Eddie Guerrero
Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment, along with his appearances in Mexico and Japan. A prominent member of the Guerrero wrestling family, being the son of first-generation wrestler Gory Guerrero, and brother of Chavo Guerrero Sr., Mando Guerrero, Héctor Guerrero and father of Shaul Guerrero. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential professional wrestlers of all time.
Guerrero's gimmick was that of "Latino Heat", a crafty, resourceful wrestler who would do anything to win a match. His catchphrase became "I Lie! I Cheat! I Steal!" and was used in one of his entrance themes; he partly used this phrase in the title of his 2005 autobiography, Cheating Death, Stealing Life. Despite being a heel for most of his career, he was popular in and out of the ring and was at the peak of his career as a face during 2003–2005, becoming the top wrestler on the SmackDown brand in 2004. He experienced various substance abuse problems, including alcoholism and an addiction to painkillers; these real-life issues were sometimes incorporated into his storylines.
Guerrero spent much of his early career wrestling on the Mexican professional wrestling scene and forming a popular tag team with Art Barr. After the death of Barr, Guerrero received his first mainstream exposure in the United States in 1995 by joining ECW and winning the ECW World Television Championship two times. Later that year, Guerrero moved to WCW, where he became WCW United States Champion and WCW Cruiserweight Champion and also led the Latino World Order. He left WCW in 2000 after the company failed to elevate him to a main event spot.
He moved to WWF during the Attitude Era with his WCW colleagues Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn, who formed a group called The Radicalz. Guerrero went on to win the WWF European Championship and WWF Intercontinental Championship before he was released in 2001 due to addiction issues. After being rehired in 2002, he formed Los Guerreros with his nephew Chavo, winning the WWE Tag Team Championship, and established himself on the SmackDown brand. He climbed to main event status and won the WWE Championship, his sole world championship at No Way Out 2004. He lost the title later that year but remained a popular main eventer until his sudden death on November 13, 2005. He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, AAA Hall of Fame, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, and Hardcore Hall of Fame.
Early life
Guerrero was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, where he graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1985. He attended the University of New Mexico, and then New Mexico Highlands University on an athletic scholarship. It was there that Guerrero entered collegiate wrestling before moving to Mexico to train as a professional wrestler. He followed in the footsteps of his brothers and father, who had also wrestled in Mexico. As a boy, he would attend the wrestling promotions held by his father Gory Guerrero at the El Paso County Coliseum. Guerrero's father allowed him and his nephew Chavo to wrestle each other during intermissions.Professional wrestling career
Early career (1986–1992)
Guerrero debuted in 1986. In 1989, he appeared with World Championship Wrestling as a jobber, most notably wrestling Terry Funk. In 1991, he would return for WrestleWar '91, wrestling a dark match, teaming with Ultraman to defeat Huichol and Rudy Boy Gonzalez. Guerrero wrestled as the original "Máscara Mágica" in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre until his departure in 1992. He then left the company to pursue a career with Asistencia Asesoría y Administración. Although the Máscara Mágica gimmick was popular, CMLL owned the rights to the character. Guerrero then appeared on a televised AAA show as Máscara Mágica, only to then unmask himself along with the aid of his tag team partner that night, Octagón.Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (1992–1995)
In Mexico, Guerrero wrestled mainly for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, teaming with El Hijo del Santo as the new version of La Pareja Atómica, the tag team of Gory Guerrero and El Santo.After Guerrero turned on Santo and allied with Art Barr as "la Pareja del Terror", the duo became arguably the most hated tag team in lucha libre history. Along with Barr, Konnan, Chicano Power, and Madonna's Boyfriend, Guerrero formed los Gringos Locos, a villainous stable. Guerrero later said that no matter how many people joined los Gringos Locos, the stable was all about Barr. Locos feuded mostly with El Hijo del Santo and his partner Octagón, eventually ending in a Hair vs. Mask match at the first Lucha pay-per-view in America, When Worlds Collide, which they lost.
Guerrero and Barr's first break would come when they were noticed in late-1994 by the owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling, Paul Heyman, and were approached about wrestling for him in 1995. Barr, however, died before he could join ECW with Guerrero.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1992–1996)
In 1992, Guerrero began wrestling in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he was known as the second incarnation of Black Tiger. He became more successful upon his return when he won the 1996 Best of the Super Juniors tournament of junior heavyweights. He received a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion The Great Sasuke at Skydiving J, but lost the match.Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995)
Guerrero won the ECW World Television Championship from 2 Cold Scorpio in his debut match for Extreme Championship Wrestling on April 8, 1995, at Three Way Dance. He went on to have a series of acclaimed matches with Dean Malenko before they both signed with World Championship Wrestling later that year. Guerrero lost the ECW World Television Championship to Malenko on July 21 of that year, but Guerrero regained the title on July 28. Guerrero lost the ECW Television Championship back to 2 Cold Scorpio on August 25. The next day, they had their last match which ended in a draw in a two out of three falls match at the ECW Arena. After the match, the locker room emptied and the two were carried around the ring by their fellow wrestlers while the crowd chanted "please don't go".World Championship Wrestling (1995–2000)
Beginning (1995–1996)
Guerrero returned to WCW in mid-1995 along with Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit with whom he had worked with in NJPW and ECW. Guerrero competed in his first match on August 30, losing to Malenko, which aired on the October 7 episode of Saturday Night. Guerrero made his televised debut in WCW on the September 17 episode of Main Event against Alex Wright in a match which ended in a no contest after Guerrero injured his knee. Guerrero won a rematch against Wright on the October 21 episode of Saturday Night. His first televised pay-per-view appearance was at World War 3 where he competed in the 3-ring, 60-man World War 3 battle royal for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Guerrero was one of the final nine men in the battle royal until he was tossed out of the ring by Four Horsemen members.At Starrcade: World Cup of Wrestling in December 1995, Guerrero represented WCW in a WCW vs. NJPW World Cup tournament, which saw him losing to Shinjiro Otani in the match, but WCW would go on to win the series at 4–3. In 1996, Guerrero received several shots at the United States Heavyweight Championship against Konnan at Uncensored and Ric Flair at Hog Wild. He feuded with Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen during 1996 after Guerrero's partner Arn Anderson turned on him during a tag team match against Ric Flair and Randy Savage.
Championship reigns (1996–1997)
In late 1996, he feuded with Diamond Dallas Page after defeating him in a match at Clash of the Champions XXXIII. He started feuding with DDP to steal his nickname of "Lord of the Ring", but lost. Guerrero participated in a tournament for the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight Championship and defeated DDP in the final round at Starrcade to win the United States title in December 1996.In 1997, Guerrero defended the United States Heavyweight Championship against Scott Norton at Clash of the Champions XXXIV, Syxx in a ladder match at Souled Out, and Chris Jericho at SuperBrawl VII. His reign came to an end at Uncensored when Dean Malenko defeated him for the title. Following the title loss, Guerrero defeated Malenko in a non-title rematch on the next night's Monday Nitro before taking time off. He returned to WCW after a two-month hiatus on the June 9 episode of Monday Nitro and avenged the title loss by interfering in Malenko's title defense against Jeff Jarrett and attacking Malenko, costing him the title and turning heel in the process.
Shortly after his return, Guerrero feuded with Jericho focusing on Jericho's Cruiserweight Championship. He challenged Jericho for the title at Clash of the Champions XXXV but lost. Guerrero demanded a rematch for the title. In the opening match of Fall Brawl, Guerrero defeated Jericho to win the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. He dropped the title to Rey Mysterio Jr. at Halloween Havoc in a title vs. mask match where Mysterio's mask was also on the line. On the November 10 episode of Monday Nitro, he regained the Cruiserweight Championship from Mysterio, and made a successful title defense against Mysterio at World War 3. After retaining the title against Dean Malenko in the opening bout of Starrcade in December 1997, Guerrero dropped the title to Último Dragón the following day on the December 29 episode of Nitro.
Latino World Order; Filthy Animals (1998–2000)
On the March 9, 1998 episode of Nitro, Guerrero's nephew Chavo Guerrero lost to Booker T in a match. After the match, Guerrero delivered a suplex to Chavo for the main purpose of teaching him a lesson. On the March 12 episode of Thunder, he defeated his nephew Chavo in a match and forced him to become his "slave". At Uncensored, Chavo was forced to support Guerrero when he faced Booker T for Booker's WCW World Television Championship. Guerrero lost the match after receiving a missile dropkick. Guerrero and Chavo feuded with Último Dragón. Chavo lost to Dragón at Spring Stampede. At Slamboree, Guerrero defeated Dragón despite interference from Chavo. After the match, Chavo kissed Eddie and began to display insane behavior. At The Great American Bash, Chavo got an upset victory over Guerrero. They faced each other in a hair vs. hair match at Bash at the Beach which Guerrero won. Continuing to show his crazy behavior Chavo would shave his own head while Guerrero looked on in disbelief. Guerrero saved Chavo from beatings by Stevie Ray, seeming that he would align with Chavo but he wanted his release.Despite his success and popularity, Guerrero had been one of many wrestlers who were frustrated at never being given a chance to be main event stars in WCW. These frustrations came to a head when Guerrero requested that WCW President Eric Bischoff either push his character or give him a raise for family reasons. Bischoff responded by allegedly throwing coffee at Guerrero. Furious, Guerrero demanded Bischoff release him from his contract on a live episode of Nitro. Guerrero then left the company for months, angry at Bischoff for what he had done. Guerrero later returned to WCW, leading to the belief that maybe Guerrero's angry speeches against Bischoff were a work. Guerrero would later contradict himself on WWE's DVD Monday Night War claiming that he tried to put personal differences aside for the good of the company, yet found himself angry and outraged once more because of Bischoff's supposed continued refusal to elevate Guerrero and other similar wrestlers. He let Brian Adams pin him and get an upset victory in a match.
On-screen, Guerrero responded to Bischoff's actions by forming the Latino World Order, which was a take-off of Bischoff's New World Order. The group was an answer to Bischoff's "refusal" to push Latino wrestlers in ways they felt they deserved. The LWO was formed in October when Guerrero returned to WCW, with Héctor Garza and Damien. The group eventually grew to encompass almost all the Mexican wrestlers working for WCW at the time. They mainly feuded with Rey Mysterio Jr. and Billy Kidman because they wanted Mysterio to join the group. He faced Kidman in a match for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, but Mysterio interfered and helped Kidman win the match and keep the title. However, Guerrero was involved in a car accident on New Year's Day 1999 that cut short the LWO storyline.
After his return on the May 31, 1999 episode of Monday Nitro, Guerrero became a founding member of the Filthy Animals alongside Rey Mysterio Jr. and Konnan. They feuded with the Dead Pool. They received two straight victories over the Dead Pool at Road Wild and Fall Brawl. They next feuded with Revolution. Guerrero was victorious over Saturn by disqualification in a singles match at Halloween Havoc. At Mayhem, the Animals lost to Revolution in a mixed tag team elimination match. When Vince Russo was fired as WCW booker and replaced by Kevin Sullivan, Guerrero asked for and received a release from his contract on January 19, 2000. He signed with the World Wrestling Federation in 2000 along with fellow WCW stars Benoit, Malenko, and Saturn.