[1993-07-27-ECW-TV] Eddie Gilbert: King of Philadelphia

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[El-P]

I'm not sure which vignette it is, but the King of Philly stuff is the best thing Eddie did in ECW (as opposed to his matches I mean). Really funny stuff.

[Loss]

This is an actual heel promo, and not the usual walk-around-Philly-and-act-like-a-goof stuff.

 

Well, I spoke too soon.

 

That's exactly what we get when this is over.

 

Interesting stuff that I'm glad is on the set because it shows what Gilbert-era ECW was like, but I'm not a fan.

[El-P]

The walk around Philly thing was the best stuff Eddie did in ECW. Not a big fan of his in-ring work.

[Kevin Ridge]

Gilbert dropping the Philly sports athletes references. Some of the royal subjects don't seem to know who King Gilbert is.

[PeteF3]

Gilbert has apparently taken over the TV controls for today's show.

 

Cut to Eddie and Paul E. in a cafe, with some woman they make Dick Van Dyke Show jokes about because her name is Rose Marie. Very topical, even for 1993. Some person walks up and starts kissing up to Eddie.

 

As little as Loss likes these segments, I think I like them even less. I mean, Lost in Cleveland was jaw-droppingly bad, but I can't say it was as BORING as these vignettes are. That may not be enough to say these are definitively worse, but they may be just as bad in a different way.

[soup23]

This have really taken a turn for me. When it was two minutes of Eddie parading around and dancing with girls, that was one thing. Now it is him and Paul E setting up shop somewhere and they do the worst improv (I assume) imaginable with the onlookers they attract. These need to be heading somewhere fast and I am not optimistic they are.

[garretta]

Heading where, ​Soup? There's not one of these that could be seen as having anything to do with wrestling whatsoever. Eddie doesn't even seem to be having fun in these; he says his lines and goes through the motions, but there's no passion whatsoever. Heyman seems to be much more into these than he is.

 

It doesn't help that the premises, such as they are, are laughable. Most of this segment's about whether two guys should kiss Eddie's hand or not. Is this for real? This is what you booked for yourself, Eddie? No wonder Heyman took over before you flushed this promotion straight down the toilet.

 

Eddie as a TV host doesn't exactly do much for me either. He sits there and belittles the crew, Jay Sulli, and Tod Gordon, but makes no effort to put over any potential feud partners for himself. The best he could come up with for an angle is ​Ron Jaworski​? I sincerely can't believe how badly he's bungling the crown, which is something he's supposedly wanted in one form or another since he was a boy. They need to get Terry Funk back into the picture in a hurry.

 

Yes, I know Lawler feuded with the likes of Andy Kaufman and Adam West in Memphis, but he had some actual feuds with wrestlers to build credibility for his crown first, which Eddie hasn't come close to doing yet.