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PWInsider.com is sad to report the passing of professional wrestler Michael "Rocky" Jones, who performed for the WWWF and New Japan Pro Wrestling in the late 1970s and early 1980s following a battle with throat cancer. Jones, a truly nice guy, was 68 years old at the time of his passing. He had been in hospice for some time following the return of cancer after beating it previously. Over the course of his career, Jones worked a number of territories around the world before passing what he learned onto the next generation.
Jones was a regular performer for the WWF on television and competing on the undercards of house shows. He challenged Ken Patera for the WWF Intercontinental Championship on WWF TV in October 1979. He initially performed under his given name before competing as Mike Masters. As Masters, he fought Hulk Hogan, The Wild Samoans, Larry Zbyszko and others. He regularly wrestled Larry Sharpe on live events in 1980.
After his time with WWF, Jones, as Masters, worked for the LeBells' NWA Hollywood territory, where he won NWA America's Heavyweight Championship, defeating Victor Rivera. In that territory, Jones worked with Mil Mascaras, Al Madril, Dos Caras, Tom Prichard and many others. At one point during the run, he lost a mask vs. hair mask to Mascaras:
Jones, as Mike Masters, later headed to Portland, Oregon for Don Owen from September to December 1981, teaming at times with Stan Stasiak against Rocky Johnson and others as a member of Buddy Rose's army, showcasing his muscle and strength as a heel.
After losing a Loser Leaves Town bout to Johnson, he returned to WWF for some undercard work. Jones also toured New Japan Pro Wrestling in May and June 1981 as Mike Masters, teaming with Sgt. Slaughter, Tiger Jeet Singh and Stan Hansen as well as facing Hulk Hogan, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Tatsumi Fujinami, Riki Chosu and more.
In 1982, Jones began wrestling for the Killer Kowalski promoted-International Wrestling Federation (IWF), where as Rocky Jones, he worked with lots of veteran heels including Johnny Valiant, Ron Shaw and Hans Schroeder. Jones was a regular on the independent scene at that point, often wrestling Larry Winters and others names of that era. He opened the ECPW Wrestling School in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey alongside Gino Caruso, training lots of wrestlers in the Northeast, including former WWE and ECW star James "Little Guido" Maritato and former Memphis talent Tony Myers aka the current FMW Leather who is regularly seen with Atsushi Onita, among others. Lots of others passed through the school including Crowbar, Cherry and Deuce Snuka.
Jones would later sell his share of the school to Caruso and was heavily involved in the fitness industry over the years. Jones was universally beloved by everyone who came across him, especially among those he trained. Several years ago, I filmed the following interview with Jones and his protege Little Guido i relation to a documentary on Jones' life (which is embedded above) -
On behalf of everyone associated with PWInsider.com, we send our deepest condolences to the family, friend and fans of Mike "Rocky" Jones.
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