About World Industries Skateboards

March 27, 2024

About World Industries Skateboards

In the early 1980s, Steve Rocco's (creator of World Industries) sponsor, Vision Skateboards, took over Sims Skateboards, and things went downhill for the Vision team. Brad Dorfman treated the skaters poorly, and Rocco rebelled. Rocco was kicked off the Vision team, but he didn’t give up, and with the support of his friends, including Dogtown Skates and Santa Monica Airlines legend Skip Engblom (who showed him how to press boards), Steve founded World Industries Skateboards along with Rodney Mullen and was one of the first skateboard companies to be owned by pro skaters. Steve and Rodney's vision was audacious and rebellious, setting them apart from the more traditional skateboarding brands of the time.

World Industries Skateboards initially shook up the skateboard industry by taking the spotlight away from the vert/bowl skateboarders and pushing street skating to another level, with a grittier style, and giving skateboarding a new lease of life, which helped fuel it's massive growth.

In 1989, Mike Vallely joined World Industries Skateboards. His raw, aggressive style perfectly aligned with the brand’s ethos. The World Industries Skateboard Team also included Daewon Song, Kareem Campbell, and Ron Chatman.

Steve Rocco was at the forefront of all that was happening in skateboarding in the late 80's and early 90's. And with his edgy, irreverent marketing, rad skate videos, and controversial skate ads, he took the somewhat corporate big skate companies by surprise. World Industries quickly took off while Rocco chipped away at the dominance of the “Big Five” skateboard companies (Powell Peralta, Santa Cruz, Tracker, Independent, and Vision) that controlled the market in the late 80s and early 90s.

As one of the founders, skateboard legend Rodney Mullen lent his expertise and creativity to World Industries Skateboards. His influence extended beyond just skating—he shaped the World Industries brand identity.

World Industries was known for its edgy, irreverent, and often controversial graphics featuring provocative art, dark humor, and a rebellious spirit. Iconic characters like Flameboy and Wet Willy adorned World Industries decks, and these characters became synonymous with the brand, resonating with skaters worldwide.

The years of 1996 to 1999 were years of significant restructuring and explosive growth for World Industries, led by the newly appointed executives, and subsequent shareholders, CEO Frank Messman and CFO Scott Drouillard. By the end of 1998, World Industries and Blind Skateboards had achieved the status of number one and number two brands in skateboard hardgoods, respectively. This was in large part due to the repositioning of the brands with skateboard deck graphics legend Marc McKee's hugely popular cartoon characters of Devil Man, Flame Boy and Wet Willy for World Industries, and the "Blind Reaper" for Blind.

Steve Rocco sold World Industries in 2002 and as of 2014, World Industries Skateboards operates under GVS America, a subsidiary of INA Sports Inc. & FGL Sports Ltd.

Steve Rocco was unafraid to stir the pot. His unconventional tactics included pushing boundaries within the skateboard industry via the skate media, embracing irreverence, and challenging the status quo. He disrupted the skateboard industry norms and gave the skaters what they were looking for.

As 26th of March, 2024, Steve Rocco has returned back to the world of skateboarding and is working with SidewalkDistribution.com

World Industries Skateboard Videos:

World Industries: Rubbish Heap Skateboard Video

"Probably watched this vid thousands of times on a dubbed VHS throughout my entire childhood. My brother had a poster of Mike Smith doing a handplant sticking his tongue out. I rocked the bandana under the hat copying him. This, Video Days, Hokus Pokus, Useless Wooden Toys...what a time to be alive into skating"

"True evolution and history. Remember how long and hard it was to learn half cab blunt to fake just on mini. Good times skating back then, new tricks, combos galore. 51, still relearning tricks from 30 plus years ago. Keep rippin'"

"Goddam stroke of genius getting Rodney to skate a larger board."

"Loved this video since I was a kid. So raw, so old, but still gets me so hyped to skate. Love the whole video, but especially Duc and John’s part. Always wondered what happened to those guys, such great style."

World Industries: 2 World Industries Skateboard Video ""Dune" Chris Pastras & Randy Colvin"

"Chris Pastras and Randy Colvin in 2 World Industries Men originally released in 1990. 2 World Industries Men is a short promo video with no soundtrack, just raw skateboarding."

World Industries: Love Child Skateboard Video

"Featuring Chico Brenes, Daniel Castillo, Spencer Fujimoto, Shiloh Greathouse, Daewon Song, Jovontae Turner, and Jed."

"Man.. skateboarding was so much fun. Actually it still is, I'm just old. These were days I will always cherish."

"Tiny wheels , big jeans , my favourite era of skating by far"

"Jed Walters my son in law was not only a great athlete skater, he was also a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ."

"RIP Jed Walters! He was a amazing tree arborist and climber and skater!"

"I still cant believe this was going down in 92 fr. Skating has always been around and awesome af"

"Possibly the best soundtrack of all skate videos ever, beating the H-Street ones too and they were awesome."

"My most inspirational and favorite skate video ever. Insanely large pants pipefit, I believe they were called and the only place we could find them was at Caldor department store. We made the huge pants cool before the homies. Skateboarding was so cool in those days."