• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

Eddie 'Hot Stuff' Gilbert's father sues WWE... pay up If you're gonna exploit my son

Posted: Apr 19th 2015 By: TMZ.com

The WWE is cashing in on Eddie "Hot Stuff" Gilbert even though he's been dead for 20 years ... at least according to his family, which is dragging the league to court to get a cut of the action.

According to docs ... Eddie's dad, Tommy Gilbert, is in charge of the estate and says the WWE is plastering his son's image and likeness all over TV and other media platforms without permission -- and, more importantly, without paying them a dime.

Tommy says old wrestling footage of Eddie -- a pro from '79 until his death of a heart attack in '95 -- is being used to promote the WWE.

Interestingly, Eddie's fam isn't suing to block use of the footage -- they just want a judge to force the WWE to fork over a share of its profits, plus damages.

The WWE believes it has full clearance. A rep tells TMZ ... the org has purchased legal rights to use old footage from other wrestling groups -- such as ECW and WCW -- and as a result ... it expects this lawsuit to be dismissed.