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Happy 48th Birthday, Eddie Guerrero

By Michael Whitlow

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On Friday, Eddie Guerrero would have turned 48 years old. It’s been almost 10 years since Guerrero’s sudden and tragic death, and his influence still can be seen throughout wrestling today.

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As wrestling fans, we all have those performers who just stick to us like glue. Whether you’re a die-hard WWE fanatic, still loyal to WCW/ECW, or a TNA viewer, you know the name Eddie Guerrero.

It would be extremely hard for myself to pick my favorite performer in wrestling history, but if I made a “Mount Rushmore” of my favorites, Eddie Guerrero would be on there without any type of hesitation. The brash arrogance, the rise to the top in 2004, the humor, the smile, the pure wrestling; Eddie Guerrero could do no wrong when it came to performing inside the ropes.

Friday would have marked Guerrero’s 48th birthday. Sadly, it marks almost 10 years since Guerrero was found dead in a Minnesota hotel room by Chavo Guerrero (Eddie’s nephew). As I’ve stated before, I took a long hiatus from pro wrestling during the beginning part of the 2000s. Wrestling just wasn’t fun anymore. (I blame being a WCW fan as my thoughts towards wrestling.)

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Honestly, it still eats at me every time I see Eddie Guerrero perform on the WWE Network in some old classics or I see a picture of Guerrero on social media. I missed the culmination (and the end) of Guerrero’s career. I loved Eddie. We all did.

I mean, how can you not love this guy?

This gem was from Guerrero’s final televised match on an episode of SmackDown! against Mr. Kennedy. (You know him as Mr. Anderson in Impact Wrestling now.) This moment was classic Eddie. He whipped Kennedy into referee Charles Robinson in the corner and quickly realized that it was time to do his thing; lie, cheat, and steal a win.

Guerrero drilled the mat as he saw Robinson coming to his senses, threw the chair to Kennedy, fell to the mat, and pointed to Kennedy for Robinson to disqualify Kennedy. If that’s not peak Eddie Guerrero, I don’t know what is.

Eddie was more than just a showman and a brilliant comedian in the ring. Guerrero was one of the best technical wrestlers I’ve ever seen. He could outwrestle you on the mat, or he could beat you in the skies off the top rope.

I mentioned the culmination of Eddie’s career earlier. Guerrero only won one world title during his hall of fame career. The booking of Guerrero’s improbable title victory was perfect. The late Chris Benoit won the 2004 Royal Rumble as a member of the SmackDown! roster. Benoit could choose to wrestle for either the WWE Championship (held by Brock Lesnar at the time) or the World Heavyweight Championship (held by Triple H at the time) at WrestleMania XX. Benoit shockingly ended up on Raw and chose to go after the “Big Gold Belt”, leaving SmackDown! without a main event for their No Way Out pay-per-view in February.

Guerrero would win a 15-man over-the-top-rope No. 1 Contender match in after the Royal Rumble to earn a shot at Lesnar’s WWE title.

Did you really think Eddie would lose in front of a Latin-based crowd in San Francisco for the gold? Never doubt Eddie Guerrero. He got a little assistance from another favorite of mine, but the result was still amazing.

Personally, I didn’t get to watch this match live, but the first time that I did, I jumped for joy. As fans of sports and entertainment, we love the underdogs. Do underdog stories get any better than Eddie Guerrero’s trail to the top of the WWE mountain? Eddie cheated death after serious alcohol and drug addictions, he stole the hearts of every wrestling fan, and became the top dog in the wrestling world. It doesn’t get much better than that.

When you see Seth Rollins hit a big-time frog splash nowadays, or hear Sasha Banks tell stories of watching Eddie Guerrero growing up, you’ll quickly realize that Eddie’s impact and influence on the business was truly one of a kind. There will never be another Eddie Guerrero.

Eddie always yelled, “Viva La Raza!” For those who don’t speak Spanish, Eddie’s signature phrase late in his career means, “Long Live The Race (or People, pending who you speak to)”. Guerrero was a fantastic representation of the Latin culture. He wore his family’s name and his culture like badges of honor. I’ll always respect Eddie so much for that.

If your last name is Guerrero, your destiny is to become a professional wrestler, and Eddie Guerrero was one of the best the business has ever seen.

Viva Eddie. Rest in peace, old friend … and Happy 48th.

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