Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Tributes to British wrestling pioneer famed for exciting style ahead of its time

Post Thumbnail

While British wrestling legend Mark “Rollerball” Rocco lacked the household-name status some of his contemporaries enjoyed during the peak of the sport’s popularity in the 1970s, he became hugely respected for his exciting style between the ropes.

The grappler, who died at the age of 69 yesterday, competed alongside the likes of Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy during a period when the eyeballs of the nation were glued to ITV every Saturday afternoon for the World of Sport bouts.

While the period is best remembered for the antics of the two behemoths, it was Rocco – real name Mark Hussey – who had the greater long-term impact on the athletic form of entertainment.

The Manchester-born star has now been remembered as one of the greatest villains in the history of British wrestling, with many current stars plying their craft for American giant WWE paying tribute to his influential style.

Many of them pointed to his classic matches with the likes of The Dynamite Kid, Fit Finlay and Marty Jones as striking examples of the fast-paced action he delivered.

Fellow British wrestling legend William Regal, who went on to achieve fame in America, led tributes online.

He wrote: “I’ve woken to the terrible news that my friend and colleague Mark ‘Rollerball’ Rocco has passed away.

“Becoming a friend and getting to wrestle Mark at 18 was a dream come true.

“Mark had an unbelievable work ethic in and out of the ring and my life was better for knowing him.

“There aren’t enough words for me to explain how much it means to me to be fortunate enough to have known him, wrestled him and explain how much he meant.”

A fourth-generation wrestler, he was the son of British wrestler Jim Hussey and the father of boxer Jono “Rocco” Hussey.

Hussey was a three-time World Heavy Middleweight Champion and held both the British Heavy Middleweight and Light Middleweight titles.

He also spent time in New Japan Pro Wrestling where he wrestled as the original Black Tiger and lifted the now-defunct WWF Junior Heavyweight strap.