[1993-07-31-SMW-TV] Interview: Bob Armstrong

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

First, we get a clip of Jim Cornette pinning Bob Armstrong on a house show. Armstrong announces the Big Boss Man is coming in as a special referee the next time they get in the ring. Bob Armstrong is a great promo. Armstrong guarantees that he will send Cornette to the hospital.

[Kevin Ridge]

Clip of Armstrong getting hit by a chair behind referee's back and then getting pinned. Bullet Bob calls it the most embarrassing moment of his career. Bit hard on yourself Bob. Special guest referee Big Boss Man for next match. Armstrong also has one on one match with Cornette and it's a lumberjack match where everyone outside will have tennis rackets! If Armstrong doesn't win he will have to refund all the fans and his career will be over. If a face requested a stip like that these days the whole crowd would turn on him so they could get a free show out of it.

[PeteF3]

Bob Armstrong and Sandy Scott announce two upcoming matches: a Rage in the Cage between the Rock 'n Rolls & Armstrongs vs. Cornette, the Heavenly Bodies, & the Bruise Brothers. And Bob Armstrong vs. Jim Cornette in a lumberjack match with the other babyfaces and heels surrounding the ring with tennis rackets. The Big Boss Man will referee both bouts AND Armstrong will refund the fans' money if he doesn't send Cornette to the hospital (same hospital in the same ambulance!) And he'll retire from wrestling. That's a hell of a lot of stips, but Armstrong explains it very well. Bob is one of the greatest babyface promos ever.

 

It's up there with his Four Faces of Fear promo among his very best ever. Cornette's trademark wrath, anger, cowardice, and prissiness all on display--as a bonus, Cornette subtly alludes to the Big Boss Man's history and teases that he may be able to once again attain his services. Also, ever the heel, Cornette fears just how badly Armstrong will hospitalize him while also gloating to the fans that they won't be getting their money back.

[soup23]

Glad the Cornette response is posted as it is awesome. Bob has that air of believability to him that works so well. This is a man that is proud of what he has built for himself but he has enough dignity to not want to let the fans down at all costs including offering refunds if he is unsuccessful.

[GSR]

Bob is joined by the General Manager of Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Sandy Scott and first they replay the video from Knoxville where Jim Cornette pinned The Bullet. Armstrong says that was the most embarrassing match of his life; he’s wrestled some tough men and has been beaten by them, has beaten world champions, but that was the most embarrassing match ever. Over a quarter of a century he’s had a reputation, a reputation that he’s tried to build for him and his sons, but for this to happen in Knoxville puts a black spot on his heart and soul and it isn’t going to go unanswered. He has already run this by Sandy Scott and first of all, in Johnson City, they are going to have a ‘Rage in the Cage’. This is where this all started, it is where they beat his brains out, but this time he is going to be a participant in the match and not the referee. The referee this time will be none other than the Big Boss Man and it will be Armstrong’s Army against Cornette’s Criminals at Fire on the Mountain. Armstrong says that he wanted a personal one on one match with Cornette and Sandy Scott has granted him that. In Knoxville, TN he will take on Cornette in a lumberjack match, however all the lumberjacks will be armed with tennis rackets. They are going to use the instrument that he himself has used to hurt so many people over these years on himself. He then promises that if he doesn’t beat Cornette in the match, doesn’t send him to the same hospital in the same ambulance that he sent him too, then he’s going to refund everyone in that building’s money and it will be the last match he ever wrestles. He will retire from wrestling and that’s an Armstrong guarantee.

 

Armstrong was exceptional in explaining this, although I’m not too sure what the purpose of Sandy Scott being there was (as he just stood there like a statue), unless it was to add to the gravitas and importance of it. The refunding everyone in the building’s money does give away the result, although at least Armstrong had a case in which they claimed contained money to cover that, which Scott was looking after.

[garretta]

This was incredible, not only for the fire Bullet Bob showed, but for the sheer amount of stips that he got over in one interview. Yes, the result is telegraphed, but even people who weren't completely smart to the business had to know that there was no way Corny could be allowed to prevail twice in a row over Bullet Bob in singles matches. I thought the "same ambulance, same hospital" stuff was overkill, mainly because there's no conceivable way that that stip could be guaranteed (what if that ambulance is in the shop that day?), but I got the intent behind Bullet Bob's promise, and that's what was most important.

 

Sandy Scott's presence was enough; it showed that SMW was backing Bullet Bob's play. I might have used Scott and Steve if I'd been producing, but the one-on-one bout actually felt bigger than Rage in the Cage, so I can see why Bullet Bob came out by himself.

 

I'm surprised that Bullet Bob himself didn't refer to Bossman's past history with Corny. Then again, to mention it too often would have put the idea in the more knowledgeable fans' heads that Bossman might turn, and that would have been pointless unless he was coming in full-time, which he wasn't.

 

Was Bossman still under contract to Vince at this time, or was he doing this on a freelance basis as a favor to Corny?