EDDIE GUERRERO, REST IN PEACE

This article is aptly named "Eddie Guerrero, Rest In Peace"! I just heard the news of the death of one of my personal favorite WWE/WCW wrestlers and I am deeply saddened by it. This is the first piece that I have done that has anything to do with wrestling and I guess that is because as I have gotten older I have become less of a wrestling fan, but in my teen years wresting was something I found to be terrifically entertaining. Professional wrestling lost my attention when women became more involved with the show and sex became a storyline. As attractive as many of the girls are I do not believe that women have any role in wrestling whatsoever and due to the insistence on having so many women involved, I have tuned out.

Eddie was one the true greats in modern professional wrestling history. As hard-to-accept as Eddie's death might be, it's almost equally as hard to believe how he ended his life on top of the wrestling industry after very humble beginnings. Eddie was the youngest son of Mexican wrestling legend Gory Guerrero. Eddie began his career, predictably so, in Mexico. He was discovered after a failed PPV named "When Worlds Collide", his match and style was so incredible that Paul Heyman of ECW brought him to America to wrestle in his promotion. To you wrestling fans out there, you know what ECW is. Extreme Championship Wrestling was a new form of wrestling where matches were more violent, the talk was much cruder and the action was much faster paced. ECW was dominated by a smaller, more athletic wrestler and after years of watching Hogan, Andre the Giant and their ilk, it was wildly popular. The modern WWE was highly influenced by the style of wrestling that Paul Heyman and Eddie Guerrero popularized in ECW.

Eddie left ECW in 1996 and joined WCW. WCW was always the second fiddle to the WWF but with him, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and other wrestlers like them, WCW started to usurp the WWF in popularity. The feud between WCW and WWF was a great time for wrestling fans as the shows tried to one up each other and this feud led the second golden age of wrestling from 1995-1999. Eddie was increasingly successful in WCW and won the WCW US title and briefly held it until internal politics robbed him of the title, in order give it to older and less entertaining wrestlers like Steve "Mongo" McMicheal.

I was not a fan of Eddie Guerrero because he was a good wrestler (he was awesome) it was because of his undeniable bad guy ("heel") appeal. I have always been a fan of the bad guy in wrestling and very few guys were better at it than Eddie. His motto in the WCW was "Cheat to Win" and he always cheated to win matches and he would walk out of the ring with a self-assured smile like he stole something, which in effect, he had. He had numerous gimmicks mostly related to his Mexican ancestry and they were always well received by the crowd and also by me (which is most important). Eddie was underutilized in the WCW and he along with Chris Benoit, and Perry Saturn demanded to be released in 1999 and they were granted that request. Immediately they were signed the WWF and thrust into the spotlight.

Two weeks later, the threesome debuted together on Monday Night RAW. Chris Benoit, by virtue of winning the WCW Title in his last televised match, was clearly the leader of the group. But it was clear to everyone that Eddie had what it took to be a big time star in the WWF. Soon after his WWF debut, he was injured again (he had sustained numerous major injuries in his career) and he started self-medicating with pain killers again (he had overcome addiction to these pills earlier in his career). He won the Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania 17 and promptly was stripped of the title by the WWF because he was becoming less reliable due to his alcohol and pain med addiction. He was fired by the WWF in the fall of 2001 and, at this point, Eddie tackled his addictions and by all accounts had beaten them.

Eddie was rehired in 2002 and once back on his feet, he began to win the crowds over with his style, cheating and charisma. Eddie seemed to be on the fast-track to a WrestleMania 20 match-up against SD! champ Brock Lesnar... but then, circumstances changed and dictated that Eddie face Lesnar sooner, rather than later. With Brock contemplating leaving his wrestling career behind, WWE didn't want fans going into the biggest show of the year knowing Brock was going to lose his title... instead, Eddie Guerrero faced Brock Lesnar at 2004's No Way Out PPV in February (before fans were fully aware of Brock's mindset), and defeated him to win the WWE Title. Brock would go on to close out his WWE career with a memorably-awful WM20 match against Bill Goldberg (not all Bock's fault though), while Eddie Guerrero went to WrestleMania 20 and successfully defended his title in an excellent match with Kurt Angle.

Later in the night, Chris Benoit won the World Title, and 2004's biggest wrestling event ended with Benoit and Guerrero celebrating together in the ring, holders of the wrestling industry's two most prestigious trophies, after a combined almost-40-years of blood, sweat, tears, and toil between them. Sadly, in many ways, that will now stand as the pinnacle of Eddie's career. Tragically, the conventional wisdom is that Eddie Guerrero passed away on the morning of the day he was going to win the World Title. Tonight's tapings in Minneapolis were scheduled to include a Batista vs. Eddie vs. Orton World Title Match, and the consensus was that WWE would use that match to have Batista lose the title without actually having to be pinned or made to submit (due to the vagaries of WWE's triple threat rules). Once you start thinking along those lines, it becomes very simple to envision Eddie Guerrero taking the title and defending it in honor of his "friend" Batista until some later date when Batista would come roaring back to action.

Eddie Guerrero will be missed by all wrestling fans, myself included. Once again, a great wrestler's life has been cut short (Owen Hart, Curt "Mr. Perfect" Henning, Ravishing Rick Rude, Brian Pillman) and we are robbed of their talent. I guess it serves as a reminder to all of us that life, even when you are a big time star, is short and must be cherished. We can also be reminded that while wresting is not real, the pain and suffering of the professional wrestler is real and that we should be aware that every match we see could be a great wrestler's last. Eddie Guerrero 1967-2005, REST IN PEACE. VIVA LA RAZA!!!!

-arthur@arthurshall.com

I would like to say a few words about Eddie Guerrero as well. While I'm used to great wrestlers dropping dead from time to time, watching Eddie go is particularly hard. As great as Hennig, and Rick Rude were, they were no longer in the limelight, or at the top of their game. Eddie Guerrero was at the top of his game. I think we all know what might have contributed to Eddie's death. We all know he had alcohol and pain killer addictions, and the occasional rapid body changes he went though at different points in his career suggest he has at the very least experimented with steroids. But this doesn't lessen the loss. Eddie Guerrero has for years been one of the most entertaining wrestlers in the business. Eddie may not have that "it" factor that The Rock or Hogan enjoyed, but he had a more likeable human type of charisma, more akin to that of Mick Foley or Booker T. On top of that, Eddie was one of the greatest in-ring performers in the history of the business. Eddie was quick, athletic, and understood the psychology that builds a great match. As far as ring performance goes Eddie Guerrero deserves to be mentioned alongside names like Rick Flair, Shawn, Michaels, Chris Benoit, and Steve Austin. Eddie's death is a huge loss to the industry, and to men all over the world who like to watch sweaty well muscled men beat the shit out of each other. I want to thank Eddie and the family he has left behind for years of entertainment. RIP Eddie.

-ArthursHallShat@gmail.com