For many of us, we can remember the golden era of wrestling, when we'd tune into WWF Superstars or WCW Worldwide and watch the 5-minute squash match, essentially an exhibition of a star's arsenal as he squashes a hapless no-name jobber. Of course, while many of them were just random guys from Indy feds, there were also many jobbers that graced our television each week. I'm sure we all remember the days of the Brooklyn Brawler and Special Delivery Jones.
For the past 5 or 6 years, however, it looked like the jobber was an endagered species. For as much as we call guys like Spike Dudley and Hurricane "jobbers", occasionally the booking will call for them to go over in decent fashion. Spike can still be a "giant killer" or Hurrican can be the "superhero" to knock the top heel down a peg. The REAL jobber was something wrestling was sorely missing.
Then I saw this past week's Impact. The quickie Shark Boy vignette was so cheesy and corny, but he seemed to genuinely be having fun, while all the young kids took a shining to him. However, Shark Boy is the very definition of "jobber", practically having no wins under his belt. But Shark Boy (along with fellow TNA jobber, D-Ray 3000) represents something that wrestling is sorely missing today: the actual jobber. One to go down in the annals of wrestling history along with S.D. Jones as the master of futility, putting new guys over without hesitation. But as Jones has proven, that's nothing to be ashamed of.
The question is, does wrestling have enough jobbers? S.D. Jones and Steve Lombardi were masters of their craft, and they served a true purpose in wrestling. Does wrestling NEED jobbers and how much do they really add to the promotion?
I sure showed NBC! I wonder what Michael Savage thinks?
I think jobbers have their place in that they really help get new acts over. I'd much rather have a crop of Brooklyn Brawler's and Iron Mike Sharpe's that they could throw out there to get new guys over. You can't have too many of 'em on a show or people won't watch, but better to have say Mordecai destroy Black Bart and Conquistador #2 in a handicap match than have him come out and kill Billy Kidman and Jamie Noble, or whoever the hell it was that he did that to the week after Judgment Day.
I definitley think there is a place for them, but not jobber v.s star in EVERY match like the mid-90's WWF Superstar tapings. They throw them out there every once in a while on Velocity and Heat. But I don't think it'll make the casual fan want to keep watching, unfortunately (not that either show have a lot of viewers to lose).
The best part of the jobber matches was the commententary. I especially loved the WCW Worldwide episodes with Heenan doing commentary during these matches. He was HILARIOUS most of the time. I also miss the superstar mini-interviews they played during the squash matches. They were corny and totally cheesey, but I loved it.
BTW, my favorite jobber was Red Tyler. Poor guy needed a serious tan.
I’d say it’s possible to have too many, and the biggest problem comes from when you make an entire division into one. Smackdown has had that problem, where virtually the entire Cruiserweight division minus Chavo and Rey tend to get the Brooklyn Brawler treatment (I was enough of a mark as a kid that I always wanted to see the Brawler win one – same with Dale Wolf).
I recall a few years ago that they did the same with the Tag Division, including a Smackdown taping where Edge and Christian lost a handicap match to the Rock on the same night as Undertaker killed both Dudleys in another handicap match. Yeah, Rock and Taker both looked strong (which helped their claim to the number one contender’s spot against HHH, along with Kane), but made both former tag champs out to look like ineffectual chumps.
Personally, I have absolutely no interest in watching squash matches. Now whether or not it may be better for business (ie you could protect certain stars that can't be protected now) may be debatable. But I'm perfectly fine with the lack of jobbers as a viewer.
The Bored are already here. Idle hands are the devil's workshop. And no... we won't kill dolphins. But koalas are fair game.
Barry Horowitz was the king of jobbers as he has been in practically every federation known to man, and has been doing the time honored tradition for close to 20 years now. I'll never forget how much I marked out when he finally got that one elusive win over Bodydonna Skip. I kind of have a funny story about that match too, as I was watching wrestling with my dad (who's NOT a wrestling fan mind you) and I was explaining to him what a jobbers role was (I probably didn't use the term jobber being that this was around mid-95 and I didn't have internet access then) to be known as 'enhancement talent' for the superstars, and that Horowitz had no shot in hell at winning. Needless to say, when Horowitz won, I didn't really have an explanation and my dad looked at me and said "I thought you said this guy wasn't supposed to win?" Definately the strangest thing thats ever happened to me while watching wrestling
The modern fan does not truly appreciate the role of jobber. To call someone who jobs is not to call them a jobber. If Jericho jobs to Triple H, Jericho is not a jobber, just as I would not call Hurricane a jobber;his record his lower than average.
Let's remember our best jobbers, some have been mentioned.
SD Jones Barry Horowitz Steve Lombardi Mike Sharp Sam Houston Shasta Watley The Moondogs (Spike and Rex) The Conquistadors (1 and 2) The Young Stallions (Young and Roma) The Mulkeys (Randy and Bill)
These guys went out there week after week and lost to the top stars. Some of these guys got minor pushes, even a title (Houston)run,but we knew 98% of the time they would lose.
I give credit to the jobbers for making Million Dollar Man,Honky Tonk Man, and Mr. Perfect. All three of (even Honey)of those wrestlers were brought in as unknowns (WWF erased past identities, so unless you read PWI you had no clue who these guys were)and had to build their rep by doing bad things to jobbers.
WWE has failed at this point. They give us veterans and expect our knowledge, that is not always good. The WWE audience is a loyal group, they do not watch the indies or TNA. So if Jeff Jarret came in, or Grandmaster Sexay we would rely on the past WWF experiences not the TNA story lines.
Jobbers may be the answer Smackdown needs; it may be the answer WCW needed. By putting guys like Suzuki and JBL over mid level stars it does two things, raises one star and lower another. To build stars the jobber preserves the mid card star and builds the new guy.Smackdown needs new stars not to destroy old ones.
I say bring back the jobbers and days of Superstars and Challenge. Why dedicate so much time to reviewing the RAW and Smackdown! shows?
It's funny, when I was watching the Horowitz vs. Skip match, my dad also walked in and started watching. While he didn't really watch wrestling, he knew a lot about it, as he watched occassionally with me, and always took me to live events as a kid. He had never seen Skip before, though, and upon looking at the screen he asked me which guy was the name wrestler and which one was the "no-name," which is what we used to call jobbers. I explained to him who was who, and seconds after Horowitz pulled off the win, and he marked out along side me. Definitely a strange moment.
Originally posted by VgmastrIt's funny, when I was watching the Horowitz vs. Skip match, my dad also walked in and started watching. While he didn't really watch wrestling, he knew a lot about it, as he watched occassionally with me, and always took me to live events as a kid. He had never seen Skip before, though, and upon looking at the screen he asked me which guy was the name wrestler and which one was the "no-name," which is what we used to call jobbers. I explained to him who was who, and seconds after Horowitz pulled off the win, and he marked out along side me. Definitely a strange moment.
Whats even stranger is how literally the same thing happened to me. crazy stuff definately!
The Gambler was the guy you're thinking of, yes, but Poker Face is this dude from Velocity that continues to be a running joke in the commentary of the show.
Originally posted by Santa SangreThere is a need for jobbers in this day and age, and I've got one name for ya, Poker Face!!!! nuff said
Wasn't that The Gambler from WCW circa 1996?
Man, THOSE were the days. I still remember an old episode of WCW Saturday Night when The Gambler got hit with Johnny B. Badd's Tutti Frutti punch and LITERALLY got the playing cards knocked out of him. Truly a funny visual for all the wrong reasons.
I sure showed NBC! I wonder what Michael Savage thinks?
First off, a nitpicking for TopTenPro as it was Roma and Jim Powers as the Young Stallions.
Secondly, and I've stated this before, nobody beats Tom "Rocky" Stone for best jobber.
Thirdly, I don't want jobbers on TV any more. There are too many good wrestlers to waste time with enhancement talent. Wrestling was too predictable with that format, and that was also part of WCW's problem with Nitro. When they were going for three hours every week, you had the most predictable squash matches all the time. That is one reason that I tuned out of Nitro for Raw a good deal of the time.
Let there be JTTS's like Spike and Hurricane and let that be it. No more Cuban Assassin matches for me thanks!
Joe Wilson (looking at Interocitor manual)- Hey, here's something my wife could use in the house... Crow T. Robot- A man? Joe Wilson- An interocitor incorporating an electron sorter. Cal Meechum- Oh, she'd probably gain 20 pounds while it did all the work for her. Tom Servo- Cal, you bitch!
I wouldn't mind having jobber matches back. It's not like it would be that much less interesting to me than what's usually going on during Raw and Smackdown. At least it would make main event level matches seem a tad more important if they weren't fighting each other every week.
Agree with the guy above...Red Tyler was awesome. The best Undertaker/Razor Ramon fodder ever.
No mention of Buddy Rose (I sincerely hope that was his name)
He was Rikishi-esque in terms of man breasts and girth, and he would come out w/ a pair of shorts that read '280' across the back. I forget precisely what it was that was so funny about those...something along the lines of the announcer would intro him as weighing in at 380 and he would get mad and start denying it to all the fans at ringside....or it could have been that the intro had him at 280 and so did his shorts, and everyone knew he was MUCH heavier than 280, so the gag was that he was trying to maintain that pretense.
My cousins and I used to call them 'bacha', which when translated means kid.
Originally posted by TopTenProThe modern fan does not truly appreciate the role of jobber. To call someone who jobs is not to call them a jobber. If Jericho jobs to Triple H, Jericho is not a jobber, just as I would not call Hurricane a jobber;his record his lower than average.
Let's remember our best jobbers, some have been mentioned.
SD Jones Barry Horowitz Steve Lombardi Mike Sharp Sam Houston Shasta Watley The Moondogs (Spike and Rex) The Conquistadors (1 and 2) The Young Stallions (Young and Roma) The Mulkeys (Randy and Bill)
These guys went out there week after week and lost to the top stars. Some of these guys got minor pushes, even a title (Houston)run,but we knew 98% of the time they would lose.
I give credit to the jobbers for making Million Dollar Man,Honky Tonk Man, and Mr. Perfect. All three of (even Honey)of those wrestlers were brought in as unknowns (WWF erased past identities, so unless you read PWI you had no clue who these guys were)and had to build their rep by doing bad things to jobbers.
WWE has failed at this point. They give us veterans and expect our knowledge, that is not always good. The WWE audience is a loyal group, they do not watch the indies or TNA. So if Jeff Jarret came in, or Grandmaster Sexay we would rely on the past WWF experiences not the TNA story lines.
Jobbers may be the answer Smackdown needs; it may be the answer WCW needed. By putting guys like Suzuki and JBL over mid level stars it does two things, raises one star and lower another. To build stars the jobber preserves the mid card star and builds the new guy.Smackdown needs new stars not to destroy old ones.
I say bring back the jobbers and days of Superstars and Challenge. Why dedicate so much time to reviewing the RAW and Smackdown! shows?
TopTen, it is uncalled for to call Special Delivery Jones a "jobber," because the guy was a superstar. That's why he had a spot at Wrestlemania. He could've taken Bundy...
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