Forgotten Superstars-Eddie Gilbert

I usually do not use professional wrestlers in the Forgotten Superstars segments, but I decided to make an exception for "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, who would have celebrated his 50th birthday a few days ago.
Eddie Gilbert was a solid wrestler that had one thing going against him-size and that is what hindered him the most in the wrestling business.
One often hears about wrestlers being born too early for the modern era (the name you hear the most on this topic is Superstar Graham), but Gilbert might have been the opposite as he likely would have been a far larger star in the 1970s with the territorial version of wrestling being in vogue.
I could easily imagine Gilbert at the top of most territories (except for the big man favoring WWF) as the smart mouth, undersized, whatever it takes to win type heel in a time that size was not at such a premium.


Eddie Gilbert always wanted the slot of Jerry Lawler as the king of Memphis and that was a position that was not going to be available, so Gilbert had to settle for being one of the King's top opponents during his various comings and goings into the Memphis territory, but was able to make his mark elsewhere besides Memphis.
Gilbert was a star in the Mid-South territory, although more as the manager of "Hot Stuff International" than as a wrestler, although Gilbert was a better bump taker than most of his proteges and had a decent run as an underneath fan favorite in WCW, holding the United States tag team straps with Rick Steiner, who had been managed by Gilbert in Mid South/UWF wrestling.

Eddie Gilbert's wrestling style was heavily influenced by Jerry Lawler and Terry Funk and watching a few Gilbert matches, those influences are pretty clear to most observers.
From the bump-taking to the "fire throwing", the argument could be made that Gilbert was the best combination of two of the best that the business has ever seen.

My first exposure to Gilbert outside of the wrestling magazines was what  I called a "tough loser" on WWF TV in the early 80s when that was the only wrestling show that we could see.
Gilbert along with another young star in the company to gain exposure and experience, Curt Hennig with Special Delivery Jones were the stalwarts on the "good guy" side (The "bad guy" or my preferred side featured Johnny Rodz, Jose Estrada, and Charlie Fulton)
The three would be given more competitive matches on television against the top heels, giving the illusion that they just might pull the huge upset on any particular Saturday and the occasional television victory to keep them lifted above the average television wrestler in the pecking order.
The match below is a battle of "tough losers" from each side of the ring



Gilbert was in a serious car accident while in the WWF and missed a long stretch of time to recover and was eventually brought back to the territory for a short time as then-champion Bob Backlund's young protege to set up a challenge to Backlund from the Masked Superstar, who "injured" Gilbert and the angle allowed Gilbert to return to the Memphis company.


Eddie Gilbert might have been known for his mind inside the wrestling business as much as for his in-ring skills and he showed it with his work for the Alabama promotions, the short-lived GWF out of the Dallas area, and his work in taking another independent in Philadelphia named Eastern Championship Wrestling and taking it down the road to be eventually refined as "ECW"-the most recognized promotion outside the mainstream of the 1990s.
Gilbert clearly had demons outside of the ring as he followed a pattern of taking over slumping territories, turning them around in a hurry, and then exploding over a slight and quitting.
Gilbert also was famous for behavior that was slowly making him a pariah in the business such as "shoot comments" on the live Memphis show and announcing in the middle of a Japanese match that he was loyal to another company as he lifted his character mask to reveal his face.

Eddie Gilbert's last match in the USA was in a television taping for Smoky Mountain Wrestling after which he quit to become the booker for one of the Puerto Rican companies.
It was a blessing in disguise,I thought for the wrestling fan as it enabled Al Snow to have his big break and one of the best programs in the final year of SMW with Snow and Unabom (WWE's Kane) against the Rock N Roll Express.

Eddie Gilbert left too soon, but he was rapidly running out of bridges to burn in wrestling.
Had he not passed, he likely would be just another old grappler
Ironically, Gilbert's passing might have raised his status among fans as all of us like to play "What might have been"......