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The storied career of "Latino Heat" Eddie Guerrero.
Eddie Guerrero
was born into Mexico's first family of professional wrestling in 1967. The son of the legendary Gory Guerrero, it was only
natural that Eddie, along with his three older brothers, would pursue a career in sports-entertainment. With wrestling flowing
through his veins, Eddie began his in-ring training at a very young age. In fact, Guerrero had mastered the dropkick by his
third birthday. Eddie moved from his family's backyard ring to the professional circuit in 1987 when he debuted as "Mascara
Magica" or "Magic Mask" in Mexico.
After teaming with his brothers, Guerrero broke out on his own, crafting his
skills in the lucha libre world. Eddie then moved on to Japan, wrestling as Black Tiger. It was there that Guerrero first
met good friend Chris Benoit. After moving back to Mexico full time, Eddie began teaming with El Hijo del Santo, who was the
son of Gory Guerrero's long-time associate El Santo. Eddie and Santo eventually broke up, with Eddie forming a duo with Art
Barr.
The pair would feud with Santo in one of the most heated rivalries in lucha
libre history, which culminated in Guerrero and Barr losing a Hair vs. Mask Match to Santo and Octagon in November 1994. Eddie
then moved on to Extreme Championship Wrestling, where he gained his first full exposure in the United States. Not long after
his ECW debut, Guerrero defeated 2 Cold Scorpio for the ECW World Television Championship, a title he held twice before moving
to WCW. Guerrero's ECW stay will always be remembered for the amazing match he had with Dean Malenko before leaving the promotion.
After the match, which many consider to be one of the greatest ECW matches ever, the crowd showed their appreciation for Guerrero
by giving him a standing ovation.
Guerrero spent four years competing in World Championship Wrestling. While there,
he was a part of numerous memorable rivalries with the likes of Booker T, nephew Chavo Guerrero, Jr., Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio
amd Ric Flair. On December 29, 1996, Guerrero defeated Diamond Dallas Page in the finals of a tournament to crown a new WCW
United States Heavyweight Champion. He also went on to capture the WCW Cruiserweight Championship on two separate occasions
before leaving WCW. On January 31, 2000, four new faces showed up on Monday Night RAW and shocked the sports-entertainment
world.
They were former WCW wrestlers Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero and
Perry Saturn - The Radicalz. The faction immediately got involved in a match between the New Age Outlaws vs. Al Snow &
Steve Blackman, marking the beginning of Guerrero's amazing WWF career. Over the next five years, Eddie Guerrero overcame
many obstacles to reach the top. In his first WWF match against the New Age Outlaws, Eddie suffered a dislocated elbow, but
returned to action in a short time. On April 3, 2000, he claimed his first piece of WWF gold, defeating Chris Jericho to win
the WWF European Championship.
He would go on to win that championship one more time in 2001. After The Radicalz
went their separate ways, Eddie began a relationship with his "Mamacita", Chyna. In fact, it was Chyna that Eddie defeated
in September 2000 to claim the WWF Intercontinental Championship. After their split, Eddie's demons got the best of him. He
subsequently took time off from the ring in 2001 to deal with his personal issues.
Upon his return in 2002, Eddie's
career skyrocketed to new heights. He won the WWE Intercontinental Championship again in May 2002, this time from Rob Van
Dam. Eventually, Eddie moved to SmackDown! where he teamed with nephew Chavo to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship. He
would win that championship three more times, as well as the becoming the first-ever WWE United States Champion, but his greatest
moment came in February 2004. On February 15, 2004 in San Francisco, Guerrero defeated Brock Lesnar at No Way Out to become
WWE Champion.
He had reached the pinnacle of the industry, and went on to headline WrestleMania
XX against Kurt Angle. No one will ever forget the scene at the end of the show, when Eddie joined long-time friend Chris
Benoit in the ring to celebrate moments after Benoit won the World Heavyweight Championship. Eddie later formed an alliance
with another old friend, Rey Mysterio, and the duo would win the WWE Tag Team Championship in early 2005. This was Eddie's
final run as a champion, as the duo split up after WrestleMania 21 and began a bitter rivalry, highlighted by numerous breath-taking
matches. At No Mercy on October 9, 2005, Eddie's 38th birthday, Eddie squared off against a new amigo, Batista.
He was unable to win the World Heavyweight Championship from "The Animal", but
their friendship was cemented when Batista led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to "Latino Heat" afterwards. A little
more than one month later, Guerrero competed in his final televised match on the November 11th edition of Friday Night SmackDown!
where he defeated Mr. Kennedy.
Article Courtesy Of: WWE.com
On Sunday, November 13, Eddie Guerrero passed away in his sleep in his hotel
room in Minneapolis, MN. Eddie is survived by his wife Vickie and his three daughters; Shaul, 14, Sherilyn, 9, and Kaylie
Marie, 3.
On Sunday, November 13, Eddie Guerrero passed away in his sleep in his hotel room in Minneapolis, MN.
Eddie is survived by his wife Vickie and his three daughters; Shaul, 14, Sherilyn, 9, and Kaylie Marie, 3.
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