Bobby Eaton was most famous for his work in tag teams, especially as one-half of The Midnight Express.
53 Facts About Bobby Eaton
2.
Bobby Eaton worked with a number of other tag team partners, including Arn Anderson, Koko B Ware, Steve Keirn, and Lord Steven Regal.
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Bobby Eaton made brief guest appearances for Extreme Championship Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and a considerable number of independent wrestling promotions over the years.
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Bobby Eaton was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2019.
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Bobby Eaton grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, where he attended Chapman Middle School and Lee High School.
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Bobby Eaton later trained under Tojo Yamamoto to become a professional wrestler.
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In May 1976, at the age of 17, Bobby Eaton made his debut in NWA Mid-America.
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Bobby Eaton entered his first match, a loss to Bearcat Wright, as a last-minute substitute for Wright's absent opponent.
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Bobby Eaton quickly became a regular in Mid-America and continued to train with the more experienced wrestlers.
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Bobby Eaton fought the Blonds with a variety of partners, including his old trainer Yamamoto and "Pistol" Pez Whatley.
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In 1978, Bobby Eaton teamed with Leapin' Lanny Poffo, and together they won the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship from Gypsy Joe and Leroy Rochester.
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Bobby Eaton went on to form a team, known as The Jet Set, with George Gulas, Nick Gulas's son.
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Bobby Eaton conclusively defeated Colt, earning a place as one of the top faces in NWA Mid-America.
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Bobby Eaton's heel run did not last long before he rescued his former Jet Set partner, George Gulas, from a two-on-one attack by The Blond Bombers to return to the fan-favorite side once more.
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When Nick Gulas' wrestling promotion closed due to dwindling ticket sales, Bobby Eaton briefly wrestled for Georgia Championship Wrestling, even capturing the National Television Championship.
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Bobby Eaton turned face when Lee saved him from an attack by The Moondogs, and the team reunited, although Sugar continued to use the Stagger Lee gimmick.
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Bobby Eaton teamed with former rival Dennis Condrey under the management of Jim Cornette to form a new version of the tag team.
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Bobby Eaton wrestled his former opponents in tag team competition such as Brad Armstrong, Ricky Morton and "Z-Man" Tom Zenk, but it was not until he turned face during the early parts of 1991 that he started to move up the rankings.
19.
Per a Wrestling Observer Newsletter report, Bobby Eaton signed a two-year contract worth $170,000 a year in January 1991.
20.
At SuperBrawl I, Bobby Eaton defeated Arn Anderson to win the World Television Championship.
21.
Bobby Eaton pinned Flair in the first fall, but ultimately lost to Flair two falls to one.
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The match aired on tape delay on June 29,1991, though was taped on June 3, nine days before the Clash, so Bobby Eaton was only mentioned as champion during the Top 10 rankings segment at that event.
23.
Bobby Eaton joined the group when he assisted Rick Rude, with the storyline being that Dangerously had brought Rude to WCW, in defeating Sting for the United States Championship.
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In joining the group, Bobby Eaton became allies with Rude, Larry Zbyszko, and his two former rivals for the World Television Championship in Arn Anderson and Steve Austin.
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Shortly after the group was formed, Anderson and Bobby Eaton became its tag team specialists as both men had been successful tag team wrestlers in their careers; Anderson himself had been a two-time world champion teaming with Tully Blanchard in the Four Horsemen and had won the belts with Zbyszko earlier in the year.
26.
Sting's team won when Sting forced Bobby Eaton to give up after Larry Zbyszko accidentally struck Bobby Eaton in the arm with a metal rod.
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When Bobby Eaton found himself without a job, he reached out to former manager Jim Cornette.
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Bobby Eaton joined up with the Heavenly Bodies, and the three were booked as the company's top heels for a while.
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Bobby Eaton won the SMW version of the TV title, known as the SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship.
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In January 1994, Bobby Eaton went back to Japan during their Fighting Spirit tour, wrestling only in tag team matches teaming with Rambo and Mike Enos.
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Once back on the roster, Bobby Eaton teamed up with a young Chris Benoit in Benoit's first stint with WCW.
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Bobby Eaton became "Earl Robert Bobby Eaton" and along with Regal and "Squire" David Taylor, formed The Blue Bloods.
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Not long after, Bobby Eaton was moved out of the group, turning on his partners, and wrestled Regal for the television championship on two occasions.
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The Blue Bloods storyline represented the last serious push that Bobby Eaton was given by the WCW booking team.
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In early-1999, Bobby Eaton carried out motion capture work for the video game WCW Mayhem.
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Bobby Eaton was released from WCW in March 2000, ending a 15-year run with the company, just before the regime under Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo kicked in.
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In January 2001, Bobby Eaton signed with the World Wrestling Federation as a trainer for their developmental territories.
38.
Power Pro would eventually fold and Bobby Eaton moved on to Louisville for Ohio Valley Wrestling.
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Bobby Eaton would go to Cincinnati for Heartland Wrestling Association, most notably appearing on the 2001 Brian Pillman Memorial Show.
40.
Bobby Eaton made a one-night only appearance for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on August 13,2003, as a part of a Kid Kash storyline where Kash faced off against a series of 1980s wrestling stars such as Larry Zbyszko and Ricky Morton.
41.
In 2003, Bobby Eaton formed a new version of the Midnight Express with Rikki Nelson, whom he previously teamed with in 2000.
42.
On October 23,2015, Bobby Eaton wrestled his last match of his nearly 40-year career, losing to Ricky Morton, ending the 30-plus year feud between The Rock 'n' Roll Express and The Midnight Express.
43.
Bobby Eaton wrestled his last match on March 19,2016 of his nearly 40-year career, competed in a 15 man battle royal won by PoPo Da Klown at RWC Seek 2 Destroy Cancer in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
44.
At the outset of his career, Bobby Eaton wrestled as a babyface.
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Bobby Eaton's principal finishing move was the Alabama Jam, a diving legdrop.
46.
For much of his career, Bobby Eaton was a tag team wrestler.
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Bobby Eaton was often regarded as one of the nicest people in the wrestling business, even though he wrestled as a heel for a majority of his career.
48.
When Dundee found out she was dating Bobby Eaton, he relented because Bobby Eaton was such a nice man.
49.
In September 2006, it was reported that Bobby Eaton was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack.
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Bobby Eaton later released a statement saying that he did not have a heart attack, but was instead diagnosed with high blood pressure with "a hint of" diabetes.
51.
In June 2013, Bobby Eaton underwent successful surgery to have a pacemaker inserted.
52.
On July 24,2021, it was reported that Bobby Eaton suffered a fall at his home in Nashville, breaking several fingers and injuring his hip.
53.
Bobby Eaton was found dead by his daughter Taryn, who had recently moved in with him to monitor his health.