This is one of the first shoot interviews ever. Gilbert married wrestling valet Missy Hyatt in October 1987 and they divorced in 1989. Gilbert was also briefly married to Debrah "Madusa" Miceli in 1990, but the marriage only lasted four months.In early 1994, Gilbert sat down with Bob Barnett and conducted a filmed shoot interview titled "Looking For Mr. Gilbert." Gilbert spoke openly about his life and career at a time when professional wrestlers rarely appeared on film out of character and almost never spoke publicly about the behind-the-scenes machinations of the wrestling business. The footage from the interview was later marketed on home video and sold through wrestling newsletters, as well as at independent wrestling shows, the first of its kind. "Looking For Mr. Gilbert" is now considered the first professional wrestling "shoot video", and in the decades since, countless professional wrestlers have conducted sit-down shoot interviews, most notably in RF Video's Shoot Interview series and Kayfabe Commentaries' YouShoot interview series. Gilbert started his wrestling career for the
Continental Wrestling Association in 1977, using the ring name Tommy Gilbert Jr. and winning the
AWA Southern Tag Team Championship with his father in 1980. He later moved to the
World Wrestling Federation in 1982, working a storyline as the protégé of
Bob Backlund until leaving the company in 1984. He found his greatest success in
Memphis, teaming with
Tommy Rich to form “Fargo’s Fabulous Ones” and winning the
AWA Southern Tag Team Championship. Gilbert eventually turned
heel and feuded with Rich as well as
Jerry Lawler. He moved to Mid-South Wrestling (later the
Universal Wrestling Federation) in 1985, where he wrestled and worked as a
manager, forming the villainous
stable “Hot Stuff International, Inc.”
In addition, Gilbert also worked as a booker in promotions like the
Global Wrestling Federation and
Eastern Championship Wrestling (later known as Extreme Championship Wrestling), while continuing to wrestle in various promotions including
Jim Crockett Promotions and the
United States Wrestling Association.
On February 18, 1995, Gilbert died of a massive
heart attack in his sleep at his apartment in
Isla Verde, Puerto Rico. Gilbert's father,
Tommy Gilbert, stated that injuries to Eddie's chest and heart muscle had occurred in a serious car crash in 1983 and could have been a factor; Eddie's alleged use of painkillers since the accident could also have contributed to his heart condition.