Viva La Raza: The Eddie Guerrero Tribute Post (10th Anniversary Edition)

On that blustery Sunday afternoon of November the 13th 2005, I was helping my Dad doing what he does best: patch up an automobile.

While I forgot what he was fixing, what happened next I’ll never forget.

My Mom, who was never a fan of sports-entertainment, came rushing out to the porch yelling for me to come inside.

So she told me a wrestler had died, and I was thinking to myself who could it have been? Surely there was a legend, whose years were most likely behind him, who had a short illness and passed on. Maybe even an afterthought on television shows like most jobbers. Tried to downplay this as much as I could.

Until I saw on the computer screen from WWE.com that said, “Eddie Guerrero 1967-2005”.

I broke down and cried.

Amongst the very first times I’ve teared up for something to do with wrestling, it had to do with a performer whose presence was more than welcome on my television screen.
As for my markdom of Eddie so to speak, it has to go all the way back to the first episode of RAW I ever watched back in 2002.

The Rock was making fun of Eddie Guerrero like only The Rock can. “Viva la viva Eddie Guerrero!” It was one of those epic rips I know for sure was a laugh riot then, still is now. It was one of things where surely now it would be a generic-character bad guy being in the Guerrero role, but Guerrero is Latino mothereffin’ Heat y’all, and therefore he looked as good as the competition!

His singular biggest impact on me though would come a few months after that spat with Rocky.

After a months-long feud with Edge, the two combatants were set to square off on SMACKDOWN in a feud-ending No Disqualification match. While the acting was pretty much straight-forward wrestling until the commercial break, the contest post-break was brawling and weapon chicanery to the max!

Edge and Eddie took equal abuse. Whether it’d be a sunset-flip powerbomb or a helo (sorry for my spelling) onto the ladder, both men had the grimaced look of grizzled warriors. The climatic finish saw Edge use his patented Edgecution on Eddie... FROM THE TOP OF A GOD DAMNED LADDER! That’s right, Eddie’s face met nothing but canvas and ate a three count for his troubles. Bloodied from a legitimate cut, Eddie would get a thunderous ovation for his hard work. A bad guy getting applause for his efforts? Another feather in Eddie's cap on his talents. 

For the next year, Eddie would not only turn face, but team up with beloved nephew Chavo on a hellacious run of “Los Guerreros”. The only thing more epic than their matches, and there was quite a few of them, was their vignettes based on the motto of “Lying, Cheating, and Stealing.” Baby bottles and dance parties were amongst the topics not spared for this “dastardly duo”, who seriously had some heel-like attitudes in a face situation. 

No Way Out 2004 though would see Eddie receive his biggest triumph: the WWE Championship. After Frog-Splashing Brock Lesnar (who was taken out by Goldberg), Eddie ran into the crowd where his legitimate family was sitting ringside. Later-shown backstage camera footage saw the locker room pay respect to the veteran, who certainly had a long road before getting the belt.

Long story short, the long road consisted of kicking drug and alcohol habits that should have destroyed him, but didn’t. Eddie turned his life around. He found his savior in Jesus Christ and renewed his vows to beloved wife Vickie. 

2004-2005 would see a character change as Eddie turned heel on friend Rey Mysterio. Bringing in “bastard children” and even Vickie as a rookie WWE on-screen character, the feud was silly, but had tons of great matches in them. Despite all of that, Eddie’s character remained red hot with the fans.

Along this time, Eddie was showing signs of another face turn when he and Batista, then-champion, were tagging and showing respect to one another. They were even going to be on the same team at the Survivor Series, taking on team RAW with Shawn Michaels as the captain.

Eddie’s last appearance on TV saw him beat Mr. Kennedy by DQ, but then get BLASTED in the head with a chair.

Cut back to that Sunday afternoon.

There was a Supershow going to be taped anyway for RAW and SMACKDOWN, but instead of pushing Survivor Series, it became a Eddie Guerrero Tribute. A move people expected, but was appreciated given the circumstances.

Four of the most emotional hours of television ensued. The lines of faces and heels were cast aside as men took each other on in friendly matchups, while others were nowhere near consolable on the matter. Like Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit for example, two long-time friends on the road. You know shit's going down when Rey Mysterio takes off his mask! Speaking of Mysterio, one of the sadder pieces of imagery was the opening to that RAW when they had everyone stand in silence for the bell toll, and fans/wrestlers alike where pretty much stone-cold in their appearance. Rey, having Shawn hold him, looked like a child mourning for his father, and became the most sympathetic person right then and there. Keep in mind Shawn kicked Rey’s head off in one of the best matches of the year, but the two hugged it out like brothers post-match.

Eddie’s autobiography is one of the saddest things ever read too, because of the realization that sets in after closing the final page. If you want to see what I’m talking about, you can order the book here. Literally, the book was released so close after Eddie’s death (very accidentally, that date was chosen for months), that the literary irony doesn’t enter a subconscious until you really think deep down.

For one of the most bizarre analogies ever written, Eddie Guerrero is like Dale Earnhardt. Like Dale’s death in that 2001 Daytona 500 spurred the evolution of safety, Eddie’s death spurred the evolution of health/drug testing. The Wellness Policy, instituted by WWE in early 2006, has not only tested superstar for illegal drug use, but also for medical conditions either pre-existing or not-known. For example, MVP had a heart condition not known about until a Wellness test, and as a result, he got a life-saving pacemaker.

Even ten years on, it hurts as much as it did now as it did then. Eddie is one of the most unique men in wrestling history. While short in stature, he was not short in every other conceivable nature. The skills, persona, charisma, you name it, were in a stratosphere hardly contained by a wrestling ring. In a era now where a ton of new wrestling talent seem to look and sound the same, Eddie was someone who can be looked at as an original.

I have no real ending for this, so with tears welling up yet again, “Thank You Eddie!” 

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