Viva La Raza
I have a few more things I'd like to say about Eddie Guerrero. I'll put them behind a cut, though.
Doctors say Eddie Guerrero passed away due to an oversized heart, but they didn't need any x-rays or autopsies to see he had one. All they needed to do was talk to anyone in WWE about his interminal generosity, patience and faith to find out.
I had just learned of Eddie's passing when I wrote my last post. The first headline I saw at the wrestling site was something along the lines of "TNA honors the memory of Eddie Guerrero". My first thought was, "Hmm...Eddie has a cousin that works for TNA?!" Then, it hit. I read down a bit, and saw what I was dreading. Eddie Guerrero had passed away.
I was alone, and I felt that writing a LJ post would be the closest I'd have (at the moment) to discussing it with someone. I was in total shock as I was writing it; I partially felt like I was writing about a bad storyline, one that would be over in six months. I couldn't believe how sudden it had happened, with no warning whatsoever. My heart was crushed. How could someone like Eddie be dead?!
I never usually acknowledged how great Eddie was, but, in a way, I think it's because I expected him to be good. I'd go as far as to say that I took it for granted. When a Triple H or a Batista or even a Kurt Angle or a Rey Mysterio has a match, you never know what you're going to get. With Eddie, you just knew you were going to get a good match. He had them with all varities of opponents, from people of similar size (Angle, Rey and Benoit) to considerably larger (JBL, The Big Show and HHH).
I was sad all Sunday about his passing, and even bought a giant action figure of him on Monday at Target. I don't know if I have an action figure of him up the attic (with my others), and I know I certainly don't have one in my room. I would have been happy with a normal sized one, but the only one they had was the Ring Giant. I figured having a larger Eddie figure would be appropriate. Gary told me that some evil cunts are driving up the prices for them on Ebay. I don't want the figure because it's a collector's item; in fact, I expect it to drop in value as year's go on and the sudden, morbid interest in Eddie's passing wanes a bit. I just want a figure I can commemorate his memory with.
I really liked the Raw and SD tribute shows. The wrestlers' testimonials showed how much of a quality human being Eddie was; big, hard men were reduced to tears. Everyone from the McMahons to wrestlers to backstage figures had kind words to say about him, and those who couldn't be at the tapings (such as Edge and Jericho) sent their commentaries into WWE.com. I also thought that both champions leaving their belts behind, lying on top of an Eddie tee-shirt/Eddie's low rider, was very classy and respectful of them, and far better than Austin's "getting pissed in the ring, then leaving a beer behind for Owen" tribute.
The matches were pretty good, too. As usual, I'd side with SD having the better ones. I have to give it up to JBL for still going out as a heel (despite being very good friends with Eddie), just so the audience could get even further behind Chavo. Even HHH was acting like a babyface! (His match with Benoit was pretty good, by the way). On Raw, there wasn't too many matches I can really remember, but the HBK/Rey one was good for what it was. Either way, you can't really discuss match quality on shows like these; the wrestlers aren't going out under the easiest of circumstances, and the fact that they're performing at all is a testiment to their strength and love for the business.
One thing that I really liked about the shows is that they weren't really depressing, but they were more of a celebration of the life of Eddie. While most fought back tears, they went out for their matches and looked to be having a ball in paying tribute to a great man. Even while simply discussing him, many broke out in fond laughter remembering all the good times they had. You could tell that Eddie meant a lot to the entirety of the WWE roster. While I normally laugh at the announce team's hyperbole, I could understand why they said that many, many of the wrestlers were "one of Eddie Guerrero's best friends."
I've seen a few sites say that Eddie's death will hopefully serve as a caution for wrestlers to watch their own lifestyles. I differ with the message. While I do hope Eddie's death teaches us something, it's about working hard to keep your family together, helping others in need (which Eddie did a great deal), being true to your faith and beliefs, having a ball with life, and trying to get those around you to do the same.
I will dearly miss seeing Eddie on TV, and hope that, somewhere as we speak, he and Art Barr are tearing down the house with Owen Hart and The British Bulldog.
Viva la raza.
Anyway, tomorrow...well, today, actually...is my birthday. I kicked it off earlier last night with a trip to Salem, NH, and spent lots of money. Sadly, the trip itself wasn't as nice as I'd hoped. I shall post about the BBCBirthday later on, as I'm tired now, and want to try to get the strength to do a few other things before passing out.
Doctors say Eddie Guerrero passed away due to an oversized heart, but they didn't need any x-rays or autopsies to see he had one. All they needed to do was talk to anyone in WWE about his interminal generosity, patience and faith to find out.
I had just learned of Eddie's passing when I wrote my last post. The first headline I saw at the wrestling site was something along the lines of "TNA honors the memory of Eddie Guerrero". My first thought was, "Hmm...Eddie has a cousin that works for TNA?!" Then, it hit. I read down a bit, and saw what I was dreading. Eddie Guerrero had passed away.
I was alone, and I felt that writing a LJ post would be the closest I'd have (at the moment) to discussing it with someone. I was in total shock as I was writing it; I partially felt like I was writing about a bad storyline, one that would be over in six months. I couldn't believe how sudden it had happened, with no warning whatsoever. My heart was crushed. How could someone like Eddie be dead?!
I never usually acknowledged how great Eddie was, but, in a way, I think it's because I expected him to be good. I'd go as far as to say that I took it for granted. When a Triple H or a Batista or even a Kurt Angle or a Rey Mysterio has a match, you never know what you're going to get. With Eddie, you just knew you were going to get a good match. He had them with all varities of opponents, from people of similar size (Angle, Rey and Benoit) to considerably larger (JBL, The Big Show and HHH).
I was sad all Sunday about his passing, and even bought a giant action figure of him on Monday at Target. I don't know if I have an action figure of him up the attic (with my others), and I know I certainly don't have one in my room. I would have been happy with a normal sized one, but the only one they had was the Ring Giant. I figured having a larger Eddie figure would be appropriate. Gary told me that some evil cunts are driving up the prices for them on Ebay. I don't want the figure because it's a collector's item; in fact, I expect it to drop in value as year's go on and the sudden, morbid interest in Eddie's passing wanes a bit. I just want a figure I can commemorate his memory with.
I really liked the Raw and SD tribute shows. The wrestlers' testimonials showed how much of a quality human being Eddie was; big, hard men were reduced to tears. Everyone from the McMahons to wrestlers to backstage figures had kind words to say about him, and those who couldn't be at the tapings (such as Edge and Jericho) sent their commentaries into WWE.com. I also thought that both champions leaving their belts behind, lying on top of an Eddie tee-shirt/Eddie's low rider, was very classy and respectful of them, and far better than Austin's "getting pissed in the ring, then leaving a beer behind for Owen" tribute.
The matches were pretty good, too. As usual, I'd side with SD having the better ones. I have to give it up to JBL for still going out as a heel (despite being very good friends with Eddie), just so the audience could get even further behind Chavo. Even HHH was acting like a babyface! (His match with Benoit was pretty good, by the way). On Raw, there wasn't too many matches I can really remember, but the HBK/Rey one was good for what it was. Either way, you can't really discuss match quality on shows like these; the wrestlers aren't going out under the easiest of circumstances, and the fact that they're performing at all is a testiment to their strength and love for the business.
One thing that I really liked about the shows is that they weren't really depressing, but they were more of a celebration of the life of Eddie. While most fought back tears, they went out for their matches and looked to be having a ball in paying tribute to a great man. Even while simply discussing him, many broke out in fond laughter remembering all the good times they had. You could tell that Eddie meant a lot to the entirety of the WWE roster. While I normally laugh at the announce team's hyperbole, I could understand why they said that many, many of the wrestlers were "one of Eddie Guerrero's best friends."
I've seen a few sites say that Eddie's death will hopefully serve as a caution for wrestlers to watch their own lifestyles. I differ with the message. While I do hope Eddie's death teaches us something, it's about working hard to keep your family together, helping others in need (which Eddie did a great deal), being true to your faith and beliefs, having a ball with life, and trying to get those around you to do the same.
I will dearly miss seeing Eddie on TV, and hope that, somewhere as we speak, he and Art Barr are tearing down the house with Owen Hart and The British Bulldog.
Viva la raza.
Anyway, tomorrow...well, today, actually...is my birthday. I kicked it off earlier last night with a trip to Salem, NH, and spent lots of money. Sadly, the trip itself wasn't as nice as I'd hoped. I shall post about the BBCBirthday later on, as I'm tired now, and want to try to get the strength to do a few other things before passing out.