Jimmy Jacobs entered ROH as a happy kid in white tights and furry boots his mother made for him. He was a little eccentric, refusing to speak English, instead channeling Bruiser Brodie in chanting, “Huss!†Today he has a fetish for black and can’t shut up about vendettas and his social agenda. It’s funny that only today do we ask if he’s insane. But madness is out your control. Is he mad, or has he always had the rare ability to live what he wanted regardless of reality?
In 2003 he was small even by ROH standards and quickly became a goofball whose in-ring ability was overlooked. His chanting was funny, he had a quirky charisma, and he wrestled differently than the myriad of little guys at the time. He wasn’t as agile as Matt Sydal or Jack Evans, nor even particularly fast. He liked to brawl, and would hurt himself to brings others down. He had simple offense, like a double stomp or a Yakuza Kick. His biggest aerial move was a top turnbuckle Senton, not the popular Swanton, but an ugly crash and burn.
He partnered with longtime indy rival Alex Shelley. Shelley had a phenomenal crispness, dexterity in mat wrestling and a bag full of moves fans had never seen before. He was what Jacobs wasn’t. He was destined for glory, even as their team lost time and time again. They tried hard, and that was enough for ROH to keep booking them, but not enough to get ahead.
After a scandal and the departure of several main-eventers from ROH, Shelley abandoned from Jacobs. He looked at a landscape of hungry rookies and the instability of top spots, and collected opportunists to form Generation Next. He picked an unparalleled high-flyer in Jack Evans, a powerful enforcer in Roderick Strong, and a general blue-chipper like himself in Austin Aries. Over the Reborn shows and Generation Next, the group shaped itself and tried to seize control through intimidation, disrespect and a savage numbers game.
Jacobs was not invited and would not step aside to let the upstarts claim powerful positions. He fought on the honorable side of the Ring of Honor line, aligning with Ricky Steamboat’s crew. Steamboat reached out to him, claiming to see something special here. More than Shelley’s betrayal, Steamboat’s word seemed to send Jacobs after the upstarts. But what did the legend see in the scrawny wannabe Barbarian?
Shelley and his Generation Next found out over for many weekends of matches. Audiences had seen some of what was special to Jacobs, but he displayed it fully at Joe Vs. Punk 2. On the undercard of one of ROH’s biggest matches Jacobs and Shelley in an I Quit match that remains one of the most brutal ROH has ever seen, and which was even more shocking the time. Jacobs was punched, kicked, stretched, whipped, stabbed, struck with chairs, tied to turnbuckles and caned, but would not quit. This was not a Bugs Bunny performance. He proved himself not be a typical plucky underdog or some colorful cartoon character, but someone altogether uncanny. His willingness to suffer for ideals – in that case, not to let Shelley think he was better, and not confess weakness in quitting – showed a severity of his condition.
Until then people could fool themselves into thinking he was just another of wrestling’s funny cast members. But Jacobs was not the funny, plucky guy out of denial of the world’s harshness or the dangers of his profession. Like all mature idealists he had the uncanny ability to persevere through hardship and remain as he wanted to be. In reality, someone who could remain even a little happy-go-lucky after what he went through was an altogether stronger personality than most people are comfortable considering. His ability to create a vision of the world and refuse to relinquish it remains his strongest character trait today, when all the others seem to have changed.
His brawling and self-destructive wrestling style made more sense now. The personality was interesting, but Jacobs was equipped with a fundamental toughness. CM Punk and Bryan Danielson were famed for their stamina, but they were never put through the punishment that Jacobs experienced. Jacobs wrestled in longer matches, multi-man matches and in hardcore environments, where Punk and Danielson went 30 or 60 minutes in pure wrestling, not having to worry as much about concussions or bleeding. Not to belittle those titans of ROH, but Danielson lost the unification match at Weekend of Champions Night 2 because of a chairshot, and when Joe Vs. Punk finally got a decision at All Star Extravaganza 2, it was Punk passing out while bleeding from a head wound.
Jacobs could not match the numbers of Generation Next, and arguably could not match their raw ability. He was rough, and too small to rely on powerful punches, even if he had the heart to throw a hundred of them. The heart went to throwing himself at opponents in a fashion best compared to Mick Foley’s Cactus Jack and Mankind personas.
He wrestled Shelley yet again at Third Anniversary Celebration Part 1. Again he was battered and beaten. But the very next show he got up and went at Dan Maff and B.J. Whitmer, two of the biggest, strongest men on the roster. They wrestled his style, but with bodies suited to it. His partner was Delirious, one of the only wrestlers as small and thin as Jacobs. Again, they lost. Again, Jacobs impressed in defeat. Again, it meant an opportunity.
Dan Maff disappeared from ROH and Whitmer was ordered to find a new partner and be ready to face the #1 contenders to determine new champions. The #1 contenders were one of ROH’s godfathers, Samoa Joe, and his protégé, Jay Lethal. The match was in the middle of Best of the American Super Juniors, and more surprising than Whitmer’s choice was their victory. Whitmer and Jacobs, on short notice and never having teamed before, beat the greatest champion ROH had ever seen and one of its favorite blue-chippers.
They made for unconventional champions. Jacobs still Hussed, but seeing his big partner, he now acted bigger than ever before. Their relationship was best expressed in their pre-match homage to Shawn Michaels and Diesel, one posing in front of the other. Jacobs insisted on being Diesel, raising his fist and roaring while Whitmer laughed and flexed in the foreground. Many of their matches would see Jacobs bite off more than he could chew, and Whitmer striving to compensate for his partner’s bravery.
The norm was for the little man to fly and the big guy to play power-enforcer. Roderick Strong and Jack Evans used that formula to become one of the hottest teams on the circuit. But Jacobs went at matches from all angles. Sure, he’d snap off a Doomsday Hurricanrana, but he’d also tackle Ace Steel head on.
It worked. They beat Strong and Evans decisively, getting a mark over the Generation Next gang. At Final Showdown they beat Ace Steel and CM Punk in another straight-up match. Whitmer’s power had helped he and Maff in the tag title scene, but with Jacobs’s unpredictability he was knocking off some incredibly high-profile singles wrestlers in the tag domain. Whitmer had seen his fair share of hardcore wars, and somewhere in a haze of competitive toughness they formed a relationship that Whitmer and Jacobs would later reflect on as brotherhood.
Eventually they crossed Lacey’s Angels. The faction was a power fantasy of Lacey, a manager who emerged out of the aimless group of rich stoner kids that wrestled more for their own amusement than anything. She threw several misandric tantrums, complaining about being objectified and underappreciated for her marketing genius. Whitmer and Jacobs disposed of her team handily. Afterwards Lacey began watching them. She’d already been looking to trade up.
Shortly thereafter Whitmer and Jacobs fumbled the tag titles back to Whitmer’s old enemies, the Carnage Crew, at Escape From New York. The big brawlers were just too much that night, but Whitmer and Jacobs won the belts back at Homecoming just two weeks later. Whitmer and Jacobs regained the belts in their contractual rematch a mere two weeks later at Redemption, but lost the titles again at Joe Vs. Kobashi to the downright goofy team of Tony Mamaluke and Sal Rinauro – far less formidable than Spanky and James Gibson or Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal.
Lacey descended when the team was in their slump and signed them as her new wrestlers. She fired the old Angels and promised Whitmer and Jacobs better things, including a tag title rematch. Immediately she picked at their attire, forcing Jacobs to ditch his furry boots for more professional gear. She also prohibited him from ever hussing again, no matter how much the crowd wanted it. He acceded unquestioningly, showing a keen interest in his manager.
She rubbed it in when they lost their title rematch, and openly insulted them behind their backs. During their matches she instructed them not to go for the win but to further beat on their male opponents, seemingly getting her bigoted kicks. She kept her rants away from their ears while Jacobs fell head over heels for who he thought was the most wonderful woman in the world.
B.J. Whitmer wasn’t falling for anybody. Like very few wrestlers, Whitmer actually watched the show. He saw Lacey’s sexist rants, called her on it and publicly fired her. Her direction hadn’t helped and having struggled with another acerbic female manager earlier in his career, he had no tolerance for this one. He was surprised when Jacobs refused to follow.
Lacey was furious that one of her wrestlers would actually try to quit on her and ordered Jacobs to destroy him. She seemed to think Jacobs was under her power because that was the way her relationships were supposed to work. But Jacobs actually followed orders because he was in doe-eyed love, and seemed to think Lacey either reciprocated, or would come around. At least this time Jacobs’s delusion was one most of us have had.
What did he see in her? Likely something as illogical as whatever could drive a young man to refuse to submit when tied to a post and beaten to the point of needing a hospital. Where she was shrill to the audience, she was an angel to him. If he lost a match he’d actually be more concerned with how she was feeling about that loss than his own injuries. Again, despite creating his own world, Jacobs possessed a baffling physical toughness that insulated his mind.
Jacobs picked up some singles wins, including one over Sal Rinauro for a measure of revenge. Lacey booked them in a match at Dragon Gate Challenge that remains one of the most terrifying in ROH history. Jacobs would not stay down, going at Whitmer with a personal anger. Whitmer attempted to Powerbomb him off the top turnbuckle, but Jacobs’s struggling and Whitmer’s poor footing caused them to topple outside. Jacobs smashed his head on the ring apron, and for a moment the audience feared they’d just seen a man die.
Then Jacobs got up.
He fought for several more minutes, barely conscious, still throwing himself at Whitmer. He had to be drilled on his head again and knocked completely unconscious just to be pinned before he would see medical help. That night it became frighteningly apparent that the little guy who had once simply fought never to give up now put that spirit into the work of serving unrequited love. He was almost tragic, and despite toadying to a shrew, drew more sympathy from crowds than Whitmer did.
They went even further in their rematch at In Your Face, where Whitmer Powerbombed him into the crowd and both men had to be carted away. It was frightening that they’d do this to each other, but perhaps more frightening for Whitmer was that Jacobs technically took him to a draw. He beat him the previous time. The smaller man’s heart was making him more dangerous.
They were in the unique situation at Throwdown in a three-way elimination title match with then-champion Bryan Danielson. The dynamic worked out poorly as they handicapped each other, allowing Danielson to escape with the title. The most surprising part of the match was when Whitmer down first. The man who had taken him to a draw now outlasted him and went on to a singles title match. Even if Jacobs was no match for Danielson that night, the filter of their rivalry made his improvements obvious.
Jacobs started wearing gawdier outfits to match Lacey’s tastes, many of them looking inspired by Shawn Michaels. They gave him a colorful look, making him a veritable “Heart Broken Kid.†And while he was savage against Whitmer, he spent most of his time pining for the cause of that violence. He wrote love songs and directed music videos for Lacey that appeared as extras on the ROH DVD’s, featuring melodramatic and downright insane images such as him singing in front of a tombstone with his own name, or diving off a pier to escape other girls who didn’t even look that interested in him. This way, he became the first ROH star to sing his own themesong. Like a lot of insanity, people didn’t understand the gravity he saw in the things he did, but they were hilarious.
It was that kind of behavior that made his violence in matches so surprising. Hearing that Whitmer was hiding a leg injury from their falls in previous matches, Jacobs went after it at Gut Check. He jumped Whitmer from the bell and hammered at him for ten minutes before upsetting the big man with a roll-up. That was a huge win for his career, but since Lacey demanded more, Jacobs ignored the victory, grabbed chairs and attacked Whitmer’s ankle. He ultimately stacked the weapons on Whitmer’s leg and dove off the top turnbuckle for an excruciating Senton. He almost crippled himself and his former partner, all for Lacey’s smile.
In the middle of this strife with Whitmer, Jacobs entered a new kind of conflict. He walked in on Lacey making out with Colt Cabana and immediately ran out screaming. The manager who had so often decried chauvinistic culture for objectifying her was using her sex appeal to try and lure Cabana into a deal, though all Jacobs saw was the lascivious end before trying to bury himself in denial.
Cabana was already in the World Title picture and didn’t need Lacey for anything other than fun on the side. He goofed around in team matches with Jacobs, freely fondling Lacey or looking up her skirt just for kicks. He seemed to want to get a rise out of Jacobs and tried harder as Jacobs fumed. Cabana treated him jocularly, like a little brother. Perhaps if he had paid more attention to Jacobs’s feud with Whitmer, he would have known that was the wrong tactic.
Under increasing pressure from Lacey to join, Cabana finally told her off in the middle of the ring for being such a selfish two-face and asked Jacobs to leave her for a more self-respecting life. Despite all of Jacobs’s animosity towards him, he seemed to actually care about the little guy. For his part, Jacobs looked more lost than he’d ever been. He walked towards Cabana as though to accept, then jumped him. Lacey approved.
When Whitmer returned from his leg injury he quickly aligned with Cabana. Lacey moved just as quickly, pulling out her pocketbook and hiring the biggest gun available in Brent Albright, a giant by ROH’s standards who could outmuscle either of her former prospects. She wisely kept her mouth shut about misandry and paid him well. In return Albright was willing to do anything, including dumping Lacey’s rival, Daizee Haze, on her head. Albright played a primarily supporting role, adding a vicious power behind Jacobs’s game in a similar dynamic to what Jacobs had with Whitmer – only this team was meaner. At Final Battle 2006 they threw Whitmer over the ring ropes and through a table in classic Mike Awesome fashion, demonstrating the power Lacey was commanding now.
Albright followed Jacobs for several matches, interfering to hold him up and give him the victory over Whitmer in a Last Man Standing match at Battle of the Icons. It was Jacobs’s first taste of the numbers game – not just a reliable tag partner, but the virtues of faction interference and unscrupulous morals. Soon he and Albright were treating Whitmer and Cabana the way Generation Next had treated him. With this muscle Jacobs didn’t even have to worry about Whitmer on a nightly basis, but could wrestle wherever Lacey booked him.
Still he watched Whitmer, and projected his insecurities about Lacey onto the man. When ROH toured England for the second time Jacobs followed Whitmer into the basement at Liverpool and attacked him. In Falls Count Anywhere at Fifth Year Festival: Finale they tried to throw each other off of balconies. The match ended with a thunderous Adrenaline Spike and a decisive victory for Whitmer that would have ended most feuds. Theirs didn’t. Especially after falling short to Cabana in a Windy City Death Match at Fifth Year Festival: Chicago, Jacobs was determined to destroy the avatar of his fear and denial.
He narrated his thoughts at Supercard of Honor 2, calling Whitmer “big brother†and promising to break him. Early in the match I shouted at Jacobs from ringside that Lacey wasn’t worth it. He was two feet away and didn’t flinch in response.
He didn’t kill Whitmer in that night’s steel cage match, but he tried. He knocked out two of his own teeth tore an ACL as he threw himself at Whitmer like never before. They stabbed each other, threw each other around the ring, and almost powerbombed each other into the crowd off of the cage. Finally Jacobs dove off the top and Sentoned Whitmer through a table to win the match. The feud ended there, not because of one decisive victory, but because afterwards Jacobs couldn’t wrestle. He was on the shelf for months. He’d finally hurt himself too badly, but he’d proved a point in his own mind – and in Lacey’s. During the match Lacey looked legitimately concerned for his well-being.
Lacey had offered Jacobs a date if he won at Supercard of Honor 2 as a perverted reward, but he exchanged them just to spend a few days with her. Every attempt to do something sweet or talk to her showed how out of sync they were, getting to its worst when he misspoke and said he wanted to provide for her and let her do nothing. It was only when other guys tried to drop in on their time at a bar and Jacobs got rid of them that she showed any appreciation for him. She turned very quickly, like she’d suddenly recognized something in him, or there was something equally crazy buried in her head.
By some stitch of his delusion, Jacobs had their outings videotaped and mailed into ROH. The cameraman caught the two in bed for the first time, and her saying they should have done this a while ago. It also caught Jacobs looking more unsettled than ever with Lacey in his arms. Getting the girl hadn’t satisfied his mind. He was already caught in another vision.
Next week: Jacobs returns, the Age of the Fall rises and the guy loses the girl.
This week: It’s my birthday, so I’ve got cake to eat. Check out www.johnwiswell.blogspot.com if you’d like some thoughts on chess and typecast giant monsters.
