What I have found out,
after working with so many different guys in
this business, is that I was not unique. There
are a number of talented people in all different
areas of the wrestling business who were
attracted by the same things that drew me to the
business. One of the most talented, creative and
innovative of these was a guy I had the
opportunity to work closely with for a
time....Eddie Gilbert.
"Hot Stuff", as
he was called, had one advantage over
myself...He grew up in the wrestling business.
His father, Tommy was a talented wrestler and
referee and Eddie took to the business as
naturally as anyone ever has. He knew, unlike
myself, that size was not necessarily the factor
I believed it to be.
Eddie wasn't much, if any,
naturally bigger than I. But, he developed
himself and his ring abilities, ultimately
becoming a first rate performer. As a wrestler,
he had a natural charisma and incredible timing.
Size didn't hold him back...He was believable
against anyone and he proved it by going against
all the best of the time. And boy could he talk.
It was obvious to anyone watching that he was
intelligent and witty, never at a loss for
words. And always the right words for the
moment. I know, firsthand, how much Eddie
enjoyed the performance. He loved getting the
exact reaction from the fans he intended and
taking them wherever he wanted, making them love
him or hate him....whichever emotion he desired
from them. He always knew exactly where he
wanted to go and how he intended to get there.
He could make an opponent, regardless of the
degree of talent, look as good or as bad as he
wanted. He was that good. I've never enjoyed
being in the ring with anyone any more than
Eddie.
But, Eddie was much more
than just another great wrestler/performer. He
had a feel for the creative end of the business
like few have ever had. And that talent was
matched by his passion for wanting the
opportunity to display his ideas and carry them
through the way he saw them. He was not a know
it all.
He was always, at least in
my experience, open minded and willing to listen
to others who may be able to contribute
something worthwhile. But, he was single minded
in his belief that, if he were allowed to see
them through, his ideas and direction would lead
to success. Some saw Eddie as difficult and
unyielding. But I saw a guy who believed in
himself and his abilities and was only difficult
to those who were narrow minded and short
sighted. In my opinion, Eddie's greatest
frustration came from never being allowed to see
his ideas through without interference. When he
first took over the booking in Dallas (GWF), he
told me his goal had always been to be able to
put together the people he really wanted in the
situations he visualized and develop his ideas
for these people and see it unfold from start to
finish. He had definite programs in his mind and
he had spent his career thinking about how he
was going to present these programs and how they
would be carried out, if he ever got the
opportunity and the right place to make them
come to life. He was truly hoping that Dallas
would be the place this would happen. He was as
enthusiastic as anyone I've ever seen when he
came to the GWF. He was promised (probably not
for the first time) that he would get his wish.
Although, we had success,
as far as fan interest was concerned,
unfortunately politics, greed and the same short
sightedness that plagued Eddie's career came
into play again, cutting short his dream of
finally getting to "see it through".
No one was more disappointed (other than Eddie
himself) to see his time in Dallas come to an
end more than myself. Not only because I liked
working with him and believed we were headed the
right way, but also because I could recognize
the continued frustration of someone who looked
at professional wrestling as more than a macho
display of fisticuffs. Eddie saw the wrestling
business as an art form, a display of athletic
competition, presented with intelligence and
creativity.
I guess, in Eddie's
frustration, I could see the nature of the
business. Many of the same frustrations, I would
eventually experience myself. If a guy that
talented and creative, who had grown up in
wrestling and had built a highly regarded career
both in the ring and behind the scenes couldn't
get around the pettiness, jealousies and
politics of the business, how could I ever
expect to. Looking back...I should have known.
Because of the things I
talked about earlier regarding my early
inclinations toward the wrestling business, I
felt an understanding with Eddie and I believe
that was why we related well and got along. We
discussed those things together many times. My
fellow contributor here at Kayfabe
Memories, Ken Wayne certainly knew Eddie
longer and better than myself and I'm not trying
to tell the definitive Eddie Gilbert story. His
experiences went well beyond the relatively
short time he was in Dallas. However, that time
was special to me because of the opportunity to
be around, get to know and work with, in my
opinion, one of the greatest talents this
business has ever known.
So, the next time, I will
try to relay what it was like to work with
"Hot Stuff" and tell some of the
stories that came from that experience which
will include some other talented guys I came to
know and respect, like Eddie's younger brother,
Doug and "Brother Love" Bruce
Prichard....
I remember
being asked what I thought of bringing Eddie
Gilbert into the GWF as the booker. Without
hesitation, my response was "the sooner the
better". I had worked with Eddie in
the USWA and knew, firsthand his ring
ability.
But, what really excited
me was the reputation Eddie had behind the
scenes. He was highly regarded throughout the
wrestling business as a guy who was creative and
innovative. He was considered one of the
brightest minds around and, in my estimation, we
needed him.
Although I was making
regular trips to Japan, I was becoming more
involved in the behind the scenes goings on in
the GWF and I really wanted the promotion in
Dallas to be successful. I had no doubt that
Eddie Gilbert's being in charge was a step in
the right direction. We had a decent crew of
wrestlers, but someone who was dedicated to the
business and knew how to get the most out of
what we had was imperative. There was no doubt,
the moment Eddie walked into the office on his
first night as booker, that he had the
conviction of his beliefs and he had a plan. He
had been thinking about what he wanted to do for
some time and wasn't about to waste any time
getting to it.
The Patriot (Del Wilkes)
was the GWF champion at the time. One of Eddie's
first orders of business was to bring in his
younger brother, Doug. Eddie put Doug under a
hood and in all black and made him the Dark
Patriot, the antithesis of the all-American
image of the Patriot. In my opinion, Doug has
always been under rated and under appreciated.
He made the best of his new incarnation and
created a character that many wrestling fans
still talk about today. When the Patriot left to
take a deal in Japan, the Dark Patriot turned
his attention to none other than Eddie, himself.
Another guy Eddie brought
into the GWF was a long time friend from
Tennessee, Sam Lowe. Sam was a photographer by
trade, but had been around the wrestling
business for some time. Eddie made Sam a student
referee and started an angle which involved
myself taking him under my wing and teaching him
the ins and outs of refereeing. Of course, as
soon as Sam started learning and getting some
confidence, he started carrying things a bit far
which caused a conflict with me as senior
referee. I really enjoyed the way Eddie laid
things out and gave me more to do than just
referee matches. It's good to stretch your boundaries
at times and this gave me that opportunity. I
was doing more interviews and becoming involved
in the action in different ways.
Another thing I liked
about working with Eddie was the fact that he
allowed me to be a part of the creative process,
which was exactly what I was interested in. We
talked about all the angles and the talent on a
regular basis and Eddie always made me feel as
though my ideas and suggestions were meaningful.
In fact, we incorporated some of them into what
we were doing.
Contrary to what I've
heard some say, he was very encouraging and
open. No ego trips were to be found. And that
wasn't just with myself, he gave everyone
respect and kept the door open to the talent.
A lot has been said about
Eddie and John Tatum not liking each other or
having heat over Eddie's involvement with Missy
Hyatt. Well, John was in the GWF at this time
and he and Eddie never showed any signs of
tension. In fact, there were times when one or
the other would joke about the whole thing.
Besides, by then Eddie was
seeing Madusa Michelli and John had long since
moved on from the Missy experience. Eddie
actually gave John free rein as far as handling
his own angles and I think John appreciated that
trust.
Not long after Eddie
arrived, we were joined by another guy who was
known to have a great mind for the
business....Brother Love, Bruce Prichard.
Bruce had grown up in the Houston area and
around the late Paul Boesch. He had learned his
lessons well and not only was extremely
successful in front of the cameras as Brother
Love, but he had become Vince McMahon's right
hand man behind the cameras in the WWF. Bruce
was somewhat depressed when he first came to
Dallas. He had disagreed with some of the
direction the WWF TV had gone in at the time.
The guy in charge of producing the TV shows was
also quite influential in the WWF's relationship
with the network. According to Bruce, Vince was
afraid the rift between Bruce and the TV guy
might cause some problems with the company's
relationship with the network and he and Bruce
mutually agreed that he should take some time
away. Bruce was worried that he might never get
back to where he was and, naturally, was feeling
somewhat despondent. Eddie and I tried to
encourage him to help us out and I think that
helped take his mind off his situation, at least
for a short time. I can tell you this. We were
never short on ideas during that time. And like
I said before, Eddie welcomed the contribution.
One of the ideas Eddie had
was to start a feud between myself and Bruce. Up
to that point, Bruce was doing commentary work
for the TV show. But Eddie wanted him more
involved and made him a manager for the Dark
Patriot, Mike Davis and some others.
During a battle royal, in which I was the
referee outside the ring, I pulled Bruce down
off the apron, telling him to stay on the floor.
Well, when I pulled him down, I also pulled down
his pants, which caused a distraction in the
ring, resulting in his guys being eliminated.
There's nothing like the sight of Bruce Prichard
in a pair of g-string type underwear.
Well, I just laughed it
off and was walking away when Bruce and his guys
did a number on me from behind. This started a
feud that lasted several weeks and saw me leave
my referee position to get back at Bruce and his
men. When Eddie first approached me about this,
I was pretty apprehensive, but also a little
excited to get to do even more. It was a lot of
fun and different for me to do interviews
showing some emotion and vowing revenge. As a
referee, I had always walked the middle road and
seldom got to display that side of my
personality. We had all sorts of
matches...singles, between Bruce and myself,
regular tags and six man tags which allowed me
to team with Eddie and Terry Garvin as well as
several different gimmick matches.
It all came down to a
match which saw the loser stripped down to his
g-string. Bill Irwin was the special referee and
there was a big reaction from the fans when I
pulled Bruce's pants down around his ankles,
bringing the feud to an end. Eddie seemed very
pleased with the way the whole thing went and I
always appreciated the confidence he showed in
me to "pull it off".....pun intended.
Another infamous incident
happened at the Sportatorium one night after the
matches. I've heard all sorts of spins on the
story of Jeff Gaylord and Eddie having the big
fight in the dressing room, but I was
there. Eddie, Bruce, Doug and I were in
the office talking about the night's show and
what we were going to do the next week. Gaylord
showed up at the Sportatorium and asked to talk
to Eddie. They had only left the room a few
seconds and we heard a lot of banging and
thumping. Doug tore out of the office before
anyone could ask "what's going on?"
Bruce and I followed him and as we turned the
corner we saw Eddie there holding his head. Doug
had whacked Gaylord with a coke can or bottle
(don't remember which) that sent Gaylord running
from the building in pain. I can tell you
this....if I had a little brother, I'd want him
to be like Doug. He wasted no time in coming to
Eddie's aid and effectively so.
After things settled down,
Eddie told us that Gaylord sucker punched him
from the side and he had no chance to defend
himself. Gaylord said he was there to talk to
Eddie about booking him and wanted to know why
Eddie had not given him any work. Later, Eddie
was told it was set up due to his not working
for some other promoter or not showing up at one
of the guys shows. Evidently, Gaylord had been
paid to punch Eddie out. Eddie kept his sense of
humor about it though. He told us he wished
Gaylord had told him what was up and they would
have worked something out and split the money
without anyone getting hurt. Well, Gaylord got
to keep all the money, but he paid for it with a
sore head.
Just when it looked like
things were really going well, Eddie started
getting some interference from the management.
Eddie would listen to and respect the opinions
and ideas of others in the business, but he
hated it when the people who should be taking
care of management, try to push their agendas
into the product. Eddie tried to be diplomatic
at first, but when he had had enough, he let
them all know how he felt and what they could do
with their ideas. It was pretty obvious a couple
of weeks before he left that we were headed for
a showdown. And Eddie was not one to give in
when he felt he was right. The only answer, as
it always is in a situation like that, was
someone had to leave. And since Eddie wasn't the
guy with the money, he again had his dream of
seeing his programs carried through, end
prematurely.
I remember the last night
Eddie was there. I took him to the airport and
we talked about how someday, he'd get another
opportunity. He went on about how he wanted to
bring his family (as he called the people close
to him) back together and give it another shot.
Hopefully, with more complete results......He
never got the chance. How I wish he had.