Eddie Gilbert

Biography

Thomas Edward Gilbert Jr. (August 14, 1961 – February 18, 1995) better known by his ring name "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, was an American professional wrestler and booker. Gilbert started his wrestling career for the Continental Wrestling Association in 1977, using the ring name Tommy Gilbert Jr. and winning the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship with his father in 1980. 

He later moved to the World Wrestling Federation in 1982, working a storyline as the protégé of Bob Backlund until leaving the company in 1984. He found his greatest success in Memphis, teaming with Tommy Rich to form “Fargo’s Fabulous Ones” and winning the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship. 

Gilbert eventually turned heel and feuded with Rich as well as Jerry Lawler. He moved to Mid-South Wrestling (later the Universal Wrestling Federation) in 1985, where he wrestled and worked as a manager, forming the villainous stable “Hot Stuff International, Inc.”

In addition, Gilbert also worked as a booker in promotions like the Global Wrestling Federation and Eastern Championship Wrestling (later known as Extreme Championship Wrestling), while continuing to wrestle in various promotions including Jim Crockett Promotions and the United States Wrestling Association.

Gilbert's first marriage was to a woman named Terrie Bardwell Dykes.[citation needed] The two divorced, and Gilbert married wrestling valet Missy Hyatt in October 1987 and they divorced in 1989. Gilbert was also briefly married to Debrah "Madusa" Miceli in 1990, but the marriage only lasted four months.

In early 1994, Gilbert sat down with Bob Barnett and conducted a filmed shoot interview titled "Looking For Mr. Gilbert." Gilbert spoke openly about his life and career at a time when professional wrestlers rarely appeared on film out of character and almost never spoke publicly about the behind-the-scenes machinations of the wrestling business. 

The footage from the interview was later marketed on home video and sold through wrestling newsletters, as well as at independent wrestling shows, the first of its kind. "Looking For Mr. Gilbert" is now considered the first professional wrestling "shoot video", and in the decades since, countless professional wrestlers have conducted sit-down shoot interviews, most notably in RF Video's Shoot Interview series and Kayfabe Commentaries' YouShoot interview series.

On February 18, 1995, Gilbert died of a massive heart attack in his sleep at his apartment in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico. His body was found by Ken Wayne. Gilbert's father, Tommy Gilbert, stated that injuries to Eddie's chest and heart muscle had occurred in a serious car crash in 1983 and could have been a factor; Eddie's alleged use of painkillers since the accident could also have contributed to his heart condition. The Eddie Gilbert Memorial Brawl was held in his memory from 1996 to 1999.