This was filmed in either late 2000 or early 2001
The interview was conducted by Michael Bochicchio
It runs at one hour and six minutes long
Bobby said he grew up a wrestling fan as a kid and went to the shows in Alabama that were run by Gus Gulas, brother of Nick Gulas. After a while he started helping up the ring then went on the road to help set up the shows and did not get paid. He said the truck was hold and beaten up and had no business being on the road in the first place. One night, some wrestler did not show up and he was asked to be a replacement as they knew he did some training on the side. Bobby said they saw some potential in him and he stuck with it after that.
He talks about how secretive the wrestling business was when he broke in and now its more popular than ever and everyone knows about it and what is going on as far as it being entertainment. He remembers guys helping him at the beginning stressing to never show other people what they do in the ring.
On joining the Midnight Express, Bobby said that Dennis Condrey was teaming up with Norvell Austin at the time and it was not working out. Watts then brought him in, along with Dennis Condrey and Jim Cornette, from Memphis in exchange for Rick Rude, Jim Neidhart, and The Barbarian. It was in Mid-South where Watts put them all together and they had a great series against the Rock & Roll Express. He talks about business being so hot that the territory made $1 million dollars over a fourteen-day period.
Bobby said the fans in Louisiana were a different breed of people as they would attack the heels as Bobby said they literally had to fight their way back into the locker room.
He loved working with Dennis Condrey and said there chemistry was great. Bobby said they had fun together, although Cornette and Condrey frequently clashed with each other. Bobby said that Condrey was jealous that Cornette was getting all of the heat as Bobby said it was the manager’s job to get the heat and for them to do the work as they were all making money anyway and kept trying to tell that to Condrey.
On the travel in Mid-South, Bobby joked that they all saved a few dollars because you were constantly driving all over the place and did not have time to spend any money.
Bobby said that Watts had a relationship with Fritz Von Erich and got sent to World Class but they never wanted to go and gave their notice the first day as they had planned on working for Crockett. They ended up staying in Texas for six months then moved to Atlanta and to Charlotte a few months later.
He talks about the dangers of scaffold matches and how he screwed up his ankle falling from it and there was no way to fall from it without risking injury.
On Stan Lane joining the Midnight Express, Bobby said that Condrey just left one day and never returned. He knew of Stan and worked with him in Memphis when Stan teamed with Steve Keirn as part of the Fabulous Ones.
Bobby talks about his team with Arn and how they were awesome but never got pushed strong and kept losing after losing the belts. He also said he was tired of the Steiner Brothers suplexing them all over the place.
He also loved teaming with Lord Steven Regal and that they filmed a bunch of hilarious vignettes in which he dressed as a redneck while Regal would try to teach him how to act proper. Â Bobby said WCW could have gotten a lot of mileage from this as he puts Regal over.
He talks about wrestling guys in tryout matches and doing several matches with Goldberg. Bobby said he loved working down at the Power Plant but he got released and was never given a reason as he was promised a job for life. He does not hold any grudges and talks about doing everything he can for the company but said his feelings were hurt and that his salary was “not hurting the budget.”
Bobby said when he was putting guys over in WCW at the end, it was tough for the other guy to look good because they only got a few minutes in the ring and did not know anything to begin with as they still needed training and rushing through matches makes everyone look bad.
He talks about Paul Heyman never calling him back since leaving WCW but knows Heyman is going through tough times with his company right now. He tells some stories about Heyman and how he once flipped out on Ric Flair at Center Stage in Atlanta then went off on a homeless guy trying to wash his windows at a traffic light when Heyman was trying to drive Bobby to the hospital.
On the injuries he has sustained in his career, Bobby said he tore his ACL and just a few weeks ago fractured his fibula to go along with other shoulder and back injuries. Bobby said he hurt himself adjusting in midair as he never wanted to hurt anyone.
He is asked about several wrestlers he worked with. Bobby Eaton said Ric Flair was a nice guy and tells a story of Flair once diving into a whirlpool to show how he is crazy. Flair also threw some great New Years Eve parties. Bobby does not have a bad thing to say about anyone and said that Eric Bischoff was treated like shit in WCW before he got into power and how your money or job does not make a man and you should treat everyone equally. Bobby said Bischoff was always nice to him.
Bobby loves working in Japan and said the matches are much less predictable than in the United States. He then said if you are unwilling to put somebody over that you do not have place in this business.
Today, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko are his favorite wrestlers.
He had chances to go to the WWF but was comfortable working for Crockett and getting guaranteed money with WCW.
Bobby closes the interview by thanking his fans and those who are positive about the wrestling business.
Final Thoughts: Overall, not much of an interview. Eaton is not the most verbose guy on the planet but he was much better here than with Stan Lane as part of the Midnight Express shoot interview (you can read that recap here)
I also have to say that the interviewer here was rather poor. You could barely hear him and the questions were not in depth and the overall structure was poor.
Eaton came across as a nice guy here who never blamed anyone or put people down and that was admirable. He also provided some insight too.
Unless you are a diehard Eaton fan, I really cannot recommend this interview. Even though it’s brief it doesn’t really hold your attention.
You can purchase the DVD for $12.99 or get a Digital Download for $4.99 by clicking here
Here is my schedule for the next several days:
Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 11/11/89
Sunday: Mid-South Wrestling 8/12/82
Sunday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 11/12/89
Monday: WWF Survivor Series Showdown 11/12/89
Tuesday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 11/18/89
Wednesday: EVOLVE 81 3/31/17
Thursday: Highspots Shoot Interview with Curtis Hughes