Tomorrow night, in Bristol, it’s payback time. At least, that’s the inspiration for the show name for the next Imperial Pro Wrestling event, “Attack of the Peeps”. It happens Saturday, April 23, as Imperial Pro returns to its “home” venue, the community center of Realife Church, located at 1317 Weaver Pike in Bristol, TN.
Front row tickets are sold out, but general admission tickets remain available for $12 apiece. Kids 12 and under get in free.
Here is the current announced lineup:
Axton Ray defends the Imperial Championship against Hunter Drake. Axton is a local favorite who just returned from his first tour of the United Kingdom.
Kenzie Paige Henry defends the Imperial Women’s Title against Alice Crowley. Kenzie recently announced she had signed a contract with the National Wrestling Alliance.
Greg Rocker defends the Hickory Tree Hardcore Title against CJ Knight, Big Al and Toby Farley.
365 match reviews, one for each date on the yearly calendar? Challenge accepted. Welcome to 365 Wrestling.
You may have heard or read a story about “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton being one of the nicest people in wrestling?
Whatever you’ve seen or heard, it’s probably true.
In the 2000s, Bobby lived in my hometown for a little while. I got to meet him through a mutual friend. He had a wrestling school downtown for a little while, and a friend and I helped move the ring and apparatus into the upstairs location. He even came to the house a few times for cookouts and pay-per-view nights. Years later, after Eaton had moved on and I was working as a commentator for an independent promotion in the area, Eaton had been booked as a manager. Not only did he remember me, but when I said something about being tired (I was loading trucks at FedEx in the wee hours of the morning at the time, as my writing work had slowed down), he offered me a coffee.
His coffee.
For all who knew him, I assure you, he is missed.
Though Eaton is known moreso for his tag work, especially in the Midnight Express, in today’s installment of 365 Wrestling, we’re taking a look at a slice of his singles action, as he challenges Ric Flair for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title from a 1990 Episode of WCW Main Event.
You can find this match on YouTube.
The Match
This is the second title shot for Eaton in about a month. In the first, Flair won by DQ after Eaton’s ever-present manager Jim Cornette interfered to keep Beautiful Bobby from getting ensnared in the figure-four leglock. Flair was in the midst of a rare run as babyface champion, roughl;y two months removed from settling the score in a feud with Terry Funk that remains one of my favorites of all time. (Note: if you haven’t seen them, go and watch his matches with Funk from the 1989 Great American Bash [arguably one of the best pay-per-views of all time] and Clash of the Champions IX, both available on Peacock.)
Flair spent so much of his career, especially during his runs as champion, making his opponents look strong and gives plenty to Eaton, but Beautiful Bobby also embraces the role of making his foe look like a million bucks. Eaton makes Flair’s chops look devastating, most notably one where he’s standing on the apron and drops facefirst to the floor.
Momentum shifts on a, pardon the pun, beautiful swinging neckbreaker from Eaton and Lance Russell brings up Funk’s piledriving Flair through the table the previous May and ponders its cumulative effects. By the way, Russell puts in some stellar work on commentary. He’s calling the match by himself (which I can tell you, from experience, is a challenge) and simultaneously builds the story of the match, reacts organically to major events as they happen, and gives a straight call of the action without delving too far down any one path. Definitely worth studying for any current or aspiring commentators who read this.
Eaton focuses his attack on the neck of Flair, sprinkling in several of his perpetually excellent-looking punches and using a version of Flair’s signature figure-four against him, but securing the hold around the neck of the champ. Cornette plays his role to the hilt, interfering at a couple of opportune moments to whip the crowd into a frenzy and add extra sizzle to the match like a good manager should. After Flair makes an impressive and creative counter to a top rope kneedrop by Eaton, Cornette’s tactics bring down his man, as Flair grabs the loaded tennis racquet and wallops both manager and challenger before scoring the decisive pin.
Final Rating: 7.2
This is a very good TV main event with significant stakes and sees two of the best from their era facing off in a rare one-on-one encounter. My only real criticism is that Eaton doesn’t seem a legitimate chance to win, given the midcard status of the Midnight Express at the time of this match.
What’s Next
Two of Japan’s all-time greats square off in their only singles battle.
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American women’s wrestling has come a long way from meaningless filler bouts and bra-and-panty matches. The Knockouts division in TNA Wrestling helped create that change. The Knockouts are still going strong in what is now known as IMPACT but really turned a corner with the Gail Kim–Awesome Kong rivalry. Let’s take a look at a chapter of that feud, a No DQ Match from Final Resolution 2008.
Kim became the first Knockouts Champion in the fall of 2007, and her major foe during that reign was Kong, who made a name for herself in Japan and on the U.S. independent circuit before coming to TNA. You also might recognize Kong from her role on the GLOW Netflix show.
Certain stories just work in wrestling, to the point they’ve been told countless times. This is one of them, with the gutsy undersized fan favorite (Kim) going against the unstoppable juggernaut villain (Kong). Kong is in her element in this match, battering Kim, tossing her around, manhandling referees and menacing Mike Tenay and Don West at the commentary table. Meanwhile, Kim makes Kong look like a monster. Kim takes a spinning backfist while seated on the top turnbuckle, taking a spill that looks even nastier when one leg gets hooked, leaving her dangling above the floor.
They reap plenty of fruit from the No DQ stipulation. A brawl through the crowd whips the Impact Zone fans into a frenzy and sees the first major momentum shift in the champ’s favor, when Kong misses on a charging attack and Kim zeroes in attacking Kong’s lefty arm and shoulder. Kim makes her comeback by annihilating Kong with multiple chairshots, followed by a top rope splash and has a great reaction when it doesn’t get the pin. Kong’s aggression toward the referee(s) proves to be her undoing, and prey for a schoolboy pin by the champion.
After all this, these two wrestled yet again on the subsequent episode of TV, where Kong won the title after interference from her new manager. Why not do that here, especially since Tenay explicitly mentions “an associate” of Kong’s being in attendance for the pay-per-view? Beats me. This type of nonsense booking was common in TNA.
Final Rating: 5.9
This rivalry between Kong and Kim helped establish the new Knockouts division, and this is the best match from their feud that I have seen. It’s a solid, satisfying match to watch.
Got a match you’d like me to watch as part of this 365 Wrestling project? Agree or disagree with my take on this match? Let me know by using the contact form on this site, or reach me on Twitter.
365 match reviews, one for each date on the yearly calendar? Challenge accepted. Welcome to 365 Wrestling.
Do you enjoy watching good wrestling? Are you a wrestler looking to improve? If you can answer yes to either question, then I have one piece of advice: watch more Buddy Rose.
Today, we’re taking a look at a two out of three falls tag match from Portland in January 5, 1980 featuring Rose — Pacific Northwest Wrestling’s top heel at the time — teaming with the Kiwi Sheepherders, Butch Miller and Luke Williams (you may know them better as the Bushwhackers), and Sam Oliver Bass (better known as Outlaw Ron Bass). Their opponents are the quartet of Roddy Piper, Rick Martel, Dutch Savage, and Stan Stasiak. You can find this match on YouTube, or embedded below:
Part 1
Part 2
The Match
Portland weekly TV at the time was structured around long matches, many of them two out of three falls with sponsor plugs and interviews between falls. This match follows that formula. It’s also the latest chapter in a feud between Rose and Piper that began the prior spring. Rose has recruited Bass and the Sheepherders to his “Army.” The shenanigans between Rose and Piper in 1979 included Rose, in an act of sublime dastardly heeldom, setting fire to Piper’s kilt from the Crow’s Nest broadcasters’ position while the Rowdy Scot was part of a tag match. Fun fact, PNW pre-taped its TV show at the time, but fans watching thought it was happening live and called the fire department.
Piper’s team consists of Martel, who is new on the scene in Portland; Savage, a mainstay in PNW and one of the promoters of the territory; and Stasiak, best known for his “heart punch” and being the man who dropped the WWF Title to Bruno Sammartino to begin Bruno’s second reign as champion. By this point, Stasiak is in the twilight of his career.
The booking here accomplishes three goals, which is an impressive juggling act. First, building Martel for an imminent shot at Harley Race and the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title. Second, to advance the feud between Piper and Rose. Third, to establish Rose’s Army as a force.
Most of the action is basic pro wrestling you’ve seen a thousand times, but it’s all done well and the crowd is red-hot for the first fall, which lasts more than 20 minutes. Rose is involved on the three big highlights of the match: a rapidly-paced exchange with Piper in the opening minutes, taking a Martel Irish whip into the opposite corner where he throws himself headlong above the turnbuckles to smash into a long pole extending from the ringpost, and then, in the second fall, feeding into a late hot tag by Martel, who busts out a huracanrana (in 1980!!!) as part of his comeback.
Rose sells for everybody in this one, whether it be an exaggerated bump on the apron after Savage punches him, or reacting to Stasiak’s “reverse pumphandle armbar”, as Frank Bonnema calls it, like he’s being interrogated in a medieval torture device. This match loses quite a bit of steam heading into the second fall and the intensity continues to diminish — the opposite of what you want — with the minute-by-minute calls of ring announcer Don Owen (the promoter of the territory), making a time-limit draw finish as obvious as a flashing neon sign.
Final Rating: 6.0
This one is definitely worth seeking out to watch. You get a good look at a highly-energized Piper, the Sheepherders with a distinctly different look, and Bass in his prime. The star, though, is Rose. Rose shines in the style of the Portland territory, thanks to his combination of tremendous promos, meticulous mannerisms in the ring, and bumping heedlessly to make his opponents look like a million bucks. I assure you, this won’t be the only time you see Rose on this list.
What’s Next
Two of the top female wrestlers of the 2000s battle in a No DQ brouhaha.
In Moore House Wrestling 