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The One And Only "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert

Posted: May 16th 2008 By: CMBurnham

Once upon a time, there was a wrestling talent named Thomas Edward Gilbert, Jr., better known to the fans as Eddie Gilbert. The son of a very good wrestler and referee, Tommy Gilbert, Eddie grew up watching and learning the intricacies of the sport from childhood. By the time he was 10, he knew what he would do with his life and was already planning for it. Most of his "education" took place in Memphis, home of Jerry "The King" Lawler and some of the wildest, most raucous and frequently over-the-top wrestling performances to be found anywhere.

The youngster entertained dreams of one day appearing in the same ring with Lawler. He learned from observing his father, at that time one of the top heels in the south. He also read all of the magazines and talked to wrestlers as often as he could convince the old man to allow him into the dressing rooms. This led to Eddie sending in contributions to the magazines of the day, both in text and photos. He was relentless in his goal, and everyone that met him saw the fire that burned so brightly.

It was while he was in high school that Eddie began working the occasional match at spot shows around the area. A number of people who knew him claim that Gilbert chose to wrestle at a nearby arena rather than attend his graduation ceremonies. Since he was already established as a hot young prospect in the ring, it came as no surprise to anyone. Supposedly, some of his classmates cut short their participation in the commencement exercises to witness Eddie wrestle.

In 1979, at the age of 18, Eddie became a full-time wrestler. Having already worked tag matches with his dad he had a leg up on those just breaking in, many of them hopefuls who were unsure of how to make their way in a rough and tough business. Getting a foothold in the Memphis territory that he'd grown up watching and admiring, Eddie soon realized his boyhood dream of facing Jerry Lawler in a televised match.

As his experience grew, Eddie gained a reputation as someone who came up with fresh and exciting ideas. In his mind, he was already becoming a top notch booker, which was to be Gilbert's real talent. While he was a talented "small" wrestler (standing 5' 10" in height and weighing approximately 220 pounds), it was to be his hyperactive imagination, rife with numerous storylines, angles and swerves, that was to create his legend. At this time in his career, by being involved in some of the wilder angles that were such a large part of Memphis wrestling (sometimes directly and sometimes not), Gilbert's status continued to rise.

Having learned as much as he could and then expanding upon that, he decided to test himself in another area, one that was different in its approach from where he'd cut his teeth. And so, two years after he'd turned pro, Eddie Gilbert landed in the northeast and began working for Vincent J. McMahon's WWF.

The company had only recently been renamed, changing from the WWWF (Worldwide Wrestling Federation) to the WWF (World Wrestling Federation). It was during this period that Eddie Gilbert proved he could stand on his own two feet, having arrived as an outsider with no special connections. Within a matter of months, the elder McMahon was pushing Eddie as a heel in contention for Bob Backlund's heavyweight title. Unfortunately for Gilbert, he was involved in a serious car accident that put him on the shelf for a substantial period of time. His neck was so badly damaged that doctors were instructing him to find another line of work.

That was an order Eddie Gilbert wouldn't consider. Instead, while still recovering, he began studying the business in even greater detail, all-the-while developing stories, ideas and the best methods of how to sell wrestling as a wild, brawling reality. Less positively, he also developed a dependence on pain-killing drugs that would contribute to his undoing.

In 1984, Gilbert returned to Memphis. The original plan was to present him as one-half of a babyface tag team, along with Tommy "Wildfire" Rich, in the guise of The New Fabulous Ones. Because the original Fabs (Stan Lane and Steve Keirn) had departed for the upper Midwest and the AWA (American Wrestling Alliance), the thinking went that pairing Gilbert and Rich up with Memphis legend Jackie Fargo as their manager would make the fans forget their predecessors. Allegedly, Eddie had misgivings about the idea, but went along with it. And it bombed. The fans simply didn't take to the Gilbert/Rich tandem as a replacement for the bona fide Fabulous Ones.

So, Eddie turned heel, which was much more to his liking. When he hooked up with manager Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart, the fan's blood boiled. They despised Gilbert and the burgeoning First Family (Jimmy Hart's stable of heels); the result was that they showed up in larger and larger numbers to see them punished. A very young and green Rick Rude benefited from his association with Gilbert and Hart, and Memphis wrestling hit a boom period created by a love for Jerry Lawler and a hatred for Hart and his associates. Perhaps the most entertaining brawls to be found anywhere resulted from such creative booking, and many people were giving Eddie Gilbert a fair amount of the credit.

In 1985, Eddie pulled up stakes and moved to the very physical wrestling as presented by "Cowboy" Bill Watts. Arriving in yet another territory that had recently undergone a name change, this time from MidSouth Wrestling to the Universal Wrestling Federation, Watts did not originally envision Eddie as a major player in the ring. While Bill was an unswerving proponent of the realistic style, he also believed that "bigger is better." In his company, the smaller wrestler didn't usually stand much of a chance when facing those the larger men, such as Steve "Dr. Death" Williams and One Man Gang.

But the cowboy was a genius when it came to recognizing talent. First figuring to utilize Gilbert as a manager, he saw that Eddie could work something of a "cowardly heel" style that caused a strong reaction among the fans. First, Watts gave him the nickname "Hot Stuff." Then came the stable of heels, which at various times included a number of Russians, such as Ivan and Nikita Koloff, Kortsia Korchenko and Krusher Kruschev, mixed in with non-Russians Rick Steiner and Sting. Collectively, they were known as "Hot Stuff International."

An interesting case of life imitating art took place in 1986. Eddie found he was entranced by the lovely Missy Hyatt, who was wrestler John Tatum's girlfriend. Gilbert, ever the opportunist when it came to developing compelling stories, devised one that ultimately resulted in his taking Tatum's girl for real! It all played out as a wrestling angle, but the working aspect was designed to create a reality. (Some dispute this account, saying that Tatum and Missy were pretty much over and done already). What is clear is that Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt were to marry.

When Jim Crockett, Jr. purchased the floundering UWF from Bill Watts and decided to dismantle it by having the UWF wrestlers consistently lose to his NWA/WCW stars, Eddie departed for another territory. His reputation as a brilliant mind with a tremendous feel for the business preceded him. In Alabama, Continental Wrestling's David Woods brought him in to take over his failing operation. Eddie not only breathed new life into the promotion, he came up with great ideas that turned the company around. However, his time there didn't last long, as he disagreed with the owner over money and once again walked.

Swallowing his pride and accepting work in Jim Crockett's Mid-Atlantic NWA company, Eddie found it easier to take because he not only wrestled, he was also the Assistant to the Head Booker (Dusty Rhodes). While he didn't always receive the credit he deserved, Gilbert settled in for what appeared to be a lengthy stay. However, when Rhodes reneged on a promise to add Eddie to the Four Horsemen, arguably the most famous heel stable of all time, he left. Yet another bridge was burned.

Returning to Memphis in 1990, Eddie and Jerry Lawler pulled off an angle that is still talked about to this day. On live TV, Eddie aimed his car directly at a dodging Lawler and hit him, committing what appeared to be a very real act of attempted homicide. It was so well done that dozens of viewers called the police, who turned up at the station with the intention of arresting Gilbert. Only an intervention by promoter Eddie Marlin, who came clean and admitted it had all been part of a storyline, prevented his reckless driver from spending the night in jail.

From late 1990 and into 1991, Eddie moved to Joel Goodheart's Tri-States Wrestling, headquartered in Philadelphia. In what could only be termed an early version of Extreme Championship Wrestling, Gilbert battled Cactus Jack in a serious of hardcore bouts that included barbed wire, wine bottles and other weapons as an integral part of the match. Up to that time, U.S. wrestling had not crossed such boundaries. These encounters, more than any other, introduced a new hardcore style to delighted violence-junkies.

As 1991 continued, Eddie Gilbert moved along to the Global Wrestling Federation of Dallas. There, he assumed the role of Head Booker and came up with a most memorable concept. Del Wilkes, who wrestled as a babyface under a mask known as The Patriot, suddenly had to confront his alter ego, The Dark Patriot (who was actually Eddie's brother, Doug). Wearing similar gear (except Dark Patriot's mask was black as opposed to Patriot's white), he both tormented his nemesis and doubled the attendance.

But it wasn't to last. Again, a conflict arose and Eddie packed up and looked for work somewhere he might still be welcomed. Having divorced Missy Hyatt along the way, he became involved with and married the very talented woman wrestler, Madusa Micelli. That, too, wouldn't last.

Eddie's last great achievement was in 1993, with the early ECW (Eastern Championship Wrestling, eventually to become Extreme Championship Wrestling). Gilbert once again devised numerous ingenious angles and storylines, setting the stage for the more outrageous and violent action that would become the company's calling card. And, as his past behavior could have predicted, Eddie had a falling out with promoter Todd Gordon and left.

Between the years 1994 and 1995, Gilbert would bounce from one company to another, including W*ING in Japan, where he indulged in more extreme-style violent matches, to Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling, back to Memphis and the occasional week-or-two in smaller promotions. Finally, Eddie accepted the job of Head Booker for Carlos Colon's World Wrestling Council and settled in to live and work in Puerto Rico.

In what proved to be his last match, Eddie wrestled a bear. The idea itself wasn't bad -- Eddie the heel wrestler had been cocky and signed a contract without really reading it, only to discover he was to face a bear in the ring. Where this may have gone was never answered, for the day after the event, co-booker Ken Wayne found the lifeless body of Eddie Gilbert in his bed.

The official cause of death was a heart attack. Although he was only 33 years old, such a thing wasn't unknown. But there were other factors, such as the painkillers that increased in dosage over time, as well as an alleged dependence on alcohol. It is also believed that Eddie began taking steroids soon after the terrible car accident in 1982, perhaps to get his body back in shape or maybe in an effort to bulk up for the WWF. He received both the painkillers and steroids from the now infamous Dr. George Zahorian, who would serve time for prescribing massive amounts of steroids and other regulated drugs to wrestlers in the WWF.

One thing that can be said without equivocation is that Eddie Gilbert possessed a brilliant mind for the business. His seeming inability to remain productive in one place long enough to truly establish his credentials is heartbreaking. But talk to anyone that worked with him and he will tell you that Eddie Gilbert knew how to put butts into seats. And that, as any promoter will tell you, is the name of the game.

Tags: Eddie Gilbert, Tommy Gilbert, Jerry Lawler, WWF, Rick Rude, Bill Watts, Steve Williams, One Man Gang, Nikita Koloff, Krusher Kruschev, Rick Steiner, Sting, Missy Hyatt, John Tatum, UWF, NWA, WCW, Dusty Rhodes, Cactus Jack, ECW, Jim Cornette