I lost a great friend today. I can't believe it. I don't understand with so many assholes in this world why a good human being is taken off of this planet at such a young age. I knew Doug since we were in high school together. Being a wrestling fan back then wasn't exactly the coolest thing in the world. It was something you would normally keep to yourself. I walked past his desk in 9th grade at Archbishop Ryan High School and he had a PWI on his desk. I said, "Oh wow you are a wrestling fan?" The next 2 years of lunches at Ryan were spent discussing Bobby Heenan's Prime Time vignettes and wrestling trivia contests. I introduced Doug to my other good friend at the time Rob Feinstein. We were all just kids. Little did I know my introduction would start such a great friendship and force such a bond between the three of us. Doug and I would spend hours on the phone as kids discussing results of our "wrestling fantasy games."
I joined RF Video as a job in 1994 and the 3 of us went on to live our dreams together. We spent every day and almost every hour together traveling the world. Doug never once got caught up in the new found revenue we were all making. He never changed. He never had a bad bone in his body. Sometimes Rob and I would curse about someone in competition or somebody we knew and Doug would always be the first one to stand up and tell us to just let it go. All he ever wanted out of life was to be liked and to be respected.
When Rob and I had our first falling out I said too many friends that my biggest regret was losing my friendship with Doug. Later we would pick right up where we left off. Every time Rob and I would hang out I would always ask and practically beg Doug to come out. I don't know much about what happened with ROH and Rob and Doug as I wasn't there at the time. I do know that Doug was crushed and felt cheated that something he helped equally build to a success was taken away from him. He didn't understand why he never got the respect he deserved for his part and unless you were there, but he was always the kind of guy that preferred to be in the background.
It's funny because the three of us together or among one another would always joke about the fact that someday the three of us would get back together in some kind of business whether it was wrestling or something else. Doug was very intelligent and the kind of man that could do whatever he wanted as long as he applied himself. He was always looking for his next wrestling opportunity. He wasn't looking to get rich, he just wanted to create and be respected. That is all he ever wanted out of his life. He didn't need fancy clothes, a lot of money, or a shiny new car. He was the same person the last time I saw him as the first day I met him.
I can't help but start to cry thinking that I won't be able to see my friend again. The last time I saw him we did PWX commentary together a few weeks ago. The Eagles were playing the Titans and Doug would say, "ah fuck it, let's just watch the game." When McNabb went down we both decided to get back to commentary because we thought the season was over. It's funny because I was going to have some friends over for UFC Liddell-Ortiz and Doug was the first one I tried to invite. I was hoping to get together with him for the Super Bowl as we had watched past Super Bowls together.
The people in and out of this business that got to know Doug Gentry are the luckiest people in the world. Not a bad bone in his body, and yet he was taken so young. I miss him already. I love him dearly and at least today God truly got himself an angel.
Eric Gargiulo
