All language subtitles for Dark.Side.Of.The.Ring.S06E06.1080p.WEB.h264-BAE[EZTVx.to]

Eddie Gilbert knew what he needed to do
to attract attention to himself.

He was a sneaky, conniving, dirty
backstabber. He really thought he was

hot stuff.

Egotistical, arrogant, conceited, self
-confident. He loved what the crowd.

Eddie himself was the complete opposite
of that.

What he loved was...

Born into professional wrestling, Eddie
Gilbert's vision and ambition had a

profound impact on the business he
loved.

This is not wrestling. This is a street
fight.

He would see the sift before the sift.

Eddie said, this is wrestling. You can
do anything.

This is getting out of hand.

Sure enough, Eddie was right about
Eddie. There's no easy step. He would

gone on to be one of the most
influential minds in wrestling.

But... It didn't happen that way.

A rising star with undeniable charisma,
Eddie's demons threatened his career

from the start. I've worked too hard and
too long.

Eddie could burn a bridge better than
anybody.

He has a history of going to territories
and just leaving.

A small thing could set him off. I have
been run out of any wrestling

organization I've ever been in.

For Eddie, coping with the chronic pain
from a life -threatening injury came at

a devastating cost.

Night after night of putting your body
through that abuse, I don't think that

pain ever left him.

We just want to take this opportunity to
pay tribute to a real warrior.

You know, Eddie passed away 30 years
ago, and he's still missed.

But this is a story of what if.

What if this didn't happen?

What if this didn't happen?

What if?

Eddie, we're on.

Eddie. Oh, okay.

Hello, everyone.

I think what the wrestling business lost
was a great worker and a mind

that was about a generation ahead of
what anybody else was at the time.

But I look at what my brother did and
his angles and pushing the limits and

the guys that he helped in his short
life. You and me, brother.

He lived 32 years.

He done more in that 32 than most people
would do in 70. He made the best out of

all of them. And to me, that's where you
tell the character of a person.

I'm Dangerous Doug Gilbert, and I've
been in the wrestling business about 36

years. And my brother is Hot Stuff Eddie
Gilbert.

Tell them, Hot Stuff.

I looked up to Eddie. I mean, he was a
idol of mine also.

He was a fun guy. I mean, he was my...

best friend, and Eddie looked out for
me, and I was lucky enough to have that.

That's when we was partners in Memphis
and everything. To me, that's really

cool. That's history.

It's like a museum.

His life and obsession was wrestling.

He thought about it all the time.

Let's kick some ass and draw some money.
That was a big one.

When he was a kid, he would make cards
out with his friends' names on it, and I

think that's when my dad realized he was
actually really serious, serious about

the business.

Eddie's father, Tommy Gilbert, was one
of the most popular wrestlers in the

Tennessee Territory from the late 60s
through the early 80s. Eddie grew up

watching that, and that was what Eddie
had his sights set on.

I'm Jim Cornette, and I was friends with
Eddie Gilbert even before he began his

pro wrestling career.

We started in wrestling in the same way.
Eddie began taking ringside pictures of

the matches in Memphis at the Mid -South
Coliseum, and at the same age, I

started doing it in Louisville.

And we ran into each other at the
matches and just instantly developed a

friendship. Eddie, I think, was 16.

Instead of saying, oh, I'm Tommy
Gilbert's son, he would walk in with a

So that was how he was getting access to
the dressing room. He was slowly,

slowly working his way in. He loved,
loved the wrestling business.

My name is Dutch Mantell, commonly
called Dirty Dutch, and I've been in

wrestling business for over 50 years,
and I used to work with Eddie Gilbert.

better watch your big fat lip, Gilbert.
He would watch Memphis live television

on Saturday morning at 11 o 'clock.

He would study how it was produced.

He would study when the commercials came
on.

When Eddie turned 18, that's when he
started his major league wrestling

as partners with his father, Tommy.

From Lexington, Tennessee, the Gilberts,
Tommy and Eddie.

Tommy and Eddie Gilbert, father and son
champions.

My brother was thrilled any time to do
anything like this with my dad.

My dad was both of our heroes, and he
wanted my dad to be proud of him. What

teamwork by the Gilberts? I mean, the
real idol of my life was my dad.

So I got to have a lot of good matches
with him. I still have him on tape. I

really enjoy watching back and forth and
remember how it looked 10 years ago.

I was 12 now.

When he was training Eddie, it was for
you to really say that you're great.

You've got to be able to work with any
style.

Oh, the bloody Tommy Gilbert in the ring
right now. Tommy Gilbert had been

trained by the old -timers. The way that
they laid the blows in, you could hear

the smack of the meat and the flesh from
the chief seats in the arena.

Tennessee wrestling is about brawling,
fighting, blood and guts, personal

issues.

hatred, rivalries, animosity.

Hey, you guys save that for the ring.

And Eddie Gilbert fit right into that.

Here comes Eddie.

Look at that.

I just never got that chance of even up
to 81 that I could show that I had any

kind of character at all. Until Ricky
Morton and I had this chance to go to

Tupelo. And they went into the
concession stand of the Tupelo Sports

had...

A knock -down, drag -out brawl involving
furniture and confessions and hot dogs

and mustard. It was a very believable
fight because I think even

the people involved in it believed it.
They were knocking the shit out of each

other.

We was just hitting each other in the
head with pots and pans and chairs.

I made that shit hurts, buddy.

I'm Ricky Morton, one half of the Rock
and Roll Express, one of the greatest

babyface tag teams ever, and I was best
friends with Eddie Gilbert.

You see, it was a hardcore match,
really, but at that time, we didn't

that. As a matter of fact, that night is
where Atsushi Onita got the idea for

hardcore wrestling that he took back to
Japan.

and in the 90s made a fortune with, it
came from that night in Tupelo,

Mississippi. What a ball.

Yeah, keep shooting it. We're not going
to be able to show a lot of it, but just

keep shooting it.

He was always on fire.

Thank you very much. I'd like to say
hello to all my friends and family and

everyone out there.

Let's face it, he was a good -looking
kid.

My name is Darla Staggs, and I met Eddie
Gilbert when he was 17 years old.

We were just good, good friends.

He went on to work for WWE.

It was a dream for him, and it was his
road to stardom.

Memphis was great, but WWF, you know,
it's Madison Square Garden.

I mean, what are you going to say? No.

Making his Madison Square Garden debut,
Eddie Huber.

My brother brought me with him to New
York.

I guess I was 12 or 11.

Doug and Eddie were close, very close.

Eddie was 18 years old, and he's hanging
out with his 11 -year -old brother.

That says something to me.

Being a two -small -town country boy,
seeing him in Madison Square Garden, I

really proud of that.

Eddie wasn't a big guy, and that
actually helped him. He had great

You see, that was 80 getting his foot
through the door. Right back on his feet

with a kick. You see that? You believe
him?

Fans are loving that.

En route to a meeting with WWF's
patriarch, a tragic series of events are

triggered.

Went to my room, got a shower, dripped.

It was already like 12 o 'clock, so I
was tired. And I was already driving.

And all of a sudden, a shroom right out
of the back of the truck.

We got a phone call at my house. It was
like 1 to 2 in the morning.

And they said, Mr.

Gilbert, is your son Eddie? And she
said, yes.

And they said, he's been in an accident.

They didn't even know that they could
keep him alive.

He's in critical condition, and it broke
his neck.

The steering wheel, I think, hit him
right here in the solar plexus, like

over his heart.

They said he will never wrestle again.

His heart was like jello. It would never
heal.

He wasn't even 22 years old yet.

And suddenly, his career may be over.

That was not acceptable.

It wasn't an option for Eddie.

No matter how catastrophic the injury
was, he was going to get back in the

When something like that happens to you,
it takes a long, long time to get over

that. It takes years.

Put yourself in that situation.

You still want that opportunity.

And so that's why you keep going.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome back
the very popular Eddie Gilbert.

Three months later, able to start back
wrestling again.

Such is the tenacity of this young man,
Eddie Gilbert, who has made it all the

way back.

I can speak for myself.

You know, it was a hard, long road in
our business.

Oh, you wonder if blows like that, if it
would affect the neck. Apparently not.

When you have a car wreck, it breaks
your neck.

They don't send you home with Tylenol
Plus.

Do you understand me?

I'm sure he would be back in the ring if
he was not ready.

It takes a tremendous amount of courage
for a man that had a broken neck to come

back into wrestling.

Eddie came back to wrestling probably
too quick, but he wanted to get back

before he lost his spot.

They did an angle based on the fact that
the fans knew that he'd had a serious

neck injury, and they used the masked
superstar to allegedly re -injure the

broken neck.

Oh, no!

Oh! Now, there's no need for anything
like that.

See those scars there on the throat?

That was from the automobile accident.

And unfortunately, that is where Eddie
met.

Dr. George Zahorian. I'm presently
evaluating Eddie Gilbert following a

traumatic accident to the vertebrae of
his neck.

Dr. George Zahorian was a doctor in
Pennsylvania, was also appointed by the

Athletic Commission to be the doctor to
give physicals and et cetera to all the

wrestlers. Anything that the wrestlers
wanted, drugs, substances, whatever that

he could prescribe, there was your guy.

Now you've got Eddie Gilbert, who's had
a severe neck injury.

What do you think is going to happen?

He was in a lot of pain from the wreck,
but if doctors prescribed him something,

he would definitely take it.

When he was doing it to be able to work,
I guess that was our justification.

As Eddie steps back into the ring, the
WWF charts a new direction, jeopardizing

his climb to the top.

WWF at the time was like superheroes.

That was the Hulk Hogan starting there.

Everybody that was up there got bigger.
Oh, look at that.

I didn't want to go that bodybuilder
path, and Eddie didn't want to either.

Now, we might have did a little
something to tone you up, but you caught

that circus act.

I think Eddie thought that some of the
stuff they do in WWE was too much show

business and not enough realism.

I knew that meant that I was probably
going to be probably buried.

And I thought to be the best career move
was to leave and go back home to

Memphis to be a heel because I knew that
when I started a business, it's all I

wanted to be. And I thought that was my
calling.

Returning to the southern territories,
Eddie reinvents himself as a villain and

creates his most iconic persona.

Eddie knew.

That in the 80s, the people expected
more excitement, more action, more life,

more talking. I am the greatest
wrestler, the prettiest face, the

of brains, professional wrestler. He had
the flashy sequined jacket, frosted the

hair blonde, and he was wearing
sunglasses.

Now he's this guy that looked like he
just stepped off this new thing called

MTV.

A cocky heel that...

really thought he was hot stuff and was
better than everybody else. Listen to

me, boy, when I'm talking to you. He
came up with a pattern and a style that

all of his own.

Heaven won't take me, and hell's afraid
I'll take over. My grandmother said to

me, he's so mean and dirty, I just hate
him. If you hate him, that means he's

doing his job well.

But you know what? He's still the same
sweet guy that he's always been. No,

not either.

It was an amalgamation of all of the
heels that Eddie had watched over the

years. And it worked.

One of his idols was Jerry the King
Lawler. Who's the greatest wrestler in

world and why am I? Who was the
undisputed king of Memphis wrestling.

I am in rare form, and I guess you saw
it right there, didn't you? The first

chance he got, he went to wrestle Jerry
Lawler. Lawler, I want to tell you

something, brother. You're not hungry
anymore. I am. He ultimately wanted to

follow in Jerry Lawler's footsteps as
the king of Memphis wrestling.

Jerry Lawler, look what you've done to
me. When opportunity comes, you've got

chase your dream.

Stop, Eddie Gilbert!

You're going to be real hot, brother!

Eddie had that in his mind. He knew
that.

That's why he was successful down south.

Already a star in Memphis, Eddie gets
his first shot at fulfilling his dream

becoming a company's booker in
Louisiana, working for Bill Watt Mid

Brethren. The booker is basically the
matchmaker. Even from the time he was a

teenager, Eddie already had that in his
sights.

I knew I was 17, and no one was going to
listen to me, so I had to wait until I

was 25, which was when I was still one
of the youngest.

ever get a chance.

What's Eddie Gilbert doing out there?

They're getting ready to find out, I
think.

Wrestling is more than just doing the
moves.

Wrestling is telling a story.

I really think I need to set the record
straight because I am not a communist,

ladies and gentlemen.

And Eddie, Eddie was very good at that.

You can do whatever you want to with
this flag. I'd like to give it to you.

Everybody loved Bill Watson and the big
cowboy baby face down there.

And everybody thought Eddie was going to
do something trickier, low down.

When a great heel has a great baby face,
they can tell a story that's

unbelievable.

Really got to work to get that feeling
when you walk out that the

people hate you. What does the people
want to pay to see?

They want to pay because they don't like
you.

And they want to see the good guy eat
the crap out of you.

If you had people like that, He was
usually drawing good money. Listen to

crowd. They love it.

Eddie had some great guys there that
went on to be superstars like Steen.

Steiner was there, ultimate warrior.

Dr. Death, Steve Williams.

All these guys were there under the
guidance of Eddie Gilbert.

In his mind, he said, where can I take
this guy?

Who can I book this guy with?

Because his mind never stopped.

And this is all of everyone. I'm
thinking things are finally falling in

here. We were successful. The gates were
good.

And the TV was turned around.

But then the buyout came right after
that.

Bill Watts sold the company to Jim
Crockett Promotions. And about a year

half later, Crockett Promotions had sold
to Turner Broadcasting. They're kind of

personal. I love UWL.

I hated seeing the people lose jobs that
did.

And I never forgot it. And we got to the
WCW.

Eddie's booking success lands him on
WCW's creative team, trading sole

for a seat on a committee.

One of the worst things to be is be

on a frigging booking committee because
you have no control.

And that's when Ric Flair got involved.

Flair was the top star.

for world championship wrestling, and he
demanded to be made the booker.

Ric Flair didn't know that much about
Tennessee

wrestling. Ric Flair didn't know that
much about Eddie Gilbert.

He wanted people to carry out what he
was asking them to do.

They go to Memphis one night.

Eddie Gilbert is booked to wrestle
against Ron Simmons.

So Flair sends the finish. Ron Simmons
beat Eddie Gilbert.

There must be some mistake. This is
Memphis.

He beat me in a preliminary match in
Memphis.

So Eddie changed the finish.

Within a week, I got a phone call from
Ric Flair.

So he changed the finish.

Who the f*** is this guy?

I'm going to have to move him out.

And that's what he told me. I'm fixing
to have an opening on the creative team.

Would you like to fill it?

I had had aspirations of one day being a
booker, but here was an opportunity

right in front of me to start doing what
I'd always wanted to do.

But it was at the expense of Eddie
losing the chance to do what he wanted

After overriding Ric Flair's planned
finish to a match, Eddie is dismissed

the creative committee.

His spot taken by a childhood friend.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jim Cornette.
We'll have a lot to say. We never had a

-to -face disagreement.

However, Eddie told the story that,
well, I showed up at the booking meeting

there was Jim Cornette sitting in my
chair.

Actually, no.

Eddie never came in to see me there
because he already knew he was done,

regardless of whether I got the job or
not.

I've heard it said by people close to
him that that demotion pretty much broke

his heart.

I just wanted to get out. The gentleman
let me out on a contract and I came back

in Memphis in 1990.

That's when I got my first full -time
booking job in Memphis.

Hot stuff, Eddie Gilbert.

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

What a surprise, yes indeed.

Returning to his home territory in
Memphis, Eddie solidifies his legacy as

innovator, pushing the boundaries
between reality and fiction even

He knew the fans were getting smarter,
and he was trying to do cutting -edge

stuff. I thought, hey.

Then the lawyer was shooting at Angle.
Jerry, Jerry said, well, what have y

not done to him?

Eddie said, well, I haven't run over
him.

Wait a minute. Eddie, you're going to do
what?

Now, you may think I'm crazy.

If I came at you with a car, you think
you could jump in time, you know, the

way. It looked good. It looked good.

The caller says, man, I love it.

Dang, he actually wants to do this.

The only problem was we was going way
too fast.

Hey, look out.

Whoa.

Oh, holy shit. Excuse my language.

And what I said he's doing is, do you
think he's okay?

Thank goodness.

No, I don't think he's okay.

Calling for some help from, well,
there's Jerry Calhoun.

The fans at home called the police
department and said they had a hit and

They was going restless.

So Lawler had to come out and tell the
police it's not their fault.

And I even said, even if I had to go to
jail for a week, if they'd get a

wrestling over, I was just about to do
anything to get rid of this.

People hated us for that. And, I mean,
we wanted them not to like us.

But that goes into where you're getting
to the point where it's almost went too

far one night. Me and Eddie, we went to
get in the car, and I heard Eddie say,

hurry up, a guy's coming with a knife.

What? Get a butcher knife.

And he's running.

And so I start trying to get the key in
the car.

And I heard Eddie say, hurry up, hurry
up.

He got right almost to Eddie.

There was cops at the fence and a police
officer saw that.

He got them before they got to us.

Here's the thing, and a lot of people
don't understand this. Look at your TV

today and then go back and see what we
do.

He was ahead of his time for so many
years. Oh, come on! And it was stuff

he thought about all the time. Rotten,
despicable, devious mind.

He's a perfectionist at work, and he was
a perfectionist at booking. And a lot

of people will say, well, that's why you
wind up with burnout.

I don't think he was the booker at one
spot more than six months, anywhere.

Most times when I was successful, I
didn't really know I was.

We saw Memphis jump back up again, so I
went to Alabama.

Changed everything.

But there's always those few that think
they can do the job a little bit better.

That power struggle goes on from day
one, and the booker takes over. And then

after a while, he's frustrated, and it's
not worth it.

Yeah.

As Eddie bounces from promotion to
promotion, he enters a romantic

with WCW star Missy Hyatt.

Meow.

Missy Hyatt was one of the first women
in wrestling that was both attractive

used as the valet slash manager slash
confidant of many of the top heels.

And then, of course, we got adorable
Eddie Gilbert. And then Eddie and Missy

became a couple in real life.

After he got off the booking committee
at WCW, I bought him a boat hoping that,

you know, maybe he'd go fishing and
relax.

He took it out maybe twice.

He didn't have a hobby. His hobby and
his work and everything was wrestling.

I remember my dad looked at me and said,
Good luck.

How long did it last?

The whole marriage and everything. Maybe
a year and a half or something like

that. I hate you and I hate everybody.

He liked beautiful ladies.

From Milan, Italy, the AWA Ladies World
Champion.

I got the opportunity.

to be in the ring with Eddie, and that's
when everything started between him and

I. Hi, I'm Medusa, M -A -D -U -S -A,
made in the USA, baby, and I've been in

this business, hmm, over 40 years.

And I was married to Eddie Gilbert.

It was Eddie and myself against Mick
Foley and Luna Vachon.

Right then and there, I'm like, God,
there's something about this guy and his

cockiness.

We just hit it off.

One thing led to another and he's like,
do you want to get married?

And I'm like, what?

What? Yeah, let's just do it. And we
did.

His family was so loving and so open to
me.

What do you got there?

Oh, do you know how to do that?

Not at all.

And I felt welcomed.

His dad.

And his mom, his world, and little
Dougie at the time.

Oh,

he loved his family.

It was healthy.

That's how I felt.

My marriage overall was wonderful from
the beginning.

And towards the end, I knew it wasn't
the Eddie that I grew to love and was in

love with.

If it was because of the pain of the
business physically and his choices to

rid of the pain, then, you know, that's
what he did. And it just changed him.

I just got done making dinner. We sat
down to eat, and he fell asleep at the

dinner table and his food.

I did see him.

Fall asleep at the table one time.

I mean, I tried to talk to him about it.

He kind of shut it down like it's none
of your business. And it wasn't my

business.

I didn't really see too much wrong with
it, which I look at it today and I can

see that maybe it was a little bit
wrong. But now I see so much other

much worse than anything that was going
on with Eddie. So I guess I just took

that as everything was kind of.

It wasn't just being a rock star that
caused him to do this. It was trying to

overcome serious injuries to get back in
the ring.

The pills taken over Eddie.

That wasn't who Eddie was, though.

He wanted to get better.

It just didn't happen.

Cactus Jack and Eddie Gilbert, they
probably know what physical punishment

they're both going to endure.

Eddie and I had the best feud of the
independent scene.

Oh, I almost ripped his head off of him.
The most massive cactus we saw in

Africa. To make this legal, we have to
hurt each other.

We knew that we couldn't go out there
and do any less. It takes you with pride

in what we do.

What he loved was bringing excitement to
the television screen.

It just laid our bodies on the line for
each other.

Our business

brings with it constant pain.

I did not know that he was having
trouble with pills.

Eddie was part of an era where not as
much was known about pain medication.

It wasn't really frowned upon at that
time, but it's easy to abuse.

He would say he was in pain, but I never
knew the severity.

He kept everything so inside.

The hardest thing he did was sign those
divorce papers.

He told me straight out, I need to fix
this. I need to get myself better.

And it was Eddie's choice.

I guess what I told myself at that time,
the only thing I could... is that I

found my way to say okay and let go.

She's a really good person.

I think she deserves getting out of
business when she can.

At that time, you know, the early 90s, a
lot of things were falling apart for

Eddie. Almost all the territories had
gone out of business. So at that point,

really didn't have a lot of options of
the old -fashioned territories, places

go anymore.

Here we are at the ECW Arena in the
heart of South Philadelphia. It's June

Facing setbacks in his personal and
professional life, Eddie Gilbert moves

Philadelphia, betting on a new promotion
led by a virtual unknown in the

business.

We're ready to go. Tonight's the night.
I grew up watching the WWWF, and there

was something called believability.

What happened was, as time went on, it
became a cartoon.

Hi, my name is Todd Gordon.

And I am the founder and originator of
Extreme Championship Wrestling, ECW.

I worked side -by -side with Eddie
Gilbert to get this promotion off the

I just wanted to do something that I
would enjoy. I could believe it.

My goal was to put on a believable, hard
-hitting product.

You know, Philadelphia, they

are the meanest.

people I ever see.

These people don't even like ice cream.
I'm not bullshitting you.

So when you bring that part of Eddie
being a heel to them, well, then you

eat that shit right up.

And he brought in a lot of big names and
put together the matches. He was very

good at it. I'm coming for you, Eddie
Gilbert. He wanted to be the king of

Philadelphia, and Jerry was the king of
Memphis.

Yes, me.

Hot stuff, Eddie Gilbert, the king of
Philadelphia.

We were doing that kind of hard work
stuff.

He took it to another level.

Eddie would say, this is wrestling.

You can do anything.

I carried that over years later. So when
Sam came out smoking a cigarette, What

are you, crazy? You can't do that.

Who says you can't?

He did it.

He became an icon.

That was Eddie.

Eddie gave us that ground floor to build
on.

Without Eddie, there's no ground floor.

Without Eddie, there's no ECW, really.

The king, hot stuff, Eddie Gilbert.

Eddie brings ECW to new heights, but
it's his friend Paul Heyman who will

the biggest impact on wrestling's
future.

Ladies and gentlemen, or you people of
Philadelphia.

Today, Paul Heyman is the most brilliant
manager on the professional wrestling

scene. In those days, Paul Heyman always
wanted to be the booker. So he started

shadowing Eddie Gilbert.

Paul was a photographer, did interviews
with me when he was like 13, when I was

in WWF. You know, Paul is like me a lot
of times. He will say things that maybe

he shouldn't.

Well, he does.

Back then, Eddie Gobin and I were thick
as thieves. He was my brother. He was my

mentor. He was my best friend.

And he was so magnificent as a booker.

They were together in Alabama. They were
together in Georgia.

They were together everywhere.

It was a good combination.

It worked.

It was probably six or seven months in
when all of a sudden it was, you know,

where's Eddie?

It was supposed to be at 2 o 'clock, and
he was rolling around 3 through 30.

He wasn't kidding around and carrying
on.

The difference changed in his whole
demeanor.

I wasn't that familiar with what drugs,
painkillers, the effect they had on

people's personalities.

He'd get in the ring with anybody, and
if he wasn't bleeding, his opponent was.

Those things don't just end when the
show ends.

They all turned to painkillers for that.
It is very easy to fall into that trap.

He had lost that zero degree.

He had lost that fun side.

This was not the same Eddie that had
contributed so much to the business.

So it was falling apart for Eddie, bad.

As Eddie spirals into addiction, Paul
Heyman pushes forward with plans to take

ECW National.

Paul was working with Jim Crockett, and
he was very excited about it.

And he thought that me, Paul, and
Crockett were going to go off and leave

the lurch.

At this point, he was really in the
depth of his despair, paranoia. He said,

yeah, well, guess what? We quit.

We had a huge show coming up, Ultra
Clash. It's our big, big, big event.

going to be the biggest, hottest show in
the history of Philadelphia wrestling.

That's right. Even though he's going to
still be on the show.

But it didn't matter.

Sometimes you're that high or that
buzzed. You think reality is completely

different from what reality is.

And he had his own reality at that
point.

Welcome to a very special Ultra Clash
Preview edition of Eastern Championship

Wrestling. Fearing that he's losing
control of ECW, Eddie Gilbert storms out

the company just days before a major
show.

Two days later, Eddie calls me up and he
said, Hey, boss, I'm sorry.

I've been stupid, so I'll be there
Saturday night.

I had to tell him, Eddie.

At Ultra Clash, there will be a major
change. That's correct.

You quit five days before the show.

I had to do something. I had to replace
you.

That man who will be the partner on
September the 18th with Abdul the

none other than Kevin Sullivan.

Is that okay?

Can I come to the show Saturday night
anyway and say goodbye to everybody?

I said, sure.

He told me he was going to come and cut
a promo, which nobody else knew that.

What's this?

That's hot stuff, Eddie Gilbert.

What's he doing here? He's not scheduled
to wrestle.

He told the people that he wanted to
thank them for coming out and supporting

ECW and supporting him and everything.

And all of a sudden, they started
hollering in the back, cut the mic, cut

mic, cut the mic.

Paul lost it to Locker.

He said he tried to screw me, but it was
just a long goodbye.

Why would you want to cut the mic on a
guy that's just telling the people

for supporting the company and him? And
that's what kind of pissed me off.

So there was a bat there.

So I thought I'd tell them what I had to
say.

I just swung the bat, and I hit
everything in there and broke it.

A couple people come up that was my
friends.

I said, man, everything okay?

Man, everything's fine.

He left.

And Paul and Eddie really never spoke
again after that. That was the end of

relationship. They were best friends.

It made no sense.

It was, I think, in the end, Holly
learned too well.

Holly was dead. Oh, my goodness.

It's Eddie Gilbert.

After Eddie Gilbert's departure, Paul
Heyman propels ECW to heights few

wrestling companies will ever reach.

This is wrestling the way it's going to
be and the way we know that you like it.

Rebranding Eastern Championship
Wrestling into the iconic Extreme

Wrestling.

With nothing left to lose, Eddie taps
into his fan base, once again setting a

trend that will influence the future.

Eddie wanted recognition.

He wanted to be able to plead his case.

Eddie had been especially popular with
the hardcore smart fans, the ones that

knew the behind the scenes, the ones
that knew how everything worked.

One of them basically sat Eddie down in
a hotel room and

shot the first shoot interview.

Where one of the personalities involved
in wrestling sat there and told inside

stories of how it was done.

In those days, believability in the ring
was the most important. If the people

know how they're being tricked, it'll
kill the business.

It got some people raising their eyes
that, you know, Eddie Gilbert did that?

What's been your relationship with
Waller?

It was about time that he did, because
everybody out there thought they know

everything about our business, and they
don't. When he saw an opportunity, he

took advantage of it before anybody
else.

About 10 years after he'd done it,
everybody and their brother started

Eddie was the first one in the business
to recognize

that. But this was 1994.

People in the business didn't do that.
But that was all that Eddie had left.

The smart fans loved his booking, but
the upper echelon and the major

they didn't really know or care.

I was running Smoky Mountain Wrestling
out of Knoxville, Tennessee.

I called Eddie.

I said, Eddie, you've got a great mind.

Let's see if we can put this thing
together.

I can't believe what I'm seeing here.

Hot stuff Eddie Gilbert is here. And
what are you doing here in Smoky

Wrestling? I didn't know you were going
to be here.

Well, he came to the TV taping. Just to
be honest with you, I didn't really know

I was going to be here either. But came
out and had a match with Ricky Morton.

He looked great.

He was ready to go.

And he told me, we're going to shoot
this angle tonight.

We'll be right here next week. Show us
what you got, hot stuff.

Maybe we won't go through with it
because I have an opportunity in Puerto

to do what I love, and that's booking.

I was proud for him.

And I said, go for it.

If you don't come back, I'll cover it
up.

And bless my heart, he never came back.

After that first TV taping, I never saw
Eddie Gilbert again.

He was dead three months later.

Looking to make a fresh start and leave
his demons behind, Eddie Gilbert heads

to work in Puerto Rico.

He looked at it as a great opportunity
to turn it around.

Carlos Colon had offered him a deal.

Carlos was wanting somebody with
different ideas, something fresh.

He was real excited.

This is the briefcase that my brother
carried around all the way to his Puerto

Rico days.

February 18, 1995.

Eddie Gilbert versus Ted the Bear. So
that's the bear that my brother

I'm going against the bear.

I'm going against the bear. I'm going
against the bear. I can't go against the

bear, no! He was trying to get it popped
again and where everybody could make

money and everybody would be happy.

He asked me, he said, you want to come?

I said, give me a minute to think on it,
and I'm sure it won't be too long.

But it would be the last territory that
he ever booked.

The next day, somebody called and told
me, they found your brother in his

apartment laying across the bed with
earphones on and music.

Just laying back like he'd laid back to
go to sleep or rest.

Really peaceful.

Weeks after arriving in Puerto Rico,
tragic news arrives back home.

The wrestling world was saddened by the
death this past week of Eddie Gilbert.

We were notified that on February 18th
in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Eddie had

passed away of apparent heart failure.

When you know somebody in his early 30s,
the first thing you're going to think

is, Was it drugs?

Especially in Puerto Rico.

In Puerto Rico, you don't have to have a
script to do nothing. All you have to

do is walk into the drugstore, get
anything you want.

So the first thing they done say, oh,
you know what he was doing?

Well, no, you don't know what he was
doing.

Of course, there's speculation on drugs,
ODing, but he had a bad heart too.

And they list the cause of death as the
heart attack.

Anybody could have made up anything. It
spreads like it's gospel through the

entire industry.

But I really learned to take everything
I hear like that with a grain of salt.

I'm there to protect Eddie first before
I start believing rumors and

speculation.

We ain't going to say we was choir boys.

We probably did some things we shouldn't
have done.

But I'm not making an excuse. I'm just
telling you, he had the car wreck.

Half of his heart, it would never work
again.

And if it wasn't working right, it had
to have a strain on it. And that never

quit until he passed away.

If Eddie was still alive, he'd be one
month older than I am sitting here right

now.

We kept in contact.

We wrote letters to each other.

And this one here that I kept was
probably one of the end ones.

He starts off with Deborah Ann.

Deborah, you have been a terrific
friend, lover, companion, and

most of all, best and wonderful wife.

I just wish I had realized that before
it got too out of hand.

I have nothing but the most respect for
you as a person and your abilities in

the ring and also in the...

If you need someone to talk to at any
time, night or day, please don't

to give me a call.

I mean that.

And that was one of the last letters
that I received from Eddie.

He was a good person.

We met well.

You know, Eddie passed away 30 years
ago.

And he's still down.

He's one of the best.

Loving what he did.

So when you step in that ring, it's like
we're on Broadway.

And we can give you part of our soul.

He gave his heart and soul to you
people.

Remember him for that.

Eddie never really wanted much in
return.

He just wanted this business.

I was born to be the king.

This year, it would be 30 years since my
brother's passing.

I wish he could be here, and I love him.

And I know how really proud he was of
me, and

he had a huge heart.

He'd done what he loved to the last day
of his life.