Shining a Spotlight 6.10.10: Ode to Jobbers

Every now and then, it hits me how old I am as a wrestling fan. When I see folks talk of the “good old days” of the late 1980’s, for example. It makes you realize how much the business has evolved and changed itself over the years. That’s especially true when it comes to the topic of this week, the semi-passing of what was once one of the cardinals of the business: The jobber.

Yes, I know, jobbers still exist. After all, you need someone to lose and a lot of guys get pushed into doing it more than others. But I’m speaking of the professional jobbers, the “ham and eggers” as Bobby Heenan once termed them. The guys you grew up watching on television, the ones who made a career doing nothing but losing to the big stars. It was a time long past that you don’t see as much of anymore and I felt like highlighting.
　

The Format

Things were so much different for wrestling back in the 1980’s. There were no monthly PPV’s (hell, until 1985, no PPV’s at all), house shows were far more common for big occurrences and TV was set up differently. The weekends were when you turned into wrestling with most territories having their weekly shows then. The big ones were of course WWF and the NWA, by which I mean Jim Crockett. WWF had their weekend hour-long shows with Madison Square Garden’s cable network able to broadcast the monthly shows at the arena which boasted the big matches. Crockett had their weekend programs but the big one was the two-hour Saturday afternoon blocks at their tiny studio.

Back in the days before the Internet and video tape trading, the best way for fans to see the stars was on these shows. Because of that, the majority of the shows would be filled with bouts where big stars would take on jobbers. Also known as “extras” in the business, these were workers who were fair, had the look of wrestlers but had no chance whatsoever against these big guys. Some young fans didn’t know this, honestly thinking the big star might be in jeopardy but most fans knew the deal, even the marks. It was the business, they accepted how it was and even enjoyed it.

It was pretty straightforward as for the better part of six or seven minutes, the star would pound around the jobber. The jobber might be able to work in a brief offense but it wouldn’t be enough as the big guy would end up hitting his finisher for an easy win. It was an easy way to fill out these shows while waiting for interviews with stars or a big main event.

The Monday Night Wars would pretty much end this format as the need for ratings caused WWF and WCW to phase out the classic jobber for actual superstar battles. You did see the change of how some stars would be relegated down to jobbers like Warlord and Barbarian or Tito Santana among others. You still get the feeling of guys who are mostly jobbing on “RAW” and “Impact” but the classic jobber, the guy whose win record could be counted on one hand, has mostly passed by the wayside. It’s a shame as some guys could make it pretty fun on the losing end.
　

Risks of Jobbers

Just because you were never going to win didn’t mean you could just phone in your work. Indeed, jobbers had to absorb a lot of punishment from stars, more than the average bout. That was especially true when facing guys who worked stiff like Vader, who broke the back of a jobber doing his power bomb. A bit on the Road Warriors DVD was them discussing how the “extras” lived in mortal fear of facing Hawk and Animal as they would legitimately tear into guys hard. A great highlight of Mick Foley’s first book was him discussing facing the British Bulldogs as a jobber and realizing how totally over his head he was as he made the mistake of talking to them before the match and giving them the okay to pull some hard moves on them. This did not go very well for Mick…
　

　
Another case would be Charles Austin, who broke his neck after receiving a “Rocker Dropper” from Marty Jannetty in 1990, resulting in WWF having to pay over $26 million in a lawsuit. As the whole point of being a jobber was to be the punching bag of big stars, they could also be looked down upon a lot by the higher-card guys. It was a hard job but most put up with it, figuring that if they couldn’t be big stars themselves, they could at least get close to guys and it was a job. Plus, always the chance of rising as Matt and Jeff Hardy were once jobbers themselves.

Star Jobbers

Even among these so-called “losers,” some stars emerged:

Barry Horowitz: One of WWF’s most dependable workers, Barry had small success on the independent circuit. In WWF, however, he was the whipping boy constantly of almost anyone on TV. It got to the point of how fans would recognize him and Barry would play into that as, in the few times he would get the upper hand of a big star, he’d pat himself on the back. Naturally, he’d lose a couple minute later but it got him some following. Thus, when he matched up against Skip (Chris Candido) in 1995, the result got a huge reaction from fans…

Barry actually got a bit of fame after that, showing that even long-time jobbers can get the fans behind them.

The Mulkeys: Bill and Randy Mulkey, once voted the worst tag team in wrestling, were the usual whipping boys of TBS’ NWA shows. It was hard to tell them apart sometimes but that rarely mattered since they’d often end up on their backs in the end. Yet, they would be able to get fans behind them as “loveable losers” and, like Horowitz, the reaction when they actually won a match was something.

Brooklyn Brawler: Ah, Steve Lombardi. Whether as himself, the Brawler, Abe Knuckleball Schwartz or various masks, he was in the ring with almost every big name WWF had in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. His tough style might have made him a bigger star but he was just so good taking poundings, you couldn’t let a talent like that go. Lombardi today is in management with WWE but fans still love to see him bring out the old gimmicks now and then and even surprise with a win.

Gillberg: For fifteen years, Duane Gill was the classic jobber, never winning a bout and his scrawny frame made his beatings more prominent. In 1998, WWE came up with the idea of repackaging him as “Gillberg,” shaving his head and having him emulate Goldberg’s mannerisms and entrance (with sparklers and fire extinguishers while clearly-piped-in “Gillberg” chants echoed in the arena). Gill made it all work, really loving the part, even holding the light heavyweight title briefly and it’s still one of the better parodies WWE has ever done.

Jake “The Milkman” Milligan: The Barry Horowitz of the AWA, Milligan was pounded on by just about every star the company had to offer. That got him some attention from fans as he would end up rising up the card a tiny bit. His big claim to fame came during the infamous “Team Challenge Series” as he won the “Turkey on a Pole” battle royal to help Larry Zybsko’s team win the damn thing. Shortly after, he was forced to retire from injuries, although having this lifelong jobber win one of their final matches seemed a fitting ending to the AWA.

SD Jones: Ah, what can you say about the patron saint of jobbers? It’s true Jones had some actual success, even holding the NWA Americas Tag Team title three times but he was best known for his work in WWF where his attempts to beat heels would be valiant but futile. He does have the honor of being the first jobber to have his own action figure and his never-say-die attitude is something a lot of today’s workers could learn from.

George South: Ric Flair actually said South was his favorite jobber as the guy could really pull a match along. While he would actually be a star in the Pro Wrestling Federation in the ‘90’s, his run with Crockett and WWF as “enhancement talent,” is what fans remember him for as he would be able to make a great heel look even better.

Kaientai: Taka Michninoku had been a great light heavyweight star when he joined the Japanese heel group. It didn’t take long before they moved to job status but he and Shoo Funaki made it fun with their terrific gimmick: They’d open the match with Taka talking like a badly dubbed Japanese movie, boasting of their power and how they were “eeeeeeevil! He would then turn the mic over to Funkai who would mouth a long list of words while the mic boomed “Indeeeeeeeeed!” They may not have won much, but fans loved seeing that act all the same.

Summation

There are more of course like the Conquistadores, Iron Mike Sharpe, Reno Riggins, Brady Boone, Brian Costello and more. It’s easy to dismiss jobbers but they play an important part in wrestling as you need guys to make the bigger stars look even better. It’s a lot more dangerous than it seems as they have to take hard beatings and often looked down on by the bigger guys. But jobbers are where most aspiring wrestler end up being as a lot of guys frankly don’t have what it takes to be big stars. But many will still be happy working in wrestling, no matter what. And as evidenced above, even some jobbers are able to get the fans behind them and show how even the “nothing” guys can still make wrestling fun. Wrestling is a job but a fun one all the same as these guys are able to illustrate.

For this week, the spotlight is off.