Bobby Eaton could arguably be considered the greatest tag team wrestler of all time, and one talent that was fortunate to sit under the “Beautiful” learning tree was William Regal.
The entire wrestling world is still reeling from the loss of the legendary Bobby Eaton who passed away on August 4 at the age of 62 and Regal spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated about his time tagging with Bobby as one of The Blue Bloods.
The original plans were for Regal to tag with a young Triple H, but Hunter left for WWE and it was Regal who told then-booker Ric Flair that he’d like to tag with Bobby instead, forming an odd couple tag team that had great chemistry in and out of the ring.
“I was a huge fan of Bobby, even before I had ever met him,” Regal says. “It was so hard to watch American wrestling when I was growing up, but I ended up with these NWA tapes with Bobby on them. I remember thinking, ‘I like this fella.’ I only had a grasp of wrestling back then, but I could already tell his high flying was just spot-on.” Regal also commented on another wrestler who passed away in Jody Hamilton, noting he learned under him before he did Eaton.
“Jody Hamilton also passed a few days ago, and I’ve been thinking a lot about him, too,” Regal says. “There’s another wrestling great. Before I teamed with Bobby, he’d spent a lot of time working with me and Triple H, harnessing our skills as a tag team over a six-week period. Then I had the chance to work with Bobby, so it was the best thing possible for me to learn.
“When I started teaming with Bobby, immediately, we clicked. Everything we did, in the ring and out of it, I learned so much. As a travel partner, he was a complete and utter joy to be around. It was incredible for me. I got to learn tag wrestling from Bobby Eaton.”
The juxtaposition of an “across-the-pond” “Lord” Steven Regal teaming with Huntsville’s Bobby created some fun and hilarious moments for the two.
“I had explained to WCW we could do the My Fair Lady thing, like the old movie, where we were these complete opposites,” Regal says. “We had the chance to film some stuff at Disney, and they gave me free rein to do it. So we went to Epcot, and we made these four different vignettes before we started teaming together.”
“I was so in awe of him,” Regal says. “He was incredible to watch. His work will never go out of style. It will never run its course. If you put those matches on today, it will still draw a reaction. Bobby’s tag matches are timeless.”
