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Vickie Guerrero recently appeared on Prime Time With Sean Mooney and gave an in-depth look at her life with her late husband Eddie Guerrero including his struggles with addiction and much more.
I donāt think it was really inĀ WCW. He had a lot of competition and a lot of politics with the bigger guys, you know, to get the TV time and to get time to be in the ring and to be able to show what he wanted to show the fans. When he jumped to WWE, he was treated very well and he got to be in the main storylines and when he jumped withĀ The RadicalzĀ that was just a great time. Of course, that first night when he went to the ring, thatās when he broke his arm. His elbow fractured and we just kinda sit there going, āThat was horrible,ā because Eddie was ready to turn a new leaf and start working again. God humbles you in different ways and you have to have patience and get back up and try this again, but he did love his time in WWE and to work withĀ Chris Benoit,Ā Rey Mysterio, andĀ Dean MalenkoĀ ā that was his posse and they kept each other pretty motivated during those days.Ā
"It was really frustrating. Eddie was always wanting to be creative and of course there were people on your back saying, āWe want to do it this way.ā Heād get pretty pissed off because heād be telling me, āThatās not who I am. Thatās not what I would say. Thatās not what I would do.ā He just wanted to be Eddie and show the fans that this is who he was. I think that when he started working withĀ ChynaĀ and that storyline, that was the true Eddie because he was funny, he was a sarcastic person. He was very sarcastic. He was a jokester. He always wanted to make everyone laugh and I think that when he started working with Chyna thatās when he was really having a good time and I could see that the Eddie that was on TV was the Eddie we got to see at home and I knew that was a genuine character for him because he was comfortable in it and thatās who he was. I think that when they let him be who he wanted to be, he was taking the ropes and just going with it. He was like, āIām loving this,ā and he got excited to go to work. That was really finally relaxing because I thought, āNow, Eddieās having a good time.ā
"The demons had been coming in for ten years before Eddie had come back the second time with WWE. After he went to rehab, the last four years of Eddieās life was really enjoyable for us. Not that I didnāt love Eddie any less, but it was a real hell hole when youāre dealing with a person that you love so much and thereās these substances that overtake his whole thinking and actions and you canāt fight with them. Thereās no fighting with a pill. Thereās no fighting with alcohol and you didnāt really want to fight with Eddie because the drugs and alcohol already had control of him, so I didnāt even have Eddie with me for a long long time. It was pretty touch and go for awhile and it started affecting his work, which of course, as everybody knows and I think the rehab, the last time, and he finally got serious and got a sponsor and did the work he was supposed to do and then, of course, youāre reunited, those were the greatest four years I had with Eddie in a long time."
Ā
"I became a co-dependent where I would make excuses for people not to come over because I knew Eddie was having a bad day. The girls had stuff to do. I would stay busy all day outside my house, so Eddie wouldnāt be around us. This is a truly horrible disease and addiction that a person like me had to hide from everyone because I wanted to protect him from the people and his work and from his loved onesā¦.On his good days, we had great days and on his bad days, they were bad and so you kinda just get through it and wait for the good days to come along."
Ā
There was a point where once he got fired and he got in trouble with his DUI, thatās when I said, āIām doneā¦..ā I called it quits when the IRS came after us because we hadnāt paid taxes and we started getting all our cars repossessed. When they fired Eddie, of course, thereās no money coming in. Thatās when I said, āIād rather be poor again.ā Me and Eddie sat down and we talked seriously. I said, āIād rather not have anything and be at peace and have all of this and worry about you everyday, that youāre not gonna come home.ā That was something that he didnāt blame me at all. He knew he put me through a whole lot. He hung around with bad people and people that were influencing him in ways that wasnāt helping us to grow in a good positive direction. I just told him. I said, āYou can have it,ā and when he got fired from WWE, I knew that it was time to get out and everything was gonna get worse because it did. We lost everything. That was my saving grace because once he went to rehab ā I think it was for the sixth time ā I could finally get sleep because I didnāt have to worry about whether he was gonna come home or not.
Ā
"He had several accidents and the police loved him so much in Florida, āWe brought Eddie back home for you. Here he is.ā āNo, arrest him!ā He did have a serious accident in 1999 where he was driving and he was under the influence where they had told me that he almost died on the operating table. There was a lot of roller coasters and a lot of time where I thought, āThis is it.ā It takes a toll after awhile. I even told his mom, āI canāt do this anymore,ā and she was like, āYou lasted longer than I did.ā"
"Eddie had a relationship when we were separated. Me and Eddie were separated for two years. We both had lawyers that were trying to get our divorce final. We tried. Eddie and I tried with our lawyers. Every week we were texting each other, āCan you please keep moving forward, so we can get our divorce?ā Thatās what we thought was our plan. Eddie, of course, had a girlfriend and she got pregnant by him and through this whole process, I saw Eddie changing to here he was calm. The rehab had worked, the work in the A.A. groups, and the personal time that he put in to his recovery. I could see that he was investing a lot of time in himself and the girls would come home and they were saying how daddy was doing good and I think we kind started flirting again. Eddie would drop off the girls and he would have a cup of coffee, āItās almost dinner. Hey girls, you want to go to dinner with mom?ā Iād go to dinner. I was doing it because he was involving the girls. We always missed each other. I knew Eddie for almost 18 years before he passed away. He knew exactly what I liked and he had broken up with the girlfriend that he had and our first date was back at the beach again, where it was our favorite place. Just one day turned into ā he was gonna come and pick up the kids from school and he was working with WWE and he just started coming to the place again and he really changed. He was a different person. He was the old Eddie that I used to know and we renewed our vows and he promised the girls that he was always gonna take it one day at a time, which is all he could do and the girls were so happy about having us together again and I was happy too. I never thought weād be together again, but we renewed our vows and we did it on the beach and we got an apartment together and after a year of that we went and moved to Phoenix and it was great. Everything was just a wonderful life with him."
Ā
"I think WWE started seeing that he was serious about his recovery and he was getting back on the road and when they saw that we were starting to talk and we were hanging out, I think they were like, āWow, so the familyās back together, so thereās got to be good things coming out of this.ā
Ā
"He just ran five miles. He would run all the time and that next morning, which was Saturdayā¦they had a TV and a pay-per-view and then they were headed to an international tour. Iām still in shock of how this even happened. Itās unreal how you think youāre just dropping him off at the airport and itās just another drop off. You think heās gonna come homeā¦. Chavo was on the flight and Chavo said he was in a great moodā¦it was just like any other flight going to a show. It was nothing different. Itās pretty sad how this happened. Sunday, Eddie did call me. It was around 5:30 in the morningā¦thatās my cue that heās already up for the day and when I missed his call, of course, we had no idea what was going onā¦.they had rang the doorbellā¦.WWE wanted me to go over, so me and the family wouldnāt be by ourselves and thatās when somebody told meā¦.I kick myself that I missed that call because to me it was just another missed call. Iāll call him laterā¦"
Ā
"He had missed his call, his waking up call. There was no answer and when the bellman had gone to the door to see if Eddie would answer the door and the door security was on, but they could still open the door and thatās when they found Eddie in the bathroom and the water was running. Thatās when they alerted Chavo and Deanā¦thatās when they called Eddieās sister Linda to come to my house."
Ā
"I canāt honestly remember that whole time period. It seems like all a blur. There was a tribute that WWE did for Eddie on the 1,000th episode of SmackDown. They released a tribute before that show. They showed the funeral. They showed us walking behind the hearse at the cemetery. I donāt even remember all of that. I donāt remember the dress I was wearing. My daughters were talking to me. I donāt remember any of this. I think we were all in shock. I was a mess. I donāt think I was even making decisions that I could remember."
Ā
"After Eddie passed away, Nancy Benoit was the one who was with me for four weeks. She was my best friend and sheās the one who helped me. After a week she was like, āOK, get up.ā She threw me in the show and was like, āYou have to get up now.ā She goes, āYou canāt do this anymore.ā Sheās the one that started taking me to lunch and got the girls dressed, āWeāre going out today. Weāre all going out to just drive.ā Weāre like zombies. We just sat around and did nothing all day. I thank God everyday for Nancy because her and Chris [Benoit] were there to just check on us. Chris had a worse time than I did. He was just a mess going anywhere in the house and there was something of Eddieās and heād just start crying and Nancy was so strong. She was my rock, she really was."
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