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Eddie Guerrero Passes Away

Posted: Nov 13th 2005 By: oklastaff

WWE Superstar Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room this morning in Minneapolis, MN. He was 38 years old.

Eddie was born in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to a wrestling family. The youngest of 4 brothers, he was raised in El Paso, TX and decided to get into the wrestling business like the rest of his family. His early matches were regarded as good, but many American promoters overlooked him due to his size.

His first high-profile appearance happened at the "When Worlds Collide" PPV for AAA on November 6, 1994. Guerrero had formed one of the most hated tag teams in Mexican history with "Love Machine7quot Art Barr and the pair had been feuding with Octogan & El Hijo del Santo. This feud culminated at the PPV in a Hair vs Masks match that many industry insiders consider to be the best match in PPV history. The match had unique elimination rules and caught the eyes of some American promoters, including ECW owner Paul Heyman. He intended to bring in Los Gringos Locos, but Art Barr would die just a couple of weeks later. Eddie spent some time wrestling in Japan under a mask as Black Tiger, forming relationships with Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko over there.

Paul Heyman followed through on his promise to bring in Eddie and Guerrero won the ECW World TV Title in his debut match in April, 1995 from 2 Cold Scorpio. He would hold the title for over 3 months before losing it to Dean Malenko. But Malenko?s reign would only be 1 week before he dropped the belt back to Eddie. The series of matches between these 2 were soon labeled as "classic" and the same crowd that demanded blood and insane bumps from the ECW performers gave standing ovations to Malenko and Guerrero for their scientific performances.

In August, 1995, Guerrero, Malenko & Benoit all received offers from WCW. Guerrero would feud with Rey Misterio, Jr for the Cruiserweight Title, resulting in one of his greatest matches at the Halloween Havoc PPV in 1996. Guerrerro would hold the Cruiserweight Title twice as well as the United States Title while in WCW. He was the leader of the Latino World Order (LWO) and a member of the Filthy Animals. But in 1999, while in WCW, Eddie was in an auto accident (caused in part by substance abuse) and would begin taking painkillers upon returning to the ring. 6 months later, he overdosed. Upon recovering, Eddie returned to WCW to find it a shambles. New leadership and a lack of respect for younger talent was accelerating a decay from the inside for this organisation. Guerrero, with Malenko, Benoit and Perry Saturn left WCW for WWE in January, 2000.

This group, known as the Radicalz, entered WWE to major fanfare. Eddie?s initial stay in WWE was short, as he suffered a dislocated elbow in his first match, tagging with Saturn against the New Age Outlaws. He would not be able to return until Wrestlemania. In April, Eddie was paired with Chyna, given the nickname "Latino Heat" (which he would retain until his death) and won the European Title from Chris Jericho. But his personal problems were still affecting him and he was sent home after arrving at a house show (ironically, in Minneapolis) in no shape to perform. Eddie was sent to rehab and spent time in Heartland Wrestling Alliance (HWA), at the time a developmental territory for WWE. But on November 9, 2001, Eddie was charged with DUI and released from WWE.

Eddie would enter rehab again to clean himself up. He spent time on the independent circuit, most notably the World Wrestling All-Stars, where he defeated champion Psicosis and Juventuud Guerrera for the WWA Cruiserweight Title in February, 2002. He was also an integral part of the early ROH shows. In April, 2002, Guerrero, returned to the WWE and won the Intercontinental Title from Rob Van Dam.

After the Brand Extension, Guerrero was assigned to Smackdown, forming a tag team with his nephew Chavo Guerrero, Jr (now known as Kerwin White). The two would coin the phrase "We lie, we cheat, we steal" which Eddie would use for the remainder of his career. Eddie would hold the WWE SD World Tag Team Titles 3 times in 2003, twice with Chavo, Jr and once with Yoshihiro Tajiri when Chavo was injured. Eddie was also the inaugural U.S. Champion, defeating Chris Benoit for that revived title in July 2003. In 2004, Eddie reached the pinacle of his career, defeating Brock Lesnar for the WWE SD World Title. He held the title for 4 1/2 months before losing it in a Bullrope match to John Bradshaw Layfield. He is one of only 2 Hispanic World Champions in WWE history (the other being Pedro Morales).

This year, Eddie had been embroiled in a feud with Rey Misterio, Jr (with whom he won the SD World Tag Team Titles one more time) over custody of Rey?s son Donovan (who was revealed to have been Eddie?s biological son). He had formed a friendship with SD World Champion Dave Batista and, on the date of his death, was scheduled to receive a World Title shot against Batista in a Triple Threat Match involving Randy Orton.

Ironically, Guerrero?s autobiography was scheduled for release on December 20.

Guerrero made 4 appearances in Oklahoma while in WWE. As European Champion, he defeated Test April 3, 2001 in Oklahoma City. His next appearance was in Tulsa, when he & Chavo, Jr defended the SD World Tag Team Titles against Billy Kidman and Edge in a NO DQ match where the count-out rule was waived. On April 24, 2004, Eddie defended the SD World Title against John Bradshaw Layfield in Tulsa. His final Oklahoma appearance was Sep 7, 2004 when he and Kurt Angle wrestled to a No-Contest in a the main event of a Smackdown TV Taping in Tulsa.

Oklafan extends its condolences to Eddie?s wife and 3 daughters, as well as the rest of his family. He will truly be missed.