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The late Eddie Gilbert is the latest name announced for this Sunday's Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame Class ahead of this Sunday's ceremony in Philadelphia at Wrestlecon. This will be the third annual class enshrined by Game Changer Wrestling.
Gilbert, a lifelong wrestling fan, rose to prominence as one of the top stars of Memphis Wrestling with a legendary rivalry with Jerry Lawler and a great feud with former tag team partner Tommy Rich. He had runs in the WWWF, Jim Crockett Promotions and Bill Watt's UWF, including the infamous "They Put the Flag on the Cowboy" angle where Gilbert aligned with The Russians to assault promoter Bill Watts:
Gilber famously booked Continental Wrestling for an absolutely amazing year in 1988, where he and Paul Heyman turned a territory that had been all but left for dead into a vibrant circuit with Tom Prichard vs. Dirty White Boy, Gilbert vs. Willie B. Hurt (Pez Whatley) and Danny Davis vs. Ken Wayne, among others. Gilbrt was also the booker for the earliest television era of Tod Gordon's Eastern Championship Wrestling, where he was the "King of Philadelphia" and feuded with Terry Funk before quitting the promotion, angry that Gordon was going to work with Jim Crockett and the NWA. Gilbert's feud with Funk helped set the foundation for the ECW to come.
Gilbert also booked for The Global Wrestling Federation in Texas and wrestled everywhere from Smoky Mountain Wrestling to WWC in Puerto Rico. He was a good babyface, an even better heel and when he was "on", he was one of the best of his era.
Gilbert passed away in February 1995 of a heart attack while living in Puerto Rico. The late Dennis Coralluzzo ran Gilbert Memorial Brawls for several years in New Jersey, as Gilbert had worked for him a number of times over the years.
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