From The Other Side: Eddie Guerrero - One Year Later
Posted by TWV Guest Columnists
on 12/13/2006
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Guest Column By Raul Smith
This column was originally written on November 16, 2006.
Normally, my columns are a great source of my opinion and insight on a number of topics. For instance, today I would've talked at great lengths about a tag team from TNA having major stones for filming an angle right outside WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. I also would've talked at great lengths about the announcement that Ashley Massaro is going to pose for Playboy magazine in March 2007. I may have even taken a swipe at why I think the Champion of Champions match at Cyber Sunday had so much hype but meant absolutely nothing, other than to build more heat for K-Fed and more sympathy for John Cena.
But putting everything in its proper prospective, I think I'll bypass all of that for today to talk about the one topic that at times can be controversial, but at other times can be universally agreed upon: Eddie Guerrero.
As you all know by now, Monday was the one-year anniversary of the passing of Eddie Guerrero. Before I talk about that day one year ago in particular, I wanted to echo some sentiments about what I remember about Eddie Guerrero the performer, since I knew very little about Eddie Guerrero the man, other than what I've heard others say about him.
My first experience watching Eddie on TV was WCW Nitro in 1996. The nWo was beginning to take over WCW, but there were a lot of young talent that had all this potential and you could see it every time they performed. Men like Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, and so many others. That's how great WCW was at one point; the fact that all four of those names I just mentioned were all future champions. Eddie always had that ability to perform like very few in WCW could. I mostly remember his classic matches with Diamond Dallas Page, Rey Mysterio, and the Hair versus Hair match with his nephew Chavo.
But it wasn't until the formation of the Latino World Order in 1998 that I got to see the promo and character side of Eddie Guerrero. It was at that point in time that I just knew the man was a unique, one-of-a-kind performer that you can't just pluck out of the Power Plant back in the day. However, his stay in WCW wouldn't last much longer as he bolted in 2000 along with Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn to WWE for the brighter lights and bigger contracts.
From there, Eddie Guerrero's popularity took off! He quickly became the European Champion, then the Intercontinental Champion. Of course, he would be fired from WWE due to drug problems that nearly ended his life. Once he got the sense that he had to quit drugs and alcohol to regain his life, both professionally and personally, he became more focused than ever before on regaining his life and proving people that doubted him wrong. He then went on to reclaim his marriage with Vicki as well as his job in WWE. He would then move on to win the Intercontinental, United States, and Tag Team championships, all before his life would suddenly change forever in February 2004.
After years of fighting through the ranks of both WCW and WWE, Eddie Guerrero realized his dream and defeated Brock Lesnar to become the WWE Champion. I remember telling a friend of mine about two weeks before the match that I felt, in my heart, that Eddie Guerrero was going to win that match because the majority of the talk on the internet at the time was the two main events for WrestleMania XX, which of course were Eddie Guerrero versus Kurt Angle and Brock versus Goldberg. So my philosophy on that was which match would be more worthy of being a championship match, not to mention which match would we the fans want to see more, Eddie versus Angle or Brock versus Goldberg. And, of course, Eddie Guerrero won the match, would go on to win his match at WrestleMania XX with Angle, and have a relatively decent title run before dropping the belt to JBL.
Eddie would go on to have many great matches, even without the championship, against Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, and even Batista. In fact, I've often said before and I stand by what I said that I honestly believe to this day that one year ago, had he lived, Eddie Guerrero would've won the World Heavyweight Championship in that Triple-Threat match against Batista and Randy Orton. But, as we all know, that match never even took place.
Much like a lot of people remember where they were when they heard the FDR press conference after the attack on Pearl Harbor, much like people remember where they were when they heard the news of JFK getting shot, and much like people remember where they were when 9/11 happened, I'll never forget where exactly I was when I found out that Eddie Guerrero passed. Earlier in the day, I was trying to get some updates before I went to work, but couldn't because the website was down. Yes, I worked on Sundays and still do. So I figured, "Okay, it's probably just down or something," not thinking anything of it. Little did I know until later that night that the reason it was down was because of the news that Eddie Guerrero passed.
When I read that headline that read "EDDIE GUERRERO DEAD AT AGE 38," I almost felt like it had to be some sort of dream or twisted joke, until I had read what happened. Suddenly, feelings of shock, mourning, and disbelief overwhelmed me. That week, when they did the Eddie Guerrero tribute shows for both RAW and SmackDown!, during the tribute videos, I literally started getting teary-eyed. Now, normally I'm not one to get emotional during a television show, much less a wrestling show, but I just couldn't help but think about how Eddie Guerrero touched so many lives just by surviving drug addiction and alcoholism and by just doing what he loved to do.
All of what I just said is the main reason why I'm just absolutely frustrated and upset with WWE's creative team, and trust me, I'm not alone. If there's any doubt as to how I feel about WWE's creative team, just read any number of my previous columns; I think I've made my feelings crystal clear. Everything that has happened from the day Eddie died to this point has been less than favorable on Eddie's legacy and his memory.
Why do you think it is that The Rock, a former seven-time WWE Champion and arguably one of the most popular superstars of his era, has said numerous times that he's through with professional wrestling? I can promise you this; it's not because of his recent injury. It probably has more to do with that stunt WWE pulled with Randy Orton backing Eddie's low-rider into that sound equipment. Reportedly, that's when the Rock stopped returning Vince McMahon's phone calls.
Among the many reasons, what do you think was one of the reasons Kurt Angle left WWE to go to TNA? And no, don't email me back like a pack of smart-asses and tell me that he didn't leave voluntarily and that he was fired. Stop drinking Vince McMahon's Kool-Aid. He said himself that he was disgusted with the way WWE was treating Eddie's memory, not to mention money that was supposed to go to Vicki Guerrero and her three daughters.
Funny how over a year ago, WWE was on top of the wrestling world. Sure, they had their situation with Christian Cage in which he went to TNA shortly after his contract expired. Sure, they let the Dudley Boys, Rhino, and Jackie Gayda go to TNA. Not only that, but they package-wrapped those four and served them to TNA on a silver platter. Kinda like the old joke, "Take my wife, please!" Only Vince was saying, "Take these four off my hands...please!" But now, fast-forward one year later, and Rome is starting to crumble. The Roman Empire known to wrestling fans as WWE is falling apart, and while he may not dead, Julius Caesar...err, I mean Vince McMahon may as well be. The Romans are starting to revolt against Caesar and the only one that can't see it is McMahon himself. President George W. Bush thinks McMahon's popularity rating has hit rock bottom.
And you can blame all of this on any number of things. Blame it on McMahon's inability to adapt to a more modern audience, blame it on Triple H's marriage with Stephanie McMahon, blame it on John Cena, blame it on McMahon having blinders on and not realizing that he's driving his own talents away. You can blame it on all of that and then some because I've read other columns and I've heard it all. But the one thing that I blame WWE's popularity dropping faster than a dead body out of an airplane on is the way they've handled Eddie Guerrero's memory, Eddie Guerrero's legacy, and even Eddie Guerrero's nephew and his widow. Why else is Vicki Guerrero on television at all?
Call it a conspiracy theory, but I believe Vicki Guerrero's role on WWE television is two-fold. One, she needs the money and is not receiving any at all from her husband's namesake; and two, Vince probably threatened to cut off all financial ties to the Guerrero family if she didn't agree to do it. So now, we're stuck with Vicki Guerrero on SmackDown! as Chavo's "business manager." And although he'll play the same old song and dance, optimistic lip-service, you know this has to be killing Chavo Guerrero deep down inside. You know that if it were up to him, he'd continue to find another way to get himself over. Granted, he's getting a United St ates Championship match against Chris Benoit at Survivor Series, a match he would not have gotten had it not been for WWE creative desecrating Eddie Guerrero's name, but I think if you were to ask Chavo off the record, honestly, he'd find another way to get himself over. He wouldn't go through with this at all.
With all of that said, it is a day of remembrance and a day of mourning. Personally, when I look back on Eddie Guerrero, I don't see all the stuff that's happened in the past year. Personally, when I look back on Eddie Guerrero, I see all the matches, all the promos, everything positive that I remember about Eddie Guerrero. I look back fondly on his match with Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XX, arguably my favorite match of all-time. I look back and see everybody he's ever been in the ring with, from DDP to Rey Mysterio, from Kurt Angle to JBL, from Batista to even Mr. Kennedy, and realize that Eddie Guerrero has earned the trust, respect, and admiration of every one of his peers. Not to mention the respect and adulation of each and every wrestling fan that's gotten a chance to see him perform. Not that I'd ever force wrestling onto my children, if and when I have children, but if the day comes that my children get into wrestling, I will show them classic matches of Eddie Guerrero so they can see the type of man and type of performer that he was. God bless you, Eddie Guerrero. You are still missed.
Now, with all of that said, feel free to send me your questions, your comments, your concerns, your complaints, your compliments, and your emails, no matter how sour or sweet. Until the next time I am ready to grace you all with my insight, you are encouraged to read, to learn, and to check out WWE 24/7. They got a lot of really cool stuff on there.
If K-Fed can rap, hell, why can't I?
Eddie Guerrero 1967-2005
May you rest in peace, but never rest in our hearts
Send feedback to
RaulCBK@comcast.net.
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