– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has a new blog on jrsbarbq.com with thoughts on Eddie Guerrero, from meeting him early in his career and so on. Here is part of what Ross wrote:
“Before Eddie became a born again Christian, there were multiple Eddie’s. There was the ‘good’ Eddie who was soft spoken, caring and a pleasure to be around. There was the ‘troubled’ Eddie who carried massive amounts of guilt around after doing things that he knew were wrong and self destructive. There was the “let’s have a few beers Eddie” who was a happy go lucky, funny guy. Finally, there was the hard liquor drinking, aggressive Eddie who perceived that he was ‘Andre Size’ when he was over served.
We sought help for Eddie but then I had to end up terminating his contract after an incident that occurred after Eddie had attended rehab. Sometimes people have to hit rock bottom before they can dig their way out of the holes that they dig for themselves.
When Eddie returned to WWE in 2002 he was essentially a new man. He carried his Bible with him on the road and when he was having a bad day, Eddie would absorb himself in the word of God and find peace. It was an amazing transformation. It was real.
Professionally, Eddie was, I’d suggest, never happier than he was the night of WM20 in NYC’s Madison Square Garden. He and his long time traveling partner and friend Chris Benoit both left MSG as the top two champions in WWE. It was the culmination of a long, challenging journey for two, extremely talented men who both were literally obsessed, perhaps to a fault, with shedding the claim that they were both not ‘big enough’ to be legitimately considered as ‘top guys.’
After 40 years in the business, I don’t think that I’ve ever been associated with any one as multi talented, more complex, dangerously driven and passionate as Eddie Guerrero. He was simply an amazingly gifted man who I feel blessed to have known and to have worked with for the handful of years that we were together in WWE.
Any company who puts an automatic size limit on how big wrestlers must be to be hired with WWE, TNA. etc are making a huge mistake. Because one never knows on that rare occasion when one might find another amazingly gifted, passionate, charismatic, in ring genius who’s all of 5’8″ and reminds us all of the WWE Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero.
Eddie was only 38 years of age when he passed away suddenly of heart issues on November 13, 2005 and no one ever I’ve known has left a more memorable legacy in the pro wresting biz in only 38 years on Earth than the unforgettable Eddie Guerrero.
RIP Eddie….and Viva La Raza.”
