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Bobby Eaton vs. Ricky Morton


goodhelmet

Eaton vs. Morton  

44 members have voted

  1. 1. Who was better?

    • Beautiful Bobby
      31
    • Rockin' Ricky
      13


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Years ago I would have said Eaton, whom I still consider one of the very best. But I've seen way too much Ricky basically carrying stuff solo in SMW, being super efficient in angles, cutting super strong promos and showing he was still an awesome worker by mid-90's to still give the nod to Eaton, whose biggest flaw is the lack of promo skills. Also, Ricky Morton is a better heel than Eaton is a babyface. So yeah, Morton for me, but I love both, obviously.

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I think it's odd that Eaton is winning this so easily right now. I think Eaton is a great, great wrestler and perhaps could have been great in singles had he been given more shots. But Morton strikes me as someone who absolutely would have been great in singles matches if that had been the bulk of his career. Eaton had better offense to be sure, but it's not like Morton's offense was a joke and in fact he was a guy who had a handful of really interesting spots that he developed and used deep into his career for great effect. Morton on the other hand is the guy people point to when talking about great selling - "yeah that guy was playing Ricky Morton in this match" - and selling is the most important thing in wrestling to me.

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When something is this close it comes down to close margins:

 

- Eaton's offense was just better than Morton's, it was much more innovative.

- I have a natural predilection towards heels.

- (That I've seen) MX have the Fantastics series; RnR only really have that Russians match plus the Morton-Flair stuff to go against that -- I'd take the Fantastics series.

- Eaton had a very effective face run in 1989; someone will likely tell me Morton had an effective heel run in SMW, but I've not seen it yet.

- Eaton worked well with at least 3 different partners

 

The things going for Morton are:

 

- Better promo

- Did more outright carrying both with opponents and in the team with Gibson

- Carried off the "mullet look" with greater aplomb

 

Eaton shades it.

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I went with Eaton but much like their forever linked careers, if I did an all timer GOAT list, these two guys would be right around each other. I think what puts Bobby over the top for me is the offense factor and compatability with different partners. On the other hand, Morton had more challenges to overcome (worst partner than Eaton ever had, generic white meat babyface motif throughout his career, not the best promo ability even though it was better than Eaton).

 

I do think it is amazing how over Ricky Morton was in some areas but then there are some instances in watching the 1990 footage where the crowd is sort of dead for the RNR (GAB 90, I'm looking at your) and the MX in that cherry on top run had great matches and sustained heat. You could say that the RNR SMW negate this but I have enjoyed the Bobby singles stuff and especially remember digging his Havoc 91 match with Taylor. Then you get his Dangerous Alliance and even some decent Blue Bloods stuff.

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In terms of MOVEZ, would it be fair to say that Eaton has more backbreaker variations alone than Morton has high spots period? I can't actually think of what offense Morton has other than punches and dropkicks.

headscissors takeover, plancha dives, some baseball slides, and the occasional piledriver just off the top of my head.

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I went with Eaton because I feel he was more successful outside his comfort zone. Again next week I could easily change my mind. The thing I never understood about Morton is how his run in SMW hurts his HOF candidacy . I remember Bruce Mitchell saying that last year Morton was great in SMW. Mitchell's claim they were on top when SMW went out of business is revisionist history . Ricky was gone by then, and just brought back for the last week of business.

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I'm more likely to be frustrated by anyone who says that it's a no brainer or a hands down choice than I am by someone who picks either guy over the other. I voted Morton but I don't begrudge anyone picking Eaton. The biggest difference is that I think Morton was the very best babyface tag wrestler of all time. Eaton may be the best heel counterpart, but I'm not 100% sure on that point.

 

Goodhelmet, you raised the question. Put your opinion on the record.

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I went with Eaton because I feel he was more successful outside his comfort zone. Again next week I could easily change my mind. The thing I never understood about Morton is how his run in SMW hurts his HOF candidacy . I remember Bruce Mitchell saying that last year Morton was great in SMW. Mitchell's claim they were on top when SMW went out of business is revisionist history . Ricky was gone by then, and just brought back for the last week of business.

In fact, you could argue that the bottom completely dropped out after Ricky left, as that was when SMW became depressing to watch. SMW before Ricky wasn't much to write home about (unless you have a particular love of Brian Lee working as babyface ace), and SMW after Ricky left went beyond the hope of no return. I don't see how anything Ricky did in SMW hurts his HOF case, and in fact, I think it strengthens it, as it gave him 3 more years of high profile matches and angles he might not have gotten elsewhere, beyond popping into Memphis here and there.

 

I voted for Ricky, because I think he's the best babyface of all time. Great at selling, getting almost any crowd to buy into him...just an incredible worker. I love Bobby and would vote for him over damn near anybody else, but Ricky is one of my favorite guys of all time.

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The main reason I went with Eaton is his singles success was better than Morton's as a whole. Sure Morton had his run with Flair but Eaton had a stronger run as a singles guy in Memphis & WCW. Let's not discount Eaton's success in Memphis pre-MX as well and Eaton's status as being in two of the top 5 tag teams in North America in the 80's.

 

Morton has the edge on him in promo skills though and of course his status as one of the premier babyface workers of all-time.

 

This is definitely a 50/50 type thing and it depends on personal preferences.

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This one I am shocked. The only thing I can think of is that most people voting did not see Morton's run in SMW. Eaton is great but I thought Morton and Eaton were near equals in the 80s. In the 90s, early on in the DA, Eaton was good but not great. Morton was still great. Maybe he gets penalized for headlining a dead territory that was outdrawing the national show that Eaton appeared on.

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