Eddie Guerrero

Early life

Guerrero was born on October 9, 1967, to his parents Herlinda and Gory Guerrero. He was raised in El Paso, Texas alongside his five siblings, where he graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School (La Jeff) 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, though he dropped out after an ankle injury, then moved 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 (WCW) 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 (CMLL) 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 (AAA), teaming with El Hijo del Santo as the new version of La Pareja Atómica (The Atomic Pair), 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 Pair of 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 ("the Crazy Foreigners"), 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. On July 23, 1994, Guerrero and Barr defeated El Hijo del Santo and Octagón for the AAA World Tag Team Championship in a two-out-of-three falls match in the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois. The titles were vacated in November upon Barr's death.

Guerrero and Barr's first break would come when they were noticed in late-1994 by the owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), 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, 1998)

In April 1992, Guerrero began wrestling in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He participated in the Top of the Super Juniors III tournament, placing seventh with four points. He wrestled his second tour with NJPW in December 1992, where he formed a tag team with El Engendro. In May 1993, he participated in the Top of the Super Juniors IV tournament, this time placing joint second with 12 points.

In 1993, Guerrero adopted the persona of "Black Tiger". In April 1994, he entered the inaugural Super J-Cup, defeating Taka Michinoku in the first round but losing to Wild Pegasus in the quarterfinals. In May 1994, he participated in the inaugural Best of the Super Juniors tournament, again placing joint second with 12 points. In September 1994, he entered a one-night tournament for the vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, defeating El Samurai in the first round but losing to Wild Pegasus in the semi-finals. In October 1994, he entered the Super Grade Jr. Heavyweight Tag League with Great Sasuke as his partner, with the duo losing to Shinjiro Otani and Wild Pegasus in the finals. In November 1994, he took part in NJPW's AAA Lucha World series in which he and other members of the NJPW roster faced various wrestlers from Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración de Espectáculos, culminating in a captain's fall match in which Black Tiger and his team of Black Cat, Norio Honaga, and Wild Pegasus defeated El Hijo del Santo and his team of El Mexicano, Máscara Sagrada, and Perro Aguayo.

In June 1995, Black Tiger participated in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, losing to Wild Pegasus in the semi-finals. In June 1996, he again participated in the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, this time winning by defeating Jushin Thunder Liger in the final. He subsequently received a title shot at IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Great Sasuke at The Skydiving-J in Tokyo's Nippon Budokan, but lost the match. He ceased appearing regularly in NJPW in September 1996.

On September 23, 1998, while under contract to World Championship Wrestling, Guerrero (as "Black Tiger") returned to NJPW for a single night as part of its G1 Climax Special event in the Yokohama Arena, teaming with Chris Jericho in an unsuccessful challenge to IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995)

Guerrero won the ECW World Television Championship from 2 Cold Scorpio in his debut match for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) 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 (WCW) 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)

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 (notably being one of only two men in the group to be under the age of 35, the other being The Giant) until he was tossed out of the ring by Four Horsemen members.

At Starrcade '95: 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.

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.

World Wrestling Federation (2000–2001)

Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn debuted in the WWF on the January 31, 2000 episode of Raw is War as the Radicalz, interfering in a match involving the New Age Outlaws, establishing themselves as faces. During his first match with the WWF, a tag team match with Perry Saturn against the New Age Outlaws, Guerrero performed a frog splash off the top rope and dislocated his elbow when he landed the move; as a result, he was sidelined for several weeks. Guerrero and Saturn had originally been booked to defeat the New Age Outlaws, but due to his injury, Guerrero panicked and told Road Dogg, who was in the tag team match with Billy Gunn against Guerrero and Saturn, to immediately pin him.

After losing their "tryout matches" upon entry, The Radicalz aligned themselves with WWF Champion Triple H and became a heel faction.

In March, Guerrero, who was wrestling as a heel, began pursuing the affections of Chyna, who he referred to as his "mamacita". At the time, Chyna was allies with Chris Jericho and initially rejected his advances. On the April 3 episode of Raw is War, Guerrero faced off against Jericho for the WWF European Championship. During the match, Chyna turned on Jericho and helped Guerrero win, and later explained her actions by declaring that she could not resist his "Latino Heat". After Guerrero abandoned Lita to be attacked by The Dudley Boyz, he and Chyna began a feud with Essa Rios and Lita, ending in a European title defense at Backlash on April 30, which was also billed as the night of Guerrero's prom (he was said to have just earned a GED). Guerrero defeated Rios after arriving at ringside in a 1957 Chevrolet, even wrestling in his tuxedo pants and a bow tie. Guerrero turned face and successfully retained the title against former Radicalz friends Saturn and Malenko in a triple threat match at Judgment Day on May 21, before losing the title to Saturn at Fully Loaded on July 23. The two slowly began to become popular with the fans, but over the next few months friction began to build between Guerrero and Chyna.

Chyna was upset when Guerrero pinned her to advance in the King of the Ring tournament. Then at SummerSlam on August 27, Guerrero and Chyna wrestled an intergender tag team match against Trish Stratus and Val Venis, who at the time was the reigning WWF Intercontinental Champion. The Intercontinental Championship was on the line in the match, and whoever scored the pin would win the title. Guerrero's team won the match, but Chyna scored the pin on Trish and became a two-time Intercontinental Champion. Although Guerrero said he did not mind that Chyna was the champion, on the September 4 episode of Raw is War he went to WWF Commissioner Mick Foley and asked to be inserted into Chyna's title defense against Kurt Angle claiming that he did not want Angle to hurt his "mamacita". During the course of the match, Angle knocked down Chyna with the title belt and Guerrero laid on top of her to try to revive her. However, this resulted in Guerrero "accidentally" pinning Chyna as her shoulders were still on the mat, and thus Guerrero won the match and his first Intercontinental Championship. Chyna became visibly uncomfortable as Guerrero began to cheat in order to retain his title, while Guerrero was upset that Chyna was posing for Playboy magazine, even trying to invade the Playboy Mansion to stop the photo shoot. Just when it appeared that Chyna would leave Guerrero, he proposed to her and she accepted. At Unforgiven on September 24, Chyna helped Guerrero in retaining his title against Rikishi. The engagement was called off when Guerrero was caught showering with two of The Godfather's hos (one of whom would later wrestle as Victoria) claiming that "two mamacitas are better than one".

Independent circuit (2001–2002)

Guerrero started wrestling on the independent circuit after his release from the WWF. His first match was on November 30, 2001, for Insane Championship Wrestling in New York City, losing to Low Ki. He fought in a few matches in Puerto Rico IWA Puerto Rico in December 2001. Then on February 9, 2002, he wrestled in London, England for FWA Revival - King Of England Tournament, where he defeated Scott Parker in the quarter-finals and lost to Doug Williams in semi finals. On February 23, 2002, he faced Super Crazy on the debut show of Ring of Honor known as The Era of Honor Begins to crown the first-ever IWA Intercontinental Champion. Guerrero lost the match. On February 24, he debuted in the Australian promotion World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) at The Revolution beating the champion Juventud Guerrera and Psicosis in a Triple Threat match for the WWA International Cruiserweight Championship. On March 1, he defeated the champion CM Punk and Rey Mysterio in a Triple Threat match for the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship. He dropped the title back to Punk one day later on March 2. He vacated the WWA Cruiserweight title in April 2002 after returning to the WWF.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2002)

Guerrero returned to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on March 10, 2002 as part of its Hyper Battle tour, this time unmasked and wrestling under his own name. Upon arrival, he aligned himself with Black Tiger and the villainous Team 2000 stable. He made his final appearance with NJPW on March 24, teaming with the other members of Team 2000 to defeat El Samurai, Jushin Liger, Masahito Kakihara, Masayuki Naruse, and Minoru Tanaka in an elimination match in Amagasaki.

Return to WWF/E (2002–2005)

Guerrero returned to the WWF on the April 1, 2002 episode of Raw, attacking Rob Van Dam. Guerrero feuded with Van Dam, defeating Van Dam for his second and final Intercontinental Championship at Backlash on April 21. After retaining the title against Van Dam at Insurrextion on May 4 and Judgment Day on May 19, Guerrero finally lost the title to Van Dam on the May 27 episode of Raw in a ladder match in which a fan in an Edmonton Oilers jersey pushed him off a ladder. Guerrero then feuded with Stone Cold Steve Austin, but Austin left the WWE before a match could take place. Chris Benoit returned to WWE the night Guerrero lost the title and reunited with Guerrero. Guerrero and Benoit feuded with Ric Flair for a while and Guerrero lost a match to Flair at King of the Ring on June 23.

On the August 1 episode of SmackDown!, Guerrero and Benoit moved to WWE's SmackDown! brand. Guerrero feuded with Edge, to whom he lost at SummerSlam on August 25. Guerrero continued his feud with Edge, whom he defeated at Unforgiven on September 22; they then had a no disqualification match on the September 26 episode of SmackDown! which Edge won thus ending the rivalry.

With Benoit focusing on Kurt Angle, Guerrero aligned himself with his nephew Chavo, forming the tag team Los Guerreros. In contrast to a previous WCW storyline with his nephew, Chavo fully agreed with his uncle as their slogan stated: "We lie, we cheat, and we steal, but at least we're honest about it". To push the new tag team, vignettes were produced, which included things such as the two finagling their way into a rich lady's house and throwing a pool party. These segments marked the beginning of the rise of popularity for the team, especially Eddie, who continued to use the mannerisms.

The duo entered the eight-team tournament for the new WWE Tag Team Championship, sneaking past Rikishi and Mark Henry in the opening round, before starting a feud with the newly formed tag team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. In one of the team's definitive moments, Chavo told Benoit that his former friend Guerrero was assaulted by his tag team partner Angle. Benoit ran to make the save, only to have himself locked inside a room. Guerrero then appeared in the room and assaulted Benoit with a steel chair. Benoit and Angle managed to overcome their differences and eventually defeated Los Guerreros in the tournament semi-finals. Later on, Benoit and Angle won the title. Benoit and Angle then fought for a trophy for being the first WWE Tag Team Champions. Much to Benoit's surprise, Los Guerreros helped him win the match.

Professional wrestling style and persona

After the death of his friend Art Barr, Guerrero started to use the frog splash in tribute, which became his most common and well known finishing move. He also used to perform 3 sequential vertical suplexes, calling the triad the "Three Amigos”. He would also use a variation of the Texas Cloverleaf submission hold, dubbing it the "Lasso from El Paso".

Towards the end of his life and career, Guerrero was known for driving lowrider cars to the ring during his entrances. He started doing this while tag teaming with his nephew Chavo and continued doing it after the team split in 2004, along with Guerrero carrying on the wider "Lie, Cheat and Steal" gimmick that he and Chavo used as a tag team. He stopped doing this in May 2005 after turning on Rey Mysterio, instead showing a more sinister and spiteful side to his character. He briefly resumed driving the low rider again in October after turning face following his feud with Batista.

Also in his later career, Guerrero was known for cheating and breaking rules to win matches, even as a face (heroic) character, most of whom typically try to follow the rules. As a face, this would be used to give his character the quality of a lovable rogue and, at times, balance out cheating carried out by other heels by taking advantage for himself. As a heel, it would instead be used to draw heat from the crowd by making him appear cowardly or dishonest, while gaining an unfair advantage on his opponents.

One such tactic, often included in his matches, saw Guerrero employ what commentator Tazz would refer to as “The Smoking Gun"; Guerrero would retrieve a chair, championship belt, or other unauthorized item and toss it to his opponent as the referee turned around from a distraction. As the referee began assessing the issue, returning the item to its original location, or arguing with Guerrero's opponent, Guerrero would gain an advantage of some sort to win the match. Some matches had Guerrero smack a chair on the mat and toss the chair to his opponent and lie on the ground, pretending to have been struck by the chair. When the referee turned around and saw the opponent had the chair, they would assume it was used on Guerrero and call a disqualification in Guerrero's favor. Guerrero was also known for his resourcefulness via other means, such as at WrestleMania XX by rolling up Kurt Angle after loosening his own boot while trapped in an ankle lock.

Other media

On March 13, 2004, Guerrero (WWE Champion), along with Big Show, Trish Stratus and Chris Jericho, made a guest appearance on MADtv as he and the other wrestlers "beat up" Frank Caliendo (portraying Jay Leno) while Aries Spears (portraying The Tonight Show Band leader Kevin Eubanks) watched on. There have also been several DVDs and books released about his life and career, including Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story (DVD, 2004), Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story (book, released on December 5, 2005), and Viva La Raza: The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero (DVD 2008). Additionally, the song "We Lie, We Cheat, We Steal" that he performed with Chavo was released on the WWE Originals CD.

Guerrero's catchphrase during the latter part of his career with WWE was "Viva La Raza" (which is Spanish for "Long Live the Race"). In the mid parts of his career, Guerrero took the title of "Latino Heat", which was also his theme song in the early 2000s. He has also been featured in WWE's Best Smackdown matches video of its 15-year Friday Night span, upon the show being moved to Thursday nights on Thursday, January 15, 2015, he features in 5 of the top 15 matches including the number 1 spot where his No Disqualification bout with Edge topped the list of best Smackdown matches.

On May 26, 2024, Eddie was the subject of the Biography: WWE Legends.

Personal life

From 1990 until his death in 2005, Guerrero was married to Vickie Guerrero, with whom he had two daughters: Shaul Marie Guerrero and Sherilyn Amber Guerrero, both of whom became wrestlers. He also had another daughter named Kaylie Marie Guerrero during his two-year separation from Vickie.

Following several injuries in his career during the 1990s, Guerrero became addicted to alcohol and drugs, including painkillers and performance-enhancing substances; he suffered three drug overdoses prior to being released from the WWF in 2001, following which he worked towards getting sober.

Guerrero was a close friend of fellow wrestlers Art Barr, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, Matt Hardy, Chris Jericho, JBL, and Batista. He was a born-again Christian.

Death

On November 13, 2005, Guerrero's nephew Chavo found him unconscious in his hotel room at the Marriott Hotel City Center in Minneapolis. Chavo later explained that Guerrero had passed out in his hotel bathroom with a toothbrush in his hand and that the basin water was running; he added that he was still alive when he was discovered. Upon the ambulance's arrival at the scene, he was pronounced dead at the age of 38. An autopsy revealed his death was the result of acute heart failure. His funeral service was officiated by "Superstar" Billy Graham.

Legacy

The episodes of Raw on November 14, 2005, and SmackDown! on November 18, 2005, were both filmed on November 13 and each aired as tributes to Guerrero. All storylines were put on hold and WWE employees were not required to perform, although several matches took place, including one featuring Chavo. Raw started with all the wrestlers and numerous backstage personnel onstage as Vince McMahon addressed the live crowd, before finishing with a ten-bell salute. In addition to the Raw and SmackDown! tribute shows, TNA dedicated its Genesis event (which aired the evening of his death) to Guerrero, while ROH renamed their next show to Night of Tribute. OVW, WWE's then-developmental territory, also paid tribute to Guerrero on their television taping. Many of the wrestlers there wore armbands with Guerrero's initials on them. Other wrestlers, primarily Guerrero's nephew Chavo and friends Mysterio and Christian Cage, began paying tribute to him in their matches by using his Frog Splash finisher. CZW also paid tribute to Guerrero with a ten-bell salute during one of their events. Mysterio and CM Punk dedicated some of their matches to Guerrero. 3 Doors Down's song "Here Without You" and Johnny Cash's "Hurt" were used in tribute videos for Guerrero.

Just five months following his death Guerrero was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a part of the class of 2006. He was inducted by Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero. That same year he was also inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

In a poll of the WWE roster, Guerrero was ranked the 11th-greatest professional wrestler of all time. Ric Flair ranked Guerrero as one of his top 10 opponents, while Chris Jericho said he was the best performer in the world when he was "on". Kurt Angle named Guerrero as the second-greatest professional wrestler of all time, behind Shawn Michaels, stating: "[Eddie] could have been the absolute greatest of all time because when I wrestled, he was still in that top three we were talking about, so Eddie had it all. He was so entertaining, but he also had all the technique. He was such a great wrestler and he got it. He got finishes. He knew how to structure them." WWE named Guerrero one of the most beloved and accomplished WWE superstars of all time, one of the best technical wrestlers ever, and the fifth-greatest performer in the history of the company's SmackDown brand. In 2024 IGN ranked Guerrero as the 13th greatest pro wrestler of all time writing "A hero and inspiration to Mercedes Mone and countless others, Eddie was a one of a kind talent who'd sadly only scratched the surface of his career when he passed."

Championships and accomplishments

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración

AAA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Art Barr

AAA Hall of Fame (Class of 2008)

Cauliflower Alley Club

Men's Wrestling Award (2008) as part of The Wrestling Guerreros

Extreme Championship Wrestling

ECW World Television Championship (2 times)

El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame

Class of 2023

Hardcore Hall of Fame

Class of 2015

Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South

IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Latin American Wrestling Association

LAWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Best of the Super Juniors III (1996)

Junior Heavyweight Super Grade Tag League (1996) – with The Great Sasuke

Pro Wrestling Federation

PWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Héctor Guerrero