Between my obsession with WCW ppv from 88-92 and watching the Clashes, is there anyone more underrated as an all time performer ad Bobby Eaton? He is half of (and workhorse of) the best pure tag team ever, and is probably the best high flyer of the 80s-early 90s, utilizing the missile dropkick, Alabama Jam, flying elbow, flying knee, and of course rocket launcher. I'm just continually impressed each and every time. But when a "best high flyer" convo starts it's Macho man and Steamboat and Luchadors like Rey and Eddie that dominate. Where would you rate Bobby?
As a worker he was smooth and practically flawless and understood the psychology of tag team wrestling better than almost anyone on the planet. Just watch how he could shift from heel Midnight Express in 88 to getting the shit kicked out of him by the Road Warriors and draw giant heat on either side. As a singles guy, he was great with the right opponent but limited when booked against, say, Joe Midcarder. As a promo, not even in the conversation. Of course he's one of my favorite guys ever as part of the Midnights, but I'm not like a giant Bobby Eaton fanboy or anything otherwise. His team with AA was kind of dull, for example.
I loved his team with AA.
ReplyDeleteBut then I didn't really start following WCW until late 1990 so I missed all the Midnights Express stuff when it happened.
He didn't have a great looking by any means but like Scott said he was an outstanding tag wrestler. Why doesn't WWE hire him for its division?
ReplyDeleteEaton is a great example of how a good wrestler with no verbal skills benefits from the right manager. This is what the WWE should do with Ziggler.
ReplyDeleteEaton was tremendous as midcard singles or tag guy. Definitely nothing wrong with that, as you gotta have guys who know their role to fill out the card.
ReplyDeleteBobby Eaton could be useful if he had somebody to talk for him. He could hold his own in tag team action, and he could be carried to a good singles match, as evidence by Clash XV.
ReplyDeleteHe was a good hand, but not the guy that anybody would choose to build a promotion around.
Ziggler's not that bad on the mic.
ReplyDeleteMore MX talk... I love the WWE Network...
ReplyDeleteMy memories of Eaton are early - mid 90's WCW Saturday Night. He was a main stay of the show and to put it simply, just never had a bad match. Great worker and performer. Bobby Eaton was the perfect midcard wrestler and I mean that as an absolute compliment.
ReplyDeleteIf Beautiful Bobby had the "look" he'd be a former World Champ no doubt about it. But he seemed allergic to the gym even at his peak so i'd say he did about as well as could be expected.
ReplyDeleteThat;s what was cool about WCW. They had guys who were just no nonsense all business in the ring. WWF was the show for the entertainment and featured the guys with cool costumes and great bodies. WCW featured some brawny men who could kick some ass (no homo).
ReplyDeleteI think Eaton got everything he could out of his career given his liabilities. On the flip side, what happened to Stan Lane? They seemed destined for greatness - trained by Ric Flair, incredible look, great workrate, an interesting moveset that included some of his martial arts background. Somehow he got stuck in tag team purgatory his entire career and then went to Smokey Mountain and disappeared. I've been watching a ton of this 88-92 stuff and I'm baffled that Lane didn't become a bigger star in his career.
ReplyDeleteI think of Eaton as a frumpier, lesser version of AJ Styles, who happened to work tags. For all that worked for him, there were a bunch of things that worked against him. He looked like a job guy and couldn't cut a promo.
ReplyDeleteHe was as disenchanted with WCW as Cornette was, and by the time he got to SMW he was actually looking for a new career. He found it, in calling speedboat races, which I think he still does to this day.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, he's not dead... http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/mar/11/former-wrestler-stan-lane-alive-and-well-despite-o/
I liked his team with Arn, and wish it would've lasted longer (much like the rest if the Dangerous Alliance). The Enforcers (Arn and Zbyszko) were also awesome.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of hard to call him an all-time great when you factor in the whole Earl of Eaton thing.
ReplyDeleteI see Justin Garbriel as someone who could benefit with the right manager and partner.
ReplyDeleteOne of my Top-10 all time favorites. Would love to see him honored in some way by the WWE
ReplyDeleteMidnight Express vs the Hart Foundation. Who wins? Discuss. (for the sake of argument, the Harts are the faces the Express the heels.)
ReplyDeleteTime Limit Draw, because both teams know how to work 20-30 minutes and make every second count.
ReplyDeleteAre we talking Eaton/Condrey or Eaton/Lane? Fuck it, I'll take either combo. Just awesome.
Earl Robert Eaton was pretty cheesy, but it was Mid 90's wrestling. Nothing was safe (except Shawn Michaels). Even Bret had to fight with dentists and pirates.
ReplyDeleteWWE just makes teams to break them up the second they get over. It would be a waste of Eaton or anyone else to specifically build up a division that has no hope of success.
ReplyDeleteI started watching WCW around '93, so I remember those original vignettes with Regal trying to turn Eaton into a gentleman. Compared to some of the crap the company was doling out in '93, those original Blue Bloods skits weren't all that bad.
ReplyDeleteEhhh.... he tries. I'll give him that, but he's not good, either. WWE needs more Heyman's and Zeb's to be mouth-pieces.
ReplyDeleteHarts by DQ from Cornette interference.
ReplyDeleteEaton really turned a corner when the Alabama Jam became a kneedrop instead of a legdrop. Too bad because I loved him as the plucky TV champ. If he'd stuck around to the NWO era he would have been treated like Greg Valentine, a once respected vet whose accolades were all but completely glossed over as he was treated like a run of the mill job guy.
ReplyDeleteHe was actually employed by the WWF during the early to mid '90s as a backstage interviewer. He's in a few of the 1994 RAWs I've been watching. He drops the news that the Quebecers win the belts back from 1-2-3 Kid and Marty Jannetty during whichever episode that happened on.
ReplyDeleteI'll go with the foundation. Their teamwork was just as good but they had a legit power guy to bolster their offense. If we consider their first run, they'd even have Jimmy Hart to counter Jim Cornette, megaphone vs. tennis racket. Damn I wish that match had happened.
ReplyDeleteHuh? The guy has great comedic timing and knows when to chime in with little things. I think his problem is that he's more of a natural off-the-cuff kind of guy than a scripted actor.
ReplyDeleteEaton is the difference between then and now. Back then a guy like Eaton could flourish and find his spot on the card. Today he wouldn't even be hired, or if he was he'd get thrown in a tag team to get the other guy over, they'd break up two months later, Eaton would get a series of DQ victories, they'd forget about the feud, and he'd be wrestling dark matches.
ReplyDeleteHe's not awful, but he just doesn't sound natural (he either tries too hard or just sounds really lame). Like you said, maybe it's the fact almost all promos are scripted, and maybe he's more comfortable coming up with his own stuff. He's definitely good enough in the ring to justify a spot on the card higher than working Superstars/Main Event on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteHe's...OK. Better than Morrison, but that's not saying much.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Cornette's MXE book, the WWF did try to hire them. They even got spotted by someone at the airport flying to NY and got ratted out to Crockett for the meeting. Anyway, Vince's whole sales pitch was based around the action figures deal they had (Vince called them "dolls" over and over) and Cornette said they didn't feel like it was the right move at the time.
ReplyDeleteBecause back then, wrestlers worked with wrestling bookers and didn't have to be at the beck and call of soap opera writers.
ReplyDeleteBest Midnight Eatin': Taco Bell.
ReplyDeleteHe was TV champ for 2 weeks. Too bad he had to put over some young hot shot rookie who went nowhere in the business, Steve Dallas i think his name was.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, hadn't realized his run was so short. I just thought it was cool he got the title because his push came in kind of under the radar so I hadn't expected him to go over Anderson.
ReplyDeleteThose are my number 1 (MX) and number 3 (Harts) favorite tag teams of all time.
ReplyDeleteWatch one of Eatons 60-90 minute matches with Savage and tell me he's not a great singles worker too
ReplyDeleteLane also did some commentary, perhaps most famously alongside Monsoon on that great Harts/Steiners tag match.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the closest comp to Eaton in today's WWE is Christian, who has more charisma and personality but is similar to Bobby in that both are just solid all-around old-school wrestlers who can work any style.
ReplyDeleteThis is very true.
ReplyDeleteSide note: Does anyone know how Eaton is health-wize?
They need to have a "Best of Midnight Express" DVD.
ReplyDeleteLast thing I see is from January, Eaton being hospitalized with diabetes issues.
ReplyDeleteHey! I enjoyed The Blue Bloods.
ReplyDeleteGod are you serious? No comparison. Christian is good....but not THAT good
ReplyDeleteIt's a damn shame that fantastic workers like Bobby Eaton would never get hired today because he's not all chiseled and doesn't look like a "star".
ReplyDeleteAnd Waffle House 😆
ReplyDeleteScattered, smothered, and covered!
ReplyDeleteThat's a serious allergy! I've heard it impacts quite a few people.
ReplyDeleteI actually thought the Blue Bloods angle was pretty funny. Cheesy, yes, but that's the way things were back then. And at least they gave their team and his gimmick change a backstory. Today, he'd just show up as Earl Robert Eaton for no particular reason.
ReplyDeleteAnd we also got the Stevie/Meanie parody of Lord Stevie Regal and the Earl of Eating out of it.
Eaton/Lane FTW.
ReplyDeleteNumber 2?
ReplyDeleteSteiners in their prime.
ReplyDeleteCan't argue with that list.
ReplyDeleteWhat he said. I never got the Condrey/Eaton MX pairing.
ReplyDeleteRounding out my top 5 would probably be Arn & Tully, and then the Rockers.
ReplyDeleteBobby cuts promos, brother!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7XQSkXqH-0
imo he was not very good at it, though.
ReplyDeleteHe got an inside wrestling or pwi cover out of it.
ReplyDeleteThis is why god made "fire pro wrestling returns" I run the midnights vs the hart brothers all the time.
ReplyDeleteHart brothers or Hart Foundation? Bret and Jim weren't related (aside from marriage)
ReplyDelete