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Post by Monitor on Aug 8, 2021 1:15:45 GMT
I didn't see a post about this, but we lost another great one. Bobby Eaton was a tag team wonder. Teaming with Dennis Condrey or Stan Lane in the Midnight Express or his world tag team reign with Arn Anderson to his early days with Koko Ware (Pre-Birdman WWF run) he specialized in Tag Team wrestling. His feuds with the Rock N Roll Express, the Road Warriors and the 4 Horsemen all were great. Can't forget his time in Texas and his feud with The Fantastics. He was known as a terrific hand in the ring and as an even greater human being outside the ring. I was lucky enough to have met him on several occasions both around wrestling and not. He was a great story teller of life on the road with the Boys back in the 80's. His family has had a terrible 2021. In June, his ex-wife and mother of his children, Bill Dundee's daughter, passed away. Pray for his 3 adult children. He died just 10 days shy of his 63rd Birthday.
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Post by OrochiGeese on Aug 8, 2021 8:57:47 GMT
Bobby Eaton was one of my favorites in WCW. I never caught his early days in NWA or in the other territories so I missed his Midnight Express days. But I was always so impressed how the man made a perfect tag team partner for ANYONE. He was one of the most reliable workers of the past era in singles or tag. And he was so great with Regal too in the Blue Bloods team which allowed Eaton to show off a bit more comedy than he had done before. R.I.P. Bobby Eaton.
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Post by BakFu on Aug 8, 2021 10:30:04 GMT
This is some shitty news, I’d have run into it sooner or later, especially since I'm a regular listener of the Jim Cornette podcasts, but I’ve had a few days off and normally listen to and from work for a laugh. I’ve looked back at old matches between the Rock and Roll express, the fantastics, the road Warriors, Nikita and Ivan Kolloff and the Midnight Express, and I do remember seeing Bobby on WCW TV, but that has been the extent of my exposure. I appreciate his skill NOW, and how much he contributed to the overall landscape of what was going on in the era, and I know how highly regarded he is by Cornette (a tough thing to get for anyone) and so many other wrestlers, including current guys like FTR, so this is a tough one with respect to the loss of another piece of the foundation of what pro wrestling was. This is a good run down and summary of Eaton’s career for anyone interested slamwrestling.net/index.php/2021/08/05/bobby-eaton-remembered-by-colleagues/This was a fun one to watch, Crockett Memorial Cup ‘88, Fantastics vs Midnight Express, start of the match is about nine minutes in, but the intro, the preamble, and just seeing all of the old familiar faces putting together a PRO WRESTLING show is a treat. |
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Post by OrochiGeese on Aug 8, 2021 22:57:30 GMT
All very well said. I figured you would be a big fan of his style too given that he was such a prototypical example of what was great from that era. He would fit in today because he was a master at adapting his style while still emphasizing what made him so great. And watching him in a tag team was magic, much like Arn Anderson.
Looking forward to checking out that article and match video too! 😎
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Post by BakFu on Aug 11, 2021 12:49:40 GMT
If anyone here likes podcasts, Arn Anderson’s “Arn” show has an episode about Eaton. It’s pretty good, lots of old stories, and pretty light hearted (the Cornette one was really good hard to listen to…). Check it out, another example of a legend in the business showing reverence to Eaton for his in ring ability and for what a good shit he was outside as well.
OT: thanks Arn, I’ll never see a Fanny pack again without hearing your gravely voice calling it a “pecker pouch”. 🤣
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Post by OrochiGeese on Aug 12, 2021 0:20:16 GMT
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Post by BakFu on Aug 12, 2021 12:42:34 GMT
I was watching that 1984 Midnight vs Rock and Roll match in the SI article you posted a couple of days ago and thinking how awesome it would have been to see a card in the heyday of Huston Wrestling and been in that storied building with that crazy ass crowd. I’ve only ever seen two live shows, both WWF, so I missed out on that on the floor, grass roots feel (very glitzy and overproduced, no chance of catching a swinging chain or cow bell in the side of the head). The crowd in that match is amazing, it must have been a trip for those guys to have them that invested in the match. People get into matches these days, but those crowds legitimately wanted to save the babyfaces and kill the heels!
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