Johnny Grunge (Michael Lynn Durham, July 10, 1966 – February 16, 2006) and "Flyboy" Rocco Rock (Theodore James "Ted" Petty, September 1, 1953 – September 21, 2002) were an American Professional Wrestling Tag Team best known for their work in ECW as The Public Enemy. After having spent years in various promotions under different names, and after increasingly facing each other on international tours, including a dark (non-televised) match at the very first episode of WWF Monday Night Raw, they debuted as the Public Enemy at ECW UltraClash '93, September 18, 1993. They would go on to be 5x NWA ECW/ECW World Tag Team Champions
before going to WCW in 1996. They would hold the WCW World Tag Team Titles for 8 days, beating Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) on September 23, 1996 and losing them back on October 1, in preparation for the Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) winning the belts and basically killing them off. They would flounder for some two more years in WCW before returning to ECW at ECW House Party 99, January 16, 1999, in response to a challenge made six days earlier at ECW Guilty As Charged by Buh Buh Ray Dudley. The Dudleys ran TPE out in February and they would be in and out of WWE and WCW by the middle of August. In between leaving WWE and returning to WCW in July, they were NWA World Tag Team Champions for 2 days in June 1999. They would bounce around various independent promotions for the next three years, until Rocco, wrestling as a single, died of a heart attack during a match in September 2002. Grunge died as a result of sleep apnea on February 2006.
Not to be confused with Public Enemy or The Public Enemy (1931).
"The Original Mack Daddies of Troping"
- Acrofatic: Rocco Rock had some decent high flying moves. Before he was Rocco Rock he worked a high flyer gimmick as The Cheetah Kid.
- Alliterative Name: Rocco Rock.
- Batter Up!: Regained the ECW World Tag Team Titles from Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck in a "Brawl Game" match where Baseball bats were used as weapons.
- The Berserker: Rocco introduced them as "...the first generation of American children that is more afraid of living than dying." Paul Heyman had read a Newsweek article that discussed cultural changes in the U.S. and the perils faced by young men growing up in areas such as Los Angeles and had included the line, "The generation of today is more afraid of living than dying."
- Blood Is the New Black: In ECW, Johnny would sometimes blade mere seconds into a match.
- Bullying a Dragon: They defeated the Tazmaniac and Sabu on the January 31 (taped January 16th), 1995 ECW Hardcore TV. 911 went to chokeslam the ref and Rocco Rock hit him with a chair, which 911 no-sold. Rocco tried again, and this time 911 responded...by chokeslamming Rocco.
- The Cameo:
- Lost to the Smokin' Gunns in a dark (non-televised) match before Survivor Series 95. For that matter, given that they made their WWE TV debut on the February 22 (taped February 16), 1999 Raw with a DQ win over the Brood (Gangrel and Edge), and their last appearance on the April 10 (taped March 30) Shotgun Saturday Night was a DQ loss to the Hardys (Matt and Jeff), you could call their entire WWE experience a cameo.
- Their second run in WCW could also count as one. They returned to WCW in the Hardcore Junkyard Invitational at Bash at the Beach on July 11, and were gone after Sid Vicious Squashed them both in a handicap match on the August 26 (taped August 19) WCW Thunder.
- Cool Shades: As seen above.
- Dance Battler: They would challenge their opponents to dance-offs in ECW.
- Dance Party Ending: When they won they would often invite the fans into the ring to dance with them.
- Dancing Is Serious Business: They would challenge their opponents to dance-offs in ECW.
- Finishing Move: The Drive-By (inverted DDT by Grunge followed by a top-rope somersault senton by Rocco.)
- Garbage Wrestler: Petty had a lot of solid experience as a high-flyer under the name the Cheetah Kid. However, as a team, this was their style. This was lampshaded when they faced the reunited Bad Breednote (Axl and Ian Rotten) at 3PW A War Renewed on June 29, 2002. Uncharacteristically for both teams, the match started with some mat wrestling. Ian acknowledged this and said that they needed to go back to their hardcore roots, leading to the fans filling the ring with chairs like at ECW Hardcore Heaven 1994.
- LOL, 69: In WCW, Rocco had "00" on the back of his gear and Johnny had "69," sometimes with the words "Naughty Macdaddy." (Rocco's would read "Violent Macdaddy.")
- One-Steve Limit: During their brief WWE tenure Flyboy Rocco Rock was simply known as Flyboy Rocco because they already had The Rock.
- Power Stable: Hot Stuff International, in NWA New Jersey in 1998.
- Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Paul Heyman had the idea of two wannabe rappers. TPE were presented as "hoodies" who loved Hardcore Hip-Hop.
- Red Baron: "The Mack Daddies of Violence"
- Spell My Name with a "The": The Public Enemy.
- Trash the Set: A rare unintentional example. After winning a match once in ECW, they invited fans into the ring to dance with them...and the ring collapsed.
