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What would have happened to Eddie Gilbert if he hadn't died?


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Works for Vince for < 12 months doing a TL Hopper/Goon equivalent gimmick, before ending up on the Saturday Night circuit...

 

This + long-term role in late 90's ECW + working the Tracy Smothers circuit of indy shows post-ECW.

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I think Gilbert would've bullshitted his way into bookings in japan again at some point. I'd bet Muto would have booked him in All Japan back when they were booking Tenta, Awesome, etc.

 

I agree with rzombie about him working XPW too. Probably would have had some random appearances on Nitro at some point too. 

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I also could see Eddie as a (much) older version of Steve Corino, conning various money marks into funding his indy promotions that run two or three shows and then fall apart and "fold" only for Eddie to launch a "new" promotion with the exact same cast of flunkies.

 

And in-between he cons a Japanese indy into booking him as their lead foreigner and shows up in ROH every 2-3 years as leader of a heel group that starts off promisingly but then also falls apart.

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I also could see Eddie as a (much) older version of Steve Corino, conning various money marks into funding his indy promotions that run two or three shows and then fall apart and "fold" only for Eddie to launch a "new" promotion with the exact same cast of flunkies.

 

Yeah, this is what I was kinda thinking when I said he would end up like Ian Rotten, since that is what Rotten does, just always using the IWAMS name.  The Corino analogy is really spot on too...

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Samoa Joe as Eddie's bodyguyard in the ROH version of "Hot Stuff International."

 

He would never speak or even hold the ROH 'World' Title.  He'd just stare at the camera menacingly while Eddie did rambling interviews talking about how he (Eddie) is the greatest Pure champion in ROH history.

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- runs school where he cons people out of up front money, folds promotion and disappears.

- gets hired and fired from Memphis almost as often as the Southern Heavyweight title changes hands.

- eventually only will be booked by JAPW where he and Teddy Hart are booked to compete for the title of "King of Burning Bridges"

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1997 or 1998: Returns to ECW to feud with Heyman. "This was my company first." Loses to Sandman and Dreamer and leaves when they won't let him book house shows.1999 or 2000: Feuds with Norman Smiley and others over the WCW Hardcore Title. Books WCW Saturday Night for a few weeks after convincing Dusty Rhodes to "focus on that show Thunder so it doesn't lose every week in the ratings to Smackdown." Leaves when they give the booking job to Mike Graham.2002 or 2003: Forms Hot Stuff International v2.0 in NWA-TNA. He lives his own boyhood dream by capturing the NWA World Title (for two week) in a clusterfunk of a run-in filled 5 man match. Leaves when management gets tired of him trying to bring in all his old buddies from Memphis to take over the X Division.2004 - 2008: More bad shape low profile years, because it's Eddie Gilbert we're talking about here. Looks awful in shoot interviews.2009-2010: Convinces a money mark to fund an NWA territory to "just do a couple of shows a month for the old school fans." Never puts anyone over, until getting beat in a "Loser Goes Away Forever" match to Adam Pearce. 

 

I retract my post, this is clearly the more true to life portrayal.

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At some point Ian Rotten would book him in IWA-MS.  He would show up a few times and cut a bunch promos about all the people in the business he had heat with, then probably no-show one of the KOTDM tourneys.  Ian would badmouth him in a promo, but he'd be back in a few months and most likely be involved in of one of those shoot brawls with a fan or some other guy he had heat with.

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What's the likelihood that he cleans up, goes on all those WWE roundtable shows, kills it on all those shows, parlays that to a NXT backstage role and then quits after trying to go over on Dusty when attempting to book himself into a power struggle angle?

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I haven't seen a LOT of Eddie, but 100% of what I've seen has been amazing. I really enjoyed 1993 ECW with him, took a while for Heyman to hit his stride once he took over. After getting to used to enjoying the KING OF PHILADELPHIA stuff, Gilbert-less ECW seemed empty to me, and I just lost interest. So I've been meaning to pick up my ECW viewing one more time, as OBVIOUSLY it got interesting again. :)

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Can we add to the time line: 2006: Eddie is a surprise challenger for the ICW ICWA Texarkana Television Title against Larry Sweeney, but is never invited back to Chikara after loudly telling a fan to fuck off at intermission?

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I think he would have ended up in ECW. There was a built in angle ready. Doug Gilbert said he left at the time, because it looked like Heyman was going to hook up with Jim Crockett. Who was trying to get started in the wrestling business, since the no compete with TBS ended. Eddie did not want to do business with Crockett. And I don't see why Eddie has done to warrant the disrespect he has gotten in this thread. He died too young with a world of potential. Great in ring performer and booker. 

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And I don't see why Eddie has done warrant the disrespect he has gotten in this thread. He died too young with a world of potential. Great in ring performer and booker. 

 

I don't think I said anything disrespectful of Eddie Gilbert, and I agree that he had a ton of potential & talent, but I think he is overrated in quite a few aspects. 

 

Firstly, Gilbert obviously had a great mind for the business, but he seemed to move around so much and burn bridges everywhere that he went as a booker. To me, that indicates that how he was running things didn't sit well with the folks he worked for.  He was either a misunderstood genius, or he habitually rubbed the folks he worked for the wrong way.   Or, maybe he rubbed the talent the wrong way, and the promoter got rid of Gilbert to prevent a mass exodus. I am certainly not as knowledgeable about Gilbert's career as others around here, but the fact that he had short stints everywhere and his next stop always seemed to be a step down from the previous seems to indicate to me that he wasn't as successful as he was innovative. 

 

Second, Gilbert was a junkie.  In a decade of excess that extended over the entire business at every level (and even society in general), Gilbert was a guy known for his bad habits while it was happening.  Gilbert was a different situation from a guy like Jake Roberts, where his "demons" didn't manifest until later in his career, and people discovered just how messed up he was.  Everyone knew Gilbert had substance problems.  If this thread is about speculation on the "What if...?", it is very fair to assume Gilbert would continue to live the way he had - as a junkie.

 

Thirdly, Gilbert is somewhat romanticized in the smart community now, because he was one of the first guys to do shoot interviews and openly expose the business via dirtsheets.  Again, I am not a Gilbert expert, but I always kinda got the impression that Gilbert was a guy that insider-types saw potential in and really hyped, so when things got tough in Gilbert's career, he went to the sheets and plead his case, or buried his enemies. Keep in mind, back then there was no internet, and kayfabe was still how the business worked - Gilbert was obviously a guy that caused conflict and held grudges, and his side of the story was the only one the "insiders" got from the sheets. 

 

In a way, Gilbert is kinda similar to Bruiser Brody.  Both men were memorable performers that had a special place in the hearts of insiders, and they passed away at a time when sheets and inside info was becoming more available, but before the internet explosion exposed the business to the masses.  Brody is romanticized as an outlaw guy that knew his value and wouldn't take any shit from promoters, but the side of the story that rarely gets told is that he also burned a lot of promoters, and often screwed over people that had never really wronged him.  Gilbert is similar, in that he is remembered for his great angles and his innovative booking, but not for a lot of the baggage and problems he brought to the table. 

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I don't think Eddie's problem was ever with the talent. If you look at Continental. he really did turn that place around. Drawing much larger crowds and generating fan interest. He got fired or quit and the place fell off a cliff immediately. Both in quality and fan interest. I think when you ask if he lived, you are making the assumption he would have gotten off of drugs. Or at the very least toned down his use. And I was not really referring to anything you said. It was more some of the snide jokes in the thread that were not really funny and generally hateful.

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Haven't read this whole thread so I might duplicate something.  I heard his name on a recent Stern podcast & wondered this very thing so cool to see a thread on it.

 

Eddie died right before the Attitude Era so I'd be curious to see where he would have ended up.  I totally think he would have been in WCW at some point behind the scenes even if he wasn't in the ring.  He would have been a part of the booking committee/agents along with Sullivan, etc.  I think he probably would have gotten fed up with some of the BS and/or been replaced when the Russo regime came in.  I don't think it's out of the question that he would have ended up back in ECW by the end as they were kind of grasping at straws. I don't think anyone ever completely burns a Memphis bridge so he may have been there too by the end or been a 3rd wheel in the mess of the sale of USWA in 1997.  Almost assuredly he probably would have been in the XPW/Philly start-ups post-ECW.

 

Very interesting topic.

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Probably the same as what happened to him when Eddie lived, if Eddie had backstage power in WCW, Doug would have done jobs or worked on the Saturday Night circuit with TX Hangmen, etc.  But ultimately he probably would have ended up where he did, just with a few more years in the late 90s of being on the radar instead of in small indies.

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