Flashback Friday: November 15, 2005

With all the celebrity deaths in the past few weeks, I decided I would flash back to the only one that hit me. Now, watching professional wrestling for all of the 22 years of my life, I have heard of the passing of A LOT of wrestlers. Sadly, the ones that have any affect are the ones that are still wresting at that time of their death such as Owen Hart, Brian Pillman and even Chris Benoit. But Eddie Guerrero was different. As you can see by what I wrote, he was more than just "a wrestler." While I didn't know him personally, he just seemed like an all around good guy.

*Speaking of Chris Benoit, it's hard to talk about a wrestler death and not talk about him. Especially when him and Eddie were good friends outside of wrestling. So in the video at the bottom, you will see him pop up a few times. But don't worry, the Benoit story will get its own post one day.

*One more bit of trivia, the month of November in 2005 was especially crazy because a week or so after this, I lost a very good friend of mine. And trust me, his post will also come at some point. But needless to say, November is not a very good month for me.

*Oh, and with this subject comes a good bit of wrestling talk. But hopefully you can get past that. And hopefully you can enjoy the video as well.

*Last bit of trivia: this was the first blog I ever published on myspace. Good times.

So yea, I should be working on my essay, but I can't get this shit off of my mind, so here goes...

On Sunday morning, I learned the news, like many others, that Eddie Guerrero had passed away. As Frisco said when I told him, "that came out of nowhere". Especially because that exact night he was supposed to be involved in a triple threat match with Batista and Randy Orton for the Championship, and it was highly rumored that he was going to be the winner in that match. It was supposed to be the main event in a "supershow", where both RAW and Smackdown! shows would be taped back to back. After the news, all plans were scraped, and they turned both shows into tribute shows where the wrestlers had the choice to give testimonies, wrestle, or do both. Thier would be no storylines, just matches, if they wanted to.

All day yesterday the wrestling world was buzzing about the news. I still get made fun of to this day of still being a wrestling fan, but it is my thing. Some people love football, some people love cars, I love wrestling. It's that simple. On every wrestling site there is, all had posted the news with deep sympathy towards his friends and family. Even WWE's competition, TNA (Total Nonstop Action) said a few words on thier main home page. He had affected that many people. He had been in the wrestling business roughly 15 years, and had fought in Japan, Mexico, ECW, WCW, and then finally WWF/WWE. Throughout his career, he had made several friendships, and while not always a fan favorite, he was still one that people came to see, whether it was to cheer or to boo.

In the middle of his career, Eddie was released for drug abuse. Drugs took over his life so bad that he almost lost his life in a car crash. After years of battling his demons, he finally made a clean and sober return to professional wrestling in 2002, and started the last, and greatest, run of his career. In February 2004, he became the first latino ever to win the Championship Belt. On his dvd entitled "Cheating Death, Stealing Life", it shows his mom in the back hugging him and crying with him. It then showed him get on a cell phone and call his wife, breaking down and telling her "Thank you" for all that she had done for him. Clearly, Eddie was a man who loved his family and his family loved him in return. Say what you want about wrestling being "fake" and it's all storylines, but when they decide to give you that belt, it is because you earned it. Eddie had definitely earned it.

Eddie was one of the most entertaining guys in the business. He adopted the motto of "Lie, Cheat, and Steal". He did funny videos that showed him and his nephew using that motto to steal stuff and lie thier way around town.

My favorite memory of Eddie was the first time I saw him live (to the best of my knowledge, there have been so many...). It was in Dothan, the first time they had been to that town in years. He was in a tag match, and since it was not being televised, he would mess around with the crowd. He was the one you could count on to sign autographs, and to put on a show for everybody.

Eddie was never my favorite wrestler, but he was one I always enjoyed watching. I will deeply miss seeing him, as he brought a new light every time he was on TV. My thoughts go out to his family, who has lost a good man. To his daughters who will have to graduate, go to prom, and get married without thier father. To his wife, who once thier children get older, will not have her husband around to enjoy the good life with. To the wrestlers who shed tears tonight telling stories about his life.

Rest In Peace Eddie Guerrero. You were a good man, and you will be missed.

Video from his Hall of Fame induction: