RIP Bobby Eaton Pt. 3

Bobby Eaton/Tony Halme vs. The Hellraisers (Road Warrior Hawk/Kensuke Sasaki) NJPW 6/14/93

ER: Bobby Eaton only had 30 matches in Japan, and this might be the only one we have, maybe the only document of how Japanese crowds reacted to this god. And what an all time great Odd Couple the Eaton/Halme team was! They teamed together every night of Eaton's first tour of Japan, going 12-2 as a team before getting this title match (beating everyone other than Chono/Muto). Were these two hanging out for those two weeks? Eaton teaches Halme a couple things in the ring, Halme shows him his favorite weirdo Japan spots from his 2+ years there, it's something I would certainly watch. They're a weird team, but I love the team dynamic of a skilled smooth technician and a big lummox. Halme really did come off super lummox-y here, like he was on downers or something. He was a little sluggish and kind of wandered around more than I'm used to in matches that aren't from 80s World Class. His timing seems off throughout, but Eaton is so good at covering for him and making it almost seem like part of the act, that it turns into a real charming Bobby performance. 

Eaton/Hawk had a great thread throughout, with Hawk working a more Memphis puncher style with him rather than a Road Warrior style. They have a few punch outs that are really great, Hawk clearly having some kind of bet with Eaton over who could throw a better worked right hand. I don't know the last time I saw Hawk throw right hands this often during a match, usually throwing more chops and shoulderblocks and not having stand and trade exchanges. Eaton bumped big but wasn't necessarily working this as the small man who takes all the bumps. He was working as Hawk and Sasaki's size equal, using those hooking punches as the ultimate equalizer. Match starts with a bang and a big Sasaki high rotation powerslam on Halme, and while the Eaton/Hawk stuff was my favorite (I mean sure Hawk no sells Eaton's piledriver but we also get Hawk's great fistdrop so), but Eaton/Sasaki is a fun pairing I'd never seen. Eaton takes a high backdrop bump but convincingly holds off Sasaki, throwing incredible headlock punches, putting him down with a perfect swinging neckbreaker and then drops the Alabama Jam. 

Eaton was also busy the entire match wrangling Halme, but it really gave a cool insight into his ring general capabilities. The fans really wanted to see the Hawk/Halme showdown and they were LOUD with "HALME" chants before they locked up. But there was a awkward spot where Hawk went to Irish whip Halme but Halme held on too long and just kind of got tossed sideways into the ropes, and it gets awkward getting him back to his feet in a way that isn't just "stand up and repeat this spot". Eaton recognizes it instantly and comes charging in to get in a punch out with Hawk, allowing Halme to reposition. Halme, while he was much more sluggish than I've seen him and did hardly any offense, did at least lean into big clotheslines. Eaton took some big damage down the stretch, including Hawk rocket launching him into a Sasaki powerslam AND taking the Doomsday Device, and I really hope someday I get to see another match with this weird team. 

PAS: This was a bunch of fun, I loved how Halme can just go to the body and cut off everything, but this was an Eaton master class. He felt like he was conducting the whole match, getting everyone in position and taking these huge in ring bumps to tie it together: backdrops, eating press slams, and getting doomsday deviced. He made the Hellraisers look incredible which also made Halme look great when he went toe to toe with them. That is one of the great things about Eaton, he was going to make everyone in the match go up a level when he was in there. I would also love to see more Eaton and Halme, man they would have been a fun WCW team. 

Bobby Eaton vs. Jerry Lawler Power Pro Wrestling 2/17/01

ER: The two greatest punchers in history throw down, and the punches are as great as expected. I don't think Lawler/Eaton were ever in the same place once Eaton left Memphis in the early 80s, and I love the selling point of an 18 year old grudge exploding in 3 minutes of violence. The punches in the first 10 seconds alone make this match must see, and it's more evidence that Lawler arguably sells punches even better than he delivers punches. Seeing him get rocked in the corner by Eaton right hands is seeing two legends with 100% trust. Lawler knew right where those hands were going to be when he bounced around in the corner, and Eaton knew exactly where to deliver them. The fight to the floor and Lawler blocks a post shot (I love when Lawler blocks a post shot with his hands as he always makes it look like his stiff arm straining to not go into that post) and Eaton takes the shot instead. Eaton even takes a biel on the concrete floor! 

Brian Christopher on commentary talks about Lawler being a slow starter, but not long after Lawler hits a mule kick and then the strap comes down. Lawler uses his punches to build to two Stunners, a Lawler spot I usually hate, but here I like it and it's because Bobby Eaton is really great at selling a Stunner. Brandon Baxter starts interfering, which leads to Stacy Carter crotching him on the top rope, which brings out Victoria (totally forgot Victoria was built like Leyla Hirsch in 2001), which brings out Bill Dundee. Dundee looks like The Gorch here, all that was missing was a pipe or a chain, and they set up a Dundee/Lawler/Kat vs. Eaton/Baxter/Victoria match that I can't find any record of ever happening. This was a criminally short match, the only match Eaton actually had in Power Pro, but every single interaction between he and Lawler was EXACTLY what you want. 

Bobby Eaton/Dennis Condrey vs. Southern Comfort (Tracy Smothers/Chris Hamrick) IWC 12/11/04

ER: Dennis Condrey comes out of a 15 year retirement to work some MX tags, and THAT is the kind of indy dream match that excites me. This was only the second of his comeback matches, and Condrey looks pretty good for a guy in his early 50s who hadn't wrestled since his late 30s. I also like dream matches that pair legends with veterans, not young guys. Smothers and Hamrick were already old guys on the super indy scene at this point, and I like that team against a couple old legends. The match is great, with a lot of really snug matwork that built to a hot tide turn when Chris Hamrick started his bullshit. Hamrick worked the mat well with both, doing hard wristlock takeovers and building to some cool stuff around a side headlock and a neat Condrey half Indian deathlock. There's a couple nice old Midnights double teams, the nicest a Condrey drop toehold into an Eaton jumping elbowdrop.

But match gets up-fucking-turned when Hamrick goes for a Johnny B. Badd style jumping moonsault and completely wipes out on the ropes, hanging himself disgustingly by his knee. Now, if you know Chris Hamrick - and if you know Chris Hamrick you love Chris Hamrick - your yellow lights are flashing. Hamrick is the master at taking calculated body destroying bumps-as-strategy. Hamrick intentionally blows out his knee doing a complicated rope bump and it's allllll part of the plan. It's a spot he has variations on and it's my favorite kind of southern wrestling theater. Smothers runs to Hamrick's aid, the crowd leaps to their feet thinking something went wrong, Smothers waves in people from the back, and it all takes so long that IWC opted to do a time lapse. There are four people helping untangle Hamrick's leg from the ropes while keeping him steady and not injuring him further.....and of course Hamrick then lands a superkick right under Beautiful Bobby's chin. Hamrick's face as he shrugs to the fans and to the men helping him is just part of what makes Hamrick the best at that kind of bullshit. 

Smothers goofs off a ton on offense with his karate chops and silly dancing, all while dishing out stomps to Eaton's ribs. Things swing back for the Midnights when Hamrick does another of his insane bumps, flying feet first to the concrete floor after Eaton undraped himself from the middle rope. I love how indies never expected Hamrick's biggest bumps so they always came off as shocking, closer to the reactions of Bigelow going through a ring than any modern WWE stunt fall. Condrey gets the hot tag and throws a couple nice stiff arm southpaw lariats, Eaton hits a hard lariat to send Hamrick over the top to the floor, and the flapjack gives us old man indy champions, one of the purest experiences in indy wrestling. 

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New Footage Friday: If Anyone Says Tracy Sucks Everybody is Going to Die

Tracy Smothers/Tommy Rich/Dougie Gilbert vs. Sabu/Ricky Morton/Bobby Blaze CAPW 2/11/01

MD: The first thing Smothers does in this match is berate the crowd on the mic. The second thing he does is stomp and try to get a clap going. It's beautiful stuff. This was really good stuff, actually. Blaze worked a lot of it for his side, both in the shine and as face-in-peril and he looked more than solid. Smothers did most of the heavy lifting for the heel side, stooging all over the place during the shine, including some good comedy bits and a really believable pissy fit dive set up for Sabu. The heels did what they were supposed to, cutting off the ring well. The comeback was basically all Sabu vs Smothers and they did some inventive things with a chair that seemed perfectly natural. I would have liked to see a bit more Rich and Morton but this was pretty much rose to the level of the talent and the time.

PAS: This a match with five all time greats, and we get a match built mainly around a tubby Bobby Blaze, not how I would have laid it out. We do get great moments from everyone else though, Tracy was heatseeking even while teaming with all time heatseekers like Rich and Dougie, I also loved getting to see Sabu as a hot tag which is a role he is great at, but not something he does a ton. Getting a hot tag and flinging chairs at heads is a great way to play that role. I could have used more Morton, Rich and Dougie, but that is pretty much always true. 

ER: We hate Bobby Blaze now? I don't think I could describe this match as "worked around Bobby Blaze" as it felt more like "Bobby Blaze was involved more than necessary because Ricky Morton, Doug Gilbert, and Tommy Rich looked like they didn't want to get involved in any way whatsoever". So we did get a lot of Bobby Blaze and 2001 Blaze doesn't look as good as 1998 Blaze, but I get actual laughter and enjoyment out of seeing he and Smothers work a juniors strike exchange like they were doing a weird southern old guy version of Liger/Kanemoto, ending with a Blaze rolling kappo kick. Smothers does maybe my absolute favorite bit of his, which is when he tries to start a clapping chant for himself and his clapping slows down as he realizes people aren't going along with it. Really this is the perfect kind of match to uncover and memorialize Smothers, because this match felt entirely focused on Smothers to me. He takes on Blaze and gets the match to the point where his boys are working him over, he sets up the brawl to the floor that leads to a huge Sabu dive into everyone, and then he's the one in there for the finishing stretch as Sabu runs wild. This felt like a match that Smothers was controlling front to back, and doing fun Tracy stuff all throughout. He busted me up throwing total doofus karate chops at Sabu in the corner, does little dances after getting reactions, and does all his wild eyed bumbling as hot tag Sabu is running wild on everyone, finishing with a nice triple jump moonsault. 

Tracy Smothers/Chris Hamrick vs. Eddie Kingston/Blackjack Marciano IWC 7/17/04 - GREAT

MD: Wildly different performance from the others we're watching this week. Here, Smothers plays it almost completely straight, easy and fun at times, but mostly reserved, doing what works in his role and letting Hamrick bring more flash, yes, but also letting Kingston really have all the rope he needs to get himself over. He gives him room to jaw and stooge and argue with the crowd, just giving him an effective, solid, credible straight man to help establish himself against. Kingston takes it for all its worth, constantly entertaining and fully committed to who he is, even if all of the physical smoothness wasn't fully there yet. This probably had a bit too much goofing and needed a bit more time with the heels on top but everyone had a good time with it and even in a loss, I think the heels looked better coming out of it than they came in.

PAS: It is fun to watch Tracy work straight man. He is usually such a force of personality, here he hangs back and lets Kingston take the lead. Lots of fun heel shtick from Eddie, trying to change a Go, Tracy, Go chant to a No, Tracy, No chant, flexing his flabby arm, and covering his ears. Hamrick doesn't take either of his two craziest bumps, but does hit the turnbuckle really hard with his crotch, and hits a cool springboard moonsault to the floor. We get a hot tag where Smothers breaks out his Tennessee Tae Kwon Do to take down both Wild Cards. I agree it could have used a little more straight wrestling, but it was enjoyable stuff for sure. 

ER: This was mostly an awesome Hamrick/Kingston showcase, and I am totally fine with that. Hamrick looked really vicious here (he and Kingston have a punch exchange on the floor that I wish I could have been sitting front row for) and I loved Hamrick showing off all the super athletic things he could do while Kingston showed off all the great ways he had of entertaining a crowd. I loved King getting boring chants and then just hitting a bodyslam on Tracy and a "Who's boring now!?" knowing that any other move would have gotten a bigger reaction. Hamrick had a really impressive split legged moonsault to the floor (making sure to shift his body right before landing so he landed sideways into both Wild Cards and not plow through a few fans). Hamrick is arguably the best non-Chris Hero thigh slap wrestler of our day, someone that doesn't abuse it and knows when to use it, and has the kind of perfect timing that really adds to a superkick or him kicking Marciano in the chops from the apron. There were things I didn't like: Hamrick's Indian deathlock/standing dragon sleeper took way too long to be interesting, and I wish there was a longer heat segment from the Wild Cards (I thought what we got was really good, and didn't mind so much great Hamrick action, but it would have made the match structurally more sound), but you can't much cooler with Hamrick's bananas finisher. Marciano flips into a sliced bread and Hamrick just drops him with an over shoulder seated piledriver, just a nasty explanation point to end a man. 

Tracy Smothers vs. New Jack Money Mark Productions 5/7/16

MD: When consuming a match like this you almost have to unlearn everything you've been conditioned to think about pro wrestling and look at what's before you instead of some generic star rating rubric. Smothers here (as an effective and engaging character, not as the actual person) reminded me of George C Scott in the Film Flam Man or the King and Duke from Huck Finn. Old southern confidence man, trying (and failing) to get the fans to believe in something that simply wasn't real. I've seen plenty of heels appeal to the crowd on a pull of the hair or tights that didn't happened, but it was more elemental here, weightier somehow. He started the match by conning New Jack into wrestling instead of brawling, and they wrestled like two broken down guys, maestros moving at one-sixth the proper speed. Because both of them were attuned on the same level, the go behinds and late match whips somehow managed to feel like two old wrestlers barely able to move but still operating under the norms and rules of pro-wrestling physics. None of it looked nice, but it all felt somehow valid within the broader reality they exist in. It's to Smothers credit that despite being such a legend and a character, someone everyone in that crowd knew like family, he was still able to get them so thoroughly behind New Jack.

PAS: It is pretty strange to see New Jack of all people, work a no bumps match. This reminded me a bit of 2000s Jimmy Valiant matches, where you have two pros who know all the tricks but are really fragile. New Jack retired in 2013, and while he has wrestled a handful of times since, his body is clearly broken. Tracy is a guy who is  great at coasting on shtick, although a bad house mic and questionable HH recording means we can't hear a lot of the mic work. Charming to watch, although the actual stuff in the match is pretty bad. 

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Lawler Thinks He's a Mystery to All

Jerry Lawler vs. Jackie Fargo CWA 7/2/74 - GREAT

PAS: This is a Southern Championship match with the ring surrounded by a mesh barbed wire fence with the ringposts wrapped in barbed wire. I am pretty sure we get the vast majority of this and it is a true treat. Lawler is full on heel champ with Sam Bass at ringside passing in a foreign object and choking Fargo against the wire when the ref was distracted. This was a match of pretty much nothing but punches, wire shots and chokes, but man these are a pair of guys who can work a chokes, wire shots and punches match. Fargo may be the only wrestler in the world who can out perform Lawler in a punch off, and he was awesome here, the finish run is pretty much a wild exciting boxing match with both guys using combos, feints and head movement, just electric stuff. I didn't love the end as it felt like we were building to a classic crescendo and we didn't really get it, but man I am happy this surfaced.

ER: Is there any other wrestler other than Lawler who can boast really great matches 38 years apart? I guess probably Funk, but we don't really have a fair amount of mid 1960s Funk to judge. This is a barbed wire match worked in a way I prefer these type of matches worked: No time wasted on "I'm struggling to push your face into the wire while you're struggling to avoid having your face pushed into the wire". This is just two guys fighting and punching each other hard while leaving the barbed wire to the seconds or to gravity. Lawler punches Fargo and he falls into the wire ropes? Awesome. Gives more of a focus to actual face punching with the wire as more of a stimulus to get back out there and fight. Lawler looks like such a rough ass here, with his shaggy hair, sideburns and mustache. He looks like a guy who kicked the shit out of the drummer from Molly Hatchet at a backyard barbeque. People in attendance still talk about that BBQ! Lawler's punches are so perfect here that it made me wonder if there was ever any stage where he had weaker strikes and had to refine them. I wish I knew what they looked like on his first day of training. A great thing about Lawler is how he sells a punch the way he'd expect a punch to be sold for him. His falls for some of Jackie's blows were tremendous. At one point toward the end when he's just hammering Fargo with jabs, Jackie swings wild and connects, and Lawler goes down like Nate Quarry. I didn't actually see Jackie's punch coming at that point, and the way Lawler sold it made it look so great and genuine. *I* didn't see it coming, but Lawler was flawless in conveying that *he* didn't see it coming either. This match was such a treat.

Jerry Lawler vs. Kamala IWC 12/3/05 - FUN

ER: This was a shorter, lesser version of the awesome match these two had a couple years prior in Jersey All Pro. This still has its moments, just way less of them. Previous match had Lawler bumping big all over for a bunch of different Kamala strikes, this one has a much shorter Kamala control segment and much less big bumps. The cat and mouse stuff and comedy from the beginning of the last match is cut down to practically nothing as we get the foot stomp spot but none of the early Lawler stick and move spots. This felt like much more of a touring house show match that they could have in their sleep, as opposed to the other one feeling like a major Memphis arena main event. Throw in tons of unbearable open-mic-at-Yukz Larry Sweeney commentary and that probably doesn't help things.

PAS: It probably isn't fair to judge this in comparison to the JAPW match, but it is difficult to avoid. If we hadn't seen that match I imagine I would have been impressed Lawler could work a match around an old Kamala, but after seeing that match I am much more aware of what isn't there then what is. Lawler takes over after a missed avalanche rather then a missed big splash, Lawler with a second rope fistdrop rather then a top rope one. I imagine the crowd enjoyed this, and Kamala was older at this point, but this was more of a tease of something then something substantial.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE KING

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