Let's backtrack to the spring of 2002. With ECW dead, Rob Feinstein
of RF Video (who was producing all of ECW's popular "fan cam" videos of
house shows) realized he would need a new cash cow. After seeing the
August 2001 King of the Indies tournament (a show that drew raves from
all in attendance, including the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer and
Figure Four Weekly's Bryan Alvarez), Feinstein put together a plan to
start his own independent company. Instead of being a low rent version
of WWE, the new company would focus on having strong matches between
many of the top independent workers and deemphasize badly acted skits
and screw job finishes.
Booked by fellow ECW employee Gabe Sapolsky, Ring of Honor held its
first show, Era of Honor Begins, on February 23, 2002.
Highlighted by an epic main event three way match between Low Ki,
Christopher Daniels, and "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson, the
company immediately started off with a lot of buzz. In addition to the
awesome action provided by those three, Era of Honor Begins also
introduced the viewer to Eric "Towelboy" Tuttle.
Don't remember him? Curious as to what the hell a "Towelboy" is?
Well, the nickname came from Tuttle's job to wipe the sweat off the ring
ropes by using a towel. Acting like a total spaz by frantically racing
across the ring while drying the ropes, Tuttle quickly developed a cult
following. Longtime ECW fans already recognized Tuttle from his brief
appearances for that company during its dying days.
Early in Era of Honor Begins, Xavier was seen backstage
talking to an obviously depressed Eric Tuttle. After all...what was
he to do now? Where was he to go? What was he to wipe now that all
that he loved was gone?
Xavier gave the youngster some sage advice: "give it time." |
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But Tuttle couldn't do that. He couldn't just stand idly by
whilst ropes were in need of de-perspirising, oh no.
And thus, Tuttle made his way to the ring, running around and
doing his darndest to ensure that these ropes were completely free
from moisture. For their part, the crowd was completely marking out
for him, chanting "Wooooooooooooooooooooooooaah!" |
A backstage skit had Prince Nana asking Rob
Feinstein who his opponent would be that night. Feinstein ran around
the building and found Eric Tuttle, who was shirtless and using one
of those stretching cords that Big Poppa Pump would flex his biceps
out with on Monday Nitro. (We should note that Eric
Tuttle's physique was not, in fact, as impressive as Scott
Steiner's.)
You see, just like his hero, Dennis Stamp, Eric
Tuttle was always ready for his next match.
And unlike Stamp, this night, he was
booked - in fact, he was up next against Prince Nana! |
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Tuttle was excited as all hell and on his way to the ring he
was confronted by Steve Corino. The King of Old School had his own
sage advice for young Tuttle:
"Hey kid, get yourself over." |
Sadly, the Cinderella story was not meant to be. Once inside
the ring, Prince Nana quickly destroyed the poor Towelboy.
A
total squash match that had Nana do a couple moves to Tuttle,
including Nana's running butt-to-the-head deal, before finishing off
the Towelboy with a regular suplex. |
 
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At
ROH's next show on March 30, 2002, Round Robin Challenge, a
bizarre skit took place backstage with both Nana and Tuttle lacing
up their wrestling boots, as they were to be partners on the show.
Nana turned to Tuttle and said "Kid, there's only one way to
get over with Prince Nana." Nana then stood up with his crotch about
six inches away from Tuttle's face.
Oh
boy, I don't like where this is going... |
But then Tuttle thought about it for a second and replied
"Oh, I know how to get over…" Tuttle then grabbed his towel and
started to shine Nana's boots.
"Now you're learning!" beamed Nana. |
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The pair came out for
their match accompanied by Simply Luscious. Nana cut a never ending
promo in the middle of the ring talking about the lack of respect he
got from the fans. Tuttle then again shined Nana's boots. When Da
Hit Squad (Dan Maff & Monsta Mack) came to the ring, the crowd went
bananas. Nana was on the wrong end of a double clothesline, while
Tuttle was speared in half by Dan Maff before being the recipient of
a Burning Hammer.
By now the Christopher Street Connection, a
flaming homosexual tag team that could use its own
WrestleCrap induction, had made their way to ringside to taunt Da
Hit Squad.
Maff and Mack's response?
Pick up the poor Towel Boy and use him as a human dart!
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Unfortunately for our swabbing hero, instead of being thrown
onto the wrestlers waiting to catch him, he was dumped straight to
the ground…
SPLAT! |
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The Christopher Street
Connection offered their services for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but
Nana pulled Tuttle away and went to the back, presumably for more shoe
shining.
And sadly, that would be the last we ever saw of Eric "Towelboy"
Tuttle in Ring of Honor.
How the ROH ring ropes were dried of sweat on future shows will be
one of the great mysteries of our time.
In addition to writing inductions and the fabulous
Gimmick Table here at WrestleCrap, Derek Burgan can also be seen doing
DVD reviews and his Wrestling Enjoyment Index for the Wrestling
Observer/Figure Four Weekly
family of websites, along with writing Opinion Pieces for World Wrestling Insanity. Special thanks to ROH
Historian Keith Lipinski.
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