Eddie Guerrero

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I'm not sure how many people here follow pro wrestling, but I just thought I'd put my sentiments up here.

Eduardo Gory (Eddie) Guerrero passed away in his hotel room on Sunday, November 13. He was 38 years old. His cause of death was heart failure.

Eddie was a fantastic entertainer. I know most people think wrestling is just a joke, that it's all a show. Well, yes, it's predetermined, and it's a show, but the hazards and stresses of the lifestyle are real. No-one exemplified this more than Eddie. He was born into the equivalent of wrestling royalty; he was a young up-and-coming star in the 1990s and he got into drink and drugs in a big way following a car accident that nearly killed him. He was always a great entertainer and performer, but as a former luchadore, he was never big enough physically to be seen as a credible future champion.

In 2001, he went off the rails again, but he got himself clean, found religion, and came back a new man who gave it his all every time he hit the ring. Probably the strongest memories I have of Eddie are from 2004 and 2005: his legendary 5-minute silent promo, his incredible ability to tell a story in the ring without speaking, and a moment I'll never forget - after WrestleMania 20 and nearly 20 years in the business, when he and one of his real-life best friends, Chris Benoit, who had always been told they weren't big enough or charismatic enough to be given a world championship, stood together in the ring as the two world champions. It was truly one of those moments when you remember exactly where you were when it happened, if you knew anything about pro wrestling, and there could be no-one more deserving than those two men.

He is survived by his wife and three children. Rest in peace, Eddie; I'm sad that he didn't get more time on this earth, but I'm happy that he proved everybody wrong more than once and showed everyone that all things are possible. A man of his calibre, both personal and professional, is undoubtedly in a better place.

 

Oh man, I use to watch WWF and later TNT's Nitro Nights and I loved it, even knowing everything was fake.
I knew Eddie but I didn't remember his face so I search around and came up with this list just to find out that people I used to admire like Big Boss, Owen Hart, Ricky Rude, The Renegade or the legendary Hawk from Legion of Doom had died.
Oh man, what a memories and how sad I feel knowing all this.

 

Absolutely, Sydax. I think what's so terrible about it is that so many have died young from heart failure and/or complications arising from painkiller addictions (often both are connected). These guys don't have an off-season; they're performing 5-6 nights a week, all year round. The show doesn't stop when you get hurt, either; they work through physical conditions which would have the average professional athlete undergoing surgery or ending their career.

The ones who make it to Stu Hart's or Lou Thesz's age are exceptionally lucky, and quite rare.

Still, it seems so much more tragic when it's someone like Eddie, or Owen Hart, because who they were in real life really shines through in their passion for what they do, and the tributes of their friends and workmates.

 

For the first time in several years, I tuned into Monday Night Raw to see the tribute for Eddie. What wasn't always clear through his character was that his peers evidently held him in high regard. Yes, wrestling is fake, but the tears that his fellow wrestlers cried were quite real. I view professional wrestlers as both athletes and entertainers, and Eddie was exceptional in both regards.

The other thing I'd like to point out is the main reason why wrestlers die so young is not necessarily through painkillers, but steroids. This is exemplified because the cause of death is frequently heart failure. As I'm sure everyone knows, steroids cause your muscles to get bigger. One of the side effects of frequent steroid use is it also causes your cadiac muscle (i.e., your heart) to get bigger too. However, instead of this being a positive, it actually makes the interior volume that the heart can contain significantly smaller.

It seems like every couple of years, you see a current or former wrestler die from heart failure at a very young age, and almost always it can be linked to a history of steroid abuse. I wonder how many have to die before these guys get it. I understand the pull of steroids in the business is strong. It makes you look better, perform better, and perhaps best of all, heal faster from injuries.

There are so many wrestlers that meet this fate. In addition to the list that Sydax posted, I'd like to add Junkyard Dog, and Curt Hennig, who died in their 40s.

 

Eddie will be missed.

Another big Tragedy was the Von Erich family. Of six sons, one died as a child, the other 5 became wrestlers. four of them are now dead, three by suicide...

Another site that lists off deceased Wrestlers, but without anything said about them is this one:

http://www.garywill.com/wrestling/decwres.htm

 

It would be interesting to see hwo many of those wrestlers died before their time. It just lists all who have died. Yes, Freddie Blassie died, but he lived to a ripe old age.

 

The list does include their age. There is also an asterisk beside those that died as a result of accidents in the ring.

 

Sorry, I didn't scroll down far enough - I focused on the lists at the top of the page.

 

Yeah, the first few times I went through the list, I thought "When did they die?" It did bring back a lot of memories...