WWE.com reports Eddie Guerrero passed away:
http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/eddieguerreropasses
I am deeply saddened by this. Every few months, there is another press release about some wrestler or another dying. It’s always sad to lose anyone who people loved, who was good at what they did and entertained people and brought them joy, but a lot of the time, I’m not very familiar with those wrestlers – they might have hit their prime before I started watching during the “boom” in 1998, or they may never have hit it. It tends to not be a business where people live long and prosper, but rather live out their later years in relative obscurity, their bodies racked with pain from years of hard living and putting it on the line for the sake of telling a story in the squared circle… if they make it that far.
But Eddie Guerrero was different. He was a WWE Superstar of the highest echelon, a consummate performer, a fan favorite, no matter what city or country they traveled to, no matter if he was a face (good guy) or heel (bad guy). He played both parts equally well. He played a convincing psycho over the last year in his bizarre feud with fellow Mexican-American Rey Mysterio, but before that, he was the lovably amoral guy who drove out to the ring in different custom lowriders, whose motto was unabashedly “Lie, Cheat, and Steal.” The crowds loved him. He sported a colossal MULLET for years, and they still went crazy for him. He was great at cutting promos, probably in the top five most entertaining interviewees in the WWE, but then when the bell rang, he could walk the walk as well as talk the talk.
Eddie was a big guy, musclebound as all hell, but he was one of the few who could seemingly defy gravity like the much smaller cruiserweight wrestlers. He could fly through the air, taking amazing risks for awe-inspiring “highspot” moves that had everyone on the edge of their seats. He worked well with almost everyone, and was counted on to carry anyone to a good match, which is what pro wrestling is all about. He could “sell,” which means making injuries look real, and he could “put over” just about anyone, which means making his opponents look good (usually better than they really were). I can’t think of too many other wrestlers who combine technical ability, speed, strength, grace, ring psychology, and mic skills the way he could. Ask any WWE fan, any mark (the fans who think and act like it’s REAL), any smark (the fans who read the backstage gossip on the Internet and know about how things really work behind the scenes), and any of them would claim the utmost respect for Eddie Guerrero.
Too many wrestling deaths of the last few years have been drug-related, and that’s a horrible shame. Again, much of this has to do with misuse of painkillers and muscle relaxants. I don’t know if this was one of them, but Eddie definitely fought his demons over the years, and seemed to have won. He was addicted to HEROIN for a while, disappeared from wrestling, went into rehab, and returned bigger, faster, and better than ever – probably reaching the greatest heights of his career after that. Now, like too many others before him, he was found dead in a hotel room, and I shudder to think what an autopsy might reveal. I’m not making a judgment, nor is it my place to do so. Instead, I mourn for a champion, a top-notch athlete, a great entertainer, a surprisingly capable comedian, a role model of sorts, a man who made his mark in ECW, WCW, and WWF/WWE and rose to the top of those companies because he was so damn good at what he did. I don’t really care how he passed away, only that it was such a damn shame he went so young, and alone, and with so much of a great career still ahead of him.
For anyone who is remotely interested, the WWE released a DVD career retrospective a couple years back. Their DVDs are the BEST – even if you’re not a wrestling fan (and I assume most Dopers aren’t), the editing is top-notch, the commentaries are fascinating, and the matches they put together from decades of footage are awe-inspiring. They show you exactly why these men earn their reputations as stars and warriors and heroes and champions, and the Eddie Guerrero DVD set, ironically called “Cheating Death, Stealing Life,” is one of the best out there.
