The Life, Career, and Untimely Passing of Eddie Guerrero

 

 

Eddie Guerrero was born on October 9th, 1967. His father was the legendary Luchador, Gory Guerrero, the patriarch of the Guerrero Wrestling Family. Eddie's brothers: Chavo Sr., Mando, and Hector, were all wrestlers as well. All the members of the Guerrero Family have enjoyed considerable success in wrestling, but it was Eddie who truly reached the pinnacle of the business.

 

Eddie Guerrero was part of an elite group of wrestlers in the 1990's. A sort of fraternity, a brotherhood. This group consisted of Eddie Guerrero, Art Barr, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, Rey Mysterio Jr., and Eddie's nephew Chavo Guerrero Jr. They traveled all around the world to perfect their craft, learning the various different styles of wrestling along the way. From fast-paced Mexican Lucha Libre, to hard-hitting and stiff Japanese Puroresu, to the mat-mastery of European grappling, these men were well-traveled warriors who were already considered to be masters of their craft by the time they finally made it big in the United States.

 

From Extreme Championship Wrestling to World Championship Wrestling to World Wrestling Entertainment, Eddie Guerrero and the rest of this group all enjoyed tremendous success. Eddie captured a plethora of Championships in all three of the major American promotions.

 

In 1999, while he was still working for WCW, Eddie was involved in a very serious car accident. Although he recovered from the accident and returned to the ring a few months later, the effects of the accident would later come back to haunt him, as he would develop an addiction to painkillers that, along with an arrest for drunk driving in November of 2001, would lead to his release from WWE.

 

After his release from WWE, Eddie was able to get himself cleaned up. He continued to compete on the independent circuit before making his WWE return in April of 2002 and immediately regained the prestigious WWE Intercontinental Championship. In August of 2002, Eddie became an exclusive member of WWE's SmackDown roster, the brand he would end up being a part of for the rest of his life.

 

Eddie and his nephew Chavo Guerrero Jr. formed a successful tag team as Los Guerreros and captured the WWE Tag Team Championship on two occasions. Eddie was also crowned as the first-ever WWE United States Champion, defeating Chris Benoit in the finals of a tournament at the 2003 Vengeance pay-per-view.

 

In February of 2004, Eddie finally fulfilled his lifelong dream of winning a World Championship, as he defeated Brock Lesnar at the 2004 No Way Out pay-per-view for the WWE Championship. Eddie would enjoy a four-and-half-month reign as WWE Champion, including a successful title defense against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XX in Madison Square Garden. The main event of the night at WrestleMania XX saw Eddie's good friend Chris Benoit capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a spectacular Triple Threat Match against Triple H and Shawn Michaels. The closing moments of WrestleMania XX saw Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit both celebrating in the ring with their respective WWE World Championships from Raw and SmackDown.

 

 

 

Eddie would continue to be a top star on SmackDown throughout 2004 and 2005. He engaged in a memorable feud against Rey Mysterio Jr. which featured several classic bouts between the two, including a match at WrestleMania 21. In the last months of Eddie's life, he had been involved in the World Heavyweight Title scene on SmackDown along with Dave Batista. There were reports circulating on the internet that Eddie was going to be booked to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Batista, but these plans did not come to fruition.

 

On November 13th, 2005, Eddie Guerrero passed away in his hotel room in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was initially found by his nephew Chavo, who attempted to perform CPR to no avail. When paramedics arrived at the scene, Eddie Guerrero was officially pronounced dead at a mere 38 years old. It was later revealed that Eddie had passed away from acute cardiac failure due to atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease. WWE instituted their Wellness Policy soon after Eddie's passing.

 

During the week of Eddie's passing, WWE's Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown programs were both dedicated to him. They featured tribute videos, testimonials from Eddie's peers, and highlights of his career. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling also dedicated their Genesis pay-per-view to Eddie, which actually took place on the Sunday that Eddie had passed away.

 

 

 

Eddie Guerrero was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 the night before WrestleMania 22. His inductors were his wife Vickie, his nephew Chavo, and his good friends Rey Mysterio Jr. and Chris Benoit.

 

Although Eddie's tragic passing sent shockwaves throughout the industry, it did nothing to take away from his legacy. To this day, Eddie is still one of the most honored and celebrated Champions in the history of wrestling. His nephew Chavo continues to compete and continues to dedicate his career to his late uncle Eddie. Chavo also uses Eddie's finishing move the Frog Splash, as well as Eddie's trademark Three Amigos triple vertical suplex. In November of 2008, WWE released a DVD of Eddie's career called Viva La Raza: The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero. WWE also paid tribute to Eddie once again on their special 10th Anniversary episode of SmackDown in October of 2009.