near fall. In round 5, Tiger kept taking it to Liger, as he could sense a fall was near. The action went back and forth, both men trying to get enough of an advantage to put the opponent in a position to go down for a fall. There was a tremendous sense of struggle, and both men displayed their never say die attitude. Liger finally managed to hit the Liger Bomb, and that got him to win the match. The match didn’t flow very well, because they basically treated each round like a new match, so it didn’t feel like things were culminating. In other words, things seemed quite random. However, what they did do well was to put over the idea they both really were trying hard to beat the opponent, and in the end, that’s all that really matters. Also, this was arguably their best singles match together, since it had more energy and more of a feeling of importance to it. Very good match. ***½ 

Ffederasiwn Reslo Cymru Reslo TV 4/6/90 Caernarfon, Wales: Rollerball Rocco vs. Danny Collins. Danny Boy Collins still showed flashes of excellence, and he was still capable of being a fiery babyface. However, Mark Rocco was an experienced worker who could still lead a match quite well. In spite of British wrestling no longer being at its peak, when guys like Rocco and Collins met, there was still the chance to see wrestling that was overall better than a lot of the wrestling happening in the rest of the world at the time. Rocco was, of course, a great veteran, and Collins was incorporating some spectacular moves that weren’t seen every day at the time. Collins was particularly inspired on this day, working hard hard and busting out some really cool moves, while Rocco was very focused and did a really good job dictating the pace and allowing Collins to make comebacks at the right time in order for this match to succeed as much as possible. Very good match. ***½  

Ffederasiwn Reslo Cymru Reslo TV 4/7/90 Corwen, Wales: Rollerball Rocco vs. Tony St. Clair. The effort was good, but both men were in the later stages of their career at this point. What made this match enjoyable was that they tried to work sequences as fast as they could, keeping things exciting with only an occasional short opportunity to catch a breather in between the excitement. They definitely were able to put over the idea that they were making each other struggle and pushing each other to the limit. Good match. ***

1970-1975: N/A (hoping to find footage)

1976: All-Time Great (10 out of 10)

1977: All-Time Great (10 out of 10)

1978: All-Time Great (10 out of 10)

1979: All-Time Great (10 out of 10)

1980: All-Time Great (10 out of 10)

1981: All-Time Great (10 out of 10)

1982: All-Time Great (10 out of 10)

1983: Great (9 out of 10)

1984: Great (9 out of 10)

1985: Excellent (8 out of 10)

1986: Excellent (8 out of 10)

1987: Excellent (8 out of 10)

1988: Excellent (8 out of 10)

1989: Excellent (8 out of 10)

1990: Excellent (8 out of 10)

Mark Rocco’s five best years were: 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1982. After watching over sixty matches of the ‘Mean Machine,’ it is safe to say that he is one of the all-time greats of professional wrestling, and he is arguably one of the top 3 greatest British wrestlers ever. Especially during his very best years, it was his bumping, selling, timing and understanding that would often help elevate his opponents and matches to higher quality. He had the ability to guide his opponents really well and set them up for success.

His in-ring feud with Marty Jones was arguably the most memorable pro wrestling feud of the 1970s, as it was of high quality and still looks impressive even when watched decades later. Their ‘70s matches were ahead of their time. During the early 1980s, his in-ring feud with Dynamite Kid and Satoru Sayama were among the most interesting feuds of the time. Other than his best matches against Jones, the matches against Dynamite were Rocco’s best matches on WOS Wrestling. His feud against The First Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) in NJPW was one of the top feuds in the NJPW junior heavyweight division at the time.

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 6/30/76 Lincoln, England: Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones 22:31 (5:00, 5:00, 5:00, 0:37, 5:00, 0:57, 0:57). *****

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 7/26/78 St. Albans, England: Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones (3:00, 3:00, 1:20, 1:22, 3:00, 1:20). ****¾ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 11/18/81 Oldham, England: Dynamite Kid vs. Mark Rocco 9:50 (5:00; 2:00; 1:30; 1:20). ****¼ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 11/26/80 Walthamstow, England: Dynamite Kid vs. Mark Rocco 11:22. ****¼ 

British Wrestling Federation Reslo TV 8/11/82 Llandudno, Wales: Rollerball Rocco vs. Chic Cullen. ****¼ 

NJPW 4/21/82 Tokyo Kuramae Kokugikan, WWF Junior Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger 14:17. ****¼ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 9/13/78 Woking, England, British Heavy-Middleweight Title vs. British Light-Heavyweight Title: Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones. ****¼ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 2/11/81 Bury, England: Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones. ****¼

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 11/30/81 Catford, England, World Heavy-Middleweight Title Match: Mark Rocco vs. Dynamite Kid 12:50 (3:00; 3:00; 3:00; 3:00; 0:50). ****

NJPW 9/7/87 Kyoto Prefectural Gym: Keiichi Yamada & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Owen Hart & Mark Rocco 16:21. **** 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 12/30/80 Burnley, England: Mark Rocco vs. Marty Jones. ****

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 6/5/78 Catford, England: Mark Rocco vs. Clive Myers. ****

All Star Wrestling 11/25/86 Catford, England: Johnny Saint vs. Mark Rocco. ***¾ 

NJPW 2/7/83 Tokyo Sumo Hall, WWF Junior Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger 6:23 of 15:18. ***¾ 

NJPW 5/26/82 Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, WWF Junior Heavyweight Title: Black Tiger vs. Tiger Mask 14:15. ***¾ 

NJPW 8/29/82 Tokyo Denen Coliseum, WWF Junior Heavyweight Title: Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger 18:03. ***¾ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 5/11/77 Southend, England: Mark Rocco vs. Lee Bronson. ***¾ 

Joint Promotions WOS Wrestling TV 11/7/77 Aylesbury, England: Mark Rocco vs. Kung Fu. ***¾

Mark Rocco - Hall Of Talent video version

Hall Of Talent YouTube Playlist