Eddie Graham
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edward F. Gossett January 15, 1930 Dayton, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | January 21, 1985 (aged 55) Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
Spouse | Lucy Gossett |
| Children | Mike Graham |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Eddie Gossett Rip Rogers Eddie Graham |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Billed weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Trained by | Cowboy Luttrell |
| Debut | 1947 |
| Retired | 1982 |
Edward F. Gossett (January 15, 1930 – January 21, 1985), better known by his ring name Eddie Graham, was an American professional wrestler, promoter, booker, and trainer.
He debuted in 1947, initially wrestling under the ring name Rip Rogers in Texas. In 1958, he adopted the ring name Eddie Graham upon joining Capitol Wrestling, where he teamed with Dr. Jerry Graham as his kayfabe brother, winning the NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Northeast version) four times. In 1960, Graham joined Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF), where he won the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) three times, the NWA World Tag Team Championship (Florida version) seven times, the NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Florida version) twice, the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship, and the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship. During the 1970s, Graham served as the promoter and booker for the CWF (a position he held until his death) and was President of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 1976 to 1978.
Graham died as a result of suicide on January 21, 1985, at the age of 55. He was posthumously inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame in 1993, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996, the NWA Hall of Fame in 2006, the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2018.