Eddie Guerrero (also known as Eddy Guerrero, born Eduardo Gori Guerrero Llanes on October 9, 1967 in Ciudad Ju?rez, Chihuahua, Mexico, died November 13, 2005 in a hotel room in Minneapolis, Minnesota), was a Hispanic professional wrestler. The most notable companies he worked for were World Wrestling Entertainment, World Championship Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling.
He came from a legendary wrestling family. His late father, Gory Guerrero, is considered one of the greatest wrestlers in Mexican history. His oldest brother, Chavo Guerrero, is a legendary junior heavyweight wrestler, feuding with Japanese legend Atsushi Onita. His brother Hector Guerrero is also somewhat well-known and brother Mando Guerrero wrestles as well. His nephew, Chavo Guerrero, Jr. wrestles in World Wrestling Entertainment. His uncle Enrique Llanes and cousin Javier Llanes are also popular wrestlers but their popularity is restricted to Mexico. He also had two sisters, Cuqui and Linda.
Early careerEddie Guerrero was raised in El Paso, Texas, and attended the University of New Mexico as well as New Mexico Highlands University on an athletic scholarship, where he wrestled collegiately, before returning to El Paso to train as a professional wrestler. He debuted in 1987 in the Mexican Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre promotion. He became a star in Mexico long before he main evented in the United States. In 1993, Guerrero began wrestling in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he was known as Black Tiger II. In Mexico, he wrestled mainly for Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion, teaming with El Hijo del Santo as the new version of La Pareja At?mica (The Atomic Pair), the legendary 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 and Madonna?s Boyfriend, Guerrero formed Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans), a heel stable.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. However, Barr died before he could join ECW with Eddie. As an homage to his fallen friend, Eddie adopted his friend's finishing move, the Frog Splash. Eddie won the ECW World Television Championship on his debut, and went on to have a series of excellent matches with Dean Malenko before they both jumped to World Championship Wrestling later that year.
World Championship WrestlingIn WCW, he found considerable singles success, winning the United States Heavyweight Title in late 1996 and two World Cruiserweight titles in 1997.Eric Bischoff never took Eddie Guerrero, or his friends seriously to accept them as main event stars in WCW. This lead to Guerrero getting coffee thrown all over him when he requested to be pushed in his character or asked for a raise in his pay for family reasons, and thus Guerrerro constantly and angrily responded by asking for a release in his WCW contract (in which he did in a live episode of WCW Nitro). Eddie then left the company for a couple of months, angry at Bischoff for what he had done. However, Eddie would return to WCW, thus leading to beliefs that maybe Eddie's angry speeches against Bischoff were actually worked (Eddie would later rebut this on WWE's DVD "The Monday Night War" claiming that he tried to put aside personal differences aside for the good of the company, yet found himself angry and outraged once more because of Bischoff's continutity of lowering him and other stars down).Eddie responded to Bischoff's actions by forming the Latino World Order (also known as LWO), in which was seen by the fans to be a mockery of Bischoff's nWo stable at the time. It was actually an answer to Bischoff's refusal to push the Latino wrestlers in spotlights that they deserved to enjoy. Members of the LWO included Psychosis, Rey Mysterio, Jr., Los Villanos and La Parka. He turned heel in 1998, a role which he is best at, judging from his days in AAA in Mexico. He was involved in a serious car accident in 1999, in which he was expected to die. However, Eddie managed to survive the accident, and in just a couple of months he was back to wrestling, despite the fact that he hated working in WCW.Around this time, he became unhappy with WCW management and jumped to the WWF in 2000, with Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn.
World Wrestling FederationGuerrero and the other WCW wrestlers debuted in the WWF on January 31, 2000 as the heel group The Radicalz. After dislocating his elbow while performing a Frog Splash, Guerrero was sidelined for several weeks. In March 2000, Guerrero began pursuing the affections of Chyna, who he referred to as his Mamacita. Chyna was initially repelled, but allied with him, declaring that she "couldn't resist his Latino Heat". This made Eddie Guerrero turn face.After defeating Chris Jericho for the European Championship on April 3, Guerrero held the title for just under three months. He and Chyna began a feud with Essa Rios and Lita, which culimanted in a title defence on April 30 at Backlash, 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. Guerrero successfully retained the title in matches with Saturn and Malenko before finally losing to Saturn on July 23.Over the next few months, friction began to build between the couple. Chyna was upset when Guerrero pinned her to advance in the King of the Ring Tournament, but forgave him when he presented her with a puppy. On August 27, Chyna pinned Trish Stratus in an inter-gender tag match between Chyna and Eddie and Trish and Val Venis, winning Venis' Intercontinental Championship as a result. Guerrero claimed not to mind, and on September 4 he begged Commissioner Mick Foley to let him take part in a title defence between Chyna and Kurt Angle, because he was afraid that Angle would injure Chyna. After Angle levelled Chyna with the title belt, Guerrero "accidentally" pinned her 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 photoshoot. Just when it appeared that Chyna would leave Guerrero, he proposed to her and she accepted, much to the dismay of her fans. The engagement was called off when Guerrero was caught showering with two of The Godfather's hos, Mandy and Victoria, claiming that "Two Mamacitas are better than one!". Guerrero turned heel once again as a result of the incident, and was later defeated for the Intercontinental Championship by Chyna's friend Billy Gunn.The Radicalz reunited in late 2000, assisting Triple H in his match with Stone Cold Steve Austin at Survivor Series. In early 2001, Guerrero feuded with Test, winning the European Championship for a second time at WrestleMania X-Seven with help from Saturn and Malenko. 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 1997 car accident, and in May 2001 he was send to rehabilitation. On November 9, 2001 he was arrested for drunk driving and was subsequently released by the WWF three days later.
Independent CircuitGuerrero appeared with numerous independent promotions, including Ring of Honor and the World Wrestling All-Stars. Following a number of highly acclaimed matches, such as his bout with Doug Williams at FWA British Uprising, he was rehired by the WWE in March 2002.
World Wrestling EntertainmentGuerrero returned to RAW on April 1, 2002, attacking Rob Van Dam and reuniting with then heel Chris Benoit. On April 21 at Backlash he defeated RVD for the Intercontinental Championship. He lost the belt back to RVD a month later in a highly acclaimed Ladder Match, in the course of which an overenthusiastic fan ran into the ring and knocked the ladder over while he was climbing it. Guerrero then attacked Steve Austin in a bar, beginning a feud, but Austin left the WWE before a match could take place. He went on to feud briefly with The Rock.
Los Guerreros On August 1 Guerrero and Benoit jumped to SmackDown!. With Benoit starting to focus on Kurt Angle, Eddie decided to align himself with his nephew Chavo, forming the successful tag team Los Guerreros. In contrast to a previous WCW storyline with his nephew, Chavo fully adopted his uncle's policy of "Lie, Cheat and Steal" to win matches as part of the gimmick. The duo entered the 8-team tournament for the new WWE Tag-Team Championship and began a feud with the newly formed tag team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit, who just defeated John Cena and Billy Kidman. Chavo told Benoit that his former friend Eddie was assaulted by his tag team partner Kurt Angle. Benoit ran to make the save, only to have himself locked inside a room. Eddie, with a steel chair, assaulted Benoit.Benoit and Angle managed to overcome their differences and eventually defeated Eddie and Chavo in the tournament semi-finals. Later on, Benoit and Angle won the WWE Tag Team Titles after defeating Rey Mysterio and Edge. It is also on this day that Benoit and Angle got revenge on the Los Guerreros, with Benoit telling Eddie that his nephew was being assaulted by Kurt Angle. Eddie chose not to fall for it, but in fact Chavo was being assaulted.Later on, Benoit and Angle fought for a trophy (for being the first WWE Tag Team Champion). Surprisingly, Eddie and Chavo helped Benoit win this match, to Benoit's surprise. Angle quickly attack his tag team partner and destroyed the trophy, ensuring that neither man would have it. Los Guerreros would then be given another shot at the WWE Tag Team titles. Meanwhile, new champions were crowned, Edge and Rey Mysterio. At Survivor Series 2002, Eddie made Rey Mysterio submit to The Lasso From El Paso. Los Guerreros had just started their reign as the WWE Tag Team Champions.Team Angle challenged Eddie and Chavo and eventually captured the Tag Titles. Prior to Judgment Day, Chavo tore his bicep. This forced Eddie to look for another partner. He chose Yoshihiro Tajiri. They won the Tag Titles at Judgment Day in a Ladder Match. In the following week, Eddie and Tajiri managed to retain their titles by cheating. In addition, they also defeated the legendary Roddy Piper and his proteg? Sean O'Haire. After Eddie and Tajiri lost the titles to Team Angle on July 1, Eddie then turned on Tajiri, slamming his partner through the windshield of his low-rider truck.
United States ChampionshipIn mid-2003, Eddie competed in a tournament for the new WWE United States Championship. He managed to defeat Ultimo Dragon and Billy Gunn to advance to the final round, where he would meet Chris Benoit who just eliminated Rhyno. In this match, Eddie is up to his dirty tricks, clocking Benoit with the belt and hitting a Frog Splash. Benoit managed to kick out, however. Eddie tried to get Benoit in trouble by placing the title belt on top of the unconcsious Benoit. It didn't work, however, since he knocked out the ref earlier with a belt shot to the kidneys. The match ended thanks to an interference by Rhyno and his finishing maneuver, The Gore.At SummerSlam, Eddie retained his title by defeating Rhyno, Benoit, and Tajiri. He reverted to being a face again by engaging in a rivalry with John Cena. Eddie challenged Cena to a "Latino Heat" Street Fight for the US championship. Eddie countered Cena's F-U and connected with a Frog Splash for the three count. It was also in this match that Chavo made his return, assisting Eddie in executing his Frog Splash on Cena.
WWE ChampionshipAs Eddie's popularity grew, Eddie began seeking the WWE Title. In a storyline, Eddie's singles success made Chavo jealous and Chavo broke from the team. At this time, the summer of 2003, Eddie began driving a customized lowrider to ringside as part of his ring entrance. (He has become identified sufficiently with lowriders that he appeared on the cover of the February 2004 issue of Lowrider magazine; he is the first man ever to appear on the cover of that publication ? normally, the cover includes a lowrider and a bikini-clad woman; the Guerrero cover has the same features but adds him). Guerrero would also capitalize on his "Lie, Cheat, and Steal" anti-heel image by brazenly (though always behind the referee's back) using illegal tactics to win matches on occasion. These actions however not only increased his popularity, but also made him comical in which the fans would laugh. Guerrero won his first WWE Championship at WWE's No Way Out pay per view on February 15, 2004, defeating Brock Lesnar. He would enjoy many months of success as champion, which included a win against Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania XX as well as victories over Big Show and Rey Mysterio. He would later lose the title to John "Bradshaw" Layfield, due to Kurt Angle's interference.At SummerSlam, Kurt Angle made Eddie Guerrero submit to the Angle Lock. Eddie made an alliance with Big Show, who also despised Kurt Angle for firing him while Angle was still SmackDown! general manager. Meanwhile, Angle made an alliance with Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak. At No Mercy, Eddie pinned Luther Reigns after using a police baton stolen from a police officer.Each week Angle and his allies began targeting Eddie and the Big Show. General Manager Theodore Long booked a Survivor Series Elimination Match between a team lead by Eddie and a team lead by Kurt Angle. Eddie's team consisted of himself, Big Show, Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam. Eddie was forced to find another member for his team because Rey Mysterio had just been given an opportunity to win back the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Eddie selected John Cena, who was feuding with Carlito, a member of Angle's Survivor Series team. At Survivor Series, Eddie eliminated Mark Jindrak and landed the Frog Splash to Kurt Angle for the victory.Eddie, along with Booker T and The Undertaker, challenged John "Bradshaw" Layfield for a WWE Championship rematch. Along the way, Eddie found a partner in Booker T. Despite losing two matches in a row as a tag team, Eddie and Booker managed to get along. At Armageddon, Eddie and Booker worked as a unit, taking down both Bradshaw and Undertaker. The two broke away from the team and made it clear that it was every man for themselves. Eddie would then be taken out by Undertaker. Afterward, Eddie and Booker briefly made an unsuccessful run to gain the tag team titles.
Feud with Rey MysterioOn February 20, 2005, Guerrero once again became a tag team champion, this time with long time friend and rival Rey Mysterio when they defeated Doug Basham and Danny Basham at No Way Out. Many expected the new champions to defend their titles at WrestleMania 21, but after encouragement from Chavo, instead Eddie challenged Rey, 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 titles to new team MNM on the April 21 episode of Smackdown.On April 28, 2005, Eddie and Mysterio faced MNM in a rematch for the WWE tag team championships. During the match Mysterio tagged in accidentally and then hit Eddie off the side of the ring and Eddie landed on the floor. Eddie then got up, but he refused to tag Mysterio. MNM double teamed Mysterio and threw him out of the ring. Eddie then gave Mysterio a glare and a frown and walked off. As a result, Eddie has now officially turned heel once again in the WWE betraying his long time friend, Rey Mysterio, who he had dubbed "his family" earlier in the show. The next week on SmackDown!, Guerrero appeared to adopt a new, somewhat sociopathic gimmick. Though Guerrero had historically been characterized by his emotion in the ring, on this edition of the show he viciously and emotionlessly beat up his former tag team partner, leaving him bruised and bloody on a set of steel steps. At Judgment Day 2005 on May 22, Guerrero lost to Mysterio by disqualification when Eddie hit Mysterio with a chair. With this heel turn, Eddie began using his submission maneuver again, known as the Lasso From El Paso. He has also stopped driving his low riders down the ring. Instead he walks down with new music with a frown on his face. Eddie finally defeated Rey on the first edition of Friday Night Smackdown in a Steel Cage MatchThat June, he appeared at ECW One Night Stand, losing to Chris Benoit.
The SecretThe feud with Rey Mysterio has involved a "secret" about Rey, which Eddie threatened to reveal if Rey did not do things for him. The secret would involve Dominick, Rey Mysterio's (real life) son.On July 15, 2005 Eddie was going to tell the "secret" about Rey. Eddie's wife, with their two daughters, came in to calm him down. Eddie rudely made them leave. Eddie was then booked for a match against Rey at The Great American Bash. If Rey won, then the "secret" would be kept. If he lost then Eddie would tell the whole world the secret. Fortunately, Rey managed to beat Eddie in their Great American Bash match, forcing Eddie to keep silent. On the next Smackdown after the Bash, Eddie told the secret anyway, and told Dominick that he was his real father, causing Dominick to run from his father through the crowd in sadness. Guerrero sat down and read "Eddie's Bedtime Stories", explaining the details.According to the storyline, years ago while he was living wild, he got a woman pregnant. Since she already had seven children, and he did not want any more children, and knowing Mysterio was having trouble starting his own family, he took Dominick and left him with Rey and his wife to raise. (This angle, supported by Rey Mysterio, was based on the days of Eddie's drug addiction, which left him with no money and resulted in the breakup of his marriage, which in real life was restored once he straightened out. Also, during his troubled days Eddie did have a child out of wedlock, which unlike the storyline he currently supports, though in reality he has only three daughters.) Guerrero also promised to read Chapter 2 of "Eddie's Bedtime Stories" the following week.On the next Smackdown after Rey defeated Christian in a match, Eddie and his female companion (who turned out to be his attorney) showed Rey some custody papers that stated that Eddie was the legal and biological father of Dominick. Eddie then said that Rey will have to bring his son to the next Smackdown match to return him.Dominick was then sent to be in a Foster care. Eddie lost to Rey at Summerslam 2005 in a ladder match for the custody of Dominick.
Challenger to the World Heavyweight ChampionshipEddie Guerrero defeated Rey Mysterio in a cage match on the premiere of Friday Night SmackDown. On the September 16 edition of SmackDown, it was announced that Eddie would be challenging World Heavyweight Champion Batista at No Mercy 2005, following his victory over Rey Mysterio. Eddie quickly proclaimed himself to be Batista's friend, and, the following week, he and Batista were booked to face MNM in a tag team contest. However, Guerrero claimed to have food poisoning, and merely acted as a spectator during the tag team contest, forcing Batista to wrestle a de-facto handicap match until Guerrero blind-tagged him late in the match and quickly pinned Joey Mercury. There is speculation that Eddie might be back to his face character.The next week, Eddie and Batista teamed up to face the Legion of Doom (Heidenreich and Road Warrior Animal) in a match for the WWE Tag Team titles. The match was declared a DQ win for LOD, when MNM interfered and smacked Animal with a chair. Batista, having had enough, grabbed Johnny Nitro and was about to deliver the Batista Bomb when Eddie swung a chair at Joey Mercury. Mercury ducked and Eddie accidentally hit Batista with the chair. Eddie quickly gave the chair to Mercury, and lay down on the floor. When Batista turned around, he saw Eddie knocked out on the floor and Mercury with a chair. A livid Batista gave Mercury a big spinebuster, and smacked the chair off Mercury's back. While Eddie came out to the ring on the next SmackDown! acting as Batista's cheerleader, Batista confronted Eddie, telling him that his time in Evolution had given him "eyes at the back of my head." A hurt Eddie sought to "prove" his desire for friendship with Batista by selling out his tag team partners John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Christian later that night in a six-man tag team match to help Batista win. Batista defeated Eddie at No Mercy to retain his World title. At one point of the match, Eddie had Batista down and the referee unconscious, and seized a steel chair to make the kill. But just as he lifted the chair over his head facing an injured Batista (who was face down), Eddie took the chair and threw it back out of the ring. Batista overpowered Eddie later in the match. At the end of the match, Eddie and Batista shook hands, but Eddie was seen scowling behind Batista's back. On October 14, 2005 Eddie was in a match against Randy Orton with Cowboy Bob Orton in his corner for the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Champion. Eddie won by DQ, as Bob Orton pushed him from the top of the rope as Eddie was attempting a Frog splash. At the end of the match Eddie officially turned face once again when the Ortons attacked him. Batista came in for the save, and GM Theodore Long made a tag team match between Batista and Guerrero, and the Ortons.
Return of Latino HeatOn the October 21 episode, Bob Orton pleaded a back injury to get himself out of the match. Randy sought help from Ken Kennedy, and the two squared off against Batista and Eddie. At one point, Ken Kennedy seized a steel chair, climbed up the top rope and sought to jump and strike Batista, who was looking to pin a downed Randy Orton. Eddie rushed in and covered Batista's back. A surprised Kennedy jumped down from the rope and looked at Eddie, but then struck him down anyway. Cowboy Bob Orton then rushed to the ring and intefered with an enraged Batista who was preparing to knock out Kennedy. Along with Randy, the three battered down Batista and Eddie.Just before the match, Eddie told Batista that he realized how low he had sunk since being WWE Champion in 2004; having attacked his best friend Rey Mysterio and acting degenerately. Guerrero told him that Batista shaking his hand at No Mercy had returned his respect to him.Theodore Long informed the five and the crowd that next week in San Francisco, there would be a six-man tag team main event: Batista, Eddie and Rowdy Roddy Piper vs. The Ortons and Ken Kennedy. On the October 28 episode of SmackDown!, Batista gave Eddie a surprise gift: it turned out to be Guerrero's low rider that he drove in his ring entrances. Upon seeing the low rider, Eddie asked Batista to ride on it out to the ring. Eddie's old ring entrance music was played, and indeed, the Latino Heat is back. That night, Batista, Eddie, and Piper defeated the Ortons and Ken Kennedy. Eddie took Kennedy out with the Frog Splash while Batista landed the Spinebuster on Randy Orton. The match ended after Piper applied the sleeper hold on Cowboy Bob. On the November 11th edition of Friday Night Smackdown!, Batista suffered a brutal back injury, putting him out of action for several months, so the WWE scheduled a Triple Threat match the next Smackdown to get the belt off of the injured Batista. It was speculated that Eddie Guerrero was to become the new World Heavyweight Champion at the SmackDown show scheduled to be taped November 13 in Minneapolis, but sadly that wasn't to be..
He came from a legendary wrestling family. His late father, Gory Guerrero, is considered one of the greatest wrestlers in Mexican history. His oldest brother, Chavo Guerrero, is a legendary junior heavyweight wrestler, feuding with Japanese legend Atsushi Onita. His brother Hector Guerrero is also somewhat well-known and brother Mando Guerrero wrestles as well. His nephew, Chavo Guerrero, Jr. wrestles in World Wrestling Entertainment. His uncle Enrique Llanes and cousin Javier Llanes are also popular wrestlers but their popularity is restricted to Mexico. He also had two sisters, Cuqui and Linda.
Early careerEddie Guerrero was raised in El Paso, Texas, and attended the University of New Mexico as well as New Mexico Highlands University on an athletic scholarship, where he wrestled collegiately, before returning to El Paso to train as a professional wrestler. He debuted in 1987 in the Mexican Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre promotion. He became a star in Mexico long before he main evented in the United States. In 1993, Guerrero began wrestling in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he was known as Black Tiger II. In Mexico, he wrestled mainly for Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion, teaming with El Hijo del Santo as the new version of La Pareja At?mica (The Atomic Pair), the legendary 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 and Madonna?s Boyfriend, Guerrero formed Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans), a heel stable.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. However, Barr died before he could join ECW with Eddie. As an homage to his fallen friend, Eddie adopted his friend's finishing move, the Frog Splash. Eddie won the ECW World Television Championship on his debut, and went on to have a series of excellent matches with Dean Malenko before they both jumped to World Championship Wrestling later that year.
World Championship WrestlingIn WCW, he found considerable singles success, winning the United States Heavyweight Title in late 1996 and two World Cruiserweight titles in 1997.Eric Bischoff never took Eddie Guerrero, or his friends seriously to accept them as main event stars in WCW. This lead to Guerrero getting coffee thrown all over him when he requested to be pushed in his character or asked for a raise in his pay for family reasons, and thus Guerrerro constantly and angrily responded by asking for a release in his WCW contract (in which he did in a live episode of WCW Nitro). Eddie then left the company for a couple of months, angry at Bischoff for what he had done. However, Eddie would return to WCW, thus leading to beliefs that maybe Eddie's angry speeches against Bischoff were actually worked (Eddie would later rebut this on WWE's DVD "The Monday Night War" claiming that he tried to put aside personal differences aside for the good of the company, yet found himself angry and outraged once more because of Bischoff's continutity of lowering him and other stars down).Eddie responded to Bischoff's actions by forming the Latino World Order (also known as LWO), in which was seen by the fans to be a mockery of Bischoff's nWo stable at the time. It was actually an answer to Bischoff's refusal to push the Latino wrestlers in spotlights that they deserved to enjoy. Members of the LWO included Psychosis, Rey Mysterio, Jr., Los Villanos and La Parka. He turned heel in 1998, a role which he is best at, judging from his days in AAA in Mexico. He was involved in a serious car accident in 1999, in which he was expected to die. However, Eddie managed to survive the accident, and in just a couple of months he was back to wrestling, despite the fact that he hated working in WCW.Around this time, he became unhappy with WCW management and jumped to the WWF in 2000, with Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn.
World Wrestling FederationGuerrero and the other WCW wrestlers debuted in the WWF on January 31, 2000 as the heel group The Radicalz. After dislocating his elbow while performing a Frog Splash, Guerrero was sidelined for several weeks. In March 2000, Guerrero began pursuing the affections of Chyna, who he referred to as his Mamacita. Chyna was initially repelled, but allied with him, declaring that she "couldn't resist his Latino Heat". This made Eddie Guerrero turn face.After defeating Chris Jericho for the European Championship on April 3, Guerrero held the title for just under three months. He and Chyna began a feud with Essa Rios and Lita, which culimanted in a title defence on April 30 at Backlash, 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. Guerrero successfully retained the title in matches with Saturn and Malenko before finally losing to Saturn on July 23.Over the next few months, friction began to build between the couple. Chyna was upset when Guerrero pinned her to advance in the King of the Ring Tournament, but forgave him when he presented her with a puppy. On August 27, Chyna pinned Trish Stratus in an inter-gender tag match between Chyna and Eddie and Trish and Val Venis, winning Venis' Intercontinental Championship as a result. Guerrero claimed not to mind, and on September 4 he begged Commissioner Mick Foley to let him take part in a title defence between Chyna and Kurt Angle, because he was afraid that Angle would injure Chyna. After Angle levelled Chyna with the title belt, Guerrero "accidentally" pinned her 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 photoshoot. Just when it appeared that Chyna would leave Guerrero, he proposed to her and she accepted, much to the dismay of her fans. The engagement was called off when Guerrero was caught showering with two of The Godfather's hos, Mandy and Victoria, claiming that "Two Mamacitas are better than one!". Guerrero turned heel once again as a result of the incident, and was later defeated for the Intercontinental Championship by Chyna's friend Billy Gunn.The Radicalz reunited in late 2000, assisting Triple H in his match with Stone Cold Steve Austin at Survivor Series. In early 2001, Guerrero feuded with Test, winning the European Championship for a second time at WrestleMania X-Seven with help from Saturn and Malenko. 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 1997 car accident, and in May 2001 he was send to rehabilitation. On November 9, 2001 he was arrested for drunk driving and was subsequently released by the WWF three days later.
Independent CircuitGuerrero appeared with numerous independent promotions, including Ring of Honor and the World Wrestling All-Stars. Following a number of highly acclaimed matches, such as his bout with Doug Williams at FWA British Uprising, he was rehired by the WWE in March 2002.
World Wrestling EntertainmentGuerrero returned to RAW on April 1, 2002, attacking Rob Van Dam and reuniting with then heel Chris Benoit. On April 21 at Backlash he defeated RVD for the Intercontinental Championship. He lost the belt back to RVD a month later in a highly acclaimed Ladder Match, in the course of which an overenthusiastic fan ran into the ring and knocked the ladder over while he was climbing it. Guerrero then attacked Steve Austin in a bar, beginning a feud, but Austin left the WWE before a match could take place. He went on to feud briefly with The Rock.
Los Guerreros On August 1 Guerrero and Benoit jumped to SmackDown!. With Benoit starting to focus on Kurt Angle, Eddie decided to align himself with his nephew Chavo, forming the successful tag team Los Guerreros. In contrast to a previous WCW storyline with his nephew, Chavo fully adopted his uncle's policy of "Lie, Cheat and Steal" to win matches as part of the gimmick. The duo entered the 8-team tournament for the new WWE Tag-Team Championship and began a feud with the newly formed tag team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit, who just defeated John Cena and Billy Kidman. Chavo told Benoit that his former friend Eddie was assaulted by his tag team partner Kurt Angle. Benoit ran to make the save, only to have himself locked inside a room. Eddie, with a steel chair, assaulted Benoit.Benoit and Angle managed to overcome their differences and eventually defeated Eddie and Chavo in the tournament semi-finals. Later on, Benoit and Angle won the WWE Tag Team Titles after defeating Rey Mysterio and Edge. It is also on this day that Benoit and Angle got revenge on the Los Guerreros, with Benoit telling Eddie that his nephew was being assaulted by Kurt Angle. Eddie chose not to fall for it, but in fact Chavo was being assaulted.Later on, Benoit and Angle fought for a trophy (for being the first WWE Tag Team Champion). Surprisingly, Eddie and Chavo helped Benoit win this match, to Benoit's surprise. Angle quickly attack his tag team partner and destroyed the trophy, ensuring that neither man would have it. Los Guerreros would then be given another shot at the WWE Tag Team titles. Meanwhile, new champions were crowned, Edge and Rey Mysterio. At Survivor Series 2002, Eddie made Rey Mysterio submit to The Lasso From El Paso. Los Guerreros had just started their reign as the WWE Tag Team Champions.Team Angle challenged Eddie and Chavo and eventually captured the Tag Titles. Prior to Judgment Day, Chavo tore his bicep. This forced Eddie to look for another partner. He chose Yoshihiro Tajiri. They won the Tag Titles at Judgment Day in a Ladder Match. In the following week, Eddie and Tajiri managed to retain their titles by cheating. In addition, they also defeated the legendary Roddy Piper and his proteg? Sean O'Haire. After Eddie and Tajiri lost the titles to Team Angle on July 1, Eddie then turned on Tajiri, slamming his partner through the windshield of his low-rider truck.
United States ChampionshipIn mid-2003, Eddie competed in a tournament for the new WWE United States Championship. He managed to defeat Ultimo Dragon and Billy Gunn to advance to the final round, where he would meet Chris Benoit who just eliminated Rhyno. In this match, Eddie is up to his dirty tricks, clocking Benoit with the belt and hitting a Frog Splash. Benoit managed to kick out, however. Eddie tried to get Benoit in trouble by placing the title belt on top of the unconcsious Benoit. It didn't work, however, since he knocked out the ref earlier with a belt shot to the kidneys. The match ended thanks to an interference by Rhyno and his finishing maneuver, The Gore.At SummerSlam, Eddie retained his title by defeating Rhyno, Benoit, and Tajiri. He reverted to being a face again by engaging in a rivalry with John Cena. Eddie challenged Cena to a "Latino Heat" Street Fight for the US championship. Eddie countered Cena's F-U and connected with a Frog Splash for the three count. It was also in this match that Chavo made his return, assisting Eddie in executing his Frog Splash on Cena.
WWE ChampionshipAs Eddie's popularity grew, Eddie began seeking the WWE Title. In a storyline, Eddie's singles success made Chavo jealous and Chavo broke from the team. At this time, the summer of 2003, Eddie began driving a customized lowrider to ringside as part of his ring entrance. (He has become identified sufficiently with lowriders that he appeared on the cover of the February 2004 issue of Lowrider magazine; he is the first man ever to appear on the cover of that publication ? normally, the cover includes a lowrider and a bikini-clad woman; the Guerrero cover has the same features but adds him). Guerrero would also capitalize on his "Lie, Cheat, and Steal" anti-heel image by brazenly (though always behind the referee's back) using illegal tactics to win matches on occasion. These actions however not only increased his popularity, but also made him comical in which the fans would laugh. Guerrero won his first WWE Championship at WWE's No Way Out pay per view on February 15, 2004, defeating Brock Lesnar. He would enjoy many months of success as champion, which included a win against Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania XX as well as victories over Big Show and Rey Mysterio. He would later lose the title to John "Bradshaw" Layfield, due to Kurt Angle's interference.At SummerSlam, Kurt Angle made Eddie Guerrero submit to the Angle Lock. Eddie made an alliance with Big Show, who also despised Kurt Angle for firing him while Angle was still SmackDown! general manager. Meanwhile, Angle made an alliance with Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak. At No Mercy, Eddie pinned Luther Reigns after using a police baton stolen from a police officer.Each week Angle and his allies began targeting Eddie and the Big Show. General Manager Theodore Long booked a Survivor Series Elimination Match between a team lead by Eddie and a team lead by Kurt Angle. Eddie's team consisted of himself, Big Show, Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam. Eddie was forced to find another member for his team because Rey Mysterio had just been given an opportunity to win back the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Eddie selected John Cena, who was feuding with Carlito, a member of Angle's Survivor Series team. At Survivor Series, Eddie eliminated Mark Jindrak and landed the Frog Splash to Kurt Angle for the victory.Eddie, along with Booker T and The Undertaker, challenged John "Bradshaw" Layfield for a WWE Championship rematch. Along the way, Eddie found a partner in Booker T. Despite losing two matches in a row as a tag team, Eddie and Booker managed to get along. At Armageddon, Eddie and Booker worked as a unit, taking down both Bradshaw and Undertaker. The two broke away from the team and made it clear that it was every man for themselves. Eddie would then be taken out by Undertaker. Afterward, Eddie and Booker briefly made an unsuccessful run to gain the tag team titles.
Feud with Rey MysterioOn February 20, 2005, Guerrero once again became a tag team champion, this time with long time friend and rival Rey Mysterio when they defeated Doug Basham and Danny Basham at No Way Out. Many expected the new champions to defend their titles at WrestleMania 21, but after encouragement from Chavo, instead Eddie challenged Rey, 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 titles to new team MNM on the April 21 episode of Smackdown.On April 28, 2005, Eddie and Mysterio faced MNM in a rematch for the WWE tag team championships. During the match Mysterio tagged in accidentally and then hit Eddie off the side of the ring and Eddie landed on the floor. Eddie then got up, but he refused to tag Mysterio. MNM double teamed Mysterio and threw him out of the ring. Eddie then gave Mysterio a glare and a frown and walked off. As a result, Eddie has now officially turned heel once again in the WWE betraying his long time friend, Rey Mysterio, who he had dubbed "his family" earlier in the show. The next week on SmackDown!, Guerrero appeared to adopt a new, somewhat sociopathic gimmick. Though Guerrero had historically been characterized by his emotion in the ring, on this edition of the show he viciously and emotionlessly beat up his former tag team partner, leaving him bruised and bloody on a set of steel steps. At Judgment Day 2005 on May 22, Guerrero lost to Mysterio by disqualification when Eddie hit Mysterio with a chair. With this heel turn, Eddie began using his submission maneuver again, known as the Lasso From El Paso. He has also stopped driving his low riders down the ring. Instead he walks down with new music with a frown on his face. Eddie finally defeated Rey on the first edition of Friday Night Smackdown in a Steel Cage MatchThat June, he appeared at ECW One Night Stand, losing to Chris Benoit.
The SecretThe feud with Rey Mysterio has involved a "secret" about Rey, which Eddie threatened to reveal if Rey did not do things for him. The secret would involve Dominick, Rey Mysterio's (real life) son.On July 15, 2005 Eddie was going to tell the "secret" about Rey. Eddie's wife, with their two daughters, came in to calm him down. Eddie rudely made them leave. Eddie was then booked for a match against Rey at The Great American Bash. If Rey won, then the "secret" would be kept. If he lost then Eddie would tell the whole world the secret. Fortunately, Rey managed to beat Eddie in their Great American Bash match, forcing Eddie to keep silent. On the next Smackdown after the Bash, Eddie told the secret anyway, and told Dominick that he was his real father, causing Dominick to run from his father through the crowd in sadness. Guerrero sat down and read "Eddie's Bedtime Stories", explaining the details.According to the storyline, years ago while he was living wild, he got a woman pregnant. Since she already had seven children, and he did not want any more children, and knowing Mysterio was having trouble starting his own family, he took Dominick and left him with Rey and his wife to raise. (This angle, supported by Rey Mysterio, was based on the days of Eddie's drug addiction, which left him with no money and resulted in the breakup of his marriage, which in real life was restored once he straightened out. Also, during his troubled days Eddie did have a child out of wedlock, which unlike the storyline he currently supports, though in reality he has only three daughters.) Guerrero also promised to read Chapter 2 of "Eddie's Bedtime Stories" the following week.On the next Smackdown after Rey defeated Christian in a match, Eddie and his female companion (who turned out to be his attorney) showed Rey some custody papers that stated that Eddie was the legal and biological father of Dominick. Eddie then said that Rey will have to bring his son to the next Smackdown match to return him.Dominick was then sent to be in a Foster care. Eddie lost to Rey at Summerslam 2005 in a ladder match for the custody of Dominick.
Challenger to the World Heavyweight ChampionshipEddie Guerrero defeated Rey Mysterio in a cage match on the premiere of Friday Night SmackDown. On the September 16 edition of SmackDown, it was announced that Eddie would be challenging World Heavyweight Champion Batista at No Mercy 2005, following his victory over Rey Mysterio. Eddie quickly proclaimed himself to be Batista's friend, and, the following week, he and Batista were booked to face MNM in a tag team contest. However, Guerrero claimed to have food poisoning, and merely acted as a spectator during the tag team contest, forcing Batista to wrestle a de-facto handicap match until Guerrero blind-tagged him late in the match and quickly pinned Joey Mercury. There is speculation that Eddie might be back to his face character.The next week, Eddie and Batista teamed up to face the Legion of Doom (Heidenreich and Road Warrior Animal) in a match for the WWE Tag Team titles. The match was declared a DQ win for LOD, when MNM interfered and smacked Animal with a chair. Batista, having had enough, grabbed Johnny Nitro and was about to deliver the Batista Bomb when Eddie swung a chair at Joey Mercury. Mercury ducked and Eddie accidentally hit Batista with the chair. Eddie quickly gave the chair to Mercury, and lay down on the floor. When Batista turned around, he saw Eddie knocked out on the floor and Mercury with a chair. A livid Batista gave Mercury a big spinebuster, and smacked the chair off Mercury's back. While Eddie came out to the ring on the next SmackDown! acting as Batista's cheerleader, Batista confronted Eddie, telling him that his time in Evolution had given him "eyes at the back of my head." A hurt Eddie sought to "prove" his desire for friendship with Batista by selling out his tag team partners John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Christian later that night in a six-man tag team match to help Batista win. Batista defeated Eddie at No Mercy to retain his World title. At one point of the match, Eddie had Batista down and the referee unconscious, and seized a steel chair to make the kill. But just as he lifted the chair over his head facing an injured Batista (who was face down), Eddie took the chair and threw it back out of the ring. Batista overpowered Eddie later in the match. At the end of the match, Eddie and Batista shook hands, but Eddie was seen scowling behind Batista's back. On October 14, 2005 Eddie was in a match against Randy Orton with Cowboy Bob Orton in his corner for the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Champion. Eddie won by DQ, as Bob Orton pushed him from the top of the rope as Eddie was attempting a Frog splash. At the end of the match Eddie officially turned face once again when the Ortons attacked him. Batista came in for the save, and GM Theodore Long made a tag team match between Batista and Guerrero, and the Ortons.
Return of Latino HeatOn the October 21 episode, Bob Orton pleaded a back injury to get himself out of the match. Randy sought help from Ken Kennedy, and the two squared off against Batista and Eddie. At one point, Ken Kennedy seized a steel chair, climbed up the top rope and sought to jump and strike Batista, who was looking to pin a downed Randy Orton. Eddie rushed in and covered Batista's back. A surprised Kennedy jumped down from the rope and looked at Eddie, but then struck him down anyway. Cowboy Bob Orton then rushed to the ring and intefered with an enraged Batista who was preparing to knock out Kennedy. Along with Randy, the three battered down Batista and Eddie.Just before the match, Eddie told Batista that he realized how low he had sunk since being WWE Champion in 2004; having attacked his best friend Rey Mysterio and acting degenerately. Guerrero told him that Batista shaking his hand at No Mercy had returned his respect to him.Theodore Long informed the five and the crowd that next week in San Francisco, there would be a six-man tag team main event: Batista, Eddie and Rowdy Roddy Piper vs. The Ortons and Ken Kennedy. On the October 28 episode of SmackDown!, Batista gave Eddie a surprise gift: it turned out to be Guerrero's low rider that he drove in his ring entrances. Upon seeing the low rider, Eddie asked Batista to ride on it out to the ring. Eddie's old ring entrance music was played, and indeed, the Latino Heat is back. That night, Batista, Eddie, and Piper defeated the Ortons and Ken Kennedy. Eddie took Kennedy out with the Frog Splash while Batista landed the Spinebuster on Randy Orton. The match ended after Piper applied the sleeper hold on Cowboy Bob. On the November 11th edition of Friday Night Smackdown!, Batista suffered a brutal back injury, putting him out of action for several months, so the WWE scheduled a Triple Threat match the next Smackdown to get the belt off of the injured Batista. It was speculated that Eddie Guerrero was to become the new World Heavyweight Champion at the SmackDown show scheduled to be taped November 13 in Minneapolis, but sadly that wasn't to be..
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