Hey Scott, I was recently watching some old Memphis wrestling stuff and got into the feud between Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert and Jerry Lawler. I was pretty amazed at how good Gilbert was, particularly on the mic, and I was wondering why he never went to the WWE? Was it because he was too small, or some other reason?
He was in WWE, for quite a while actually by his standards, but it’s before he became famous and he was basically an enhancement guy on house shows so it’s not typically publicized. After he became a big star, he developed a drug problem and to call him "hard to work with" would be a major understatement so I can’t see Vince wanting to take that on. Plus, yes, he was way too small anyway. |
Eddie
Eddie and JBL
> Hi Scott,
> Hope all is well.
>
> I'm curious as to why Eddie Guerrero was booked to drop the belt to JBL so soon after winning it in 2004? If I'm not mistaken Eddie was basically the most over babyface on the roster, and JBL was kind of a newly introduced gimmick and his reign ended up being widely panned. Was this a typical case of Vince just choosing to put somebody/gimmick he likes over a smaller, less traditional top babyface that the fans loved? Was JBL getting more heat than I'm imagining? Enough to logically put him over a top babyface business wise? It's genuinely confusing to me because looking back now I'm pretty confused as to why he is anything more than a glorified midcard tag team specialist. I mean… he kinda sucked…
>
> Thanks Eddie was really burned out as champion, like right away. He wanted out of that position and I think there was fear that things would go badly if they left the title in him. Which proved to be a legit concern a year later. And Vince really loved the JBL character for obvious reasons.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko – WCW Saturday Night 10/7/95
WCW Saturday Night was, for years, the flagship show for WCW. Then Nitro came along. The Saturday night show continued to be relevant for time after Nitro’s debut, but eventually became a showcase for the Power Plant talent and the luchadores. Here is an excellent match between Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko that many of us may not remember seeing.
September Classics: Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero – Smackdown 9/26/02
I really wanted to find Bret Hart vs. Jean-Pierre LaFitte from IYH 3, but I could not find a copy of it on the Youtubes, etc. Then I wanted to find Hart vs. Austin from an African event called Sun City Showdown in ’96, no go there either. HBK vs. Mankind from IYH: Mind Games is a given, but it’s been done. So I’ve gone with this nugget from the Smackdown Six days of Smackdown, the No DQ match between Edge and Eddie Guerrero, which some people insist on remembering as a ladder match.
MOTD: Eddie Guerrero vs Lightning Kid
Not sure where or when this is from (I presume a Super Juniors tournament in 93ish) or why it’s got a German commentator who sounds like a 14 year old boy, but it’s a pretty swank match. Eddie is a huge dick and Kid decides saving his body for later in life is a waste of time.
Eddie Guerrero Tribute
Eddie Gilbert Being a Delightful Scumbucket
I admit to being an Eddie Gilbert mark if for no other reason than he would pull the same shit over and over and over and over again and people would always fall for it and it was always money.
So I just wanted to share some Eddie Gilbert goodness this evening.
Here he is making Bill Watts look like an idiot.
And one of my favorite bloodbath promos as he suckers in the ultimate sucker, Tommy Rich
Bizarre Pairing of the Day: Eddie Guerrero vs Terry Funk
Bizarre pairing again. From 05.20.89, Terry Funk vs Eddie Guerrero. Right in the middle of the Funk/Flair feud. Eddie still has his rockin’ mullet.
Man, that’s crazy. I barely even knew who the other Guerreros were at that point in time.
The next Eddie?
"Hey Scott, with all the talk of Bryan being the next "Stone Cold", i think a more suitable comparison would be Eddie Guerrero circa 2004. Your thoughts??"
Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Title Win
I was randomly reviewing some of your rants from 2003 and was interested in following the progression of Eddie Guerrero from summer to Wrestlemania. In the SummerSlam rant, you said he was crazy over and they needed to do something with him right them. By early 2004 (No Way Out) they had the WWE Title on him. However, along the way, they didn't seem so sure about Eddie's push, as he worked midcard feuds, jobbed to Big Show, and did another PPV match as los Guerreros against the Bashams. It didn't seem like they were all that sure until they finally pulled the trigger. So my question: was Eddie's title win the long-term plan all along or was it a relatively last-minute decision? He certainly wasn't getting the typical rocket push from summer on or anything.
Related question: How far out was Benoit's title win planned? Did they always intend to have Eddie & Benoit leave Wrestlemania XX as champs, or were there other plans for that show?
Thanks Scott
Eddie was absolutely the long-term plan all along. As I've noted before, I was basically told months in advance "We're putting the World title on Eddie at No Way Out because it's in a heavy Hispanic arena and it'll be awesome." That was right after Brock won the title back from Kurt Angle in the iron man match on Smackdown, so there was clearly a plan in place.