Also during the summer of 1979, a card in Tupelo, Mississippi featured an out-of-control brawl between Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee and the team of Wayne Farris and Larry Latham with manager Danny Davis. The match wound up with both teams, promoters Jerry Jarrett and Eddie Marlin, referee Jerry Calhoun and a video crew which included announcer Lance Russell, in a concession stand eventually destroyed by the action. The action set the bar high for wild action in professional wrestling and is considered by some as the point in time where the roots of hardcore wrestling were planted. One can just wonder how Eddie felt watching the mayhem in Tupelo and how it would influence him in years to come.
One of the legends Eddie grew up watching was Tojo Yamamoto. Yamamoto, at this stage in his career, served mainly as a manager although he did still work some in ring as a wrestler. Yamamoto was managing the promising Japanese duo of Masa Fuchi and Mr. Onita.
Steve Keirn and Stan Lane were introduced as the Fabulous Ones via a music video set to the Billy Squier song "Everybody Wants You" complete with tuxedo jackets, bow ties and top hats. To add to the hype the team was billed as being put together and endorsed by Fargo. Over the course of time, the Fabs became the area?s most successful tag team ever, eclipsing any and all expectations the promotion had for them. Initially, they were to wrestle the New York Dolls: Rick McGraw & Troy Graham and then turn heel, be joined by young manager Jim Cornette and feud against Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee. Fan reaction changed those plans quickly as the fans, specifically young female fans, liked what they saw in Steve and Stan.
It didn?t take long for Eddie to find steady employment. He returned to the NWA promotion, which by this time was being bought out by media mogul Ted Turner. In the fall of 1988, Gilbert returned and found himself first avenging the injury of "friend" Jim Garvin (how Garvin and Gilbert were friends was never established) at the hands of Kevin Sullivan, Mike Rotondo and Rick Steiner, a trio billed as The Varsity Club whom Gilbert referred to as The Home Shopping Club. Whatever momentum he could gain from working with this crew was cut off as Steiner was being turned babyface by booker Dusty Rhodes, although Gilbert?s past association with Steiner was mentioned. Gilbert wound up teaming with Ron Simmons in the U.S. tag title tournament and losing in the finals on the nationally televised Clash of the Champions telecast on December 7, 1988 from Chattanooga, Tennessee to the Fantastics (Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton).
1989 started with the NWA in a flux. Booker Dusty Rhodes was let go and the search for his replacement began. In the meantime, weekly TV had to be cranked out as the new ownership tried to get it?s bearings after years of Rhodes? booking had nearly bankrupted Crockett which lead to his selling of the company to Turner. Eddie found himself entangled in a mini-feud against the Four Horsemen duo of Barry Windham and Nature Boy Ric Flair. Gilbert gave Windham fits on TV one week and Windham?s saving grace was the interference of Flair. Undeterred, Gilbert vowed a mystery partner the following week to battle Windham and Flair.
The next week found Flair and Windham waiting in the ring anxious to battle Gilbert and his mystery partner. Flair grew upset when music began airing that he recognized signaling an old rival had returned to create grief in his life. Eddie?s mystery partner turned out to be Ricky Steamboat, a Flair rival dating back to 1977. In a fantastic TV tag match, Steamboat pinned Flair as Gilbert held off Windham setting up a series of Flair-Steamboat matches that may never be rivaled again in the U.S. The Flair-Steamboat feud breathed new life into the NWA which had all but died in 1988 and at least some of the success the NWA achieved in 1989 (the company had a banner year artistically) should be attributed to Gilbert?s work at getting over Flair and Steamboat early in the year.
One of the legends Eddie grew up watching was Tojo Yamamoto. Yamamoto, at this stage in his career, served mainly as a manager although he did still work some in ring as a wrestler. Yamamoto was managing the promising Japanese duo of Masa Fuchi and Mr. Onita.
Steve Keirn and Stan Lane were introduced as the Fabulous Ones via a music video set to the Billy Squier song "Everybody Wants You" complete with tuxedo jackets, bow ties and top hats. To add to the hype the team was billed as being put together and endorsed by Fargo. Over the course of time, the Fabs became the area?s most successful tag team ever, eclipsing any and all expectations the promotion had for them. Initially, they were to wrestle the New York Dolls: Rick McGraw & Troy Graham and then turn heel, be joined by young manager Jim Cornette and feud against Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee. Fan reaction changed those plans quickly as the fans, specifically young female fans, liked what they saw in Steve and Stan.
It didn?t take long for Eddie to find steady employment. He returned to the NWA promotion, which by this time was being bought out by media mogul Ted Turner. In the fall of 1988, Gilbert returned and found himself first avenging the injury of "friend" Jim Garvin (how Garvin and Gilbert were friends was never established) at the hands of Kevin Sullivan, Mike Rotondo and Rick Steiner, a trio billed as The Varsity Club whom Gilbert referred to as The Home Shopping Club. Whatever momentum he could gain from working with this crew was cut off as Steiner was being turned babyface by booker Dusty Rhodes, although Gilbert?s past association with Steiner was mentioned. Gilbert wound up teaming with Ron Simmons in the U.S. tag title tournament and losing in the finals on the nationally televised Clash of the Champions telecast on December 7, 1988 from Chattanooga, Tennessee to the Fantastics (Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton).
1989 started with the NWA in a flux. Booker Dusty Rhodes was let go and the search for his replacement began. In the meantime, weekly TV had to be cranked out as the new ownership tried to get it?s bearings after years of Rhodes? booking had nearly bankrupted Crockett which lead to his selling of the company to Turner. Eddie found himself entangled in a mini-feud against the Four Horsemen duo of Barry Windham and Nature Boy Ric Flair. Gilbert gave Windham fits on TV one week and Windham?s saving grace was the interference of Flair. Undeterred, Gilbert vowed a mystery partner the following week to battle Windham and Flair.
The next week found Flair and Windham waiting in the ring anxious to battle Gilbert and his mystery partner. Flair grew upset when music began airing that he recognized signaling an old rival had returned to create grief in his life. Eddie?s mystery partner turned out to be Ricky Steamboat, a Flair rival dating back to 1977. In a fantastic TV tag match, Steamboat pinned Flair as Gilbert held off Windham setting up a series of Flair-Steamboat matches that may never be rivaled again in the U.S. The Flair-Steamboat feud breathed new life into the NWA which had all but died in 1988 and at least some of the success the NWA achieved in 1989 (the company had a banner year artistically) should be attributed to Gilbert?s work at getting over Flair and Steamboat early in the year.
