Jimmy Jacobs

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[Phil Schneider]

May seem crazy initial, but I actually think he has a decent case for your indy era guys. Has had a pretty long a varied career with some good workrate tags and singles in ROH. Of course his bread and butter is as a brawler, and he is the best gimmick match brawler in . the last 15 or so years, tons of great I Quit, dog collar and cage matches, and really compelling character work and angles. I think if he had the same output in a territory rather then in the indies he would be a no brainer

[Timbo Slice]

Gimmicks were memorable, and he had some truly great performances. The Whitmer matches were great. I'm definitely going to consider him for my list. Might also have taken the craziest bump ever with that accidental super bomb against Whitmer in 2006. With indy guys in the 2000s, he's in the Top 5, which means he has a good shot at making my list.

[W2BTD]

I think this particular thread is the best example of how far across the wrong side of the tracks I am when it comes to this site lol.

 

I've probably gone to, I don't know, 30+? ROH shows over the years, mostly during the peak years (05-09). I can say with almost zero hesitation that my least favorite performer overall on those shows was Jimmy Jacobs. He's one of the few pro wrestlers who will prompt me to walk out of the room and find something else to do until the next match hits the ring. I'm not sure if he'd make my ROH Top 100.

 

Jacobs would fit right in with some grimy southern territory in the 80's. So I totally get why you guys like him and can see where you're coming from. But for me, he was just never my bag. I hated his brawls breaking up the workrate stuff on ROH shows.

[Childs]

He did a bunch of workrate stuff too. His tag matches with Black certainly trended in that direction. Not saying you need to like him in that kind of match, but it's not as if he was a straight Memphis brawler or anything.

 

I'm unlikely to vote for Jimmy, but my favorite off-the-beaten-path performance of his came at an Evolve show Phil and I went to where he worked like a pocket Tenryu against a less experienced opponent. I mean, 5-foot-5, 150-pound Jimmy just stiffed the shit out of this guy. Fun.

[FedEx227]

I sat front row at nearly every Chicago ROH show from 07-11 and I wouldn't put Jacobs in my top 100 of ROH guys I saw during that period. He had a few matches that I'd consider good but he was totally overshadowed on each and every show I went to and he's done nothing in recent years to help this either. I'd be STUNNED if he made this list.

[Grimmas]

I'll need some good match recommendations before he makes my ballot. I remember the BJ Whitmer brawls being pimped at the time, out else do I need to check out?

[W2BTD]

I'll need some good match recommendations before he makes my ballot. I remember the BJ Whitmer brawls being pimped at the time, out else do I need to check out?

 

Age of the Fall tags, I guess.

 

Jacobs & Black vs Briscoes in NYC comes to mind if i'm trying to come up with stuff I liked.

[FedEx227]

1. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Bryan Danielson from Unscripted III
2. Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe Final Battle 2007
3. Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black vs. MCMG Tag Wars 2008

are three that immediately come to mind for me, I liked his late 2007-early 2008 run but that's about it.

 

[Loss]

I remember thinking the Jacobs-Whitmer brawls were uncomfortably and needlessly violent, and I'm someone who loves death matches.

[stomperspc]

The idea that Jimmy Jacobs is a top 100 wrestler of all-time is far less of a crazy notion to me than the idea that there were 100 better wrestlers than Jacobs in ROH from 2007 through 2011.

 

Like Phil mentioned, one of Jacobs' major credentials is his demonstrated ability to effectively work different styles. He got himself over initially both in the Midwest and in ROH working a short shelf life comedy gimmick as a pint-sized Bruiser Brody enthusiast. I thought he struck the right balance of comedy and sympathy with that gimmick. Obviously he played it for some laughs, but his big bumping style at the time and good comeback offense complimented the gimmick perfectly. I didn't watch all of his IWA-MS title run at the time (2004) but I recall him being plenty effective working against all different styles of wrestlers while doing the fighting champion gimmick. In terms of champions of 2000's-era super indie promotions, I thought his IWA-MS title reign was much better than Homicide or Nigel McGuinness' ROH title runs. He is a good, intelligent tag team wrestler which he showed with both BJ Whitmer & Tyler Black. As others have mentioned, he is a terrific brawler. He is able to have believable brawls despite being a small guy even by US indie standards which is a real testament to his ability.

 

So basically you have a wrestler that has worked effectively as a sympathetic babyface and psychopath heel in a straight up, brawling, and tag team environment for a dozen years now. He is sort of a bit player in ROH right now but he has easily looked like one of the more polished, talented wrestlers in tags and six-man tags I have seen him in recently with the Decade. I thought his match against Shane Hollister from AAW in January was an excellent one man performance considering who he was working with. The little Chikara stuff I have seen with him hasn't been very good, but that's largely a reflection of the poor material (the Eddie Kingston storyline) that he has had to work with. He really has not fallen off that much.

 

Anyway, I'd be surprised if he makes my list but I think there are far less worthy people that have been nominated so far. I think Phil makes a great point that if his entire career took place within the confines of a single territory, people would talk him up far more because it would be easier to see how strong his body of work has been.

[FedEx227]

The idea that Jimmy Jacobs is a top 100 wrestler of all-time is far less of a crazy notion to me than the idea that there were 100 better wrestlers than Jacobs in ROH from 2007 through 2011.

 

Like Phil mentioned, one of Jacobs' major credentials is his demonstrated ability to effectively work different styles. He got himself over initially both in the Midwest and in ROH working a short shelf life comedy gimmick as a pint-sized Bruiser Brody enthusiast. I thought he struck the right balance of comedy and sympathy with that gimmick. Obviously he played it for some laughs, but his big bumping style at the time and good comeback offense complimented the gimmick perfectly. I didn't watch all of his IWA-MS title run at the time (2004) but I recall him being plenty effective working against all different styles of wrestlers while doing the fighting champion gimmick. In terms of champions of 2000's-era super indie promotions, I thought his IWA-MS title reign was much better than Homicide or Nigel McGuinness' ROH title runs. He is a good, intelligent tag team wrestler which he showed with both BJ Whitmer & Tyler Black. As others have mentioned, he is a terrific brawler. He is able to have believable brawls despite being a small guy even by US indie standards which is a real testament to his ability.

 

So basically you have a wrestler that has worked effectively as a sympathetic babyface and psychopath heel in a straight up, brawling, and tag team environment for a dozen years now. He is sort of a bit player in ROH right now but he has easily looked like one of the more polished, talented wrestlers in tags and six-man tags I have seen him in recently with the Decade. I thought his match against Shane Hollister from AAW in January was an excellent one man performance considering who he was working with. The little Chikara stuff I have seen with him hasn't been very good, but that's largely a reflection of the poor material (the Eddie Kingston storyline) that he has had to work with. He really has not fallen off that much.

 

Anyway, I'd be surprised if he makes my list but I think there are far less worthy people that have been nominated so far. I think Phil makes a great point that if his entire career took place within the confines of a single territory, people would talk him up far more because it would be easier to see how strong his body of work has been.

 

100 was definitely an exaggeration but I'd put at the very least 20-30 guys in ROH above Jacobs during that period.

 

Everything you're mentioning here is right, but it's nothing more than him being a good hand in a number of promotions and somewhat standing out by doing a different style than what was most popular. That doesn't make him inherently great, good or a top 100 wrestler on any list.

 

He also spent a good majority of his early ROH run getting "X-Pac heat" while people laughed and made fun of his awful characters (Jimmy loves Lacey!). The Age of the Fall storyline was a colossal failure afters months of build and even now as a veteran of the company, he's not seen as an ROH legend by ROH, their fans or anyone who regularly follows the product.

[NintendoLogic]

I've seen next to no Jacobs. Is he a brawler or a garbage wrestler?

[FedEx227]

He's pretty solid at both. I've seen matches where it was nothing but garbage wrestling from him then other times, even with the same opponent he's more in the brawler role.

[stomperspc]

 

The idea that Jimmy Jacobs is a top 100 wrestler of all-time is far less of a crazy notion to me than the idea that there were 100 better wrestlers than Jacobs in ROH from 2007 through 2011.

 

Like Phil mentioned, one of Jacobs' major credentials is his demonstrated ability to effectively work different styles. He got himself over initially both in the Midwest and in ROH working a short shelf life comedy gimmick as a pint-sized Bruiser Brody enthusiast. I thought he struck the right balance of comedy and sympathy with that gimmick. Obviously he played it for some laughs, but his big bumping style at the time and good comeback offense complimented the gimmick perfectly. I didn't watch all of his IWA-MS title run at the time (2004) but I recall him being plenty effective working against all different styles of wrestlers while doing the fighting champion gimmick. In terms of champions of 2000's-era super indie promotions, I thought his IWA-MS title reign was much better than Homicide or Nigel McGuinness' ROH title runs. He is a good, intelligent tag team wrestler which he showed with both BJ Whitmer & Tyler Black. As others have mentioned, he is a terrific brawler. He is able to have believable brawls despite being a small guy even by US indie standards which is a real testament to his ability.

 

So basically you have a wrestler that has worked effectively as a sympathetic babyface and psychopath heel in a straight up, brawling, and tag team environment for a dozen years now. He is sort of a bit player in ROH right now but he has easily looked like one of the more polished, talented wrestlers in tags and six-man tags I have seen him in recently with the Decade. I thought his match against Shane Hollister from AAW in January was an excellent one man performance considering who he was working with. The little Chikara stuff I have seen with him hasn't been very good, but that's largely a reflection of the poor material (the Eddie Kingston storyline) that he has had to work with. He really has not fallen off that much.

 

Anyway, I'd be surprised if he makes my list but I think there are far less worthy people that have been nominated so far. I think Phil makes a great point that if his entire career took place within the confines of a single territory, people would talk him up far more because it would be easier to see how strong his body of work has been.

 

100 was definitely an exaggeration but I'd put at the very least 20-30 guys in ROH above Jacobs during that period.

 

Everything you're mentioning here is right, but it's nothing more than him being a good hand in a number of promotions and somewhat standing out by doing a different style than what was most popular. That doesn't make him inherently great, good or a top 100 wrestler on any list.

 

He also spent a good majority of his early ROH run getting "X-Pac heat" while people laughed and made fun of his awful characters (Jimmy loves Lacey!). The Age of the Fall storyline was a colossal failure afters months of build and even now as a veteran of the company, he's not seen as an ROH legend by ROH, their fans or anyone who regularly follows the product.

 

 

I was going to ROH shows on the east coast regularly from before Jacobs debut with the promotion through the conclusion of the Lacey storyline. I don’t recall him ever getting “go away” heat from the live crowd. I do remember most of the live crowds being way into the Lacey angle, however, to the point that he was getting more sympathetic reactions than the intended “this guy is a little too creepy/over the top” reaction they were ultimately shooting for.

 

I am not going to argue too hard for Jacobs because he likely not making my list but I do think Phil makes an interesting case for him. I suspect that there will be at least a handful of wrestlers who make the master list whose full bodies of work pale in comparison to Jacobs’, but do so due to of better visibility and continuity in their careers.

[FedEx227]

I'll definitely give you that, he's been a consistent hand for years and years with very little truly "bad" stuff. I haven't been a huge fan of his work both character or in-ring but he didn't make me run to the bathroom/concession stand.

 

I just don't think he's good enough for a Top 100 like this. Then again, Moondog Spot is considered a strong canddiate while KENTA is immediately dismissed so what the fuck do I know?

[Shining Wiz]

To paraphrase someone from another thread, there have been many solid wrestlers who have wrestled, and Jimmy Jacobs is one of them.

 

 

For me, ahead of only Necro Butcher of the nominees so far.

[Dylan Waco]

I'll definitely give you that, he's been a consistent hand for years and years with very little truly "bad" stuff. I haven't been a huge fan of his work both character or in-ring but he didn't make me run to the bathroom/concession stand.

 

I just don't think he's good enough for a Top 100 like this. Then again, Moondog Spot is considered a strong canddiate while KENTA is immediately dismissed so what the fuck do I know?

 

I think it's excessive to say KENTA is being immediately dismissed based on the comments of one or two people. If this poll is going to work it needs to have people advocating for all sorts of guys and then actually showing up to vote.

[BillThompson]

 

I'll definitely give you that, he's been a consistent hand for years and years with very little truly "bad" stuff. I haven't been a huge fan of his work both character or in-ring but he didn't make me run to the bathroom/concession stand.

 

I just don't think he's good enough for a Top 100 like this. Then again, Moondog Spot is considered a strong canddiate while KENTA is immediately dismissed so what the fuck do I know?

 

I think it's excessive to say KENTA is being immediately dismissed based on the comments of one or two people. If this poll is going to work it needs to have people advocating for all sorts of guys and then actually showing up to vote.

 

 

Heck, I'm going to be advocating for Kurt Angle as a top 20 guy, along with guys like Matt Hardy, Bobby Eaton, El Satanico, etc. further down the list. We're far more of an eclectic bunch than we get credit for around these parts.

[Matt D]

Moondog Spot is absolutely a better candidate than Jarrett or Angle who are two guys who probably wouldn't make my 300 (well Jeff might). I wouldn't say he was better than KENTA yet.

[Childs]

Is that because you've never watched KENTA?

[Matt D]

I wasn't going to mention that bit.

[Phil Schneider]

Here are some Segunda Caida reviews from 2007 Jimmy Jacobs which was his year. Not sure how much of this is online

 

BJ Whitmer v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 1/27

I think there is an argument to be made, that, for basically the same guy, current Jimmy Jacobs is better then Eddie Gilbert ever was. Tiny guy with great wrestling mind who was best in crazy brawls. The entire Jimmy loves Lacey angle was truly brilliant, I can't think of a better angle in the last ten years, and it was pretty much all Jacobs. This was part of that saga, as Jacobs tries to get revenge on Whitmer who he blames for disfiguring his love, turning him from Emo to Screamo. Even without the backstory this was a great brawl. Building from chairshots and spikings to insane spears into guardrails and Jacobs flying headfirst into chairs. Both guys spray blood out of their heads, and land wrong on their necks. Weirdest thing about the match is BJ Whitmer doesn't actually do anything that bothers me. Even the BJ Whitmer matches I have liked, there are moments where I go "Fuck this guy." Here he was completely inoffensive and bled and bumped enough not to drag down the Jacobs show. The ending was pretty ass, as that fake Benoit guy from Smackdown with a muscle queen back tattoo comes in and Exploders Whitmer through a table. I forgive it, because this wasn't the end of a feud so you need a reason for these two to keep killing each other, but it dropped the match below your other high end 2007 garbage.

Colt Cabana v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 2/24

This is one of the two blowoffs for the best angle in wrestling in the last decade, one could make an argument for Rey v. Eddie feud, but this was an amazing story executed amazing, while that was kind of stupid story executed amazingly. Cabana does an amazing opening promo which was like a serious Ric Flair promo mixed with a Hyman Roth speech. Jacobs and Lacey are then interviewed by ex Jacobs girlfriend Becky Bayless which added a little creepiness to it. As an aside, what happened to Becky Bayless? She was able to survive being an ECW rat and still have some youthfulness and prettiness in her, but apparently a semester abroad took it all out her, what happened to her in Paris? Did Chiwetel Ejifor cut out a kidney or something?

Match just starts amazing with both guys going after each other. Cabana busts open Jacobs with a dusty elbow and he reveals scissors in the elbow pad. They then really have the worlds greatest Tiger Jeet Singh match as they stab the shit out of each other with bunches of cool shit in cool ways. Jacobs breaks Cabana's Chicago flag over his back and stabs him in the face with the jagged wood and then wipes the blood off his face with the flag, which is a great "disrespect your local scene" spot. Also earlier in the match Cabana misses Jacobs and stabs the scissors into the turnbuckle getting them stuck, then about ten minutes later he gets whipped into the corner and is able to pull the scissors out and uses them again, to counter a Jacobs attack it was a really nice piece of match layout.

While we were watching this, I said "This is going to be my number one, unless they have Brent Albright run in or something." Moments later in comes shitty HGH belly, tribal tattoo Albright to stink up the match. Whitmer runs in too, and we have shit city briefly, as Whitmer throws Lisa Simpson windmill punches on Albright. The match never really regained its momentum after that, as they moved from a Sheik match to a Sabu match, while the big table senton off a ladder was crazy, it took too long to set up, and didn't have the intensity of the parts that involved stabbing.

 

Jimmy Jacobs v. B.J. Whitmer ROH 3/4

The first third of the year was Jimmy Jacobs time. They had been building his feuds with Whitmer and Cabana for months, and he had been the best character in wrestling for most of 2006. Then they wrap it all up in the first part of 2007 and he gets to absolutely rule it in the ring. I haven't watched the cage match yet, but this was the best of the Jacobs brawls so far. This was a falls count anywhere match, and Jacobs gets thrown through everything in the arena. He goes through chairs, down the bar knocking over drinks, head over heels down stairs. He pretty much touches every part of the arena with his head. Jimmy also does a crazy looking plancha off the balcony. When they get into the ring, they have the great Shiek sections of ever Jacobs brawl, where he stabs Whitmer in the head, and then wipes his face in Whitmers blood, and lays underneath Whitmers bleeding head and yells "BLEED ON ME BJ". It feels less like a move to gross out the fans, then something a legit depressed cutter emo kid would do in a fight. Whitmer was along for the ride, but much like their January match did nothing to irritate me. I would love to see Jacobs in a feud with a top notch brawler like Necro or Homicide, but BJ at least didn't fuck it up. Your finish run was nasty enough to buy it ending the match, but not so nasty that it felt like a feud ender. Man I can't wait to watch that cage match.

 

Jimmy Jacobs v. B.J. Whitmer ROH 3/31

I was anticipating this match as much as any match I can remember, so I was bound to be a little disappointed. Jacobs was spectacular as usual, as he is really the only guy fucking with Cena for the first part of 2007. Much like the Cabana match this started out amazing, but seemed to fall a little flat. The Frye/Takayama spot with the spikes was one of my favorite spots in the history the promotion, just so awesome and violent. Jacobs creepy blood fetish stuff was super too, licking Whitmer's face, combing his hair with the barbed wire bat, stabbing himself with the spike, just gruesome. Plus those fucking tights with one crying eye and one bleeding eye were just off the chain, if it wouldn't effect my burial, I would get that as a tattoo. The senton from the top of the cage is a hell of a way to finish the feud and both guys looked completely destroyed. Still this match had some problems. Having Nick Diaz come from the back with weapons to slide into the cage was terrible, both guys have seconds, they could certainly grab things from the bottom of the ring. You would think if Diaz was going to bring them anything it would be a one hitter so they wouldn't feel pain. This was also the first match of the series where Whitmer was all Whitmerish. He busted out his shitty suplex combinations, and there were parts of the match where it felt like they were doing a "hot indy wrestling 2.9 section." Which is exactly the wrong thing for a match like this. Still in a year with a bunch of spectacular brawls this was right up there with them.

And one from 2008

Jimmy Jacobs v. B.J. Whitmer IWA-MS 3/1
This was probably the feud of the year in 2007, and after they wrapped it up in ROH, they moved it over to IWA. I think this was the best of their matches, as this was Whitmer being the least Whitmerish. No real goofball fake Akiyama shit, no 2.9ish wrestling, just taking a beating and giving one. Jacobs was the face here, which differentiates it from the ROH feud, I don't really understand the booking, as Jacobs threw the title in the trash, but Fanin was the heel who couldn't let go of the faces betrayal. It works better as a match, Jacobs is a great heel, but he is also a great sympathetic babyface, while Whitmer is a wholly unappealing guy, which makes it difficult to buy him as a babyface. As a greasy faced scumbag gun for hire, he works fine. The short hair is a good look for Whitmer, he kind of looks like a small time Irish mob legbreaker, instead of a long haired Dark Star Orchestra roadie. I loved the restart, with Fanin refusing to let the ref stop it, when Jacobs was destroyed in the corner. You also have to love the Sullivan spike as a babyface move, and the Frye/Takayama double spike spot is spectacular. Plus fuck what an ending, if a homemade vasectomy can't cause a guy to quit, then nothing will.

[NintendoLogic]

Those all sound far too barbaric to be entertaining.

[Goodear]

I find wrestlers using piercing weapons like scissors, knives and swords to be completely emmersion breaking myself and feel the inclusion of such items hurts matches more than they help on virtually every occasion. If you have gone so far as to break those out, it is too close to actual attempted murder for me to be entertained by their inclusion.