[1993-08-17-ECW-TV] Eddie Gilbert and Jay Sulli

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Eddie asks Jay Sulli what he's going to do when his wife finds out his name is in Heidi's little black book. Gilbert says he's going to give $5,000 to the first person he sees. He finds some guy on the street with major problems. The Gilbert wank is getting old. I'd rather see him in a feud doing wrestling promos than what he was doing most of 1993, hanging out and making jokes on camera.

[Kevin Ridge]

There is no mention in these segments who he is currently feuding with unless we count Jay Sullie. The guy Gilbert got to be the next announcer is either a really good actor or someone messed up bad.

[PeteF3]

Gilbert finds some weirdo as a result of a bet with Sulli that he can be a better host than him. I guess this stuff was considered revolutionary at the time, but holy crap these segments are fucking intolerable. Sulli opens the guy's jacket to find a Gilbert t-shirt underneath. Holy shit, angles based around torso wear--this stuff IS ahead of its time. Doesn't make it any easier to sit through, though.

[soup23]

We get another one of these lame Gilbert sketches with nothing happening of emphasis to a wrestling promotion. THis has been the worst stuff of the year to me even beating out Lost in Cleveland.

[garretta]

Soup hit the nail on the head; at least Mick and Miss Bang Bang did the best they could with Lost in Cleveland, and Kathy wasn't too bad either once she got the hang of it.

 

Eddie in ECW reminds me so much of Lawler outside of the Memphis loop it isn't funny; neither one gives the slightest damn about anything except indulging their juvenile sense of humor. If anything, Eddie's worse than Lawler because he's supposed to be ECW's top heel, while Lawler's mostly being treated by the WWF as a broadcaster who mouthed off to the wrong person (Bret) and is about to get his ass kicked for it.

 

While they're at it, they can get rid of Sulli too. Not for the joker Eddie supposedly hired, but for someone who seems like they care about what they're broadcasting. The indignant host bit is a staple, but Sulli's not a good enough actor to subtly put over something while appearing to bury it. He just seems like he's mad at Eddie and would rather not be around him at all, period. I suppose he could improve with time, but why not just hire someone who can do the job better right off the bat? And what's his fixation with full names anyway? I don't think he's addressed someone by their first name only in any segment we've seen on the set so far.

 

The guy whom Eddie supposedly hired looks a lot like a Gilbert relative; same hair, same glasses, similar face. I don't know what they were trying for with the voice; it was probably either drunkenness or mental retardation. Of course, if the guy had legit problems (which I doubt), then all the credit in the world to both ECW for selecting him and himself for having the courage to go on camera when others in his position may not have.

[ajtroma]

The guy here was John Gillem, Eddie's good friend/loyal stooge. John followed Eddie anywhere. Eddie even put John in the main event in Dothan, Alabama one time.
​A real problem with this early ECW stuff is that they have more tv time to fill than they had shows to promote. Some TV tapings every three months and a big show here and there. That's really not a whole lot to work with here.
​Even though Eddie is one of my very favorites, I have to be honest here: This ECW run was not his best stuff. Eddie also saw Tod Gordon as just another money-mark to suck dry, have a little fun, get some of his friends and old favorites a payday here and there and split.

[garretta]

So that explains Eddie's bad attitude in ECW. Thanks for the info, AJ!