Eddy Guerrero passes away

[iliketurtles 0]

Not to spoil anything, but the song used for Guerrero by the WWE is

Johnny Cash - Hurt

.

 

I have a feeling this works perfect.

[Adam 0]

listening to Wrestling Observer Live now, Meltzer sounds totally gutted.

[Downhome 0]

I hope to fuck what they just said on WO isn't true. If it is...mother fuck.

 

The chairshot WAS sick. I was on the phone with my cousin and I actually said holy shit, and commented on how stiff it looked.

 

[Karnage 0]

Someone at work told me this news, I went online to check and I'm still shocked..

[bob_barron 0]

Can someone say what Meltzer said? I forgot to listen to WOL.

[Guest tony manero]

I hope to fuck what they just said on WO isn't true. If it is...mother fuck.

 

The chairshot WAS sick. I was on the phone with my cousin and I actually said holy shit, and commented on how stiff it looked.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

What was said on WO just now?

[Downhome 0]

The Superstar commented that he hopes that the chairshot, since he said it was quite fucked up (caught more on the side or something), didn't trigger a delayed brain aneurysm or something along those lines.

[SuperJerk 0]

The Superstar commented that he hopes that the chairshot, since he said it was quite fucked up (caught more on the side or something), didn't trigger a delayed brain aneurysm or something along those lines.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That seems unlikely, though.

[Adam 0]

And Superstar will be conducting Eddie's funeral service.

[claydude14 0]

I thought about that chairshot when I first heard about this... but I really don't want to think that it had anything to do with this.

[Guest *KNK*]

I hope it had nothing to do with it, just for Kennedy's sake. That would a horrible thing to live with. It happens so often in the business, it would be scary to see many times it could've happened. Im thinking that's simple theory being sprouted off because it's not like he's a medical expert right?

[Hektik 0]

This was the last thing I expected to see when I logged in here. There is so much I would like to say about Eddy, but I can't really think of the words right now.

 

I will instead post this article from the Febuary 23, 2004 Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It is a good article on his life and family and history in Pro Wrestling:

 

A lot of history came together, as a member of one of pro wrestlings most famous families broke a life long size barrier to international superstardom in what is the countries oldest major wrestling arena, and among the business all time most historical buildings.

 

A few years ago, even though he was as talented as any wrestler in the business. Eddy Guerrero would have been about the last anyone would think would ever win a WWE heavyweight championship. Quite frankly, he wouldn’t have ever been considered as a possible main eventer due to his size, the same tag line that has been said literally since he was 19 years old wrestling in Juarez. And even with his new found popularity, Guerrero had never even headlined a PPV show until 2/14, the night he captured the WWE championship from Brock Lesnar at the Cow Palace.

 

The win capped 50 years since the first time a Guerrero had challenged for a world heavyweight title, when Eddys father, Salvador “Gori” Guerrero challenged Lou Thesz at Arena Mexico in 1954.

 

The Guerreros have a rich family history in wrestling, dating back some 67 or so years. Eddie’s father is generally considered one of the ten biggest stars in the history of Lucha Libre. He got his name from being one of the pioneers of bloody matches and his heel tag team with El Santo, Los Parejas Atomicos (The Atomic Pair) is the most famous ever in that country. Eventually the two split up and started feuding. While Guerrero was of Hispanic descent, he was actually born in Kearney, AZ in 1921, and wrestled main events well into his 50s. During his career he held the world title in the welterweight, middleweight, and light heavyweight divisions. In the early 60s he settled in El Paso as NWA World Light Heavyweight Champion (a title stripped from him in Mexico when he didn’t return), became the local promoter for Dory Funk Sr’s operation, and raised 4 sons, all of which became top notch wrestlers. Although only 185 pounds in his prime, Guerrero and Blue Demon were renowned as the two great shooters of their time period. An innovator, Guerrero invented many moves inside the ring, the most famous being the camel clutch and an inverted surfboard like move called the Gori special. With the possible exception of Perro Aguayo, Gori Guerrero would be considered by most as the greatest non masked wrestler in the history of Lucha Libre.

 

His son, Salvador Guerrero Jr, began wrestling as Chavo Guerrero in 1973 in El Paso. He wrestled at 118 and 126 pounds at the University of Texas at El Paso, and was considered to small to be a star. In 1975, when Guerrero won the Americas title from Ernie Ladd, who was more than a foot taller and 120 pounds heavier, it was considered a joke, that they must be attempting to kill the territory. However, Chavo Guerrero vs Roddy Piper was the feud that made both mens careers as well known national superstars. Chavo drew numerous big crowds in Los Angeles when challenging Terry Funk and Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight title. Chavo became so popular that soon, brother Mando and Hector, as well as patriarch Gori, were the headline act in southern California. The 3 brothers had a lot in common. All were good wrestlers, as their father taught them that fads come and go in the business, but if you are a great wrestler, you’ll always be able to at least find work. But all were also small in a time when the heavyweight division ruled, and were also noted, at least in the case of Chavo and Mando, for having hot tempers, and were also fearless, and there were plenty of stories of them challenging people much larger than them to real fights. Even after retirement, Chavo nearly got into it with Vader at a post show party after a WCW PPV event in Los Angeles. Some considered Chavo his own worst enemy. He went in and out of the mainstream during the 80s and aside from Japan, was never that big of a star. All ended up very bitter about not garnering the long term superstardom that their abilities probably deserved, and it seemed the same fate was destined for the youngest brother.

 

Edouardo Guerrero was much younger than his brothers, and only 3 years older than Chavo’s son, Salvador Guerrero III (Chavo Jr). He was a good high school wrestler in El Paso, and wrestled in college in New Mexico, before starting his career in Juarez. Because of his name, he was picked on by the bigger wrestlers, but quickly earned his stripes and as early as 1987, the word came out of Mexico that he was going to be the most talented member of the family. But he’d never make it in the US or Japan because of his size.

 

In 1989, Terry Funk brought Eddy Guerrero to World Championship Wrestling as a squash opponent for a TV match. Guerrero did a plancha, at the time almost unheard of in the US, and he and Funk had one of the greatest squash matches of the era. A performance like that normally would have gotten someone a job. The feeling by everyone was that he was super talented, but far too small for US wrestling, and despite everyone raving about the match, was only used 1 more time by the company. He got a break under a hood as the original Mascara Magica in EMLL, the name because he was magic in the ring. At the same time, New Japan was looking for a new opponent for Jushin Liger, and Guerreros name was suggested. It was quickly rejected. They knew all about him. Great worker, but was only 175 pounds. Yes, he was considered too small to work with Liger in the junior heavyweight division.

 

Guerrero started making his name in Mexico in 1992. He caused a lot of controversy when he unmasked on his own, as opposed to losing the mask in the ring, a 1st in Mexican wrestling. He said he was the son of Gori Guerrero and shouldn’t go under an assumed name. He soon jumped to AAA, where he got his first main event push as a tag team with El Hijo del Santo. The two were put together as Los Nuevos Parejas Atomicos, as the sons of Mexicos most famous team. But the plan from the start was to turn him heel on Santo, like his father. At about the same time, another second-generation wrestler, Art Barr, was working under a mask as babyface Love Machine. An elaborate few weeks of angles saw Barr unmask, doing a double turn with Blue Panther in what was every bit as good as the more famous Bret Hart-Steve Austin double turn 5 years later at Wrestlemania. Love Machine and Guerrero became Los Gringo Locos, and whatever Guerrero lacked in charisma was made up for in spades by Barr. The 2 were tag team of the year in 1994, but it was a little known fact that dating back to 1992, Brian Pillman studied them and a lot of the 1993 Pillman & Steve Austin tag team in WCW, that years best team, came from spending hours at the WCW power plant studying their moves and mannerisms. New Japan by 1992 also changed its tune on Guerrero, not only bringing him in as a rival for Liger, but a year later, giving him the Black Tiger name, copied from Tiger Mask’s original top rival a decade earlier. When WWF officials watched 1994 “When Worlds Collide” PPV from Los Angeles, headlined by Santo & Octagon beating Barr & Guerrero in a double mask vs double hair match that was considered among the best tag matches ever at the time, they were so impressed that the lone wrestler they offered a spot to on the show was Louie Spicolli, who had juiced himself up to around 270 pounds.

 

Guerreros career in Mexico ended quickly. Art Barr, 28, died just 2 weeks after what he and Guerrero both had called their greatest match from taking a bad combination of drugs and alcohol. Mexico’s economy crashed, and the peso was devalued to the point that Antonio Pena could no longer afford to pay big money in dollars to foreign talent. Guerrero wrestled mainly in Japan. With no money in Mexico, he started with ECW, where he became an immediate star with matches against 2 Cold Scorpio, Dean Malenko and others. The ECW success broke the US size barrier issue, and when he, Benoit, and Malenko moved to WCW in 1995, he was a solid cruiserweight star. While he could work with anyone, he was considered too small for a headline spot, although he did win the cruiserweight and US titles.

 

Guerrero has said it is a daily battle for him, plus has suffered from regular battles with depression. Wrestling lore has it that his issues dated back to an auto accident on December 31, 1998, when he was thrown from his car and as he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt, and nearly died. He didn’t want to lose his spot so he rushed back to the ring months before his body could withstand the punishment. In actuality it only made worse his existing problems. After jumping to the WWE in January 2000 with Malenko, Benoit, and Saturn, the problems got so bad that he was getting a bad reputation, but his work in the ring was, while fallen from his peak due to drug problems, still better than most. Finally, when he passed out in the dressing room one night in Minneapolis, he was sent to rehab. Just days after being released, he went out to drink, crashed his car, and the company really had no choice at the time but to fire him, even though he was well liked. He hit rock bottom, and his wife divorced him. However when he returned to wrestling, both in indies and Japan, the word was very different from other so called reform substance abusers who publicly claimed to be clean, but were anything but.

 

In 2002, Guerrero was rehired and cleaned up, and his wrestling returned to his previous levels. He started with Raw, but Paul Heyman, who gave him his first US mainstream break in ECW and was a fan of his dating back to Japan, maneuvered he and Chris Benoit to Smackdown when he was head writer for the show.

 

Guerrero was made a superstar really by the fans last year, and it wasn’t planned, nor did anyone see it coming. He was teaming with nephew Chavo Jr., and Chavo Jr. tore his biceps. This put him in a tag team with Tajiri, to feud with Haas & Benjamin one the WWE tag titles. The “lie, cheat, & steal” gimmick, with some promotional vignettes that were more than borderline racist, seemed to add a layer of character to his great wrestling. But it was his heel turn on Tajiri for messing with his ride, which in a sense backfired, as fans started cheering Guerrero like a cult superstar, and eventually the company caught on and turned him back face, and he came across as a genuine superstar for the first time. Suddenly, he became business. It first showed up in television ratings with his surprising spike in the ratings for segments not expected to do well. At first it was certain markets, like Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles. But soon they were national.

 

The Lesnar/Guerrero match drew a sellout crowd to the Cow Palace, which is likely the oldest legendary major building in the US that still houses pro wrestling. The paid attendance was about 9,000 with a record $450,000 house, shattering the old record of $310,974 set on February 22, 1998, for the SuperBrawl PPV headlined by Hulk Hogan vs Sting.

 

Guerrero is easily the smallest what I’d call major league World Heavyweight Champion in modern wrestling. While some can point to joke champions like David Arquette, or Mickey Whipwreck in ECW, as far as major league world champion, at 5’7 and 210 pounds, the guy once to small to be a viable junior heavyweight in Japan, or to even get work as a WCW jobber, may just be the best drawing full time performer in the country. Nobody of his size had ever been considered as a main eventer, let alone world champion.

[Downhome 0]

Of course, it'd doubtful that it has anything to do with it, but still. Just hearing someone, I don't care who, say that after knowing how I felt when I saw that chair shot...it just made me think "what if".

 

I can't imagine what it would do to Kennedy either.

[Adam 0]

Superstar said some of Eddie's closest friends will be flying back to Phoenix to deliver his body back home. That's some friendship right there.

[Boon 0]

If that IS true, which I pray it is not, I could not come back if I were Kennedy. Every time I saw a chair being used, I would break down.

[Guest Brian]

Some links from CrazyMax of the prior SmackDown house show:

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/jaw...rero/eddie4.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/jaw...rero/eddie3.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/jaw...rero/eddie2.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/jaw...rrero/eddie.jpg

[The Kid 0]

Just found this...ten bell salute.

 

http://tenbellsalute.ytmnd.com/

[imajackoff? 0]

damn... i just found out. I wasnt a superfan of his, but I respected him. He seemed like a decent person. RIP.

[Downhome 0]

Well Bret it on the show now, if someone posts a topic about it I'll post a few things of what I hear if you want.

 

I wonder if Bret will have much to say about Eddie.

[LJSexay 0]

holy crap. I just told my family, and we're all really hit hard by this. What the heck man. Totally out of left field.

 

RIP.

[Jesse Badass 0]

It's very sad and I still can't believe it.

 

A lot of memories.

 

 

RIP......

[MDH257 0]

Sad, just sad.

 

 

R.I.P. Eddy

[10 Pounds 0]

Like everybody, I'm shocked, this hits hard. Just like Candido, Guerrero had beaten his demons and got back on the good track. It's just not fair that things like that happens to those who have the courage to get their lives back on track. It must really be hard for his family and friends, they supported Guerrero through the good and bad times and to see him go way too soon......

 

Thank you Eddie for all you have done. There are plenty of good memories to remember you for.

[UZI Suicide 0]

Well Bret it on the show now, if someone posts a topic about it I'll post a few things of what I hear if you want.

 

I wonder if Bret will have much to say about Eddie.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Tell us what he says

[LucharesuFan619 0]

Why does everyone keep referring to "Superstar"? Do they mean Bret Hart (he's the guest on WOL right now). Why don't they just say Bret's name?

[Hektik 0]

Superstar Billy Graham

[LucharesuFan619 0]

Thanks for the clarification. But what does Billy Graham have to do with Eddie?...I don't get it.

[JimmyHendricks 0]

Superstar Billy Graham. I was listening as well, and Graham said the funeral will be at his church in Phoenix on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30. Graham himself said he would be officiating the service, and that he was asked by Eddie's wife. It all sounded quite odd to be honest. He spent almost half the interview talking about how he was in charge of the funeral and how he and Eddie's wife were planning it. It sounded like a promo or something.

 

Apparantly the European tour has been postponed as most of the roster has demanded to go to Eddie's funeral.

 

Bret didn't say much about Eddie other than a 2 minute or so comment about how he worked hard and how happy he was when he was successful in the WWE. Then they went onto his DVD and have been talking about that and Shawn's book.

[iliketurtles 0]

More Eddie links:

 

http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/article..._guerrero_dies/

 

Pretty much, the Assosciated Press article is going to be in every major newspaper around the world.

 

That's incredible.

[Slayer 0]

I love how the headline says "Guerrero"

 

Not "Eddy Guerrero" or "Eduardo Guerrero"

 

Just "Guerrero"