Damn didn't realise he had died, used to hear stories about him, Marty Jones, Kendo Nagasaki etc from my dad who loved wrestling back in the day. RIP Rollerball
Loved rocco he was my favourite wrestler. I remember every Saturday at 4-00 p m the wrestling coming on and my nan telling me off for liking rollerball rocco ..he was the most exciting thing on the box ..rip Mark
Your kind words mean a lot to many people Jim. In my 45 years as a fan Rocco was, in my eyes, one of the greatest. I live in Scotland so it was always World of Sport wrestling until circa 1985. Folk believed in Rocco, still do. I have had non wrestling fans say they would always watch his bouts and clearly remember them all these decades later.
Remember him greatly from his World of Sport days where there was more emphasis on in ring Wrestling. Along with Rollerball, there was Dynamite Kid, Marty Jones, Jim Breaks, Pat Roach, Johnny Saint, Fit Finlay and a young Steven (William) Regal and Robbie Brookside, that got me into Wrestling. A sad loss.
Maeda came over to the UK after Sayama returned to Japan and he was billed as Sammy Lee’s brother Kwik-Kick Lee. There’s such a sad story in Bret’s book about the WWF booking some local guys to work a Royal Albert Hall show and one of them was Rocco. He’d been big buddies with Hogan in NJPW when was Black Tiger but Hogan didn’t recognise him when they met backstage. Just imaging what the WCW Cruiserweight division would have been with guys like 80s era Rocco, Finlay, Marty Jones, Dynamite and Sayama….
Rollerball Rocco was my favourite wrestler from childhood always cheered for him he was exciting to watch he changed the game. Rest in peace Mark true legend.
Have worked in my office since the virus began and I unashamedly listen to the podcast after every drop. What I love is I have two older people, I’m in my 40’s, who now come and sit with me and we talk about these guys and they tell their stories. We live in Omaha, and I have one guy who tells tales of playing ping pong with Mad Dog. I have a personalized autograph pic of Baron Von Rascke when our family met him in Minnesota. I love hearing these stories because it makes me feel the love I had for the business before it went to shit. Thank you!!!!
Yiu can find Rollerball vs Dynamite Kid (12/06/80) on UA-cam. Someone a couple of days ago did an article on 10 things American wrestling fans didn't get to see on tv and it was up there.
They had another one from 1982 that was a classic as well-think that was the one with the suplex over the top & double count out as they hit the floor hard.
Sayama wrestled in Britain in 1980-1981 as Sammy Lee - he was massively over, even managed to upstage Big Daddy. I remember when I was six years old I'd missed the wrestling that weekend as my dad dragged me off to the swimming pool, but that evening my granddad came round and was raving about the guy - "Sammy Lee - Woah! He's FANTASTIC!!!"
i wanted to be a wrestler when i was younger. i was studying alot of eddie guerrero and was told i needed to see Rollerball Rocco. i did and became a fan right away. so damn fun to watch. RIP
My favourite along with Big Daddy as a child-after I saw the embarrassment of Daddy live in 1984 it was Rocco all the way. His stuff as BT while good was not a patch on his UK work. a lot of his appeal aside from his great work, brawling & athletic ability was his expressions. Was a sad day in late 1991 when he had to quit due to heart problems.
For those who never got to watch rollerball, it’s like looking into the future now! Our wrestling in uk was getting silly with gimmicks, but was presented as real. It was so slow and had entire rounds of rest holds. Rollerball was a legit wrestler who worked at 1000x the speed of everyone else throwing in stuff very few can do now. It was hard hitting, technical and high flying at the same time. The only person I have seen close is Owen
Diamond hard and legit as sin. Born into it when it really mattered. The pro wrestler that was so good that from an early age upon seeing him work, even with my limited to zero understanding of the art at the time, he made me appreciate and cheer the heel from that point on as a wrestling fan. RIP Rollerball, you were one of the best to ever do it and thanks from a lifelong fan.
I watched Mark wrestle many times on World Of Sport and I usually cheered for his opponent, especially when it was Marty Jones. However, I have to say he was a brilliant, tough and charismatic wrestler and a very clever guy who gave his all in every match he had. He will always be one of the gems of British Wrestling and I am genuinely sorry at his passing. R.I.P Rollerball.
I forgot about that he worked with tiger mask as black tiger the man had a great career. Now I am going to spend a hour or more watching some of his matches
Had the pleasure to be at ringside for a few Rocco matches at Hull City hall in the mid to late eighties. So him take on Dave Fit Finlay (later known as Finlay in the WWE) a couple of times, great matches. Rocco was the greatest, he should have been main eventing in America against either Hogan or Flair..
I went to the Madeley Street Baths in Hull to see the wrestling stars of that era. Hull actually has quite a lot going for it. I did see King Kong Kirk at Hull City Hall.
Actually Rey, many found out about Sayama after internet boom. To this date some people comment that this is the first time they are seeing Tiger Mask.
He was part of the British Old skool wrestlers on TV everyweek in the 70s +80's, he was one of the better wrestlers with dynamite kid, kenso nagasaki and many more
Rollerball Rocco and Alan Kirby (who was deaf) were my two favourite wrestlers of my childhood. I honestly believe if Rollerball was in his prime today he’d be a top of the card wrestler in the likes of WWE or New Japan and would make serious money. He was the original Black Tiger in Japan and was a true game changer in the sport of professional wrestling
Fantastic technical wrestler, high flyer, brawler face or heel and great on the mic. If only All-Star kept their ITV show in the late 80s with people like Rocco, Regal and Brookside at the forefront.
Loosing?!???!? You mean Losing? What do you mean we are running out of those types?!!? You probably just don't like it that all these old, white, republicans are dying off. Check your pigment and watch you mouth. Stupid republican!
Suffered a great deal with ill health during the last thirty years of his life, his retirement was a big blow to All Star Wrestling, which had actually held on well as a popular touring act after losing its ITV slot.
There were some great British wrestlers, but four of them - Marty Jones, Kid Dynamite, Fit Finlay and Mark Rocco - were another level. Rocco reinvented wrestling, late 70s, and doesn't get the credit he deserves outside the UK. So this is nice to hear.
It was amazing in the UK watching WOS in the 1980's having no idea I was seeing Tiger Mask as Daddy's partner Sammy Lee, Akira Maeda as Kwick Kick Lee getting squashed by Giant Haystacks, Kamala getting squashed by Big Daddy not long before he became Kamala, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Liger as Yamada-he had a big feud with Rocco in 1987 before he became Liger. WOS was very similar to Memphis in they learned how to work the crowd with various antics & psychology-guys like Crybaby Jim Breaks, Cyanide Sid Cooper, Catweazle, Les Kellett, Brian Maxine etc.
@@nkotbfreak2983 Really ? That's awesome ! I'm guessing this was before he used to do kicks but hey not a lot of north americans can say that they saw Kawada live
The Maeda/Haystacks match was better than it had any right to be. Maeda is super underappreciated imo Oh and Did you got to see Masakatsu Funaki ? I can only find one match he had there against Finlay. Very good match too. I love WOS
He was britains favourite heel after Mick McManus, a great technician and had many great bouts with Marty Jones I’d like to take this opportunity to mention the great George Kidd an undefeated lightweight world champion for many many years, he had a style that was emulated by Johnny Saint, there’s very little of Kidd on UA-cam unfortunately
The New Japan system of the dojo doesn't get enough credit for how many stars it has produced. The list of legends is incredible. Just a short list of main eventers: Chono, Mutoh, Hashimoto, Liger, Sasaki, Yuji Nagata, Benoit, Tanahashi, Finn Balor, Okada, Naito, Fujinami. You learn the basics and earn your way to graduate to the big stage unlike in Orlando where you spend 5 years learning how to face the hard camera and they have produced no notable big non indie stars aside from Velveteen Dream.
Sammy Lee lol, marketed him as Bruce Lee's cousin or something like that as Bruce Lee and Kung Fu was all the rage at that time in the 70's. Rocco and Marty Jones deserve all the credit in the world for teaching guys from Japan this style and for Dynamite learning from them and taking it to Canada and Japan. Britain is known for the mat wrestling and serious style but some of these guys also innovated that breakneck speed style of aggressive wrestling we call "strong style" now where they'd hit the ropes at 100mph and come off with a clothesline that looked like it took the other guy's head off and would do all these insane bumps and flips.
I saw Mark Rocco at Cambridge Corn Exchange in the late 1970s. His performance as literally unbelievable. All I can say is, he could sort of fly and that modern wrestling, like everything in the modern world, is total shit!
I watched World of Sport wrestling as a kid and remember Daddy and Haystacks , Pat Roach and Fit Finlay , but I DON'T remember Rocco ! I know him by his repute! Go name watch some now !
It's sad that people think British wrestling was all Big Daddy and Haystacks, when really there was some of the greatest technical wrestling happening
RIP to a British wrestling legend 🇬🇧
Poor guy had dementia. He was the best we ever had, a true innovator and legend
RIP Rollerball. A true british wrestling legend.
Damn didn't realise he had died, used to hear stories about him, Marty Jones, Kendo Nagasaki etc from my dad who loved wrestling back in the day.
RIP Rollerball
I haven't heard Nagasaki's name in a long time. Wait a sec. Which Nagasaki? I grew up watching the one that competed in CWF in the early/mid 80s.
@@randallw1977 My knowledge is limited sadly however I would think that the one my dad would talk about would of been Peter Thornley.
@@zmukz7927 I've heard of that one, but he mainly did it before i was born and before I started watching it on tv.
Marty is a nonce
Loved rocco he was my favourite wrestler. I remember every Saturday at 4-00 p m the wrestling coming on and my nan telling me off for liking rollerball rocco ..he was the most exciting thing on the box ..rip Mark
Your kind words mean a lot to many people Jim.
In my 45 years as a fan Rocco was, in my eyes, one of the greatest.
I live in Scotland so it was always World of Sport wrestling until circa 1985.
Folk believed in Rocco, still do. I have had non wrestling fans say they would always watch his bouts and clearly remember them all these decades later.
Remember him greatly from his World of Sport days where there was more emphasis on in ring Wrestling. Along with Rollerball, there was Dynamite Kid, Marty Jones, Jim Breaks, Pat Roach, Johnny Saint, Fit Finlay and a young Steven (William) Regal and Robbie Brookside, that got me into Wrestling. A sad loss.
Maeda came over to the UK after Sayama returned to Japan and he was billed as Sammy Lee’s brother Kwik-Kick Lee. There’s such a sad story in Bret’s book about the WWF booking some local guys to work a Royal Albert Hall show and one of them was Rocco. He’d been big buddies with Hogan in NJPW when was Black Tiger but Hogan didn’t recognise him when they met backstage. Just imaging what the WCW Cruiserweight division would have been with guys like 80s era Rocco, Finlay, Marty Jones, Dynamite and Sayama….
Rollerball Rocco was my favourite wrestler from childhood always cheered for him he was exciting to watch he changed the game. Rest in peace Mark true legend.
Just found out about Rocco the other day and am sad I had never heard of him! He was great, glad Jim talked about him.
RIP Rollerball....one of the true giants in the sport. World of Sports....so many memories.
Have worked in my office since the virus began and I unashamedly listen to the podcast after every drop. What I love is I have two older people, I’m in my 40’s, who now come and sit with me and we talk about these guys and they tell their stories. We live in Omaha, and I have one guy who tells tales of playing ping pong with Mad Dog. I have a personalized autograph pic of Baron Von Rascke when our family met him in Minnesota. I love hearing these stories because it makes me feel the love I had for the business before it went to shit. Thank you!!!!
If you’ve never seen any of Rocco’s British matches with Dynamite then stop right now and track theme down. Rocco was like a real life Tasmanian Devil
Yiu can find Rollerball vs Dynamite Kid (12/06/80) on UA-cam. Someone a couple of days ago did an article on 10 things American wrestling fans didn't get to see on tv and it was up there.
They had another one from 1982 that was a classic as well-think that was the one with the suplex over the top & double count out as they hit the floor hard.
Sayama wrestled in Britain in 1980-1981 as Sammy Lee - he was massively over, even managed to upstage Big Daddy. I remember when I was six years old I'd missed the wrestling that weekend as my dad dragged me off to the swimming pool, but that evening my granddad came round and was raving about the guy - "Sammy Lee - Woah! He's FANTASTIC!!!"
Sayama was Sammy Lee and Maeda was Kwik-kik-Lee. Gotta love the World of Sport style.
The guy who got me into wrestling all those years ago as a kid watching World of Sport. Just the best.
In my opinion , this is the best and most realistic style of pro wrestling
i wanted to be a wrestler when i was younger. i was studying alot of eddie guerrero and was told i needed to see Rollerball Rocco. i did and became a fan right away. so damn fun to watch.
RIP
My favourite along with Big Daddy as a child-after I saw the embarrassment of Daddy live in 1984 it was Rocco all the way. His stuff as BT while good was not a patch on his UK work. a lot of his appeal aside from his great work, brawling & athletic ability was his expressions. Was a sad day in late 1991 when he had to quit due to heart problems.
For those who never got to watch rollerball, it’s like looking into the future now! Our wrestling in uk was getting silly with gimmicks, but was presented as real. It was so slow and had entire rounds of rest holds.
Rollerball was a legit wrestler who worked at 1000x the speed of everyone else throwing in stuff very few can do now. It was hard hitting, technical and high flying at the same time. The only person I have seen close is Owen
Diamond hard and legit as sin. Born into it when it really mattered. The pro wrestler that was so good that from an early age upon seeing him work, even with my limited to zero understanding of the art at the time, he made me appreciate and cheer the heel from that point on as a wrestling fan.
RIP Rollerball, you were one of the best to ever do it and thanks from a lifelong fan.
Thanks for every ones nice messages ♥️♥️♥️♥️
your dad was and still is an absolute legend Mate. So sorry for your loss.
Have you heard the story William regal tells on Steve Austin’s podcast about your dad it’s brilliant
@@archer8822 yes I have it's quality . Thankyou
@@jonorocco this might sound strange but I think you might know someone I know James Murphy from Bolton fat lad always telling jokes?
@@archer8822 yes mate he's a top lad haha
RIP Rollerball!!
I watched Mark wrestle many times on World Of Sport and I usually cheered for his opponent, especially when it was Marty Jones. However, I have to say he was a brilliant, tough and charismatic wrestler and a very clever guy who gave his all in every match he had. He will always be one of the gems of British Wrestling and I am genuinely sorry at his passing. R.I.P Rollerball.
Rip Rocco wonderful man and human being 🙏💜
Rollerball Rocco had two matches with Dynamite Kid in December 1980 in England and they’re amazing
I forgot about that he worked with tiger mask as black tiger the man had a great career. Now I am going to spend a hour or more watching some of his matches
I just found out about Rollerball Rocco!
Way! Way! Before his time! absolutely incredible!
Rip!
Had the pleasure to be at ringside for a few Rocco matches at Hull City hall in the mid to late eighties. So him take on Dave Fit Finlay (later known as Finlay in the WWE) a couple of times, great matches.
Rocco was the greatest, he should have been main eventing in America against either Hogan or Flair..
Of all the places to have a reference to Hull, I never would have thought it would be on a Jim cornette video.
@@totallybored5526 Hull is World famous. People just don't realise it.
I went to the Madeley Street Baths in Hull to see the wrestling stars of that era. Hull actually has quite a lot going for it. I did see King Kong Kirk at Hull City Hall.
He would have definitely gone to the us , he suffered a hart attack when wrestling fit Finley and had to retire
Rest in Peace Marc Rollerball Rocco.
Highly likely that Sayama is the most influential junior of all time.
Sayama and Rey Mysterio.
He certainly opened the doors for a lot of people.
Sayama, Liger, and Mysterio.
Actually Rey, many found out about Sayama after internet boom.
To this date some people comment that this is the first time they are seeing Tiger Mask.
@@jeffreymichael540 To your point, before New Japan World, people heard about these matches, although never saw them.
He was part of the British Old skool wrestlers on TV everyweek in the 70s +80's, he was one of the better wrestlers with dynamite kid, kenso nagasaki and many more
Rollerball Rocco and Alan Kirby (who was deaf) were my two favourite wrestlers of my childhood. I honestly believe if Rollerball was in his prime today he’d be a top of the card wrestler in the likes of WWE or New Japan and would make serious money. He was the original Black Tiger in Japan and was a true game changer in the sport of professional wrestling
Fantastic technical wrestler, high flyer, brawler face or heel and great on the mic. If only All-Star kept their ITV show in the late 80s with people like Rocco, Regal and Brookside at the forefront.
Mark Rocco was in with tiger 🐯 mask before he became tiger he toured the UK 🇬🇧 as sammy Lee very late 70s early 80
Never heard of him but that sucks hate to hear anyone loosing their life, especially talented one of a kind people, we are running out of those types!
Loosing?!???!? You mean Losing? What do you mean we are running out of those types?!!? You probably just don't like it that all these old, white, republicans are dying off. Check your pigment and watch you mouth. Stupid republican!
@@jre-xf6uz calm down buddy dont blow a blister typing too fast
@@jre-xf6uz Might wanna stop trolling, bud. Makes you look a little pathetic. Lol
Rocco v Yamada is so far ahead of the other British stuff it's untrue. Rocco was a highlight anytime he was on. 4pm Saturday afternoons. RIP
Rocco was one of the very very best.....
Suffered a great deal with ill health during the last thirty years of his life, his retirement was a big blow to All Star Wrestling, which had actually held on well as a popular touring act after losing its ITV slot.
Only 69 and died to dementia damn. Rip rollerball..
"only 69" cmon bruh
There were some great British wrestlers, but four of them - Marty Jones, Kid Dynamite, Fit Finlay and Mark Rocco - were another level. Rocco reinvented wrestling, late 70s, and doesn't get the credit he deserves outside the UK. So this is nice to hear.
Nice dedication thanks Jim.
It was amazing in the UK watching WOS in the 1980's having no idea I was seeing Tiger Mask as Daddy's partner Sammy Lee, Akira Maeda as Kwick Kick Lee getting squashed by Giant Haystacks, Kamala getting squashed by Big Daddy not long before he became Kamala, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Liger as Yamada-he had a big feud with Rocco in 1987 before he became Liger. WOS was very similar to Memphis in they learned how to work the crowd with various antics & psychology-guys like Crybaby Jim Breaks, Cyanide Sid Cooper, Catweazle, Les Kellett, Brian Maxine etc.
In my local territory we had Toshiaki Kawada as a jobber he wrestled as only Toshiaki
@@nkotbfreak2983
Really ? That's awesome !
I'm guessing this was before he used to do kicks but hey not a lot of north americans can say that they saw Kawada live
The Maeda/Haystacks match was better than it had any right to be.
Maeda is super underappreciated imo
Oh and Did you got to see Masakatsu Funaki ?
I can only find one match he had there against Finlay. Very good match too. I love WOS
@@cyberpunkgrappling6447 Probably saw it, I rarely missed it & Finlay was one of my favourites, as was Princess Paula.
@@cyberpunkgrappling6447 A few of those matches are on you tube here's one ua-cam.com/video/llB71wre6-c/v-deo.html
He was britains favourite heel after Mick McManus, a great technician and had many great bouts with Marty Jones I’d like to take this opportunity to mention the great George Kidd an undefeated lightweight world champion for many many years, he had a style that was emulated by Johnny Saint, there’s very little of Kidd on UA-cam unfortunately
The First Three Versions of Black Tiger are dead now, Rollerball Rocco, Eddie Guerrero, and Silver King.
Rip we are losing a lot great wrestlers Rollerball u will be missed
The New Japan system of the dojo doesn't get enough credit for how many stars it has produced. The list of legends is incredible. Just a short list of main eventers: Chono, Mutoh, Hashimoto, Liger, Sasaki, Yuji Nagata, Benoit, Tanahashi, Finn Balor, Okada, Naito, Fujinami. You learn the basics and earn your way to graduate to the big stage unlike in Orlando where you spend 5 years learning how to face the hard camera and they have produced no notable big non indie stars aside from Velveteen Dream.
Sammy Lee lol, marketed him as Bruce Lee's cousin or something like that as Bruce Lee and Kung Fu was all the rage at that time in the 70's. Rocco and Marty Jones deserve all the credit in the world for teaching guys from Japan this style and for Dynamite learning from them and taking it to Canada and Japan. Britain is known for the mat wrestling and serious style but some of these guys also innovated that breakneck speed style of aggressive wrestling we call "strong style" now where they'd hit the ropes at 100mph and come off with a clothesline that looked like it took the other guy's head off and would do all these insane bumps and flips.
I saw Mark Rocco at Cambridge Corn Exchange in the late 1970s. His performance as literally unbelievable. All I can say is, he could sort of fly and that modern wrestling, like everything in the modern world, is total shit!
RIP Black Tiger!
Great wrestler... way beyond his time 👍
"I'll send his fan club little pieces of him parcel post"
KEEP WATCHING, THAT'S WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO JOOOOONES!
I watched World of Sport wrestling as a kid and remember Daddy and Haystacks , Pat Roach and Fit Finlay , but I DON'T remember Rocco ! I know him by his repute! Go name watch some now !
Dude you should check out some of the Rocco vs Dynamite Kid matches from World of Sport.
They were so ahead of their time.
If I were to pick Four Top British Wrestlers of all time, in no particular order: Johnny Saint, Marc Rocco, Marty Jones, and William Regal.
@James Bryan To the more Modern List Zack Sabre Jr, to that list.
If I were to do a modern list of British greats. dunne, mcyntyre, PAC, sabre jr and osprey.
Don’t forget Pete Roberts or Terry Rudge
@James Bryan it's crazy how hes one of the most recognisable faces on the British wrestling scene, I dont get the appeal with him at all.
None better than Marty. Regal was a worthy student.
An amazing wrestler. Apparently he worked with Hulk Hogan in Japan, and when they met several years later Hogan ignored him.
No mention of catweasel! 😂
🤭🤭🤭
Rocco was amazing
I'd love to know what Jim thinks of the British Kendo Nagasaki
Amazing wrestler.
What did Eaton think of Tiger Mask?
Such a legend
R.I.P 🤼
The Master of Disaster...Former World Junior Heavyweight Wrestling Champion...
Mark Rocco....
WrestleMe did a couple of hilarious videos on Rocco
Tiger Mask could really work!!
The best.
You could at least have spelt his first name correctly!! 😮
What kind of hair was that Jim?
Tiger Jim or Corny Sayama
Corny Mask!
god there's so many good Junior Heavyweights today that Jim dismisses.
So, in short, to sum up- this is yet another edition of 'back in my day, things were better' from an out-of-touch Cornette.
Or he is paying tribute to someone that has died.
Ok Shit Stain
what an asshole.
And yes. Things WERE better back in his time.
You had 10 million plus watching wrestling on ITV every Saturday, it was better.
Anything is better than todays product