Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005), better known by his ring name, Eddie Guerrero, was a Latino "Mexican" professional wrestler. Born into a legendary Mexican wrestling family, Guerrero managed to maintain the storied Guerrero family legacy. Through the 1990s, he had a distinguished career, working for every major professional wrestling promotion in the United States during that period: Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment.Guerrero's in-ring character was that of a crafty, resourceful wrestler who would do anything to win a match. His famous mantra became "Cheat to Win." Despite being a heel for much of his career, he became popular.Throughout his career, Guerrero encountered various substance abuse problems outside of wrestling, including alcoholism and an addiction to pain killers. His problems outside of the ring were sometimes integrated into his storylines. Not withstanding these issues, Guerrero won numerous titles during his career, including the WWE Championship. He became a born again Christian in 2002.Early career (1987-1996)Guerrero came from a legendary wrestling family. His father, Gory Guerrero, was a founding father of Lucha Libre, a prominent wrestling trainer and an influential figure in Mexican professional wrestling. His three brothers Chavo Guerrero, Hector Guerrero and Mando Guerrero all followed in their father's footsteps and became professional wrestlers. Guerrero's nephew, Chavo Guerrero, Jr. also became a wrestler, while his uncle Enrique Llanes and cousin Javier Llanes wrestle in Mexico. As a boy, Guerrero's father allowed he and Chavo, Jr. to wrestle one another during intermissions in the wrestling arena that Gory owned.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 the late 1980s, Guerrero debuted in the National Wrestling Alliance affiliate World Championship Wrestling (formerly known as Jim Crockett Promotions) as a jobber.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 Atómica (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, Chicano Power and Madonna's Boyfriend, Guerrero formed Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans), a heel stable. Guerrero later said that no matter how many people joined Los Gringos Locos, the stable was all about Art. Los Gringos Locos feuded mostly with El Hijo del Santo and his partner Octagón, eventually ending in a Hair vs. Mask match at the first lucha pay-per-view in America, When Worlds Collide, which they lost.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 Guerrero. As an homage to his fallen friend, Guerrero adopted his friend's finishing move, the Frog Splash.Guerrero won the ECW World Television Championship on his debut and went on to have a series of acclaimed matches with Dean Malenko before they both signed with World Championship Wrestling later that year. After their last match at the ECW arena, the locker room emptied and the two were carried around the ring by their fellow wrestlers while the crowd chanted "Please don't go."World Championship Wrestling (1996-2000)In WCW, Guerrero found considerable singles success, winning the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship in late 1996 and the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship twice in 1997. One such title match was against Rey Misterio, Jr. at Halloween Havoc. He lost the match, but called it his favorite match in the February 2004 edition of SmackDown! magazine and his autobiography (published posthumously).Despite Guerrero's success and popularity, he was one of many wrestlers who were frustrated at never being given a chance to be main event stars in WCW. These frustrations came to a head when Guerrero requested that WCW President Eric Bischoff either push his character or give him a raise for family reasons. Bischoff responded by throwing coffee at Guerrero (In his autobiography, Guerrero states that Bischoff accidentally knocked his coffee off the table, and that it was a complete accident that he was hit). The wrestler, furious, demanded Bischoff release him from his WCW contract on a live episode of WCW Monday Nitro. Guerrero then left the company for a period of months, angry at Bischoff for what he had done. However, Guerrero later returned to WCW, leading to the belief that maybe Guerrero's angry speeches against Bischoff were actually a work (Guerrero later confirmed it to be a worked shoot). Guerrero would later rebut this on WWE's DVD Monday Night War claiming that he tried to put personal differences aside for the good of the company, yet found himself angry and outraged once more because of Bischoff's continued refusal to elevate Guerrero and other similar wrestlers.Guerrero responded to Bischoff's actions by forming the Latino World Order (or L.W.O.), which was understood by the fans to be a mockery of Bischoff's New World Order. The group was an answer to Bischoff's refusal to push Latino wrestlers in ways they felt they deserved. The group eventually grew to encompass almost all the Mexican wrestlers working for WCW at the time. However, Guerrero was involved in a serious car accident in 1999 that cut short the LWo storyline. Guerrero survived the accident and returned to wrestling in a matter of months.After his return, he helped create the Filthy Animals stable with Rey Mysterio Jr. and Konnan (later growing to include Juventud Guerrera, Billy Kidman, and Disco Inferno). Despite this success, he continued to be displeased with WCW management and signed with the WWF in 2000 along with top WCW stars Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn.Guerrero and the other WCW wrestlers debuted in the WWF on January 31, 2000 as The Radicalz, appearing on RAW and interfering in a match including the New Age Outlaws. 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 couldn't resist his "Latino Heat".Guerrero won his first WWF title by defeating another former WCW wrestler, Chris Jericho, for the WWF European Championship with help from Chyna. 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 in matches against Saturn and Malenko before finally losing the title to Saturn on July 23 at WWE Fully Loaded.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. On August 27, Chyna won the WWF Intercontinental Championship. 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, claiming he was afraid that Angle would injure Chyna. After Angle knocked Chyna down 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. The engagement was called off when Guerrero was caught showering with two of The Godfather's hos 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 1999 car accident and in May 2001 was sent to rehabilitation. On November 9, 2001 he was arrested for drunk driving and was subsequently released by the WWF three days later.INDEPENDENT CIRCUITIndependent circuit (2001-2002)After overcoming his addictions, Guerrero appeared with numerous independent promotions, including World Wrestling All-Stars, IWA Mid-South, IWA Puerto Rico, and Ring of Honor. Following a number of highly acclaimed matches, such as his bout with Doug Williams during Frontier Wrestling Alliance's King Of England tournament and his series of matches with CM Punk, Guerrero was rehired by the WWF (renamed "WWE") in March 2002. When he signed, he was committed to appearing on one more show each for ROH, IWA Mid-South, and the International Wrestling Cartel. WWE permitted him to fulfill the obligations, and on April 19, 2002, he wrestled CM Punk and Colt Cabana in Dayton, Ohio. The following weekend, he again wrestled CM Punk with the International Wrestling Cartel, oddly enough defending the WWE Intercontinental Title in the match. This is one of the only times in history that a WWE title has been contested in an independent ring. The next night on April 27, Guerrero teamed with The Amazing Red to defeat The S.A.T. at A Night of Appreciation, an ROH show dedicated to him.While wrestling on the independent circuit, Guerrero won the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship on March 1, 2002 in Indianapolis, Indiana, defeating CM Punk and Rey Misterio, Jr. in a three way dance. He lost the title to Punk on the following day in Morris, Illinois. He also held the WWA International Cruiserweight Championship from December 8, 2001 to April 2002, when he vacated the title.Guerrero returned to RAW on April 1, 2002, attacking Rob Van Dam and reuniting with Chris Benoit. On April 21 at Backlash 2002 he defeated Van Dam for the Intercontinental Championship. He lost the belt to RVD a month later in a ladder match on Raw. Guerrero then started a feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, but Austin left WWE before a match could take place. Guerrero then went on to feud briefly with The Rock, challenging him for the Undisputed Championship after The Rock sang a version of "La Bamba" with the words changed to insult Guerrero.LOS GUERREROSOn August 1, 2002, Guerrero and Benoit began to wrestle exclusively for WWE's SmackDown! brand. 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 adopted his uncle's policy of "Lie, Cheat and Steal" to win matches, and 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 WWE Tag Team Championships and began 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 Kurt 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 WWE Tag Team Championships. 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.Los Guerreros would then be given another shot at the WWE Tag Team titles and the new champions, Edge and Rey Mysterio. At Survivor Series 2002, Guerrero made Mysterio submit to The Lasso From El Paso. With this victory, Los Guerreros began their reign as the WWE Tag Team Champions, a reign that lasted until they were defeated by Team Angle. Los Guerreros participated at WrestleMania XIX as contenders for the Tag Titles, along with the team of Chris Benoit and Rhyno. Prior to Judgment Day, Chavo tore his biceps. This forced Guerrero to look for another partner. He chose Tajiri. They won the Tag Titles at Judgment Day in a ladder match. The following week, Guerrero and Tajiri managed to retain their titles by cheating. In addition, they also defeated Roddy Piper and his protegè Sean O'Haire. After Guerrero and Tajiri lost the titles to Team Angle on July 3, 2003, Guerrero turned on Tajiri, slamming his partner through the windshield of his low-rider truck.In July 2003, Guerrero competed in a tournament for the WWE United States Championship. He managed to advance to the final round, defeating Ultimo Dragon in the process, where he would meet Chris Benoit. In this match, 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 ref 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 United States Championship.At SummerSlam, Guerrero retained his title by defeating Rhyno, Benoit and Tajiri in a four way match. He turned face again by engaging in a rivalry with John Cena. Guerrero challenged Cena to a "Latino Heat" Parking Lot Brawl Match for the WWE United States Championship, which Guerrero won. Chavo made his return in this match, assisting Guerrero in executing his Frog Splash on Cena. On September 18, 2003, Los Guerreros defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team to regain the WWE Tag Team Championships. Eddie Guerrero thus held the United States Championship and one-half of the Tag Team Championships concurrently.Guerrero lost the United States Championship to Big Show at No Mercy 2003 in October after a feud which involved Guerrero poisoning the Big Show with some laxative laced burritos and then later spraying the Big Show with a sewage truck. Four days later, Los Guerreros would lose the WWE Tag Team Championship to the Basham Brothers. As Los Guerreros attempted to regain the tag team titles, things began to go downhill between Chavo and Eddie and animosity began to build. The two fought one another at the 2004 Royal Rumble, where Eddie came out the winner.WWE ChampionAs Guerrero's popularity grew, he began seeking the WWE Championship. In a storyline, Guerrero's singles success made Chavo jealous and Chavo broke from the team.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.On February 15, 2004 Guerrero won the WWE Championship at No Way Out 2004, defeating Brock Lesnar following interference from Goldberg. The victory made him only the second-ever Latino WWE Champion in history (following Pedro Morales). He would enjoy many months of success as champion, which included a win against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XX as well as victories over the Big Show and Rey Mysterio. He would later lose the title to John "Bradshaw" Layfield in a Texas Bullrope Match after Angle (who was General Manager of Smackdown at the time) reversed the decision after Eddie Guerrero appeared to have retained the title. At SummerSlam, Angle made Guerrero submit to the ankle lock. Guerrero then allied himself with the Big Show, who also despised Kurt Angle for firing him while Angle was still SmackDown! general manager.Each week Angle and his new allies Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak began targeting Guerrero and the Big Show. General Manager Theodore Long booked a Survivor Series Elimination Match between a team led by Guerrero and a team led by Kurt Angle. Guerrero's team consisted of himself, Big Show, Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam. The following week, Guerrero was forced to find another member for his team because Rey Mysterio had just been given an opportunity to regain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Guerrero selected John Cena, who was feuding with Carlito, a member of Angle's Survivor Series team. At Survivor Series, Guerrero landed the Frog Splash on Kurt Angle for the victory.Guerrero, along with Booker T and The Undertaker, then challenged John "Bradshaw" Layfield for a WWE Championship rematch. Along the way, Guerrero found a partner in Booker T. Despite losing two matches in a row as a tag team, Guerrero and Booker managed to get along. At Armageddon, Guerrero and Booker worked as a unit, taking down both Bradshaw and Undertaker. However, during the match, the two broke away from the team and made it clear that it was every man for themselves. Guerrero would then be taken out by The Undertaker while Bradshaw pinned Booker following the Clothesline From Hell. Afterwards, Guerrero and Booker briefly and unsuccessfully attempted to win the WWE Tag Team Championships
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