[1992-01-25-USWA-TV] Strap battle royal / Interview: Eric Embry

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Good action, with Embry winning a strap battle royal by last eliminating Tony Anthony. DWB is using a cat-o-nine tails as a weapon, and the announcers don't even try to hide it! Valet CJ (Is that what her name is??) threw powder in DWB's eyes, so he got her back by whipping her after the match. Embry comes to her rescue and they have DWB tied up taking a whipping until Tom Pritchard makes the save.

 

Embry then comes out for a promo.

 

CJ looks like Bonnie Tyler.

[Tim Evans]

Embry is one of my favorite characters ever. He's like Dr. D turned up to 1000. I think this is one of CJ's final appearances before she left due to Sexual Harassment.

[GSR]

With Embry trapped in the ropes, and the referee trying to untangle him, the terrible C.J. throws powder in Anthonyâ's face, and the blinded White Boy is eliminated by Embry. Anthony gets a few shots on C.J. with the strap until Embry comes to her aid, and they then both take turns in whipping Anthony until Bart Sawyer and Tom Prichard come out and put a stop to it. C.J. is seriously bad. Embry and C.J. come out for an interview, and Embry says for Anthony it has to be the most embarrassing moment of his life in getting whipped by a woman. He also questions Anthony for wanting a rematch saying it will be the biggest mistake of his life as theyâll âwhip him âtil he bleedsâ. Embry is fantastic in this period of his career, and I remember being really disappointed (though not surprised) with Feinstein's shoot that this isn't touched on at all. He is just so sleazy that it's great, and this continues all the way up until his eventual face turn. C.J. lasts up until the middle of February, but with all the women abuse/man on woman violence that was going on, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the sexual allegations claimed were true.

[shoe]

This was neat. Embry is such a sleeze. He looks like that guy on the corner slinging crack to keep his family off food stamps. Embry is a heck of promo.

[MikeCampbell]

I thought the battle royal segment itself was pretty weak, but then again, compared to the Moondog stuff going on in the USWA, pretty anything is going to look overly tame. Embry's promo was pretty good though, even though he was pretty clearly ripping off Terry Funk.

[WingedEagle]

Loved the spot with Embry pulling the strap down, then thinking better of it and pulling it back up. Clips of the match are followed by an Embry promo. He's such a natural and terrific heel who you can't help but hate. Just an utter slimeball.

[PeteF3]

Was David Crockett in charge of providing the straps for this? This comes down to Eric Embry against the Dirty White Boy, and Embry pulls down the strap on his singlet...then realizes both guys are carrying leather straps and pulls them back up. Fairly decent action follows until CJ throws powder into the DWB's eyes, and White Boy more or less rolls out to the floor for a rather weak-sauce elimination. CJ gets a spanking afterward, but Embry makes DWB pay for that.

 

Embry somehow looks like more of a scuzzball with well-coiffed hair than he did with the stringy stuff that looks like it hadn't been washed since Fritz Von Erich was his boss.

[garretta]

I was expecting Kim to make the save for Tony here and set up a mixed tag, which proves that I've watched entirely too much Memphis for my own good.

 

I'm guessing the battle royal was done with simple "elimination by any means" rules instead of over-the-top-rope to cut down on the possibility of one of the boys being accidentally hung.

 

Embry needed the big win to stay viable, but we certainly didn't need more man-on-woman violence. Then again, if losing the Dallas timeslot back in '90 didn't teach Papa a lesson, nothing was going to. The whole business was telegraphed by CJ wearing was has to be as close to nothing as was allowable; I've seen one-piece bathing suits that cover more. Her selling wasn't very good; a few shots from a bruiser like Tony should have had her down on her knees and screaming, not tiptoeing around like she had hot potatoes in her pockets. Her whip shots were weak, but they were going for humiliation and not injury, so that was understandable.

 

Embry's slipped just a bit in promos, but after what we saw the fans didn't need Shakespeare to be talked into the MSC. He repeated himself a little too often- "Have I ever lied to you, Dave Brown? Have I ever? Have I EVER lied to you?"- but only a few wrestlers ever escape that trap consistently.

 

Nice to see Dr. Tom. I thought he was already gone and getting ready for SMW.

 

Who the devil is Bart Sawyer? Is he any relation to Brett or Buzz?

[dawho5]

The battle royal itself was good, but I'd say the Moondogs stuff blows it away. The man on woman violence was going a bit far, but I guess CJ was indeed not a lady. Embry's promo was in his top half looking at 91, but he's done better.