Dark Side of the Ring

[Valeyard]

Who shoots who?

 

[Mickey Massuco]

Brody is the board’s resident bad boy but Double K is from an open carry state, so who knows.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Hilarious that Kevin says "We had a rule in WCCW, you need to be at the show an hour early or you're in big trouble"

Meanwhile the Von Erichs were pilled up somewhere and no showing spot shows.

 

[BruiserBrody]

I thought Miz' dad had uniquely terrible hair, but here is BOORAY stealing the look.
--
The Rod Price hair weave being ripped out thing was actually mentioned in the Apters. I'm guessing it didn't make tape or they would have shown it here.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Did I know Sherri and Jake the Snake dated for years in the 70s? Feels like news to me.
Pretty sure I didn't know Sherri was a stripper either.
Sherri's funeral being another chapter in the drunk Jake the Snake saga was unexpected.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Sandman was fun for me. I've largely not seen any of the actual angles with Raven and his wife and kid. I was following along with the Apters 2 months behind, but that can't really do it justice.
His kid seemed like he felt exploited but never really came out and said it in his modern interview.

The Cairo/Sandman cane angle was big time time shit in the Apters and with all the media hype about the USA trying to save that kid from getting caned in the Philippines or wherever even broke into my 11 year old brain. I was geeked up reading about all this.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

I really need to see some more Tri-State, because the clips of Sandman throwing slingshot dropkicks has me intrigued.

 

[One Epic Winter (OEW)]

Sandman seemed like he had a pretty good grip on the fundamentals of wrestling but felt like he could make just as much money or more just hitting people with canes and smashing beer cans over his head.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

I thought it was the best episode of the season. They had a ton of people to interview that were actually there and Sandman actively took accountability for his actions and was genuinely remorseful. There was no one trying to pretend things were better than they were like in most of these.

 

[Hawk 34]

A new season of the show will return on March 25th and the subjects this season will cover

-Hell in a Cell
-Vader
-Tony Atlas
-Ludvig Borga
-Billy Jack Haynes
-Eddie Gilbert
-Superstar Billy Graham
-Daffney
-Original Sheik
-Muhammad Hassan

 

[One Epic Winter (OEW)]

Obviously gonna catch the Daffney episode. Borga and Hassan look interesting too.

 

[AA484]

Gilbert seems like one that should have already been done. Guy who wrestled in nearly ever major (and many minor) promotion, was a very influential -- but polarizing -- figure, died young, and left a thumbprint on the business that was larger than his resume on paper would lead one to believe.

 

[Brocklock]

I'm ready to be bummed out for a while after the Daffney episode.

 

[Gary]

Worried how much the Tony Atlas episode will talk about his foot fetish.

 

[Valeyard]

I hope Hell In The Cell goes into that time Terry Funk told Foley to start on top of the cage.

 

[Gary]

Here's the teaser trailer

 

[BruiserBrody]

Gilbert seems like one that should have already been done. Guy who wrestled in nearly ever major (and many minor) promotion, was a very influential -- but polarizing -- figure, died young, and left a thumbprint on the business that was larger than his resume on paper would lead one to believe.

Drug abuser whose smartest career move was being a Meltz source and was thus elevated in the newsletters for years?

Recent years even the famed Continental booking run with Heyman has been scrutinized since both were letting Dave know how awesome things are and Dave wrote glowing reviews.

Had such an ego that he changed Flair's house show booking so Eddie wouldn't have to job to Ron Simmons in Memphis and got himself shitcanned off the writing team.

Threw a fit and broke Kayfabe in Japan.

Fucked Cornette over in his last best chance to be something in North America and died on an Island alone off shore by the Shit Hole countries.

 

[Valeyard]

I feel like you argued against yourself and made Gilbert sound even more important.

 

[snuffbox]

Yeah now it sounds like Gilbert out-Hogan'd the Hulkster and I'm more excited for the episode.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

Yeah that stuff sounds fascinating.

 

[Hawk 34]

Brody dumbed himself out of position cuz now he babyfaced Eddie to all of us.

 

[tekcop]

Eddie Gilbert is the coolest person to ever live in Lexington, Tennessee. Edging out me and John McAfee.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

Mills Darden - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The "Largest man in history" also lived there so you're just falling further down the list @tekcop

 

[Valeyard]

Gilbert has meant more to the history of wrestling than Cornette.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Gilbert has meant more to the history of wrestling than Cornette.

Nah, at worst the Last Stampede and Scaffold Starrcade 86 angles drew more money and stay in the public conscious more than anything Gilbert can claim to.

Gilbert's big two would be the Lawler car angle (Sept 90) and the Russian Flag angle w/ Watts as far as being memorable.
Other candidates - The "New" Fabs break up in Memphis 84 and Gilbert bloodies Rich.

- Missy getting blinded by Muta to set up a run to build Muta and keep the loose Gilbert/Sting connection from the 1st Family UWF days alive.
- The 3 matches in one night with Cactus Jack, which probably did well in the tape trading, and the Apters definitely played it up
- He was the Masked Superstar murder victim to set up Bob Backlund matches, but Gilbert left the angle at that point (perhaps the WWF entirely as it would be close to his Memphis 84 run)
- He was Steamboat's partner for the Dragon's WCW debut in 89 but left the angle soon after to feud with the Varsity Club.
- He and Heyman booked the "I want to talk to Tom" angle in Continental

- The Russian Flag angle was super memorable but went nowhere as Watts used JCP Russians for it and only got 3 or 4 matches with them before he switched the heat by having himself beat down by the Freebirds since he actually had them under contract.
- The Lawler car angle was actually in the middle of a summer long feud with Lawler. They work almost weekly at the Mid South Coliseum in various tag matches and gimmick singles matches. They work into October before blowing it off. They got as many as 2000 fans, which was good for the era, but as Corny once put it "Would have been cause for a total overhaul" had they drawn so "poorly" before 1985.

I'm really not trying to shit Gilbert and even have a multi DVD "Best of" Gilbert in my collection.

“The Best of Eddie Gilbert” Volume One – CXF | Culture Crossfire | culturecrossfire.com

A CXF link that works! Hooray!

Edit - My link reminded me he was part of the 2nd Coliseum stand brawl, which didn't set the world on fire like the OG version.

Edit 2 - After cutting off Lawler vs Gilbert in Oct 90, they return to it weeks later and do weeks more of Lawler vs Gilbert tag matches

 

[Valeyard]

His influence and the impact he made have meant more to the trajectory of the business than anything Cornette has. The impact his booking style made and the style he helped bring to the developing mainstream in the 90s would go on to make more money than anything Cornette swung a racket at.

 

[BruiserBrody]

His influence and the impact he made have meant more to the trajectory of the business than anything Cornette has. The impact his booking style made and the style he helped bring to the developing mainstream in the 90s would go on to make more money than anything Cornette swung a racket at.

Define booking style? Brawls are Memphis/Jarrett....Gulas booking.

Somebody tell the Sheik he should brawl in his Detroit main event matches to draw money.

"Crusher bled on TV last week Ma! We gotta head to Sheboygan and see him git that Mad Dog!"

 

[Valeyard]

Gilbert's modernization of the Memphis booking is what bred the 90s paradigm shift. Without his own obsession with Lawler and Gilbert's own travels (intentional or not), its uniqueness doesn't develpt and that booking style doesn't grow beyond the region. Without his mentoring Heyman, the Attitude Era doesn't happen. Without ECW's influence on a generation of talent (in ring and out), the 2000s indie boom doesn't happen.

He's to American wrestling what Frank Zappa was to music.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Gilbert's modernization of the Memphis booking is what bred the 90s paradigm shift. Without his own obsession with Lawler and Gilbert's own travels (intentional or not), its uniqueness doesn't develpt and that booking style doesn't grow beyond the region. Without his mentoring Heyman, the Attitude Era doesn't happen. Without ECW's influence on a generation of talent (in ring and out), the 2000s indie boom doesn't happen.

He's to American wrestling what Frank Zappa was to music.

Heyman was blessed to actually work Memphis, etc while also having the JCP/WCW/WWWF first hand learning.
I'll give Gilbert a slice of the credit, but Sabu and Terry Funk also exist and actually managed to not die before ECW could actually form into the wilder Memphis without borders booking style. Sabu obviously had the Sheik influence and Funk knew everything from the beginning of time.

ECW itself never drew money either. I guess you can say Russo and McMahon monetized the style. ECW was the garage band the cool kids listened to. Vince sold out the rock concerts with the soul less music.

 

[Valeyard]

Influence goes beyond money. That's the point. Gilbert's DNA directly changed the style of booking and the accepted style going into the most important era of the business to that point. Without him influencing Heyman, and their falling out, the business does not progress and probably never becomes mainstream again in the US. It isn't ripped off more successfully, and we aren't here today. Sabu and Funk did not book ECW, so I don't understand why they're being brought up beyond the forward thinking to book them for ECW in the first place.

My point is Gilbert has proven to mean more to the evolution of the business and to the style of booking than Cornette has. Dude's got a boom period for every cake Cornette got his face shoved in.