Rocco Rock

Rocco Rock
Rocco Rock in March 2002
Ring name(s)	The Cheetah Kid[1][2] Colonel DeKlerk[1] The Leopard Mask[2] Rocco Rock[1] Flyboy Rocco The Rock The Executioner
Billed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Billed weight	250 lb (110 kg)[2]
Born	September 1, 1953[1] Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, United States[1]
Died	September 21, 2002(2002-09-21) (aged 49)[3] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Billed from	Compton, California
Trained by	Afa Anoa'i[1]
Debut	1978[1]

Theodore James Petty (September 1, 1953 – September 21, 2002) was an American professional wrestler better known as "Flyboy" Rocco Rock, one half of The Public Enemy.^[3]

Career

Ted Petty started wrestling in 1978 as The Cheetah Kid after graduating from Rutgers University with a degree in nutrition and a brief boxing career.^[3]

Petty wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance in 1990, appearing at Starrcade as Colonel DeKlerk. Along with Sergeant Krueger, he represented South Africa in a tag team match, but the team lost to The Steiner Brothers.^[4]

In 1993, he used the name Rocco Rock and formed a tag team named The Public Enemy with Johnny Grunge, with a gimmick of inner city criminals, or "hoodies". The team first wrestled in the Universal Wrestling Federation and Extreme Championship Wrestling.^[1][3] In ECW, the team feuded with Terry Funk and The Gangstas and won the ECW Tag Team Championship four times.^[5] Petty's success in 1995 earned him his highest placement in the annual PWI 500, in which he was ranked #90.^[6]

In 1996, The Public Enemy signed with World Championship Wrestling, where they won the tag team titles and feuded with The Nasty Boys.^[3] They continued to use some of the "extreme" tactics that had made them famous in ECW, including the frequent use of tables in match.^[1]

They were briefly in the World Wrestling Federation in 1999 and competed in the short-lived Xtreme Wrestling Federation as the "South Philly Posse" with Jasmin St. Claire as their manager.^[3]

Petty was competing as a singles wrestler in the independents when he died of a heart attack on September 21, 2002.^[3] He was 49 years old.

Every year the IWA-Mid South professional wrestling promotion memorializes him by holding the Ted Petty Invitational tournament. Previous winners include A.J. Styles, Matt Sydal, Low Ki, and Mike Quackenbush.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Powerbomb, usually through a table^[1]

• Signature moves
  • Corner sitout powerbomb
  • Diving elbow drop
  • Diving leg drop
  • Diving splash
  • Front dropkick^[7]
  • Hip toss
  • Somersault senton, usually through a table^[8]
  • Spinebuster
  • Swinging neckbreaker
  • Moonsault, sometimes through 1 or 2 tables

• With Johnny Grunge
  • Drive-By (Grunge throws Rock into an assisted somersault senton)^[9]

• Managers
  • Tod Gordon
  • Jazzy/Jasmin St. Clair
  • Kenny Casanova

• Nicknames
  • "Flyboy"^[1]

Championships and accomplishments

Rock's Hardcore Hall of Fame banner in the former ECW Arena.

• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Other honoree (1995)

• Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship Wrestling
  • ECW World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Johnny Grunge
  • Hardcore Hall of Fame (2002)

• i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling
  • i-Generation Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Johnny Grunge

• Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
  • IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Main Event Championship Wrestling
  • MECW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Johnny Grunge

• National Wrestling Alliance
• World
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Johnny Grunge
• National
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Johnny Grunge

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #457 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003^[10]

• Superstars of Wrestling
  • SOW Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Johnny Grunge

• Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling
  • TCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Johnny Grunge

• Tri-State Wrestling Alliance

• TWA Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)^[11]

• Universal Wrestling Alliance

• UWA Heavyweight Championship (2 times, first)^[11]
• UWA Tag Team Championship (1 time, first) - with Johnny Grunge^[11]

• Universal Wrestling Association
  • UWA Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[11]

• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Johnny Grunge

• Other titles
  • NWCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Johnny Grunge
  • WCCA Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • WWWC Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} "Wrestler Profiles: Rocco Rock". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/r/rocco-rock.html. Retrieved 2007-11-30. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Loverro, Thom (2006). The Rise and Fall of ECW. Pocket Books. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-4165-1058-1. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Power Slam Staff (October 2002). "Power Slam". What's going down... (SW Publishing): p. 6. 55. 
4. ^ "Starrcade 1990". Pro Wrestling History. http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wcw/starrcad.html#90. Retrieved 2007-11-30. 
5. ^ "History of the ECW Tag Team Championship". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/history/ecwtaghistory/. Retrieved 2007-11-30. 
6. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 - 1995". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi50095.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-30. 
7. ^ "Rocco Rock Vs. Goldberg". World Championship Wrestling, TNT. WCW Monday Nitro. 1998-04-13.
8. ^ "High Voltage Vs. Public Enemy". World Championship Wrestling, TNT. WCW Monday Nitro. 1997-08-04.
9. ^ "Public Enemy profile". OWOW. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/p/public-enemy.html. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
10. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi500yr.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-30. 
11. ^ ^{a b c d} Royal Duncan & Gary Will (4th Edition 2000). Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4. 

External links

Professional wrestling portal

• Tribute Website

Persondata
Name	Rock, Rocco
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 1, 1953
Place of birth	Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, United States
Date of death	September 21, 2002
Place of death	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States