[1994-05-14-SMW-TV] Jake Roberts, Dirty White Boy and Bob Armstrong / Jake Roberts vs Dirty White Boy

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Jake Roberts interrupts a DWB interview and is absolutely brilliant. DWB is a strong promo himself, but Jake is on a different level.

[Loss]

Jake is mocking DWB's impaired vision and eyepatch. His ability to manipulate emotions and work a smart match - even this late - is second to very few. Give him a babyface injury to exploit and he proves he's the master. This match should be studied by every single heel in wrestling today. At a certain point, Jake distracts the ref and The Samurai comes out and rips off DWB's eye patch. Other babyfaces try to point this out, but are told to leave the ringside area. Now Jake can work over the eye and wow does he deliver. He takes tape off of his own wrist and starts gouging DWB in the eye with it! The milage he can get out of a simple eye poke is just amazing. DWB finally puts together the best comeback he can. Finally, Jake beats up the photographer, steals his camera and blinds DWB with the flash before slivering back in with a DDT! Incredible finish! Call me crazy, but this is one of the best matches of the year. It's nothing special from an action standpoint, but the psychology is so strong. Bob Caudle and Les Thatcher are also really great at explaining all of this on commentary.

[Kevin Ridge]

Roberts is fun here resting his arm on Caudle. He calls Dirty White Boy a geek which was random but sure does get under DWB's skin. Jake gets a title shot out of it. Well played. DWB letting his emotions get the best of him with his current condition.

 

I love Jake explaining with physical demostration to referee Mark Curtis what he did with the arm ringer and takedown. No hair pulling there! Jake's overall taunting is a lot of fun and he repeatedly attacks the eye. Jake ends up totally outsmarting Dirty White Boy for accepting this match by getting the victory. Good match which was better when Jake's was in control because of his antics.

[Exposer]

This is a tremendous angle. Jake cuts a brilliant promo. He's so fucking great at this stuff. The match is another piece of work. The psychology is extremely smart here. The entire match is Jake's manipulation of DWB's injured eye. Everything is so well laid out it's very impressive. DWB gets his eye patch ripped off by The Samurai. Jake targets the eye and man is he great at it. He ends it all by beating up a camera man and stealing the camera. He flashes the camera in DWB's eye and gives him the DDT for the win and the SMW title. Bob Caudle and Les Thatcher are excellent on commentary as well really putting over the seriousness of the eye injury and discussing the psychology in depth. Jake's methodical execution is outstanding in this. Brilliantly worked match.

[soup23]

I love worker body part matches with a great payoff and this delivered in spades. Jake was amazing in the psychology of this match. Outsmarting DWB without making him look like a complete idiot just too prideful for his own good.

[El-P]

Yes, Jake's Psychology is outstanding. Yes, his antics are very fun. But at some point, I'm sorry but I want a match to get going, which just isn't the case. Jake was great at all small things, but my issue with him is that he was doing *only* small things. At some point I find the match dull to watch because it's just a bunch of small things which would be amazing in a big match setting with great work. Also, I miss Dutch a lot here. Not that Caudle and Thathcer together are bad, but something is clearly missing. I saw the flash spot coming from miles away. Good little match with fun antics, but that's it. Yes Loss, I call you crazy on that one.

[jasch]

There is definitely a case to be made that this is the smartest worked angle and match of year. The fact that the match never got out of 2nd gear makes it hard for me to call it the best though.

[PeteF3]

Jake goads DWB with some terrific putdowns and gets a title shot on TV, a few weeks in advance. A lot of the "redneck" insults by the SMW heels came off as forced and rote, but Jake is a complete natural at it.

 

Another thinking man's special from Jake. Not overall as good as the Dustin match but not far behind. Jake works over the eye with some help from Kendo the Samurai, who helpfully relieves the Dirty White Boy of his eyepatch. And an exceedingly clever finish with the flash bulb. I love Jake wincing a bit when the photographer snaps a picture of him, to get over the strength of the flash. Jake's redefined his character somewhat, being a scary and scheming type of guy but also being a colossal dick too. After leveling DWB with the DDT he just leans across with a hand to cover him, pretending to smoke a cigarette. What a way to win a title.

[GSR]

Jake Roberts had come down to ringside to watch a Dirty White Boy squash against James Atkins and the White Boy wants to know what he was doing out here as he doesn’t just show up for no reason. Jake says that it’s great to be here in Smoky Mountain Wrestling because they’re giving people who are handicapped the chance to do something. He says that the Dirty White Boy looked fair out there in the ring, on a scale of one to ten, a soft four. The White Boy gets a bit closer to him, whilst Bob Armstrong is between the two of them trying to prevent anything from happening. Jake says how the Dirty White Boy is wanting him to hit him so that he can then get a lawyer onto him for slapping a blind man. He says that Tony looked good out there as champion and he can be champion this week, next week and the week after as he would never hit someone who is physically or mentally handicapped, and if he thinks he can beat him he is definitely mentally handicapped. He tells the White Boy if he is smart he can be champion for another year, as all he’s got to do is pat him on the back and say ‘Mr Roberts you’re exactly right, I know you’re a much better man than I am’. He doesn’t want to beat him up, he wants him at 100% so there will be no excuses, but he’ll never be 100%, never has been never will. The Dirty White Boy tells him if he wants a match he doesn’t have to wait for this handicapped, all he’s got to do is slither his backside into the ring and he’ll give him a title shot today. Armstrong tries to calm the White Boy down, but he doesn’t care. Jake says that he feels really bad about that, but not as bad as he’ll feel. Anthony tells Bob to sign the match as he’s worked hard for this title and he’ll be damned if he’s letting scum like that downgrade him and all these people.

 

Jake is so freaking good here and the Dirty White Boy brings the goods too.

 

On to the match and Jake has a right old gut on him at this point! Shoulder tackle from Jake and the Dirty White Boy takes a tumble out of the ring. Kendo the Samurai runs out and rips the White Boy’s eye patch off, but before he can do anymore damage Tracey Smothers, Bobby Blaze and Bob Armstrong all come out to stop him. Jake takes a camera from one of the photographers at ringside and flashes the camera in the White Boy’s already injured eye. DDT and Jake lies there for a few seconds thinking about it, before nonchalantly just putting one hand on the White Boy for the win and to become the new SMW Heavyweight champion.

 

I thought this was an excellent match, psychologically so strong and built around the Dirty White Boy’s injured eye which they get so much out of. I found the match so gripping, was totally sucked in and Jake is an absolute master at getting so much out of doing so little. I’m with Loss on this one.

[JKWebb]

Jake is fantastic in the angle that leads to him suckering DWB into a title shot. Jake works the match to get into the head of DWB. Lots of taunting and talking with the ref. Lots of trading work on each others arms. Once DWB is knocked to the outside, The Samurai comes out and removes DWB's eye patch and leaves with it. The focus then goes to the eye. I love when Jake kicks a camera guy then pops DWB in the eye with the camera. Pretending to smoke after the win is pretty classic. I really enjoyed the angle, and the match was good. I agree that it's nothing that special from an action in the ring standpoint, but it's a very fun watch.

 

#493 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-500-451/

[ohtani's jacket]

Loss' #493. I can't find this anywhere (if it's hiding somewhere), but I did find a bunch of Jake's SMW promos online and I've got to say that Jake was still the best promo guy in wrestling at this point. The best thing about Jake's heel act in '94 was his insistence that nothing was ever his fault. It didn't matter whether he DDT'ed the Dirty White Girl, or cut a promo sitting at home, he managed to be psychotic, scary and compelling.

[JKWebb]

Maybe this link will work for you:

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SZhh34W71oE

 

It's listed on YouTube as: SMW 5/14/94

[Viking Hall]

This match is a lesson in psychology and is arguably one of the best demonstrations of heel work ever committed to film. Jake looks every part the sleaze here and uses every trick in the book while Dirty White Boy plays a great babyface in distress and does a fantastic job of selling all of Jake's dastardly antics to the max. Nice creative use of outside interference and a foreign object for the finish but it was just missing something to take it from being a really good match to being a great match. The lack of action is almost what makes it stand out, but perhaps just a kick up a gear for the final couple of minutes to put it to bed could have made this a really memorable hidden gem. Nonetheless is should absolutely be on the curriculum for any wrestling school in lessons to get the most out of very little, which Jake was totally the master of and certainly a match every wrestling fan should see at least once.