Ring announcer Tony Chimel made an announcement to the crowd at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas: “All right, ladies and gentlemen, very shortly, we will begin our network television program, SmackDown!”
As in every arena, the crowd began cheering wildly, excited that the show was about to begin. But then something else happened. Within seconds, the fans chanted: “Eddie! Eddie!”
On Jan. 1, 1999, Eddie Guerrero almost died. He was driving in Lake O’ Lakes, Fla., while under the influence of GHB, aka "liquid ecstasy." He fell asleep at the wheel of his Trans-Am, and while the car was traveling 130 mph, it flipped. He ended up being shot 100 feet in the air out of the car's T-top. He suffered a lacerated liver, a broken hip socket, two fractured vertebrae and a fractured collarbone. He needed reconstructive surgery on his left shin and ankle. Because he was bleeding from the liver, doctors weren't sure if he'd survive past the first two days.
This week on SmackDown!, Eddie Guerrero, a “local boy done good,” legitimately received one of the loudest reactions ever heard on SmackDown! – right up there with Hulk Hogan. One gets the sense that the fans in El Paso, Texas, made all Eddie’s trials and tribulations worthwhile for him.
“I don’t want to get too corny or too mushy,” Eddie said to the fans. “For what it’s worth, thank you.”
Eddie has always been one of my favorites -- excellent performer, incredible wrestler. Big ups to The Man for conquering his problems, and even bigger ups for taking personal accountibility and not pulling out the tired "It's someone else's fault" excuse.
Good to see Eddie getting his hometown props. You can read the whole article here.
:)!!!
*Apologies if this has been posted already. I looked but didn't see a similar thread.
I think it was the Torch, a while ago, that first reported Eddie's been doing a tremendous job staying sober and putting his family back together. Good for him.
Although I didn't see this week's SD, I say its a good move to give him a face push. There's no reason he shouldn't be one of the top three stars on the show right now, and I'd love to see (another) match between him and Brock down the line. Of course, him staying heel and having great bouts against Angle and Benoit is also an option, but I think that does less for Eddie's chances of being a top guy.
As a fellow member of AA, I've got to say that article made me feel good. We've got Eddie, Tonya Harding, and Tobey MacGuire. You want to talk about a bad-ass stable! We could be the Easy Does Its, or the One Day at a Timers.
Seriously, though - is Eddie the man or what? It's like Kurt Angle was in 2001 - pure pleasure to watch. It's also amazing to see a wrestling success story like this, too, when so much of what we hear are tragedies and tales of self-destruction. There's also hope, too, that Eddie can serve as a role model or mentor to any of the guys in the back who have their own "demons" to face. I'm sure many of them have already taken notice of what's happened to Latino Heat since he got his shit together.
My turntables might wobble but they don't fall down.
Originally posted by My Anti-DrugSeriously, though - is Eddie the man or what? It's like Kurt Angle was in 2001 - pure pleasure to watch. It's also amazing to see a wrestling success story like this, too, when so much of what we hear are tragedies and tales of self-destruction. There's also hope, too, that Eddie can serve as a role model or mentor to any of the guys in the back who have their own "demons" to face. I'm sure many of them have already taken notice of what's happened to Latino Heat since he got his shit together.
Abso-fucking-lutely. To all of that. I had noticed the definite change in Eddie's work over the last year, but I had no idea the extent of his drug & alcohol problems -- much less the loss of his wife due to said issues.
And right on -- Eddie serves as an awesome example to the other performers backstage. Drug abuse + horrible attitude = very short career. As we've sadly seen before.
Courtesy of 411mania.com/wrestling, here are the highlights of Kurt Angle's January 25 appearance on the Bubba the Love Sponge Radio Show. More evidence that Kurt is certainly more, shall we say, outspoken since leaving WWE.