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ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF EDDIE GUERRERO'S PASSING

PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE LATE EDDIE GUERRERO
by Dave Scherer  

I don't even know what to say about the passing of Eddie Guerrero, I really don't.  As I sit here and type this, I am numb, blindsided by news I didn't see coming, from miles away.  It was just Friday night that he was in the ring with Mr. Kennedy entertaining us on Smackdown, and now he's gone.  

His dying, far too young, is a tragedy.  There is no other way to look at it.  A wife has lost her husband.  Children have lost their father.  Well beyond that, we as wrestling fans have lost a true champion as well, and it's just downright sad my friends.  

I remember the first time I saw Eddie work, as Black Tiger for New Japan.  I was a huge Japanese wrestling fan at the time and Eddie, almost literally, jumped off of the TV screen with his amazing ability in the ring.  He was a guy who, the first time I saw him, I knew would be a star in the business for a long time due to the simple fact that he was an amazing wrestler.  As we would later find out, there was more to him than just wrestling prowess in the ring.  He also knew how to work and convey himself to the masses.

Eddie first showed the world his ability to project his character in the ring after he teamed up with Art "Love Machine" Barr as a part of the fabled "Los Gringos Locos" faction.  They were the most over heel tag team in Mexico, working the fans into a frenzy with their in-ring antics and legendary feud with El Hijo Del Santo and Octagon down in AAA over a decade ago.  It was clear at the time that both men had a big future ahead of them.  

Fans in the US got to see them work at the "When Worlds Collide" PPV in November of 1994 and friends of mine who had not followed lucha before that suddenly understood what I had been raving about where Guerrero and Barr were concerned once they saw the show.  Suddenly, lucha tapes became a huge commodity.  Paul Heyman had planned to bring them into ECW and push them to the moon, but then Barr died later that month.  Eddie had to deal with serious tragedy in his personal and professional life after his friend's passing.  He adopted Barr's frog splash finisher in homage to Barr and came into ECW in 1995.

Watching him work at the ECW Arena was something that is hard for me, even a decade after the fact, to aptly describe.  His feud with Dean Malenko produced matches that could only be described as mesmerizing, they were that good.  The fluidity and grace with which Eddie moved and worked was unlike anyone I had ever seen before him, and may ever see again.  All you had to do was watch him and you could tell he was a national star in the making.  As an ECW fan, I knew that seeing his work up close was something that was on borrowed time.  Sure enough, Eric Bischoff didn't take long to sign him to a big money deal to work for WCW, and Eddie was gone.  I remember we interviewed him and Dean Malenko backstage at the ECW Arena on their last night in the company.  I had spoken to Eddie before, and he was always a nice, quiet guy.  But that night, he was genuinely touched by the farewell that the Arena faithful had given him, and it came across that way to me.  He was a man who cared deeply about his work and appreciated those who appreciated him.

Once in WCW, the nation had the chance to watch his unparalleled abilities, and just as I thought, Eddie got over like a million bucks.  His time in WCW led to his run in WWE, where he was a top character and a world champion.  In the ring, there was no one like him, but putting his body on the line, night after night, would take its toll in the long run, as would the pride that he took in his work and the pressure that he put on himself to succeed.

It's no secret that Eddie had his demons.  He had issues with drugs and alcohol that affected him throughout the later years of his life.  The bumps that workers take throughout their career hurt more and more as the years go on.  At 38 years old, there were a lot of bumps on Eddies body.  It's also no secret that his run as WWE Champion took its toll on him emotionally as he put a ridiculous amount of pressure on himself to succeed.  When Smackdown business was soft when he was the champ, he took it personally and it affected him more than it would most others.  It was just his way, and it was a lot of the reason why he had the success that he did.  

Now, he's gone, at just 38 years old.  It's still so hard for me to comprehend.  It hasn't sunk in really.  All I can I hope out of all this is that has found peace and that the pain is gone.  Rest in peace Eddie, rest in peace.

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