Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives!
 |
|
|
Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives! |
|
|||||
|
- Tim S. Dills.
Sons often find themselves living in the shadows of their fathers. Sometimes those shadows shield. Sometimes those shadows swallow. From time to time a son steps out of those shadows and when he does, the shadows he casts often reach beyond the point of measuring. Growing up in his dad’s sheltering shadow, Eddie Gilbert watched his dad make a name for himself in professional wrestling. Eddie knew one day he would have the chance to step out from those shadows and he was determined to cast his own long shadows on the business he had fallen in love with at an early age. Tommy Gilbert, Eddie’s dad, worked in his home circuit of Tennessee for Nick Gulas, and by 1977, Jerry Jarrett. Tommy’s father, Arley, had participated in A.T. shows, which occurred at carnivals. A carnival worker would challenge anyone from the audience to wrestle him. Often in order to drum up business another carnival worker would be planted in the audience to take that challenge and put the worker over. Many A.T. workers later became professional wrestlers. The Gulas territory was tag team country for many years and Tommy gained much of his success as a tag mate to area stand-outs such as Johnny Walker, Bearcat Brown and most notably, Eddie Marlin. The territory also featured wild action, often with blood freely flowing. Eddie watched the action so intently he came to understand at a young age that there was more than what met his eyes when he watched a wrestling match. He grew to understand how the business worked from the creative side, mainly operated for Gulas by Jerry Jarrett. While Eddie was a big fan of his dad, Lawler spoke to him on another level. Lawler was a gum-chewing, cocky, goateed, arrogant know-it-all bad guy. Lawler always had something to say, sometimes witty, other times brutally honest. Sometimes those comments were hurled toward his opponent and sometimes to TV announcer Lance Russell. Lawler often used illegal tactics to achieve his success. Other times Lawler’s manager Sam Bass helped gain victory. Over the years, Lawler’s image softened from his first few years in the territory but it was those first few years of Lawler’s career that Gilbert would remember for years to come and would use in storylines featuring Lawler. While Eddie was a big fan of his dad, Lawler spoke to him on another level. Lawler was a gum-chewing, cocky, goateed, arrogant know-it-all bad guy. Lawler always had something to say, sometimes witty, other times brutally honest. Sometimes those comments were hurled toward his opponent and sometimes to TV announcer Lance Russell. Lawler often used illegal tactics to achieve his success. Other times Lawler’s manager Sam Bass helped gain victory. Over the years, Lawler’s image softened from his first few years in the territory but it was those first few years of Lawler’s career that Gilbert would remember for years to come and would use in storylines featuring Lawler. Itching to become old enough to become a professional wrestler, Eddie found other ways to become involved in the business. Eddie began writing articles and taking photographs for newsstand and ringside magazines, including the Memphis area weekly program. Since professional wrestling rarely gained substantial mainstream media attention, it thrived on it’s own newsstand and ringside magazines to publicize it’s stars. More... |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Early Years
