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Spotlight on “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton

Posted: Jan 28th 2025 By: Robert Segedy - RingTheDamnBell.Wordpress.com

“Beautiful” Bobby Eaton was one of the greatest tag team wrestlers of all time. In a career that had spanned nearly forty years, Eaton was one of the premiere tag team wrestlers of all time.

While attending Chapman Middle School in Huntsville, Alabama, at the age of thirteen, Eaton was hired to help set up the rings for local shows. In May 1976, at 17 years of age, Eaton made his in-ring with NWA Mid-America. In his first match, Eaton would lose to Bearcat Wright. Promoter Nick Gulas immediately took notice of Eaton and began to book him on the NWA Mid-Atlantic cards. In 1978, Eaton would team with “Leaping” Lanny Poffo (brother of “Macho Man” Randy Savage) to earn his first taste of championship gold in pro-wrestling. Poffo and Eaton defeated Gypsy Joe and Leroy Rochester to win the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship. Later on Eaton would go on to form a team with Nick Gulas’ son, George Gulas, in a team known as the “Jet Set”; they would win the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship three times throughout the years 1978 and 1979. Near the end of 1979, Eaton would turn heel for the first time in his career by joining forces with Tojo Yamamoto’s stable. Before the closing of the NWA Mid-America promotion, Eaton and assorted partners would win the Tag Team Championship; he also held the NWA six-man Tag Team Championship three times.

Talk about your favorite tag teams; there was The Road Warriors, the Russians, the Freebirds, but the stand out team of that era was The Midnight Express consisting of Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey and later on “Sweet” Stan Lane. Eaton was known for his wicked left hand and his high-flying maneuvers; his finishing move was the Alabama Jam.

After working in the Continental Wrestling Association, Eaton signed with Mid-South Wrestling. It was here that Eaton would meet manager Jim Cornette and was partnered with “Lover Boy” Dennis Condrey and the rest is pure history. A long-time feud with the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express at Jim Crockett Promotions, later to be re-named to World Championship Wrestling. The duo also feuded with the Road Warriors at the 1986 Starrcade event in a scaffold match. Cornette fell from the top of the scaffold resulting in a serious injury to his leg.

In 1987, Dennis Condrey left the NWA and the Midnight Express; his appeared in the AWA teaming with Randy Rose as his partner, calling themselves the “Original Midnight Express.” Meanwhile back in the NWA Eaton continued on in a new version of the Midnight Express with partner Stan Lane. The duo continued until 1990 when Cornette and Lane had departed from WCW.

Eaton was forced to pursue a singles career, and he won the World Television Championship from Arn Anderson, but Eaton was better utilized as a team player. I do recall seeing Eaton having an excellent match with Nikita Koloff that was broadcast on WTBS on a Saturday night at 6:05 PM. If memory serves me correctly, the match was outstanding and Eaton’s skills as a singles competitor was notable. Eaton soon found himself a part of a new group: Paul E. Dangerously Dangerous Alliance. The group was impressive and consisted of several big names: Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson and Larry Zbysko. The group only existed from 1991 to 1992, but during this time Eaton was wearing tag team gold once again after teaming with Arn Anderson.

“Cowboy” Bill Watts came in as a member of management and one of his first moves, to save money, was to eliminate Eaton from the payroll. I recall this as being a dark time for wrestling fans; Watts in his questionable leadership ruled that no one could jump from the top rope and no wrestler was allowed to blade. Thankfully Watts didn’t last, and Eric Bischoff was now in charge. Eaton was re-hired and was teamed with Chris Benoit and on occasion Lord William Regal. When Eaton was working in WCW, he could be found competing in New Japan Pro Wrestling and ECW, displaying that his talents were multi-faceted and that he could work anywhere.

In 1996, WCW shifted dramatically when Kevin Nash and Scott Hall departed from the WWE to appear in WCW; Eaton was recruited to be a trainer at the company’s Power Plant wrestling training facility. Unfortunately, Eaton once again found himself unemployed when the powers that be at WCW once again decided to cut costs. Eaton found work in ECW, NWA, and TNA and once had been signed to be a WWE trainer for their developmental territories, but that was not meant to be. Eaton worked his last match in 2016. He died peacefully in his sleep on August 11, 2021, only weeks after losing his wife a few weeks earlier; she was the daughter of pro wrestler Bill Dundee. Eaton was only 62 years old.

In closing I need to comment that everyone in the business had nothing but kind things to say about Bobby Eaton. In his 1999 book Have a Nice Day, Mick Foley praised Eaton as being one of the most underrated superstars in the business, and its nicest, commenting: “It was damn near impossible to pay for anything with Bobby around, though I will confess to not trying that hard.” What I recall when thinking about Bobby Eaton was that his work ethic was first class; he brought a real sense of dignity with him when he entered the squared circle. Bobby Eaton was certainly a unique talent in a world of individuals whose ego’s are often inflated and unearned. Bobby Eaton was a true individual.