Eddie Guerrero, former WWE Champion and current WWE SmackDown! superstar was found dead yesterday morning in his hotel room.
A favourite of mine for many years, having followed him through WCW and delighting in his debut for the WWF as part of the Radicalz group, I was shocked this morning when I learned of his death.
Eddie had been through many things in the past, dealing with drink and pain-killer addictions but had just recently celebrated his 4th year sober. Eddie's tongue-in-cheek style and motto of "Lying, Cheating and Stealing" combined with his great technical skill (including some aspects of Luche-Libre) earned Eddie many fans among both the "smart" fans and the "mark" fans. In 2004 at the WWE No Way Out pay-per-view, Eddie finally won the WWE Championship, beating Brock Lesnar. At WrestleMania 20, he defeated Kurt Angle in a classic match to retain the gold.
The Guerrero family is one of the most famous wrestling families in history and Eddie's nephew, Chavo Guerrero, is currently a WWE RAW superstar, wrestling under the gimmick of Kerwin White. Vince McMahon, chairman of WWE, and Chavo gave a press conference yesterday when they learned of Eddie's death which you can view
here.
A devoted family man and born again Christian since becoming sober, Eddie, aged just 38, is survived by his wife and 3 young daughters.
He will be missed. By his family, by the wrestling community and by me.
R.I.P. Eddie Guerrero