Good morning!
The Missouri to Kentucky move continues. I will have an update today in our usual Wednesday Community Update section as well as our special Hulk Hogan podcast show which is being released today and a new Evolution of Pro Wrestling feature coming soon and some items about Mark Rocco, the Black Tiger, who passed on this day in history.
It’s all in today's Issue 106 of the Daily Chronicle, so let's kick it off with our daily pro wrestler tributes.
July 30th in the Time Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Ann Gunkel 1936
Happy Birthday:
Baron Jim Von Raschke (85)
Arnold Schwarznegger (78)
RIP Memorial: We stop & remember those who have passed on this day and gave themselves to the business for us, the fans. We salute you and thank you.
Corey Maclin 7-30-2013 at the age of 43
Mark "Rollerball" Rocco\Black Tiger 7-30-2020 at the age of 69
Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel Community Update:
You may have seen some of my social media updates and I have mentioned a few things here at the start of my newsletters the last few days, but I am officially moved.
My construction crew is running about three weeks behind on finishing the house I’ve moved into, so me and the moving crew stuffed all my stuff into the finished side of the house. For some of the stuff, we rented a box truck to store some things that will be going into the finished side.
The part of the house that is last on the list is going to be my combination podcast studio/office/wrestling library room/den. The were framing up the new fireplace yesterday for it. We put my massive bookshelves that you have seen in previous podcast shows into the finished living room area. All my books are in sealed tote boxes stacked to the ceiling in two of the front rooms that are finished.
My lateral filing cabinets which are holding all my printed files, records, letters and programs are locked up on the box truck. They are going into a side room that will have my printer, scanner, Starlink wi-fi, router and other technology.
With all that said, we are close to being able to broadcast from the new Richards Ranch location. We assembled the Starlink equipment, found the satellite and turned it on. The speed is fantastic, and I'll be more than ready to do some great shows once the studio is finished.
I can already tell that my mom’s spirits are lifted having me there just across the horse pasture on our side of the Lake. I'll keep you updated as we get more accomplished. I have a road trip the third week of August, so we will see what the days ahead have in store for progress.
Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel Presents: Personalities, Territories, Towns & Buildings Episode 16: The Passing of Hulk Hogan
This morning, we have a special episode for you. While I was driving, I had an idea for a show honoring and remembering Hulk Hogan.
My idea was to have our WWWF analyst and commentator, Steve Gennerelli, who always has interesting things to say and also our producer, Jake Hamar, who was a little Hulkamaniac, at the time Hulk was gaining momentum in 1985. So, we thought he would have an interesting viewpoint as a 4- and 5-year-old kid who was introduced to professional wrestling through Hulk Hogan.
I am staying at a place on Kentucky Lake, and I brought in some equipment to do the show, we had trouble getting Steve's camera to work and so we decided to go with audio only and Jake inserting photos and pictures for the show.
I hope you will enjoy our conversation about Hulk Hogan, the 1980s, the National Expansion and other stuff as we remember and honor Hulk Hogan today on the Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel Podcast.
Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel Presents: The Evolution of Pro Wrestling Series
Sam Muchnick had a very tough and stressful July of 1955. In my Evolution of Pro Wrestling Series, I have a deep dive on Sam's month of July, 70 years ago this month and the things that were causing a tremendous amount of pressure to be on his shoulders as leader of the National Wrestling Alliance.
I have made quite a bit of progress on this piece of research, some of the highlights you can look forward to with this special article for our Paid Subscribers:
The economic conditions in the US in 1955
What wrestlers, from the top of the cards to the opening match were making in 1955
The conditions and current state of the wrestling business during this time
What created the DOJ investigation into the NWA
The television exposure and overexposure that created a boom and also a bust cycle in pro wrestling
Why were the booking offices upset and not happy with Lou Thesz as NWA champion?
The Leo Nomellini NWA Title run and why it was done
And much, much more in this published piece of research for our paid subscribers in the coming days.
The Evolution of Pro Wrestling Series is available through annual subscriptions and are only $5.00 a month and save $10.00 annually if you get an annual subscription for just $50.00 at tonyrichards4@Substack.com
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History
Mark Hussey (Rocco) is from a pro wrestling family in Manchester, England. His father, Jim Hussey, was also a pro wrestler. Despite his father banning and forbidding him from the local gym, Mark secretly trained and made his debut in 1969 at the age of 16 for British promotions. There, he wrestled as "Rollerball Rocco", wrestling a high-energy, hard-hitting style which was not the norm at the time. He regularly appeared on the ITV show "World of Sport".
Pictured: Black Tiger with title belts
New Japan Pro Wrestling introduced the Black Tiger persona in 1982 to serve as the anti-Tiger Mask rival and Rocco became the original Black Tiger. His program with Tiger Mask featured some of Japan's highest-rated wrestling matches, elevating the junior heavyweight wrestling division globally.
On May 6th, 1982, as Black Tiger, he won the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship defeating Gran Hamada.
Thank You for Reading
I'm Tony Richards, Pro Wrestling Historian, Author and Storyteller. I share pro wrestling historical items in each issue of the Time Tunnel Pro Wrestling History Newsletter. Thanks for reading! If you enjoy my information on select events, matches and insights, please share it with folks you think might like to be a subscriber!
Remember, paid subscribers get access to exclusive and special content such as some special issues including a multi-part deep dives on wrestling territories, wrestler bios and championship title histories, special audio and video interviews on territory pro wrestling and more available in the Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel for Paid Subscribers.