10 Next Generation Wrestlers You Didn't Know About
5. Mark Rollerball Rocco/Black Tiger
Mark Hussey is the son of Jumpin Jim Hussey, standout British wrestler of the mid-twentieth century. Jumpin Jim was so called due to his athleticism, highly unusual for the time. Anecdotally, one of his trademarks was the ability to hit a perfect dropkick and land on his feet. Later on in life, hed drop the leaping around to become a hardnosed, vicious heel of the old school, getting public warnings every few minutes for deliberate infractions of the rules. His son Mark would debut in 1972 in London, fast becoming a fan favourite blue-eye and winning the British Heavy Middleweight Championship under the nickname Rollerball. His hard-hitting, intense style won him a huge number of fans in the UK and abroad especially in his matches with the Dynamite Kid and Japanese wrestler Sammy Lee (Satoru Sayama). His chemistry with the latter impressed New Japan Pro Wrestling so much that he was brought over and given the Black Tiger gimmick, a masked star who would act as the evil version of top good guy Tiger Mask (Sayamas new gimmick). Black Tiger would later repeat this success in a feud against Jushin Thunder Liger: Rocco had previously wrestled the man behind Ligers mask, Keiichi Yamada, to rave reviews, Rocco having had a part in training Yamada. He was forced to retire after 22 years as an active wrestler due to a serious heart condition.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
