Paid Members eugenespeed Posted July 31, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 31, 2020 (edited) On their Facebook, All Star Wrestling have announced that Mark "Rollerball" Rocco has passed away after suffering for the past few months. I'm gutted by this news. As a kid growing up watching the stars of British Wrestling on a Saturday afternoon, Rocco was my first favourite wrestler and I'll never forget his feud with Marty Jones. Tame by modern standards, but back in the 80s, their matches were wild in comparison to what we were used to.  Edited July 31, 2020 by eugenespeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Absolutely gutted by this. A genuine innovator who was decades ahead of his time. Rocco made you believe. He wrestled with an aggression that defied his size. He was genuinely one of my favourites to watch. His matches with Marty Jones, Dynamite Kid and Tiger Mask in particular still stand up today in terms of action and style. I know he had been suffering recently but seeing him work with Spud on British Bootcamp all those years ago made me think he could still wrestle rings around most of the current crop of wrestlers at the time. A huge loss. One of the absolute greats. RIP Rollerball.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted July 31, 2020 Awards Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2020 This is terribly sad to hear, one of the absolute best wrestlers this country has produced. To my shame I’d never heard of him before The Wrestling Channel, but seeing him on World Of Sport was a revelation. Why wasn’t everybody talking about Rollerball Rocco in the same way they talked about Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask?! The way he moved, the way he hit, the way he sold, the way he locked on submissions, the way he stood. Absolutely superb wrestler. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Thesz Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 In tears at this. In my opinion, having watched wrestling since 1977 he is the greatest of all time. Rest in Peace Mark Rollerball Rocco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegeta Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 What awful news R.I.P Mark Rollerball Rocco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted July 31, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 31, 2020 (edited) One of the best of all time for me. A state-of-the-art wrestler who should be considered up there with Liger, Tiger Mask, Eddy Guerrero et al. RIP "Rollerball" Rocco. Edited July 31, 2020 by Carbomb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 46 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:  Why wasn’t everybody talking about Rollerball Rocco in the same way they talked about Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask?! The way he moved, the way he hit, the way he sold, the way he locked on submissions, the way he stood. Absolutely superb wrestler. RIP. I don't know why Mark's name isn't/wasn't spoken in the same breath as Dynamite and Tiger Mask sometimes as it absolutely should be. His matches with Marty Jones in the late 1970's were the precursor to Tiger Mask/Dynamite in my opinion. Rocco helped create a hybrid style, along with those mentioned. that has heavily influenced a lot of what we see today.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 31, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 31, 2020 (edited) Sad to hear this. Not going to pretend to know a lot about British wrestling from any era but even I was familiar with Rocco early into my fandom when my Dad got me a few tapes of British wrestling he’d stumbled across somewhere. That was one of them but there was 3 or 4 in the series. Rocco was a constant throughout those tapes along with Finlay, Liger in his Fuji Yamada days, Nagasaki, Johnny Saint, Danny Collins and so on. Regal and Brookside popped up on one as well. Even back then though, Rocco and Finlay’s matches were the ones I watched most. I didn’t like them at the time because they were baddies but their matches slapping the fan favourites about were the most exciting on those tapes. There was one with Rocco and somebody I’m forgetting vs Yamada and a black karate guy who’s name I’m also forgetting that I absolutely loved as a kid to the point I wore that bit of the VHS out. Whenever my Dad would see Rocco he’d always wonder out loud why he was nicknamed after a pen. Didn’t discover his matches with Dynamite and his stuff in Japan as Black Tiger until much later. Still haven’t seen enough Rocco, to be honest. Edited July 31, 2020 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavigatorFan Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Really sad news. He was truly one of the all time greats. RIP Rollerball Rocco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinc Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 (edited) 25 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said: Whenever my Dad would see Rocco he’d always wonder out loud why he was nicknamed after a pen. Edited July 31, 2020 by Pinc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lion_of_the_Midlands Posted July 31, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 31, 2020 A legend, an innovator and one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members garynysmon Posted July 31, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 31, 2020 Most of my exposure was from Reslo on S4C (and later repeats)Â but I remember thinking that he stood out in terms of athleticism etc, even as a kid. Very sad. I love this match so much. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 31, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 31, 2020 The video is more about Finlay but at about 6:25 in there’s a great story from Regal about Rocco here;  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted July 31, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted July 31, 2020 (edited) My granddad hated Rocco. Just bought completely into the entire heel act. When I got to meet Rocco a few years back, I couldn't help but smile wondering what Granddad would have made of me associating with the likes of him. Edited July 31, 2020 by BomberPat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 2 hours ago, wandshogun09 said: . There was one with Rocco and somebody I’m forgetting vs Yamada and a black karate guy who’s name I’m also forgetting that I absolutely loved as a kid to the point I wore that bit of the VHS out. I'm thinking it's Rocco and Kendo Nagasaki v Fuji Yamada and 'Iron Fist' Clive Myers.   Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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