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Edward Gossett (better known as '''Eddie Graham''') ( January 15 , 1930 – January 21 , 1985 ) was a Professional Wrestler . He was also the promoter and booker for Championship Wrestling From Florida . CAREER Edward F. Gossett started wrestling in 1947John Molinaro, ''The Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time'', (Winding Stair Press: 2002), page 200. in Texas at the age of 17 after being trained by Cowboy Luttrell. He was sometimes billed as the brother of "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers under the name of '''Rip Rogers'''. He lost a loser-leaves-town match to Pepper Gomez in May 1958. In June 1958, he changed his ring name to Eddie Graham and was billed as the brother of Dr. Jerry Graham and "Crazy" Luke Graham . Jerry and Eddie were a very successful Heel Tag Team on the east coast of the United States . They had popular feuds with teams such as the Fabulous Kangaroos, the Bastien Brothers, and Antonino Rocca and Miguel Pérez . They held the NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Northeast Version) together in Capitol Wrestling (the forerunner of World Wrestling Entertainment ) four times, winning the belts three times in victories over Miguel Perez and Don Curtis, and once against Red and Lou Bastien. NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Capitol version) at Wrestling-Titles.com In the spring of 1960, Eddie left the team and went to the National Wrestling Alliance 's territory in Florida to wrestle. While there, in 1966, he had a famous feud with Professor Boris Malenko .Molinaro, page 200. In 1968, Eddie was lacing his boots in the locker room and a 75 pound steel window fell on his head, detaching both of his Retina s and causing him an injury that required three hundred stitches. The Florida State Legislature awarded him $23,000 for the incident. According to Jim Wilson) in his book ''Chokehold'', Graham's eyesight was poor because of blade jobs, and because he needed surgery to correct the problem and could not afford the money, he had some wrestlers tamper with the window in order to pass it off as though it was the responsibility of the building. This allegation is disputed by eyewitnesses. Due to the injury, Graham was unable to wrestle for fifteen months. Eddie took over booking and promoting for , 1985 , when he committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a lifelong battle with Alcoholism . CHAMPIONSHIPS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
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