It's weird how I can always remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I receive tragic news. It's one of those morbid human abilities that I eerily cannot escape. Most people share this condition with me.November 13, 2005: I had just been seated on a plane at Los Angeles' LAX airport headed for Calgary when my cell phone rang. Seeing that it was my brother Brian and not feeling like adding to the long distance bill - bloated due to my week-long Hollywood trip - I decided not to answer it. No more than a minute later, I received his text message, "Guy...Eddie Guerrero is dead".
I still remember the lump in my throat and the acceleration of my heartbeat.
One of my favourite wrestlers was gone. Another one! I couldn't think of anything else for the entire flight. Not Eddie. It couldn't be true.
You know how news doesn't feel real until you see it on TV or its printed in the newspaper? When I landed in Calgary, I had a few hours to kill before my connecting flight to Toronto was to leave. I remember watching The Score in one of the airport's bars hoping to hear that maybe the story of Eddie's death was just a rumour. Of course, every several minutes, the ticker at the bottom of the screen would read "WWE wrestler Eddie Guerrero found dead at 38". It still didn't feel real.
I remember only a day before the tragedy, I visited the Six Flags theme park just outside of L.A. I took a picture in front of a restaurant called "Eduardo's Grill". Partly because my middle name is Eduardo - it's what the "E" stands for in Dan-e-o - and partly because I was such a huge Eduardo "Eddie" Guerrero mark. I've both said and written this many times: At the time, my top three favs in the business were Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. I don't think I've changed my top three yet. I am still very proud to have shared my name with Eddie.
Eddie had what I feel all professional wrestlers SHOULD have: The ability to dazzle an audience inside the squared circle AND on the microphone. It still amazes me that so few "superstars" adequately possess BOTH skills.
Both a talented (and that's putting it lightly) high-flyer and grappler, Eddie put on a wrestling clinic in nearly every one of his matches. He was quick, smooth and precise. I can't remember ever seeing him perform a hold or move slowly or sloppily. What he did looked real. What he did looked professional. What he did made me keep watching, wanting to see more.
How many classics did Eddie help to create in the ring? Feuds with Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle, while in WWE, produced some of the best matches ever.
Eddie was also a comedian. I loved his exaggerated facial expressions. I loved his comedic quips. I loved his fiery rants. He could be both comical and insidious at the same time. He could play both a babyface or a heel character to perfection. How awesome were his pretending-to-be-hit-by-a-chair victories by disqualification? Eddie provided priceless television moments.
How many catch-phrases and one-liners can be attributed to our fallen hero? "We Lie, We Cheat, We Steal", "I'm Your Papi" and "Mamacita" were among his most memorable in WWE.
Bottom line: He was entertaining. He was entertainment personified. He could make you laugh and "O" numerous times within any given show. If Eddie was on the screen, there was never a dull moment.
I was easily one of the happiest wrestling fans alive the day Eddie Guerrero became WWE Champion. I still believe that at the time both he and Chris Benoit were world champions of their respective brands, they represented the best simultaneous champions ever - since WWE began recognizing both belts as the top tiers in the business. I still believe they hold this distinction.
This past year, my brother bought me what is probably one of the last remaining Eddie Guerrero action figures in existence for my birthday. It will never leave its packaging. Brian owns one of Eddie's Scarface-inspired Latino Heat t-shirts. He plans on framing it. These are just two small examples of the type of impact Eddie Guerrero had on his fans.
It's truly hard to believe that an entire year has passed since the day Eddie Guerrero left us. Having beaten his addiction to drugs for a good four years, Eddie was still unable to undo the damage done to his blood vessels (shriveled) and his heart (enlarged). It's no secret that WWE's Wellness Policy was created in direct response to Eddie's death.
I sincerely hope, like we all do, that such a tragedy never befalls another one of our wrestling heroes - although this is a wish not likely to be granted. It's important, however, to learn from Eddie's trials and tribulations that we respect the lives we have while we live them to the fullest.
It was rumoured that had Eddie not died, he would have become World Heavyweight Champion later that week. As sad as that sounds, it doesn't matter.
Eddie died a champion...and he'll never lose his title.
4 comments: on "Remembering Eddie - One Year Later"
I remember making a home-made EG wrist band that night with iron on letters and the next day at work how many people either had positive or negitive comments about him... I never understood the negitive. He was one hell of a performer and would give it his all no matter who he was performing with or what level on the card his match was. He seemed to have quite a few demons... but like a true man and a true champion he faced his afflictions head on, toe to toe, eye to eye... something no man can accomplish easily or without deep scars afterwards. And I respect him highly for that. As a performer and a man. We all have our demons... but over coming them seperates us from the men and the... erm, not so men.
AND thats why I think everyone needs to FUCKING respect KANYON!!! WHO BETTER!?!?! NOT A DAMN ANYONE OF US SMARKS! He faced his demons, his fears and showed everyone what kind of a man he is. He overcame it all with his head held high like the MVP he is. No one can compare in ring or out of the ring to the type of man he truly is.
... anyways, recently I experienced the same negitivity towards a deceiced perfomer when I went to Cyber Sunday and I had my classic "king of harts" owen hart shirt on. So many people walked past me shouting "owen sucks" or "fuck canada." I just don't understand the disrespect (maybe its the fact that they were all cena fans... j/k).
November 13, 2005, approximately 1:30 PM-I was on my laptop, set up in my parents' room(since I can't log in to it from my room). I logged on to MySpace and opened up the profile of a person who was on my frineds list. Upon opening it, the first thing I saw was that now-famous picture with the caption "Eddie Guerrero 1967-2005". I was baffled as to what happened. With great trepidation, and a fearful hunch, I went to wwe.com only to have my fears affirmed-Eddie Guerrero had passed away. So there's my personal story of where I was when I found out.
Guerrero was one of the greats. Right around the time of WrestleMania, there were some people who began to claim that Guerrero shouldn't have been in the Hall of Fame. This simply isn't true. His career is befitting of a Hall of Famer. European Champion, Tag Team Champion, Intercontinental Champion, US Champion, WWE Champion, World Heavyweight Champion(in hindsight, let's face it, the way the storylines were being set up for Survivor Series before Eddie's untimely passing, it did make perfect sense that Guerrero was gonna get the title, so I'm counting it). How can anybody argue that a man with that many accolades doesn't belong in the hall? One of my all time favorite matches is still the Fatal Four Way at Armageddon 2004. The image I most remember from that match? Guerrero hitting two frog splashes on the Undertaker, then later hitting him with one from off of the ladder. Friends of mine who have only watched one or two wrestling shows ever will always tell me that their favorite part was watching Guerrero's antics. Even as a heel, he was entertaining. Eddie's Bedtime Stories...classic. All of the above just goes to show how great he was and how timeless his legacy truly will be.
On a closing note, though, because nobody has really touched on this in any comments; the WWE ought to be ashamed of the way they've handled Guerrero throughout his career. Yes, they gave him many pushes, but all the while, they tried to pass him off as someone who "wasn't good enough to beat any main eventers, and had to cheat to do it"(remember his feud with Angle in the summer of '04? they pretty much said that directly). Not to mention the fact that since his death, creative hasn't stopped pissing on his grave. A year later, they're still rolling with storylines that are tarnishing the guy's legacy.
I disagree; Randy Orton's short feud with Rey Mysterio proves that. Yes, I know that all of the promos are pretty much scripted before the wrestlers come out and say them, but still, to have anyone come out on SmackDown, the show that Guerrero was such a big part of, and have them(not once, but twice) publicly defame him by stating that "he's in hell" and that "he's no saint" definitely counts as pissing on his grave. (Lest we forget Orton crashing Eddie's custom low-rider into the TitanTron just to promote his feud with Undertaker). So does using it to make a storyline between Chavo and Rey, much less one of the longer ones SmackDown has seen this year. It even became a big story behind the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 22; Guerrero's name kept getting brought up, as every week Orton referred to Mysterio as a "charity case". The E was trying to make a quick buck to make up for the fact that they lost a main eventer, and they've desecrated Guerrero's legacy in the process. At least, in my opinion.
I remember finding out about his death,it was when I was still in the Marine Corps and crying in a bathroom stall. It was such a shock that he died and a bunch of my friends, who were fans themselves, took it pretty hard also. My favorite Guerrero moment? There are too many to choose from. From his Luchador hating heel character in WCW, his Latino heat character in WWE, his ECW persona, and him as a man he was truly inspirational. There were many days in Iraq where me and my tentmates would relax and watch Eddie matches. Rest in Peace Eddie.
God bless him.
Zyrone Simmons
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