Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 24: Bobby Eaton & Sweet Brown Sugar vs. Dutch Mantell & King Cobra (7/19/82)

Sugar and Eaton are your heels. Eaton is more famous for his Midnight Express team with Dennis Condrey and/or Stan Lane. I’ve never seen King Cobra before, but we’ve reviewed Dundee matches before. This is arena match footage.

Number one, the crowd heat for this match is off the charts great. The atmosphere helps make this match that much more interesting, and it’s always cool to see fans get worked up “back when they believed”. Next thing I notice right off the bat is how all the men keep this match moving, a lot of times outside the ring while the action is going on inside. It’s something g I more associate to well done RAW main event tag matches, but have come to realize was there in top shelf territory stuff too. There is a difference between a bunch of guys brawling and a well laid out tag, and this is on the right side of that line. Finally, Jimmy Hart makes the heel team feel like they have a legitimate presence in there.

Mantell runs after the heels early. King Cobra seems like a less interesting Butch Reed. Nice shuffle dance though. Dave Brown adds some good back story to the match. Mantell nails cobra around the 5 minute mark, and they flesh out the dissension pretty well. Of course they still kick some Eaton/SBS ass too.

Mantell shows some real personality, laying out begging for Eaton to come in and pin him. He’s been one of the big revelations so far on this set. Mantell makes a comeback on Eaton that Eaton eats up powerfully with a body slam. I love the sell even after regaining the heel advantage. The heels cut off the ring in a way that makes you see the early inklings of the Midnight Express. The heel teamwork is almost seamless, and Dutch bumps for a lot of stuff. Sweet Brown Sugar was very good and one heck of an athlete.

Crowd is on fire for the hot tag and Cobra gets up to throw a ton of drop kicks. Mantell doesn’t wait on anything, so he brings in a bull rope to whip the heels. Really stiff stuff as the fans go crazy, with SBS taking a flipping dive over the top rope to get out of there. DQ win for the heels in a surprisingly good match that I should have realized was great sooner. 3 ½ and 7/10.

Match Discussion Here