Since he passed away at a young age over 15 years ago, many younger fans aren't familiar with the genius of "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert. A tremendous heel and very underrated babyface who was a great worker, a great promo, and a creative booker, he was perennial favorite of newsletter readers in the late '80s and early '90s while he had great runs as a wrestler and booker in Memphis/CWA, Alabama/CWF, Mid-South/UWF, and WCW. With many of his greatest moments available at our fingertips thanks to YouTube, I figured that I should attempt to introduce the masses to his greatness.
To hook you in, I'll start with one of my personal favorite angles. In 1984, Gilbert and Tommy Rich formed The New Fabulous Ones to replace the original team of Stan Lane & Steve Keirn, who left for the AWA on short notice. While Rich and Gilbert had done very well in the territory, they were seen as pale imitations in the Fabs gimmick. They split up, but still won the Tag Team of the Year award from the Wrestling Fans International Assocation, a real organization that was running their annual convention in Memphis. The ensuing angle is some of the best wrestling television you'll ever see, taking the fans' emotions on a roller coaster in a few segments of one show. Keep an eye out for Lance Russell's amazing reaction at the climax.