M
MrCharisma
Guest
Goodbye Eddie Guerrero
By John C.
This is never easy. This is never something any of us want to deal with or want to confront. When somebody you are fond of passes away all you can think about doing is shedding a tear, saying a prayer and thinking about the things that made you like that individual in the first place. When I think about Eddie Guerrero, the list of those "things" is endless. The reasons to like Eddie were long.
When I think of Eddie I will always smile for two reasons. One, as a fan, the guy just made you smile. He made you smile because of the work he put on in the ring. He made you proud to be a fan. From his promos to his mannerisms in the ring, he knew how to put on a show. Then there's his work in the ring. Simply put, he's one of the ten best North American wrestlers of the past decade. At least to me. I don't really feel like arguing or debating it. I just know that to me, he's up there. He's one of the reasons why guys like me stay on as a fan after twenty years. Because of his work in the ring. He was gifted. There's no other way to say it. The man had that gift.
The other reason why I will smile is because he smiled. Boy did he ever. There may not be a more famous smile in the wrestling business then that coy like that often grazed the face of Eddie Guerrero. The smile I'm always going to remember is that time in El Paso, Texas on Smackdown a few years ago when he got that standing ovation. That was magic. That was not something you can script. That was something he earned.
Think about all the things that this guy went through in his life. From his drug addiction to that accident that nearly took his life. To losing his wife and kids because of those problems. Then he got them back. He found God. He realized what was important in his life and he got on that right path again. He was clean and sober. He was a changed man. We could all see it. I remember what he looked like in WCW when he was on drugs. It was a different guy. Then when he came back to WWE in 2002 you could see that bounce in his step. He never lost it.
I'm still in a state of shock. I don't know what to say. I don't know how to say it. I can't even comprehend to think about what his friends and family are thinking now. Just yesterday afternoon I was sitting right here at this very computer writing about how much I enjoyed Smackdown this last week. I wrote about how great the Guerrero/Kennedy match was because it was a sign of things to come for them. It was a great veteran in Eddie taking a young future star like Kennedy to a higher level. That's the thing Eddie could do with anybody. That's what made him so great. He was phenomenal on Smackdown last week. From the way he fooled Kennedy, then won the match with the ref seeing the chair in Kennedy's hand and then that killer chair shot that he took after the match as his way of helping Kennedy get over. He always did the right thing in wrestling. He did his part. He made you proud to be a fan.
Then last night, I was feeling in the mood for some wrestling watching. What do I pop in? The Eddie Guerrero DVD. Specifically the match against Lesnar. I hadn't watched it in a while, so I figured, hey, I'll give it a shot. I loved it just much as I did the first time. I remember watching the match live on the webcast, then doing my writeup on the net.
"To the top, Guerrero with a frog splash. Cover. One…two…THREE! WHOO! YEAH! YES! Eddie Guerrero wins the match and is the new WWE Champion!" That's what I wrote. This is what we saw:
It was a state of euphoria. We were all giddy. We were all marks again. Why? Because we loved this guy. Then at WrestleMania when he hugged Benoit in the ring as they both held their belts, we marked out again. Some of us may have even teared up. It was special. It was all too real.
I was looking forward to tonight. To spoilers of Smackdown. To see maybe, just maybe, if WWE would put the World Title on Eddie Guerrero for the second time because he deserved it. I thought about how excited I was going to be just to watch Smackdown this week to see that happen. I know what happened with his first title reign. It got cut short because he reportedly couldn't handle the pressure of being champion. This was his second chance. His whole life was about second chances. Now that chance is gone. Just like that.
I don't really care how he died at this point. I'm sure some will speculate that drugs were involved. Maybe they are right. Doesn't matter to me. All that matters is gone. All that matters is that another wrestler was taken away from us too soon. I don't know how it compares to other wrestler's deaths. I don't "rate" those things. I hate that any wrestler dies this young. Doesn't matter if it's Hart, Hennig, Rude, Candido, Hawk, Bossman, Crash - all of them. They all hurt. Every single one. This one hurts a lot. As a fan of the product, I loved this guy. Everything that he did. I supported him. I cheered him.
Word has spread via PWInsider.com that both Raw and Smackdown (tapings for both are tonight) will be tribute shows to Eddie Guerrero this week. Tape those shows. Savor them. When you see those wrestlers share their memories of Eddie, do the same. Think of all the things he did to make you laugh, smile or boo him. This is our chance to say goodbye along with his family, friends and peers.
To his wife Vicki and daughters Shaul, Sherilyn and Kaylie Marie, I send them my condolences. While Eddie may be gone, you have every reason to be proud of this man. I hope that his girls realize that while I am sure that they loved Eddie, so did millions of wrestling fans around the world. We don't know him like his family did, nor would any of us claim to, but we do share the love. He earned that love. He deserved that love.
I never met Eddie Guerrero. I never had that honor and that pleasure. I did pay to see him, though. I have been one of those millions of fans that chanted his name in an arena. I'm glad I did because I'll have those stories to pass on to those that missed him. If I did get to meet Eddie I would have shook his hand. I would have hugged him. I would have said thank you. I would have said, man, you're the reason why I love this business! He was. I'm glad I have my tapes, my DVDs and my memories. But I'm in near tears as I write this because I know that I will never see another new Eddie Guerrero match again.
I'm going to miss everything about Eddie Guerrero. The frog splash. The three amigos suplex spot. That monkey flip bump he'd do in every match. Those hilarious skits he did with Chavo. That heel smirk of his. The way he'd bounce to the ring in the low rider. His speed. The way he sold moves. The way he made everything look so smooth. That voice of his. Those top of the line promos. Everything he did was great. The guy had no flaws. The phrase "Latino Heat." Those times when he'd go up top and Tazz would talk about how Eddie is feeling froggy. In this business, he was at the top. He went out on top. In my mind and my heart, he went out as a champion. He went out on top.
Thank you, Eddie Guerrero. For everything. I will never forget you and I will never stop missing you. Thank you so very much.
Every time I see a picture of this man or think of this man I will hear those voices in my head...
"EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE!"
