Truth or Consequences: Eddie Guerrero

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This afternoon, at around half past four, local time, I received a text message from my good friend Andrew Lamb, informing me that Eddie Guerrero had been found dead in a hotel room in Minneapolis. I didn’t know what to think. I do remember asking my wife to check on WWE.com, because I couldn’t believe that such a thing could have happened and I remember physically shaking as she confirmed what Andrew had already told me.

My heart goes out to his wife, his children and the rest of the Guerrero family at what must be one of the most difficult times of their lives.

There will, no doubt, be dozens of tribute columns all over the ‘Net regarding this tragic loss and I doubt that I’ll be saying anything fresh or new here, but I just wanted to set down a few words about ‘Latino Heat’.

There is a tendency in professional wrestling (as there is in the world at large, I suppose) to over-eulogise, when somebody passes away. Attributes and achievements are over-emphasised and faults are neatly skirted around for fearof causing offence. None of that is neccessary for Eddie Guerrero as he deserves every ounce of praise that he will certainly receive as a professional wrestler and he has never denied the more problematic areas of his personal life, especially his battle with painkillers.

Eddie Guerrero truly was one of the finest professional wrestlers that this bizarre pseudo sport has ever seen. A technical wizard, a high flyer, one of the best promo men in the sport and a guy who just oozed charisma from every pore. Whether he was playing the dastardly heel or the super-over Latino babyface, he was one of the few men who could make a believer out of you. You’d stop being a know-it-all smark and regress back to being a good old wrestling fan again – at least, that’s what he did for me.

Holder of every major belt in the WWE, one-half of La Pareja del Terror with Art Barr, part of Los Gringos Locos, perhaps the most successful member of the Guerrero dynasty – there are a whole host of reasons why Eddie Guerrero should go down in wrestling history but perhaps the best reason is the only reason that really matters…he was a hell of a professional wrestler – and you can take that in whatever context you please.

The wrestling world lost one of its brightest stars today.

Goodbye, Eddie – you’ll be missed.