Let's talk about... Eddie Gilbert!
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I was always a fan.
He is probably the most overlooked of the traditional Memphis heels.
People always remember Lawler feuding with Dundee, Hart, Kauffman, Mantell, Funk and Valiant, but his runs with Gilbert were among the best and most entertaining.
Gilbert was also a brilliant booker, there are stories about him riding around with his dad Tommy back in the early 70's when he was a kid actually giving the bookers ideas from a notebook he would fill with angles and storylines.
He is probably the most overlooked of the traditional Memphis heels.
People always remember Lawler feuding with Dundee, Hart, Kauffman, Mantell, Funk and Valiant, but his runs with Gilbert were among the best and most entertaining.
Gilbert was also a brilliant booker, there are stories about him riding around with his dad Tommy back in the early 70's when he was a kid actually giving the bookers ideas from a notebook he would fill with angles and storylines.
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4,323 Posts
One of the best heels of all time. Sting career was all down hill after he turned on Eddie.
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3,387 Posts
i've seen his uswa shoot on youtube (which reminds me alot like punks "pipebomb" except eddie got fired right after the promo & it was legit)
didnt he copy lawler? the reason he didnt get a push in memphis was because he was too much like lawler. i dunno, fill me in
didnt he copy lawler? the reason he didnt get a push in memphis was because he was too much like lawler. i dunno, fill me in
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6,893 Posts
He was a good worker and a decent promo, but - and I hate to speak ill of the dead - he was a fucking atrocious booker. The absolute drizzling shits. I don't think I ever enjoyed any show he ever booked in any territory. And look at the last place he booked: Eastern Championship Wrestling. Cards full of washed-up ex-WWF guys going through the motions to have piss-poor matches and angles and gimmicks so bad that a building that would later go on to be jammed to the rafters under Heyman would run TV with 80 people in the building. Terrible. Absolutely terrible.
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Well the story goes as I understand it, that Eddie grew up idolizing Lawler, his dad Tommy was a mainstay in the area. I think initially the "lack of push" was his angle and reason he turned on Tommy Rich in the mid 80's. The WWF had taken Savage and they needed someone with charisma to take the lead heel spot, someone who they could trust not to bail. So during Jimmy Hart's last few weeks they put Eddie with him as the top heel. In Memphis at that time a heel had about a three month shelf life before they either left or turned face, unless your name was Mantell, Valiant, or Dundee. Gilbert left at the end of his run for I think Mid South.
When he came back the company was struggling and when he arrived he was frustrated that Dundee, Mantell and Lawler were still blocking him from being the man in his home territory. I think it really started as an angle but it gnawed at him to the point where he became legitimatly bitter.
But in the world of wrestling who knows how much of a shoot and work it was. I have heard it told both ways. I heard the whole "pipe bomb" promo was worked. But I have also heard Doug say it was legit and Doug has been pretty outspoken about his hate for Lawler. However seems like Doug worked for Lawler often afterwards, so who really knows?
Seems odd that Lawler would let someone who legit hated him to run into him with a car, in that classic angle.
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I'm a big Eddie Gilbert fan. He was hardcore before hardcore was a thing. And his booking was awesome. I doubt if he invented the swerve, but he was one of its most common practitioners. Only his swerves tended to make sense.
My favorite Eddie Gilbert moments include.....
His feud with Lawler in 1990 with Scotty "Raven" Flamingo as his lackey. I'm convinced the whole Richards/Raven dynamic in ECW came from Flamingo/Gilbert in USWA. This is also where Gilbert ran over Lawler with a car in one of the all time great angles.
His angle with Watts in Mid South where Eddie turned into a Commie sympathizer. They had his dad beg him to do the right thing and all. Gilbert feigned seeing the light only to swerve Bill Watts with a brutal beatdown. Gilbert got off the charts heel heat.
Eddie/Missy in UWF was alright for a while, but that whole feud with Tatum & Victory went on too far for my liking.
I liked Eddie in late 80s NWA despite him doing very little. He was just a guy I was drawn to for some reason.
He once had an awesome squash of Jimmy "Del Ray" Backlund in Mid South. Gilbert is also an underrated jobber killer. He's also one of the better brawlers of that era.
Him turning on Tommy Rich in Memphis was cool too.
Then there's famous stuff I haven't seen like him selling his "King" outfit on the streets of Philly and imitating Jerry Lawler in 1994 USWA.
I like Gilbert a ton, but I haven't seen all that much of him when compared to a lot of other guys. Too bad he was a head case who left us far too early. I think he would have excelled during the Monday Night Wars....assuming he hadn't already burned all his bridges by then.
My favorite Eddie Gilbert moments include.....
His feud with Lawler in 1990 with Scotty "Raven" Flamingo as his lackey. I'm convinced the whole Richards/Raven dynamic in ECW came from Flamingo/Gilbert in USWA. This is also where Gilbert ran over Lawler with a car in one of the all time great angles.
His angle with Watts in Mid South where Eddie turned into a Commie sympathizer. They had his dad beg him to do the right thing and all. Gilbert feigned seeing the light only to swerve Bill Watts with a brutal beatdown. Gilbert got off the charts heel heat.
Eddie/Missy in UWF was alright for a while, but that whole feud with Tatum & Victory went on too far for my liking.
I liked Eddie in late 80s NWA despite him doing very little. He was just a guy I was drawn to for some reason.
He once had an awesome squash of Jimmy "Del Ray" Backlund in Mid South. Gilbert is also an underrated jobber killer. He's also one of the better brawlers of that era.
Him turning on Tommy Rich in Memphis was cool too.
Then there's famous stuff I haven't seen like him selling his "King" outfit on the streets of Philly and imitating Jerry Lawler in 1994 USWA.
I like Gilbert a ton, but I haven't seen all that much of him when compared to a lot of other guys. Too bad he was a head case who left us far too early. I think he would have excelled during the Monday Night Wars....assuming he hadn't already burned all his bridges by then.
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3,243 Posts
I loVed Eddie Gilbert.
Eddie was the first heel in wrestling I liked, him and Scott Anthony aka raven from their gwf run.
Eddie was great, it's a shame drug use became a factor in costing him so any jobs and ultimately his life.
Eddie left us way too early.
Let's not forget his string of matches with mick foley in Joel goodhart's tri state wrestling. They sounded violent and awesome.
Eddie was the first heel in wrestling I liked, him and Scott Anthony aka raven from their gwf run.
Eddie was great, it's a shame drug use became a factor in costing him so any jobs and ultimately his life.
Eddie left us way too early.
Let's not forget his string of matches with mick foley in Joel goodhart's tri state wrestling. They sounded violent and awesome.
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33,412 Posts
I remember some really good Sting/Gilbert tag matches, like against The Fantastics.
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