WWE superstar Eddie Guerrero is dead at 38.
I can't believe it. I really can't believe it. I'm numb. Eddie was not only a talented performer in the ring, but really charismatic. He knew so well how to make fans feel, whether he was a heel or a babyface. And that's what wrestling is all about. Making the fans feel one way or another.
This may be more shocking to me that when Owen Hart died.
Apparently, when he didn't respond to a wake-up call on Sunday morning, hotel security at Minneapolis Marriott City Center and Guerrero's nephew and fellow WWE wrestler, Chavo Guerrero, forced their way into the room. There were no apparent signs of foul play or suicide, police said. An autopsy was planned at the Hennepin County medical examiner's office.
It's ironic. In 1997, Brian Pillman was also found dead in a Minneapolis hotel room on a Sunday morning of a WWE event.
Eddie, if you never watched him, was one of the finest North American wrestlers of the last 15 years. His rise to stardom was in Mexico. He started to really gain fame in the AAA promotion as one half of the famed heel tag team La Pareja del terror, the Pair of Terror, along with Art Barr. They were pro-American Hispanics wrestling in Mexico. These guys, from what I hear, were hated as hated could be. The Mexican version of the 4 Horsemen, if you will.
I should mention a thing about Art Barr. Now I never saw him wrestle. But from what I read, he was the epitomy of the word "heel." He had such heat, riots in the building were often common place. It was always a security risk whenever he wrestled. Sometimes he had to wait up to three hours after the event before he could leave the building safely. He was that over. This is straight from the Slam Wrestling website. "Art Barr was the top draw in Mexico and was generally regarded as the best heel in wrestling. His solid ring work, unmatched work ethic and ability to draw the audience into his matches made him an icon. He was a charismatic heel."
They had a tag match in 1992 at When Worlds Collide from Los Angeles (AAA's only pay-per-view), where they lost to their archrivals El Hijo del Santo and Octagon in a double mask vs. double hair match, forcing Eddie and Barr to have their heads shaved bald. The match, which was rated a 4 and a 1/2 star effort from the Wrestling Observer newsletter, thrust Guerrero and Barr in the spotlight, and they were established as the best tag team in the world. And as they were on the verge of exploding into superstardom, about 2 weeks after that match, Barr, who lived the fast lane, was found dead in his bedroom in Springfield, Oregon over Thanksgiving. After hearing the news, Eddie admitted to crying for three days straight. By the way, his frog splash is a tribute to Barr, who also used the move.
Eddie got his initial American notoriety in ECW when he engaged in a series of absolute classic matches against Dean Malenko. I first saw him when he debuted in WCW in late 1995. I didn't think too much of him initially, but I liked his frog splash finisher. He won several titles, including the US title and two cruiserweight titles. He feuded with guys like Dallas Page, Chris Jericho, and Chavo. He also founded the Latino World Order (LWO). The LWO was an answer to the nWo, since the Latino wrestlers were not getting a chance to succeed.
Later, in WWE, we really started to see some personality with his relationship with Chyna and later, it was the "Lying, Cheating, Stealing" and we knew he would be a star in the big pond, not just in WCW or ECW. As he emerged as the champion of SmackDown! more and more people seemed to at least recognize the name. More than that, he also sported the classic mullet at one time, too.
If you need an example of how good he was, go to May 19, 2005 in Iowa. He was in a feud with Rey Mysterio. Long story short, the external circumstances kind of dragged this feud on and hurt it a little. But Eddie came to the ring, with Rey's mask. He did not say one word. But with his mere presence, he had the crowd reacting so much that he fired them up. Five minutes of complete silence, but plenty of heat from the crowd. It was amazing to see. Without saying a single word, Eddie guided the crowd to react the way he wanted them to. Just with his body language and gestures.
More important was his life. He had 3 daughters and a wife. Eddie had been open about past drug and alcohol use but was sober for exactly 4 years. He was in a 1998 car crash (where he was thrown through a windshield). By 2001, Guerrero developed an addiction to pain medication stemming from his car accident, and in May 2001 he was sent to rehabilitation. On November 9, 2001 he was arrested for drunk driving, and was subsequently released three days later.
After rehab and a string of solid independent promotion matches, he was rehired by WWE in April. Three weeks, later he won the Intercontinental title from Rob Van Dam. He also had a few matches with the Rock, and their promos were hysterical. Who can forget when Rock alluding to Eddie's mullet and facial hair said "with a haircut like that and a face like that, it looks like Billy Ray Cyrus went and had sex with a retarded hyena." He won a few tag titles with Chavo as well. Around the summer of 2003, he started coming to the ring in a lowrider, now a Guerrero trademark. Then, in February 2004, he won the WWE title from Brock Lesnar at No Way Out in San Francisco. After holding the title for several months, he began the partnership and then feud with Rey. He was on the verge of possibly recapturing the title as he had already challenged Batista. Speaking of which, remember the Batista-Eddie promo where Eddie was sick, is getting treatment from a hot nurse, and then Batista introduces another "doctor," who looked like he was ready to do a number on him with a rubber glove. "Hello, Mr. Guerrero." As the camera zoomed in on his face, Eddy's squealing and grimacing were just priceless.
And now, somehow I feel I took him for granted a little. Or maybe I didn't appreciate him as soon as I should have.
And if that's not enough, the WWE was scheduled to release Eddie's bio around Christmas. It may have been an autobiography I don't know. It'll be interesting to see what happens with that as well.
I'm going to pop in the DVD of Chris Benoit. He has a few matches on there against Eddie. They also spent some time interviewing him as well.
Eddie, thanks. Your life and work will be remembered by me and millions of other wrestling fans.
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