Eddie Guerrero: Worthy or Not?

Throughout his career, Guerrero encountered various substance abuse problems outside of wrestling, including alcoholism and an addiction to painkillers. His problems outside of the ring were sometimes integrated into his angles. Notwithstanding these issues, he won numerous titles during his career, including the WWE Championship. He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame

Eduardo Gory Guerrero (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) was a American-born Mexican professional wrestler born into a Mexican wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan and in several major professional wrestling promotions in the United States. He wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Guerrero's personality was that of a crafty, resourceful wrestler who would do anything to win a match. His catch phrase became "Cheat to Win." Despite being a heel for most of his career, he got over in and outside the ring. Another one of his famous slogans was "I Lie! I Cheat! I Steal!," which was used in one of his entrance themes. He partly used this phrase in his autobiography Cheating Death, Stealing Life.

Throughout his career, Guerrero encountered various substance abuse problems outside of wrestling, including alcoholism and an addiction to painkillers. His problems outside of the ring were sometimes integrated into his angles. Notwithstanding these issues, he won numerous titles during his career, including the WWE Championship. He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006.

**(This is ONLY his W.W.F/E. career)**

Guerrero and the other WCW wrestlers debuted in the WWF on the January 31, 2000 edition of Raw is War as The Radicalz, interfering in a match including the New Age Outlaws. During his first match with the WWF, a tag team bout pitting the Radicalz against the Outlaws, Guerrero performed his signature Frog Splash off the top rope and severely injured his elbow on the landing. As a result, he was sidelined for several weeks.

In March 2000, Guerrero began pursuing the affections of Chyna, who he referred to as his "Mamacita." Chyna initially rejected his advances, but allied with him following WrestleMania 2000, declaring that she could not resist his "Latino Heat."

Guerrero won his first WWF title on the April 3, 2000 edition of Raw is War by defeating Chris Jericho for the WWF European Championship with help from Chyna. After Chyna abandoned Lita to be attacked by the Dudley Boyz, He and Chyna began a feud with Essa Rios and Lita, which culminated in a European title defense at Backlash 2000, 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 successfully retained the title against former Radicalz friends Saturn and Malenko in a triple threat match at Judgment Day 2000, before finally losing the title to Saturn at Fully Loaded 2000.

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. At SummerSlam 2000, Chyna won the Intercontinental Championship in a mixed tag match. They had also inserted themselves in the drama between Triple H, Stephanie, and Kurt Angle. Guerrero claimed to not mind and then begged Commissioner Mick Foley to let him take part in a title defense between Chyna and Kurt Angle on the September 4 edition of Raw is War, claiming he was afraid that Angle would injure Chyna. After Angle knocked Chyna down with the title belt, Guerrero "accidentally" pinned her to win his first WWF Intercontinental Championship while trying to revive her.

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 shooting. Just when it appeared that Chyna would leave Guerrero, he proposed to her and she accepted. At Unforgiven 2000, 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 which would become Victoria) claiming that "Two Mamacitas are better than one!"

Guerrero turned heel once again as a result of the incident and then the Radicalz reunited and feuded with the reformed D-Generation X (Chyna, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, and K-Kwik). They defeated DX at Survivor Series 2000 in an elimination tag team match and assisted Triple H in his match with Stone Cold Steve Austin. Guerrero was later defeated by Billy Gunn for the Intercontinental Championship, with help from Chyna. At Rebellion 2000, Guerrero and Malenko lost to Gunn and Chyna. Benoit left the group to focus on a singles career while the rest of the Radicalz feuded with Lita and Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff). At Armageddon 2000, Radicalz defeated Hardyz in a six-man elimination tag team match.

In early 2001, Guerrero feuded with Chris Jericho, Benoit and X-Pac over Jericho's Intercontinental Championship. At No Way Out, the four men faced each other in a fatal four way match, which Jericho won Guerrero focused on the European Championship, feuding with the champion Test. At WrestleMania X-Seven, he defeated Test to win his second WWF European Championship with help from Saturn and Malenko. Throughout the month of April, Radicalz feuded with Test and his new partners. Guerrero eventually left the Radicalz, siding with the Hardy Boyz and Lita. At this point, Guerrero developed an addiction to pain medication stemming from his 1999 car accident and in May 2001 was sent to rehabilitation. To show his absence, a storyline was created where Guerrero was "injured" by Prince Albert in a match. On November 9, 2001 he was arrested for drunk driving and was subsequently released by the WWF three days later.

Guerrero returned to WWF on the April 1, 2002 edition of Raw, attacking Rob Van Dam. He started feuding with Van Dam. At Backlash 2002, he defeated Van Dam for his second WWF Intercontinental Championship. After retaining the title against Van Dam in bouts at both Insurrextion 2002 and Judgment Day 2002, he finally lost the belt to Van Dam on the May 27 edition on Raw in a ladder match although a drunk fan jumped in the ring knocking down the ladder that Guerrero was climbing causing both Guerrero and Van Dam to think up some new moves to continue the match without any mistakes. Guerrero then started a feud with Steve Austin, but Austin left WWE before a match could take place. Chris Benoit returned to WWE the night Guerrero lost the title and reunited with him. Guerrero and Benoit feuded with Ric Flair for a while and Guerrero even lost a match to Flair at King of the Ring 2002. Guerrero then went on to have a match with The Rock, challenging him for the WWE Undisputed Championship after The Rock sang a version of "La Bamba" with the words changed to insult Guerrero on the July 29 edition of Raw.

On August 1, 2002, Guerrero and Benoit began to wrestle exclusively for WWE's SmackDown! brand. Guerrero began feuding with Edge, to whom he lost at SummerSlam 2002. Eddie continued his feud with Edge, whom he defeated at Unforgiven 2002, they then had a No Disqualification match 2 weeks after Unforgiven on SmackDown which Edge won thus ending the rivalry. With Benoit starting to focus 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." In order 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.

The duo entered the eight-team tournament for the new 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 titles. Benoit and Angle then fought for a trophy for being the first WWE Tag Team Champion. Much to Benoit's surprise, Los Guerreros helped him win the match.

At Survivor Series 2002, Los Guerreros faced the new champions Edge and Rey Mysterio and the team of Angle and Benoit for the titles. Eddie made Mysterio submit to The Lasso From El Paso to win their first WWE Tag Team Championship. They were defeated by Team Angle (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) on the February 6, 2003 edition of SmackDown!. Los Guerreros and Team Angle began feuding with each other. Los Guerreros participated at WrestleMania XIX as contenders for the Tag Team Title, along with the team of Benoit and Rhyno. Both teams lost to Haas and Benjamin in a Triple Threat Match. Guerrero participated in a #1 contender's tournament to the WWE Championship, where he lost to John Cena in the first round. At Backlash 2003, Los Guerreros lost to Team Angle in a rematch.

5 days prior to Judgment Day 2003, Chavo tore his biceps. This forced Guerrero to look for another partner. He chose Tajiri. They won the WWE Tag Team Championship, both Guerrero's and Tajiri's second at Judgment Day by defeating Team Angle in a ladder match. The following week, Guerrero and Tajiri managed to retain their title by cheating. In addition, they also defeated Roddy Piper and his protegè Sean O'Haire in Madison Square Garden. After Guerrero and Tajiri lost the title to Team Angle on the July 3 edition of SmackDown!, Guerrero turned on Tajiri, slamming his partner through the windshield of his low-rider truck.

During the summer of 2003, Guerrero had begun driving a customized lowrider to ringside as part of his ring entrance. Guerrero would also capitalize on his "Lie, Cheat, and Steal" anti-hero image by brazenly using illegal tactics behind the referee's back to win matches on occasion. He was well known for hitting someone with a steel chair (or handing the opponent the steel chair and then pretending to be knocked out himself, just as the referee turned around), or using illegal weapons during the match. Despite (or possibly because of) his immoral tactics, Guerrero continued to increase in popularity.

In July 2003, Guerrero competed in a tournament for the United States Championship. He managed to advance to the final round, defeating Último Dragon and Billy Gunn in the process, where he would meet Chris Benoit. At Vengeance 2003, Guerrero turned to his cheating tactics, hitting Benoit with the belt at one point in the match. Guerrero tried to get Benoit in trouble by placing the title belt on top of the unconscious Benoit. It did not work, however, since he knocked out the referee earlier with a belt shot to the kidneys. The match ended with interference and a Gore from Rhyno, Benoit's own partner, who was furious at the team's failure. Guerrero himself said that this was a major point in the character of Latino Heat, since he himself realized that the fans wanted to see him lie, cheat and steal. Guerrero pinned Benoit and won the WWE United States Championship.

At SummerSlam 2003, Guerrero retained his title by defeating Rhyno, Benoit and Tajiri in a Fatal Four Way match. He turned face again by engaging in a rivalry with John Cena. On the September 11 edition of SmackDown!, Guerrero challenged Cena to a "Latino Heat" Parking Lot Brawl Match for the United States Championship, which Guerrero won with help from his returning nephew, Chavo. Next week, Los Guerreros defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team (previously Team Angle) to win the WWE Tag Team Championship for a second time, although it was Guerrero's third reign. Guerrero thus held the WWE United States Championship and one-half of the WWE Tag Team Championship concurrently.

Guerrero engaged in a feud with The Big Show, which involved Guerrero poisoning the Big Show with some laxative laced burritos and then later spraying the Big Show with a sewage truck. The feud ended when Guerrero dropped the United States title to Big Show at No Mercy. Four days later, Los Guerreros lost the Tag Team Championship to the Basham Brothers (Doug and Danny). They began feuding with Basham Brothers, to whom they lost in a title match at Survivor Series 2003.

As Los Guerreros attempted to regain the tag team title, things began to go downhill between Chavo and Guerrero and animosity began to build, although Kurt Angle did his best to get the team back on their feet. Chavo then attacked and turned on Guerrero after he suffered a beating from The Bashams. Guerrero feuded with Chavo and defeated him at Royal Rumble 2004 to settle their feud.

When Chris Benoit defected to Raw after winning the 2004 Royal Rumble, using his title shot to go for Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship, Eddie won a 15-man Royal Rumble style match on the January 29, 2004 edition of SmackDown! to earn a shot at the WWE Championship.

After becoming the number one contender, Guerrero elevated himself to the main event status and began feuding with the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. At No Way Out 2004, Guerrero defeated Lesnar in the main event to win the WWE Championship. The victory made him only the second-ever Latino WWE Champion in history (following Pedro Morales), and the first Mexican American to win the main world title in an American promotion. His next feud was with Kurt Angle, whom he defeated at WrestleMania XX to retain his title in his first big defense. At the end of this event, Guerrero celebrated in the ring with longtime friend Chris Benoit, who had just won the World Heavyweight Championship.

Guerrero went on to have smaller feuds with the likes of the The Big Show and Rey Mysterio. In March, he started a feud with fellow Texan John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) after JBL interrupted in Eddie's match with Booker T. At Judgment Day 2004, Guerrero defended his WWE title against JBL and retained the title after getting himself disqualified because JBL had kayfabe given his mother a heart attack. At The Great American Bash 2004, Guerrero defended the title against JBL in a Texas Bullrope match. JBL won after Angle (who was General Manager of SmackDown! at the time) reversed the decision after Guerrero appeared to have retained the title. On the July 8 edition of SmackDown!, Guerrero pulled a switcharoo with Shannon Moore, who was wrestling as "El Gran Luchadore" and then Guerrero wore the costume. The next week on SmackDown!, Guerrero faced JBL in a steel cage match for the WWE title where El Gran Luchadore appeared again and cost Guerrero the match. It was later proved to be Kurt Angle. Guerrero continued his feud with Angle again.

At SummerSlam 2004, Guerrero lost to Angle after submitting to his ankle lock. Guerrero then allied himself with the Big Show. Each week Angle and his new allies Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak began targeting Guerrero and Big Show. Guerrero defeated Reigns in a singles match at No Mercy 2004. General Manager Theodore Long booked a Survivor Series Elimination Match between a team led by Guerrero and a team led by Angle. Guerrero's team consisted of himself, Big Show, John Cena (replacing the originally chosen Rey Mysterio), and Rob Van Dam. At Survivor Series 2004, Guerrero's team defeated Angle's team.

Guerrero, along with Booker T and The Undertaker, then challenged JBL for a WWE Championship rematch. Along the way, Guerrero found a partner in Booker T. At Armageddon 2004, Guerrero and Booker's initial teamwork broke away, and the match ended with JBL pinning Booker following the Clothesline From Hell. Afterwards, Guerrero and Booker briefly and unsuccessfully attempted to win the Tag Team Championship.

At No Way Out, Eddie teamed up with longtime friend and sometimes rival, Rey Mysterio and defeated Basham Brothers to win his final title, the WWE Tag Team Championship for a fourth time, with being it Mysterio's third reign. Many expected the new champions to defend their title at WrestleMania 21, but after encouragement from Chavo, instead Guerrero challenged Mysterio to a one-on-one match so they could "bring the house down." The two wrestled a match at WrestleMania with Mysterio getting the win. Although visibly frustrated, Guerrero congratulated his partner. After several mishaps in the weeks following WrestleMania, the growing tension between Guerrero and Mysterio finally erupted when they lost their tag team championship to the new team MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) on the April 21 edition of SmackDown!. Although next week, they received a rematch to regain the titles, Guerrero turned heel once again by abandoning his partner, whom he had considered "his family" earlier in the show.

Following his feud with Rey Mysterio, Guerrero was named number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship and given a title match with Batista. Despite this, Guerrero quickly proclaimed himself to be Batista's friend. Batista was wary of Guerrero, however, and a series of matches with MNM only supported his suspicions, as Guerrero appeared to have reverted to his cheating ways. In response to Batista's suspicions, Guerrero helped Batista win a match against his tag team partners, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Christian.

Batista defeated Guerrero at No Mercy to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. During the match, Guerrero struggled with a decision about whether or not to use a steel chair to secure the victory, eventually opting not to use it and losing as a result. Though the two demonstrated mutual respect after the match, Guerrero seemed displeased by the loss. The day of this event was Guerrero's birthday. After the show went off the air, Batista led the crowd singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Guerrero told Batista that he realized how low he had sunk since losing the WWE Championship in 2004, having attacked his best friend Rey Mysterio. Guerrero told Batista that shaking his hand at No Mercy had returned his respect to him. This turned Guerrero face again.

Guerrero wrestled his final match on the November 11 edition of SmackDown!, defeating Mr. Kennedy to qualify for a place on the SmackDown! team at the Survivor Series, in a match that he would not participate due to his death. Randy Orton was named as the official replacement for Guerrero on the team.

On November 13, 2005, Guerrero was found unconscious in his hotel room (The Marriott City Center) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by his nephew, Chavo. Chavo attempted CPR, but Guerrero was pronounced dead when paramedics arrived on the scene.

An autopsy revealed that Guerrero died as a result of acute heart failure, not caused by steroids, but rather arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Guerrero's wife Vickie claimed that he had been unwell in the week preceding his death. On the November 30 edition of WWE Byte This!, Chavo said that Guerrero had been working hard and was at peak physical fitness as a result, doing cardiovascular and weight training exercises every day. There had been no symptoms or cause of steroids.

Guerrero was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006 by Rey Mysterio, his nephew Chavo Guerrero, and Chris Benoit in Chicago, Illinois on the night before WrestleMania 22. His widow, Vickie, accepted the honor. His list of accomplishments and Championships (according to Wiki) are as follows:

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
AAA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)[162] - with Art Barr
AAA Hall of Fame (Class of 2008)

Extreme Championship Wrestling
ECW World Television Championship (2 times)

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
NJPW Junior Heavyweight Super Grade Tag League Championship (1 time) - with The Great Sasuke
Best of the Super Juniors (1996)

Pro Wrestling Federation
PWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Hector Guerrero

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI Comeback of the Year (1999)
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2002)
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2004)
PWI Stanley Weston Award (2005)
PWI ranked him # 2 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2004.

World Championship Wrestling
WCW Cruiserweight Championship (2 times)
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling All-Stars
WWA International Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Association
WWA World Welterweight Championship (1 time)
WWA World Trios Championship (1 time) - with Chavo Guerrero and Mando Guerrero

World Wrestling Federation | World Wrestling Entertainment
WWE Championship (1 time)
WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Chavo Guerrero (2), Tajiri (1), and Rey Mysterio (1)
WWE United States Championship (1 time)
WWF European Championship (2 times)
WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2006)
Eleventh Triple Crown Champion
Fifth Grand Slam Champion

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
5 Star Match (1994) with Art Barr vs. El Hijo del Santo and Octagón at When Worlds Collide in a Hair vs. Masks match on November 6
Best on Interviews (2005)
Feud of the Year (1994) with Art Barr vs. El Hijo del Santo and Octagón
Feud of the Year (1995) vs. Dean Malenko
Most Charismatic (2004, 2005)
Tag Team of the Year (1994) with Art Barr as La Pareja del Terror
Tag Team of the Year (2002) with Chavo Guerrero as Los Guerreros
Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2006)

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