Childhood & Early Life
Eddie Guerrero was born on 9 October, 1967 in El Paso, Texas to Gory Guerrero, a former professional wrestler, and Herlinda. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1985 and later attended the University of New Mexico on an athletic scholarship. He was soon absorbed into collegiate wrestling.
His brothers Mando, Hector, and Chavo are professional wrestlers as well. He had two sisters, Maria and Linda. Often, Chavo and Eddie would accompany their father to wrestling promotions and would wrestle each other during intermissions.
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Career
Eddie Guerrero first wrestled as the original Mascara Magica in CMLL, professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City, from 1987 until he left in 1992 to join Asistencia Asesoría y Administración in Mexico. He along with El Santa formed a tag team and were known as the Atomic Pair.
He later partnered with Art Barr and they soon became a noticeable duo. Paul Heyman of the Extreme Championship Wrestling approached them, but Barr passed away in 1994 before they could join.
He later began wrestling in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling. He was popularly called the reincarnation of Black Tiger. His return in 1996 proved successful as he won a tournament of junior heavyweights.
He won the ECW World Television Championship in his debut match for ECW in 1995 and later signed up with the World Championship Wrestling. He worked as a jobber for WCW and mostly wrestled with Terry Funk under WCW.
He later started appearing in pay-per-view events and his first event was at World War 3, where he competed in the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
He started winning a series of titles beginning in 1996; most notably the United States Heavyweight Championship. He defended the title in 1997 by defeating Scott Norton. He finally conceded defeat and his title to Dean Malenko. He later fought for the Cruiserweight Championship and won it in 1997.
It became more dramatic for Eddie when his brother Chavo entered the ring. They feuded regularly and appeared in differing storylines. The familial aspect to the duo drew more audience.
Frustrated for never being given a chance to work in the main event, he formed the Latino World Order (LWO) in 1998, which was a response to WCW President Eric Bishoff’s New World Order.
The LWO mostly included wrestlers from Mexico working for WCW. However, the LWO storyline was stopped when Eddie was injured in a car accident. On his return, he founded The Filthy Animals along with Rey Mysterio Jr. and Konnan.
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He signed up with the World Wrestling Federation in 2000 and soon won the European Championship and his first Intercontinental Championship. His addiction to pain medication surfaced around this time and he went to rehab. He was later arrested for drunk driving and consequently released by the WWF.
He wrestled in the independent circuit from 2001 to 2002 and won the WWA Cruiserweight Championship. He gave up this title when he returned to WWF later.
He won his second Intercontinental Championship when he returned to WWE in 2002. He soon began wrestling for SmackDown and formed the tag team Los Guerreros with Chavo. The duo soon won their first WWE Tag Team Championship. His ‘Latino Heat’ fame grew and fans wanted to see him ‘lie, cheat and steal’.
At the height of his career with a flurry of matches and championships in 2004 and 2005, Eddie established his firm presence by retaining several titles, including WrestleMania and Tag Team Championship.
He defeated Brock Lesnar at No Way out, and this made him a Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion. He fought Kurt Angle next at WrestleMania XX and retained his title.
He defended his WWE title at Judgment Day when he defeated JBL. The match, however, was gory as Guerrero bled midway and soon went into shock once the event ended. In a match later, he collapsed in the ring.
He lost to Kurt Angle at SummerSlam. As he allied with Big Show later, Angle would often target them with Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak. A Survivor Series Elimination was booked between two teams. Guerrero’s team comprised Big Show, John Cena, and Rob Van Dam. They defeated Angle’s team.
He was the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship and was to fight the title match with Batista. He lost to Batista.
In his final match aired on November 11, 2005, he fought Mr. Kennedy with his signature moves. A triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship was scheduled the day he died.
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He appears in several video games, some of which include Virtual Pro Wrestling 64, Legends of Wrestling II, and WCW vs. The World.
Awards & Achievements
Eddie Guerrero was inducted into the WWE, AA, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, and Hardcore halls of fame.
He was ranked the 11th greatest wrestler of all times in a WWE poll. Ric Flair, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, and Shawn Micheals have considered Guerrero as the greatest professional wrestler.
Personal Life & Legacy
Eddie Guerrero married Vickie Guerrero on April 24, 1990 and had two daughters, Shaul Marie and Sherilyn Amber.
In the period of brief separation from his wife, Eddie had a relationship with Tara Mahoney. He has a daughter Kaylie Marie, from this relationship. Though Eddie reconciled with his wife, he and Tara continued to remain close friends.
He died on November 13, 2005, at the age of 38, in Minneapolis. He was found unconscious in his hotel room by Chavo, who attempted CPR. He was pronounced dead by the paramedics when they arrived. The autopsy revealed the cause to be acute heart failure due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
