It’s been five days since I heard the news that one of the greatest performers in WWE (and wrestling) history passed away. I briefly touched on this tragedy in my last column, and I felt that there were so many columnists that would put his career into far better words than I could, but I’ve found myself sitting around my house just thinking about what a huge loss it is to, not only wrestling, but to the world. I never knew the man personally, and neither did many of those who have grieved and cried over his death this week. But, of what I know, and what many know, Eddie Guerrero was an incredible man. The words spoken by several WWE performers on RAW this week and on WWE.com prove that he was also an amazing friend, an amazing father, and an amazing husband.
In my last column, I tried putting my thoughts into four measly paragraphs about Eddie’s passing, and to be honest with you, that’s all I had at the time. I was still in shock, and I still am. I know he wasn’t a friend or a family member. I never spoke to him, and saw him just once in person when he wrestled in my hometown. But it still feels like I lost a friend or a family member, because he just had the gift of being a guy that you feel like you’ve known all your life. Very few possess that quality.
So, let me start off by saying what I do know about Eddie Guerrero. Because of my lack of ECW and WCW knowledge, I didn’t know the Eddie Guerrero that worked for either promotion. And because I didn’t watch the WWE between 1998 and 2001 (a time which I regret missing for many reasons), I only know the Eddie Guerrero from 2002 and on. The first time I really saw Eddie was when he emerged onto the Intercontinental title division, when he made his return to the ring. He became the IC champion in April 2002, before dropping the title to Rob Van Dam in a great ladder match.
I have to admit this right off the bat before I go on. I never truly got into Eddie Guerrero until 2003, when he became a babyface with his nephew, Chavo Guerrero. I knew Eddie was incredibly talented in the ring, but at the time, I wasn’t completely into wrestling again. I watched every week, but I wasn’t enthralled in it. I believe the heel Eddie Guerrero is an aggressive, passionate, and ruthless character that is far greater in his 2005 heel turn against Rey Mysterio. His original run didn’t click with me, so I sadly don’t recall very much until he joined nephew Chavo in a tag team.
Eddie and Chavo weren’t faces initially, but eventually, the crowd just started liking them and they became babyfaces. Their antics (which came about with their “Lie, Cheat, Steal” motto) were hilarious, and both remain one of my favorite tag teams. Sadly, I don’t think Chavo has reached the excellence that he had with the tag team, which I hope changes now that he will be resuming his actual identity and scrapping the “good idea, poorly developed” Kerwin White character.
In early May of 2003, the WWE came to my hometown. The Smackdown superstars that came included Brock Lesnar (WWE Champion at the time), John Cena (heel), Rhyno, Big Show, Chris Benoit, Matt Hardy, and Sean O’Haire. But it was the tag team title match that made the night worth it. The champions at the time were Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, defending their gold against Eddie and Chavo Guerrero (or “Los Guerreros”). The night wasn’t very long, even with a 15-minute intermission in between, but that match was well worth the money and the time. It wasn’t just Eddie, it was all four men that put on a memorable match. I’ve been toWWE (and World Wrestling Federation) house shows around five or six times in person, and this is one of the few matches that stand out. My uncle took me to the house show, and he hasn’t been a fan of wrestling for a while, but even he was impressed by this match. Later on at the end of the year, I chose the rivalry between Team Angle and Los Guerreros as one of my favorite feuds of the year.
Eddie went on to win the Tag team titles two more times in 2003, and in between those title reigns, he won the United States title in a tournament, and held that gold proudly. The man was a dominant force in the mid-card position, but he needed only a small push to make it into the big leagues. That moment finally came when Smackdown held their very own Royal Rumble, and Eddie Guerrero won the opportunity to face the then-WWE champion, Brock Lesnar. At No Way Out, the highlight of Eddie Guerrero’s career came when he won the WWE title, ensuring himself a huge spot on the Wrestlemania 20 card.
Eddie’s match at Wrestlemania against Kurt Angle was phenomenal, with a finish that only Eddie Guerrero could even attempt to pull off (the short version: he lied, he cheated, and he stole the win). The night concluded with a moment that I will never forget: Chris Benoit made Triple H tap out, and won the World Heavyweight title. In the ring stood best friends, Benoit and Guerrero, as they gave each other a warm hug while celebrating their moments as being the top two men in the WWE. Tears of joy and determination ran down their cheeks, as both men accomplished their dreams: emerging from Wrestlemania as the biggest champions of their respective brands.
Eddie held the title until the Great American Bash where he dropped the title to JBL in their second encounter. Eddie hovered in the main-event picture, while continuing a long and brutal feud with Kurt Angle, that resulted in some of the best matches of the year. Again, a feud involving Eddie ended up on my “Best of” list at the end of the year. It wasn’t long before Eddie teamed up with Rey Mysterio and won the Smackdown tag team titles. A feud with MNM lasted a while, but while the two men were still champions, they both had a match, one-on-one, at Wrestlemania 21. This match which ended with a loss for Eddie kick-started a 5-month long feud.
The two dropped the titles to MNM shortly after Wrestlemania, and soon after, Eddie couldn’t take the loss to Mysterio anymore, and took out his frustrations out on one of his best friends. While the matches were top-notch, the feud was mediocre at best. A match stipulation that involved custody of Dominick (Rey’s son, that Eddie proved to be his own son) was absurd, and match-after-match saw Eddie losing to Mysterio. It wasn’t until their very last match (their seventh or eighth match) that Eddie finally won, and somehow erased all of Mysterio’s wins. Eddie entered into a brilliant feud with Batista, with the high point of this feud/friendship being a match at No Mercy. How did the story end? We’ll never know.
But what made Eddie so memorable? There was so much to this one guy, that I can’t even begin to describe everything about him. Obviously, Eddie was one of the most talented men in the WWE, and I’ll even go as far as to tell you that Eddie was one of the most talented men in wrestling history. It wasn’t just his in-ring work, which obviously was excellent. There was so many layers to the Eddie Guerrero that appeared on TV. Cowboy Bob Orton (on WWE.com) put it best when describing one of his qualities. Cowboy Bob said that Eddie had the most beautiful eyes, and that those eyes could tell a story. Eddie didn’t have to say a word, his eyes said everything. And it’s true. His eyes were at their best when Eddie was scheming to lie, cheat and steal.
I have always felt that the humor in WWE is decent, but rarely do I find myself laughing hysterically over anything said or done on WWE. But Eddie is the only guy who made me laugh on a regular basis. He didn’t even have to be talking to make me laugh. He could be in the middle of a match, with the referee distracted, he tosses a steel chair to his opponent and get the opponent in trouble with the referee. I couldn’t ever help but laugh, no matter how many times he did it.
Even though the list of Eddie’s admirable qualities is endless, I have to talk about just one more aspect of Latino Heat that completed the entire package. Eddie had passion for the business and for his work that many guys will never even come close to matching in professional wrestling. That passion and will to be the best allowed Eddie to make the viewer believe that he was the character he was portraying. Some of that is caused by that aforementioned passion and endless will. The rest obviously came naturally, because being funny, caring, and determined were all traits that Eddie actually possessed. He never gave up, and always gave far more than 100%.
Yes, it’s been five days since I heard the news that one of the greatest performers in WWE (and wrestling) history passed away. And I might never be able to accept that this man was taken away from this world far before he should have been. But, wherever Eddie is at, he can be proud of his life. He can be proud that he entertained so many people every week on television. He can be proud that he was so passionate about his work, which lead to living out his dream of being one of the most popular and successful wrestlers in history, with many title wins in his career and a countless number of amazing matches. He can be proud that he took on his biggest foe in 2001: sobriety. A foe that he bested, right up until his untimely death. Most of all, Eddie Guerrero can be proud that he was a loving husband and father.
In just a short 38 years, you accomplished so much. I’ll miss you. Viva La Raza!
Thank you, Eddie.
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