Rocco Rock

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Rocco Rock
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Alma materRutgers University
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Antonino Rocca Jr.
Cheetah Kid[2]
Colonel DeKlerk
The Executioner
Flyboy Rocco
The Leopard Mask[2]
Mario Savoldi
Rocco Rock
The Rock
Billed height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[2]
Billed weight250 lb (113 kg)[2]
Billed fromCompton, California, United States
South Africa
(as Colonel DeKlerk)
Trained byAfa Anoa'i
Debut1978

Theodore James Petty (September 1, 1953 – September 21, 2002) was an American

NWA World Tag Team Champion
.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1978–1993)

Ted Petty was born on September 1, 1953. He graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in nutrition.[1] Following a brief boxing career, Petty trained as a professional wrestler under Afa Anoa'i. He debuted in 1978 under the ring name "Cheetah Kid".[1]

Petty worked as enhancement talent (a jobber) in the American Wrestling Association from 1985 to 1988.

In March 1990, Petty toured Japan with

Clash of the Champions XIII in November 1990, then teamed with Krueger in a loss to the Steiner Brothers at Starrcade '90: Collision Course in December 1990.[3]

In March 1991, Petty appeared with the

Fury Hour television show.[5]

In June 1992, Petty toured Japan with

W*ING World Junior Heavyweight Championship.[6]

In January 1993, Petty wrestled two matches for the

World Wrestling Federation as "Cheetah Kid". Later that month, he wrestled two matches for World Championship Wrestling as "the Executioner", including a bout against 2 Cold Scorpio that aired on WCW WorldWide. In April and June 1993, Petty toured Austria and Germany with the World Wrestlings Superstars promotion.[7]

Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993–1996)

See also: the Public Enemy

In September 1993, Petty (as "Rocco Rock") and

ECW Tag Team Championship.[8]

At

steel chair. This resulted in multiple fans hurtling chairs into the ring, with Rock and Grunge being buried under a large pile of steel chairs.[14][15]

The Public Enemy's first reign as ECW Tag Team Champions ended the following month at the

Brawl Game match at November to Remember where they regained the titles (now known as the ECW World Tag Team Championship). For the remainder of the year, they successfully defended the titles against challengers including Cactus Jack and Whipwreck; the Bad Breed; and 2 Cold Scorpio and Ron Simmons.[8][15]

The Public Enemy's second reign as ECW World Tag Team Champions ran until February 1995, where they lost to Sabu and the Tazmaniac at

Mountain Top Madness when they lost to Raven and Stevie Richards following interference from the Gangstas (Mustafa and New Jack).[16][17][18]

The Public Enemy subsequently began feuding with the Gangstas, losing to them in a cage match at

WWF World Tag Team Championship.[16]

At

PWI 500 (an index of the world's top 500 wrestlers) - his highest ever placing.[21]

World Championship Wrestling (1996–1998)

See also: the Public Enemy

At the outset of 1996, the Public Enemy signed with

dog collar match.[20]

On the September 23, 1996 episode of WCW Monday Nitro, the Public Enemy defeated Harlem Heat to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Their reign lasted until the October 1, 1996 episode of WCW Saturday Night, where Harlem Heat regained the titles. The Public Enemy continued to compete in WCW's tag team division for the remainder of the year. In December 1996, they took part in WCW's "Christmas Brawl" tour of Germany.[20]

In early 1997, the Public Enemy had a series of matches against the

dark match. For the remainder of the year, the Public Enemy faced teams such as Harlem Heat; the Faces of Fear; the Steiner Brothers; High Voltage. At World War 3 in November 1997, Rock competed in the titular three ring battle royal which was won by Scott Hall.[23]

Throughout 1998, the Public Enemy continued to wrestle on

Hugh Morrus. In July 1998, they began a short feud with the Dancing Fools that culminated in a street fight at Road Wild in August 1998 that was won by the Public Enemy.[24]

The Public Enemy left WCW in September 1998. They spent the next few months wrestling for the Ohio-based Championship Wrestling promotion, facing the Bushwhackers in a series of matches.[24]

World Wrestling Federation (1999)

See also: the Public Enemy

The Public Enemy signed with the

World Wrestling Federation[1] in early 1999. They were not accepted "backstage" by veteran WWF wrestlers and backstage personnel due to animosity over the fact that The Public Enemy chose WCW over the WWF when the two companies were pursuing the tag team in late 1995.[25] Rocco Rock was also forced to change his name and go by the shortened name "Flyboy Rocco", in order not to "cause confusion" with The Rock. They made their WWF debut on the February 22, 1999, episode of Raw is War, defeating The Brood
by disqualification.

On the March 2, 1999, episode of

John "Bradshaw" Layfield elaborated that much of the animosity was due to them being brought into the company by Terry Taylor, who had his own backstage issues with much of the wrestlers, including the Acolytes. They had also desired to change the planned finish of the squash match, which involved them being driven through tables by the Acolytes. The Acolytes were instructed only to ensure that they go through with the planned finish of the match, leading to the match to be turned into a legitimate shoot, with The Acolytes dominating Public Enemy for the entirety of the four-minute match.[26][27] Following the Public Enemy's subsequent release, the APA claimed that they "ran The Public Enemy out" of the WWF. They said they could do the same to another famous ECW tag team (the Dudley Boyz); after the Dudley Boyz succeeded in the feud, it was commonly referred to as "Passing the Acolyte Test" since the Dudley Boyz did get over
after a feud with the APA while The Public Enemy failed.

The Public Enemy would wrestle a final time on March 30, 1999, in a match taped for

LOD 2000
.

World Championship Wrestling (1999)

See also: the Public Enemy

After leaving the WWF, the Public Enemy returned to WCW in July 1999 at the

handicap match.[20]

Late career (1999–2002)

Rocco Rock in March 2002

After leaving WCW in late-1999, the Public Enemy began wrestling on the

i-Generation Tag Team Championship on two occasions.[29][30]

In November 2001, Rock and Grunge (as the "South Philly Posse") took part in television tapings for the

X Wrestling Federation in Orlando, Florida.[31]

In May 2002, Rock and Grunge began appearing with the Philadelphia-based

Pro-Pain Pro-Wrestling promotion.[32]

Death

Petty died of a

heart attack on September 21, 2002, while en route to a Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling show where he was scheduled to wrestle against Gary Wolfe in a match for the promotion's heavyweight title.[1] His family maintained that Petty never used drugs but that his death was caused by a congenital heart defect that runs in his family.[33]

Every year, the

A. J. Styles, Matt Sydal, Low Ki, and Mike Quackenbush
.

Championships and accomplishments

ECW Arena
.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Power Slam". What's going down... SW Publishing. October 2002. p. 6. 55.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4165-1058-1
    .
  3. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 1990". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  4. ISBN 978-1-59240-881-8
    .
  5. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 1991". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  6. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 1992". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 1993". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 1994". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  9. ^ Misnik, Tom (March 23, 1994). "E.C.W. update 3/22". Rec.Sport.Pro-Wrestling. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Johnson, Mike (July 23, 2020). "ECW Ultimate Jeopardy, WWE on Quibi, WWE's planned Diva Search revival and more". PWInsider.com. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  11. ^ Douglas, Shane (August 30, 2020). "Franchised with Shane Douglas - episode 32: Ultimate Jeopardy 1994". Anchor.fm (Podcast). Superior Radio Network. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  12. ^ Matt (September 2019). "ECW: When Worlds Collide (05.94)". PDRWrestling.net. Retrieved August 21, 2008.
  13. ^ Matthews, Paul (August 31, 2019). "Classic Wrestling Review: When Worlds Collide '94". classicwrestlingreview.com. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  14. ^ Colling, Bob (July 4, 2010). "ECW Hardcore Heaven 8/13/1994". WrestlingRecaps.com. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  15. ^
    ISBN 978-0-613-33590-4
    .
  16. ^ a b c d Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 1995". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  17. ^ Big Red Machine (June 30, 1995). "ECW Mountain Top Madness". TheWrestlingRevolution.com. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  18. TheRavenEffect.com
    . Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  19. TheRavenEffect.com
    . Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  20. ^ a b c d Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 1996". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  21. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 – 1995". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved November 30, 2007.
  22. ISBN 978-1-59670-021-5
    .
  23. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 1997". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  24. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 1998". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  25. ISBN 978-1-59670-021-5
    .
  26. ^ "The Layfield Report - Blog". Archived from the original on November 8, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  27. ^ "WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results".
  28. ^ "1999". thehistoryofwwe.com.
  29. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 1999". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  30. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 2000". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  31. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 2001". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  32. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Rocco Rock - matches - 2002". Cagematch.net. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  33. ^ O'Connor, Ryan (December 21, 2015). "Rocco Rock - Dead at 49". Wrestler Deaths. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  34. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
  35. ^
    ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .

External links

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