David Allen Meltzer^[1] (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist covering professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher/editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON). Meltzer has also written for the Oakland Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Yahoo! Sports, and The National. He has extensively covered mixed martial arts since UFC 1 in 1993.

Early life[link]

Meltzer was born in New York City, lived in upstate New York until he was ten, before his family settled in San Jose, California.^[2] Meltzer earned a journalism degree from San Jose State University and started out as a sports writer for the Turlock Journal. He demonstrated an interest in professional wrestling and a journalistic approach to it early in life. Meltzer wrote several wrestling-related publications that predate WON, dating back to 1971. The most notable of these was the California Wrestling Report, ca. 1973–1974, which reported on the still-extant National Wrestling Alliance territories operating out of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

[edit] Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The beginnings of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) date back to 1980, when Meltzer began an annual poll amongst those with whom he corresponded regarding professional wrestling. According to Meltzer, he was just a fan at first. A short time later, he began maintaining a tape-trading list, and would occasionally send match results and news updates along with tape updates. Meltzer stated that he wanted to keep his friends in college "in the loop" for his tape trading as well as the happenings in the business, as the mainstream wrestling magazines catered to a somewhat younger demographic.^[3]

This led directly to the formation of the WON, which Meltzer first began publishing in 1983 as a way to keep fans informed of various wrestling regions that readers may not have been aware of or had no access to. The WON has been published from the start from various communities in Northern California, except for a six-month period in late 1983 and early 1984 when Meltzer resided in Denton, Texas. For most of its existence, it has been published from Campbell, California, a suburb of San Jose. The publication was originally a 16-24 page publication on 8½ by 14 inch paper, and published roughly every two or three weeks.

Meltzer contemplated a career change during the mid 1980s, which led him to announce in 1985 that he would be ceasing publication, citing disinterest in the wrestling landscape of the time and too much time having to be spent on bookkeeping and mailing lists.^[4] At that point, he continued offering the WON on a "temporary" basis as an 8-page weekly on 8½ by 11 inch paper only to fill out the remainder of his subcriptions. He was to be hired to cover soccer instead and just contribute to other wrestling newsletters.^[4] The reader response to this change was apparently enough to convince him to pursue the WON as his career instead. He started writing the WON full-time in 1987, retaining the smaller 8-page format. By this point, Meltzer began making appearances at major wrestling events, at first mostly in Japan. He was seen as a spectator in the front row at Chi-Town Rumble in 1989, seated next to Brad Muster, at the time a fullback with the Chicago Bears. As kayfabe was still being observed from within the business, Jim Ross acknowledged Muster's presence in the audience during the broadcast, but not Meltzer's.

The WON's earlier years were also marked by revealing insider news and various behind-the-scenes happenings in the industry, a groundbreaking approach in a kayfabe-heavy era.^[5] Meltzer's approach benefitted from professional contacts, a historic perspective, and his own analysis of trends, data, and events. The WWE's 1997 "Montreal Screwjob" was exhaustively covered by the WON, which featured accounts from within the backstage rooms where some of the interaction occurred. Meltzer published data-based evidence suggesting inflated "record" attendance figures for Wrestlemanias 3 and 23. He gave extensive space to various wrestling scandals, including Vince McMahon's 1990s steroid trial, the Chris Benoit murder investigation, and the high drug-fuelled death rate within the wrestling ranks. His newsletter was also known for its lengthy obituaries of deceased wrestling figures, as well as a desire to chronicle the deaths of every wrestling figure possible, no matter how minor.

Meltzer stated that this new, more journalistic approach to covering wrestling earned him scorn from many within the wrestling business. However, Terry Funk and Bill Watts were acknowledged as early supporters of the WON from within the business, and at the start two of the very few. Around when readers first began hotly debating whether wrestling promoters actually read the publication or not, Meltzer published a letter to the editor from Watts, at the time still promoting. He also credited Houston promoter Paul Boesch for taking him under his wing in the 1980s and teaching him how the business works. As the business evolved along with the newsletter, Meltzer gained a little more acceptance.^[6]

Since major wrestling promotions would never acknowledge the existence of any dirt sheets,^[5] Meltzer had to find other ways to advertise his newsletter. Advertisements and other promotion were often published in kayfabe and semi-kayfabe publications. Early sources for knowledge of the WON's existence were The Wrestling News published by Norman Kietzer, as well as Factsheet Five. The latter was decidedly a non-wrestling publication, though the WON and other wrestling "sheets" made up a significant amount of its coverage. Other magazines such as Wrestling Main Event and Wrestling Eye also provided mention. Meltzer was also able to advertise his publication during various guest appearances on wrestling radio shows and guest editorials in various national newspapers.

With the ubiquitous emergence of the Internet and wrestling web sites that are able to provide news in real time, today's WON differs in the way it covers the wrestling scene in that it provides more of an editorial and analysis on the news and what impacts it could have on the business.^[6] Wrestlers, such as Konnan have noted seeing copies of the WON on Vince McMahon's office desk.^[7] It is believed many, if not most of the biggest stars in WWE and other major promotions are subscribers, although few would admit it publicly. Howard Finkel's wife was publicly acknowledged by Meltzer as an early WON subscriber, and at the time, the closest reach the publication likely had to McMahon, which was in response to a reader questioning the likelihood of McMahon himself reading the publication.

Meltzer's newsletter has led to a loyal fan following, radio shows, and even a brief stint working for the WWF as a researcher in 1987.^[8] In his first autobiography, Mick Foley declared that it was the WON's coverage of his independent circuit matches that caused WCW to consider signing him, since he was against "type." Foley also wrote that promoters such as Watts would sometimes change their entire booking direction based on the opinions expressed in Meltzer's newsletter.^[9]

Impact[link]

Rating system[link]

Meltzer popularized the "star rating" system (devised by Jim Cornette and his childhood friend Norm Dooley), which rates matches on a scale of zero to five stars (sometimes going to negative five stars in the case of bad matches) in a similar manner to that used by many movie critics.^[2] As in the field of film, a rating is a largely subjective affair that may take into account the amount of action, as opposed to restholds ("workrate"), the difficulty and variety of moves used, the history of the workers and their feud, the development of an in-match storyline based on the wrestling moves and how they affect the wrestlers, and the overall reaction of the crowd.

Five star matches, as rated by Meltzer, are extremely rare. The latest in the United States was Davey Richards versus Michael Elgin at the 2012 ROH Showdown in the Sun internet pay-per-view (iPPV). 65 matches have received the honor since 1983: Dynamite Kid and Tiger Mask I were the inaugural 'five star match'. Mitsuharu Misawa has the most five star matches with 24; (including one match wrestling as Tiger Mask II).

Despite this rating system representing only the subjective opinion of one individual, wrestlers, such as Bret Hart,^[10] have written how proud they were when their performances were praised in the WON.

[edit] WON Hall of Fame

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is not a physical place. Nonetheless, it is a respected honor in the world of wrestling. Every year, Meltzer conducted a poll of selected "insiders" and wrestlers to determine new inductees into the WON Hall of Fame. Pro Wrestling Illustrated has adopted the WON Hall of Fame as their own.

[edit] Wrestling Observer Live

Meltzer was the former host of Wrestling Observer Live, a wrestling radio show. Co-hosting the show with Meltzer was Bryan Alvarez, editor of the Figure Four Weekly newsletter. Meltzer and Alvarez hosted the show every Sunday night from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. EST on the Sports Byline Radio Network. Due to the show airing on Sunday nights, replays were played on nights there were WWE pay-per-views. The show debuted in October 1999 and aired five days a week on the internet radio channel, eYada.com. eYada closed on July 9, 2001, with Wrestling Observer Live, its highest rated show, being the last show to broadcast on the station. Wrestling Observer Live was picked up by Sports Byline, a radio syndicator, on March 17, 2002, and had stayed in its current position ever since. Meltzer stopped appearing regularly on September 2007, but still appears sparingly. On Sunday nights, Meltzer regularly does a segment on the radio show Live Audio Wrestling.

Online transition[link]

On June 12, 2008, the Wrestling Observer website merged with Bryan Alvarez's Figure Four Weekly website, using the layout of the latter. After being a print-only newsletter for over 25 years (other than a brief period where it was also available via e-mail in 2000), the Observer became available to subscribers online through the website. Dave Meltzer pens the Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday news updates as contributions to the Figure 4 Weekly Online website (f4wonline.com). His colleague Bryan Alvarez writes the Tuesday and Friday updates.

Bibliography[link]

• Tributes: Remembering Some of the World's Greatest Wrestlers (Winding Stair Press, 2001, Hardcover) ISBN 1-55366-085-4 ISBN 978-1553660859
• Tributes II: Remembering More of the Worlds Greatest Wrestlers (Sports Publishing, 2004, Hardcover) ISBN 1-58261-817-8 ISBN 978-1582618173

Notes and references[link]

See also[link]

• List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame

External links[link]

• Home of the Wrestling Observer Live radio show
• Official website of the Wrestling Observer
• Pick My Brain interview with Dave Meltzer
• DeathValleyDriver interview with Meltzer
• Dean S Planet interview with Meltzer
• "Observer Star Ratings List WWF/WWE 1986–present, ***+ ratings
• "List of matches that have received five stars from Dave Meltzer
• "Ongoing list of Japanese matches that have been given four stars or higher from Dave Meltzer
• "List of the worst rated matches of all-time

Paul Bearer
Moody in January 2011
Ring name(s)	Mr. X The Embalmer Dr. Rigor Mortis Percival Pringle III[1] Percy Pringle III Paul Bearer[2]
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Billed weight	350 lb (160 kg)
Born	(1954-04-10) April 10, 1954 (age 58) Mobile, Alabama
Resides	Mobile, Alabama
Debut	June 1974

William Alvin "Bill" Moody (born April 10, 1954), better known by his ring name Paul Bearer, is a professional wrestling manager and former wrestler best known for his time in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF—later WWE).

Professional wrestling career[link]

Early career[link]

He entered the wrestling business in his teenage years as a ringside photographer. After high school, he enlisted in the United States Air Force, serving four years on duty; during this time, he often wrestled for Indian Coast independent promotions during off-duty hours. In 1979, he began managing as Percy Pringle III (or, alternatively, Percival Pringle) in southeastern independent promotions. There had been previous Percy Pringles in wrestling who were not William Moody. Immediately after his first son's birth, he cut back his involvement in the wrestling business in order to obtain a degree in mortuary science and earn certification as a funeral director and embalmer.

In 1984, he resumed full-time involvement in the wrestling business, using his Pringle character in Florida Championship Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas, and the United States Wrestling Association (a successor to WCCW). During this time, he served as manager for numerous wrestlers; he notably managed Rick Rude, "Stunning" Steve Austin, and Mark Calaway in their early careers.^[1] As Percy Pringle, he was also associated with the careers of Lex Luger, Eric Embry, and The Ultimate Warrior.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1990–2002)[link]

He joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in December 1990, after being mentioned by Rick Rude to WWF owner Vince McMahon. McMahon used Moody's real-life involvement in the funeral industry to create the character of Paul Bearer (a play on pallbearer), a very histrionic, ghostly manager, who was almost always seen bearing an urn (which led to several storylines involving wrestlers stealing his urn), and whose catchphrase was "Ohhh yyyes!". The Undertaker was his only protege to make use of his urn, being able to draw mystical power from it that could revive his strength during matches, sparking up the phrase, "The power of the urn". While Bearer managed Mankind, Mankind had a tendency to hug up against his urn while rocking back and forth.

Paul Bearer holding his urn in 1996.

Pringle made his first appearance in February 1991 when Brother Love, who originally managed The Undertaker, passed him on to be managed by Paul Bearer. Paul Bearer took on a spookier, ghastlier character as time went on and referred to The Undertaker as "My Undertaker". Pringle played the character for over thirteen years. As Undertaker's manager, as a heel and later a face for over five years, he was a mentor to The Undertaker, playing a major role in his entrances by guiding him to the ring, undoing his tie, and collecting his trench coat and hat. Bearer also hosted the WWF talk show segment entitled The Funeral Parlor, which included memorable segments such as the Ultimate Warrior being locked inside a casket, among others. Eventually Bearer turned heel again by betraying his long-time friend at SummerSlam 1996 to align himself with The Undertaker's arch-enemy, Mankind. While managing Mankind, his new protege always referred to him as "Uncle Paul". During this time, Bearer would also enlist the services of The Executioner and Vader to do battle against The Undertaker.

In April 1997 at In Your House Revenge of the Taker, The Undertaker set Bearer's face ablaze using a fireball. As a result, Bearer's head was bandaged for a time before changing his looks, shedding the makeup of ghostly pallor and jet-black hair to his natural brown hair and less make-up. No longer using his ghostly appearance and mannerisms, he became loudmouthed and shrill. Around mid 1997, Paul Bearer blackmailed The Undertaker (WWF Champion at the time) into being his protege again by threatening to reveal a deep, dark secret involving him, often making references to "the fires of Hell". Feeling he had no choice, The Undertaker accepted. While managing The Undertaker this time around, Bearer was very unpleasant toward him, harassing and nagging at him constantly. Eventually, Undertaker lost his patience and refused to allow Bearer to continue being his manager, leading Bearer to reveal the secret.

The secret suggested that Bearer had a traumatic past with The Undertaker which long preceded Brother Love's joining the two in January 1991. The secret, which involved the Undertaker's family, was: The Undertaker's mother had an affair with Paul Bearer and as a result, gave birth to a younger half-brother of The Undertaker, named Kane. Throughout The Undertaker's childhood and teen years, he lived in a funeral home with his parents and half-brother. According to Paul Bearer, The Undertaker killed his parents and caused his half-brother's face to be bruised and scarred by setting the funeral home ablaze. At the time throughout mid to late 1997, The Undertaker denied all this, claiming it was his younger half-brother's fault. Bearer accused The Undertaker of being a "murderer" and "liar". Because of the fire incident, The Undertaker thought his younger half-brother and Bearer's illegitimate son had been dead for years, that is, until Bearer introduced Kane in October 1997 at In Your House Badd Blood; during which, Kane would cost The Undertaker a Hell in a Cell match against Shawn Michaels.^[3] This led to an intense, bitter rivalry between The Undertaker and Kane with Bearer very much involved.

Bearer and The Undertaker became a team once again as heels toward the end of 1998 when Bearer betrayed his own son, Kane, in favor of managing The Undertaker once again. Once becoming a heel with Bearer, The Undertaker shamelessly admitted to setting the funeral home ablaze for which he had initially claimed was an accident or blamed Kane. Shortly thereafter, Bearer and The Undertaker formed the Ministry of Darkness. Bearer had somewhat reverted back to his original appearance once in the Ministry of Darkness, having jet-black hair and mustache. Both he and The Undertaker departed from the WWF unceremoniously in September 1999 as a result of The Undertaker suffering an injury.

In early 2000, Bearer, who turned face once more briefly, returned to WWF TV as Kane's manager, but he retired from on-screen performing shortly after WrestleMania 2000. Later that year, he went backstage to serve as a WWF road agent, stage manager, and talent scout. His contract with WWE ended in October 2002.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2003)[link]

He spent the next year working with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Percy Pringle III.

Return to WWE (2003–present)[link]

In October 2003, he signed a new three-year contract with WWE. Jim Ross, contacted him about rejoining the company, Paul at first refused the offer. Jim Ross then called again with an offer. At that time, he was suffering from health problems and depression related to his morbid obesity and underwent gastric bypass surgery in November 2003. As a signing bonus, WWE agreed to pay for the surgery, as Jim Ross promised.

Managing The Undertaker and backstage work (2004–2005)[link]

After recovering, he reappeared as Paul Bearer in March 2004 at WrestleMania XX, alongside Undertaker in a match against Kane. Paul Bearer also appeared on TV as The Undertaker's manager.

In spring of 2004, Paul Bearer was kidnapped by The Dudley Boyz under the direction of Paul Heyman. This was set up in order to temporarily write Bearer out of WWE story lines because he had to undergo emergency gallbladder surgery after suddenly developing gallstones, a common side effect of gastric bypass surgery.

For the June 27, 2004 pay-per-view The Great American Bash, a match pitting Undertaker against both of the Dudley Boyz was booked. Paul Bearer would be encased in a glass crypt backstage, covered up to his chest in cement. In the storyline, Heyman demanded that Undertaker throw the match or else see Bearer suffocated in cement. By the time of the pay-per-view, Bearer had recovered from his latest operation and would appear on-screen.

Undertaker won the match but proceeded afterwards to pull the lever that sent cement into the crypt, completely burying Paul Bearer, suffocating him. (Bearer was not really at the event. The WWE had recorded footage of Paul Bearer in the crypt before the event. During the event, there was a stunt double in the crypt the whole time. That's why the TV audience could only see Paul Bearer and the crypt he was in – since he wasn't there, they couldn't actually show anyone on screen with Bearer).^[4] This shot ended the PPV and caused numerous complaints toward WWE, as in essence they had shown a simulated murder. The live audience, however, saw an extended ending in which Bearer surfaced for air and was carried from the arena on a stretcher. On the following week's SmackDown!, Bearer was acknowledged to be alive, although gravely injured, for storyline purposes. The rehearsal taping earlier in the day of the Bash – with Undertaker ad-libbing and only half of the stunt complete, in an empty arena – was leaked onto the internet dirt sheets and actually broadcast live by accident in many of the TV markets. As he had two years remaining on his contract, however, Bearer was used as a booker for the company up until WWE decided to terminate his contract on April 11, 2005.

Other WWE work and independent circuit (2005–2010)[link]

On June 10, 2005, Bearer announced that he had signed a new deal with WWE which would allow WWE to market his personality and which would involve him attending autograph sessions and making promotional appearances and occasional appearances on TV and at house shows. Such an appearance occurred in late January 2007 at a SmackDown/ECW live event in Mobile, Alabama, where he joined the Brothers of Destruction at ringside, wearing his Paul Bearer attire, and carrying the original urn.^[5]

On April 11, 2007, Bearer appeared in the "Where Are They Now?" page, on the WWE website. He is said to have lost 240 pounds.^[6]

Bearer has been featured as a manager in the THQ video game WWE Legends of WrestleMania in 2009. In 2010, Moody did voice over work as Paul Bearer for the game, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, where he was featured in one of the Road To WrestleMania storylines for the game, as well as a selectable manager.He was also on "WWE All Stars".

Bearer returned to the Boston based Millennium Wrestling Federation as top heel manager along with John "Bradshaw" Layfield after four years, leading "Stalker" Dylan Kage at Soul Survivor VI against The Iron Sheik and "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal in the Sheik's retirement match April 24, 2010.

Sporadic WWE appearances (2010-present)[link]

On the September 24, 2010, episode of SmackDown, Bearer returned after being brought out in a casket. Bearer would help The Undertaker, who was feuding with Kane over the World Heavyweight Championship, by restoring Undertaker's powers with the urn.^[7] Bearer officially became Undertaker's manager again by accompanying him to the ring for his match against Kane for the title at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. During the match however, Bearer once again turned on Undertaker, after shining a light in his eyes when he was about to tombstone Kane. Bearer would then let Kane use the urn as a weapon to help him win the match, thus, turning Bearer heel.^[8] On the October 15 episode of SmackDown, Bearer challenged Undertaker to face Kane in a Buried Alive Match for the World Heavyweight Championship at Bragging Rights, to which Undertaker accepted by attacking Kane. At Bragging Rights, Kane once again defeated Undertaker after interference by Bearer, who was almost thrown in the grave by Undertaker, and Nexus, who helped Bearer and Kane bury Undertaker.

Kane then entered a feud with Edge, after he was named the new challenger to Kane's World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series. On the November 12 episode of SmackDown, Bearer cost Edge his match against Nexus member David Otunga. After the match, Edge kidnapped Bearer by strapping him in a wheelchair. Later that night, Edge used Bearer to cost Kane his match against The Big Show. The following week, Edge tormented Bearer throughout the night by throwing a dodgeball at him and force feeding and throwing pizza all over him. Edge then used Bearer to call for Kane in the parking lot, but Kane wasn't able to get Bearer in time as Edge attacked him and drove off with Bearer. On the November 26 episode of SmackDown, Kane demanded that Edge to let Bearer go, but Edge refused. Kane attempted track down Bearer, but was unable to find him. Kane offered a second title shot to Edge, which he accepted, but continued to keep Bearer with him. At the end of the night, Edge lured Kane to the parking lot, where Edge drove over a dummy version of Paul Bearer, with the actual Paul Bearer in the backseat of the car. On the December 3 episode of SmackDown, Edge continued his mind games with Kane by pushing a dummy version of Paul Bearer down some stairs. Then, after Edge defeated Kane in a non-title match, he brought out a Paul Bearer lookalike. Kane then went to search for Bearer again, but Edge drove away in a truck with Bearer tied up on the back. The following week, Kane begged Edge to return Bearer, but Edge once again refused. Kane then refused to participate in the main event that night and once again searched for Bearer. After what he thought was a dummy version of Paul Bearer on top of two ladders, Kane pushed them over. Afterward, Kane saw that he pushed the actual Paul Bearer off the ladders onto the concrete floor, thus, injuring him and writing him out of the storyline.

In April 2012, Bearer returned for a brief stint as a part of Kane's ongoing feud with Randy Orton. He was kidnapped by Orton and then stuck in a storage freezer while strapped to a wheelchair. Kane later came for Bearer, only to roll him back into the freezer and saying, "I'm saving you...from me."

Personal life[link]

Moody married Dianna in December 1978 and has two sons, Michael and Daniel. Daniel wrestles on the independent circuit as DJ Pringle.^[9][10] Dianna died due to complications resulting from breast cancer and chemotherapy on January 31, 2009, after over thirty years of marriage.^[11]

Moody's health has greatly improved since his gastric bypass surgery. One year earlier, he admitted that he had weighed 525 pounds (238 kg) before the operation but now weighs under 300 pounds.^[12]

In September and October 2005, he conducted three shoot interviews for Ring of Honor. Two were done exclusively about him, talking about his career in wrestling. The third was with friend and fellow wrestling manager Jim Cornette. He returned full-time to his funeral business in 2006. In 2005, Moody, with three partners, started his own independent promotion known as Gulf South Wrestling, which he announced closed on his official blog in May 2007, due to his partners in the business wanting to continue the promotion without Moody. Moody in response dissolved the company.^[13]

In wrestling[link]

• Wrestlers managed

• Nicknames

• "The Father of Destruction"

Awards and accomplishments[link]

• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Other honoree (2003)

• Gulf Coast Wrestlers Reunion
  • Pioneer Award 2001 Member of the Board of Directors

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Manager of the Year (1998)

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Stone Cold Steve Austin and Jim Ross (2003). The Stone Cold Truth. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-7720-0. 

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paul Bearer

• Official website
• Official blog
• WWE Profile of Paul Bearer
• WWE where are they now?
• Paul Bearer interview
• Interview
• Interview with Paul Bearer

Eddie Guerrero
Ring name(s)	Black Tiger II[1] Eddy Guerrero[2] El Caliente[1] Gory Guerrero, Jr.[1] Máscara Mágica[1]
Billed height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3]
Billed weight	228 lb (103 kg)[3]
Born	(1967-10-09)October 9, 1967[1] El Paso, Texas[2][3]
Died	November 13, 2005(2005-11-13) (aged 38) Minneapolis, Minnesota
Billed from	El Paso, Texas[2][3]
Trained by	Gory Guerrero
Debut	September 18, 1987[1][4]

Eduardo Gory "Eddie" Guerrero Llanes^[5] (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) ^[1] was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family.^[2] He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions. In the United States,^[2] Guerrero wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Guerrero's gimmick was that of "Latino Heat", a crafty, resourceful wrestler who would do anything to win a match. His catchphrase became "I Lie! I Cheat! I Steal!," which was used in one of his entrance themes. Guerrero partly used this phrase in his autobiography Cheating Death, Stealing Life.

Despite being a villain for most of his career, he got over in and outside the ring being the youngest, yet most popular and successful of the Guerrero brothers. Guerrero was widely regarded as one of the most respected and gifted technical wrestlers in history. Throughout his career, Guerrero encountered various substance abuse problems outside of wrestling, including alcoholism and an addiction to painkillers. His real-life problems were sometimes integrated into his storylines. Notwithstanding these issues, Guerrero won 23 titles during his career, including the WWE Grand Slam Championship.

Early life[link]

Eddie Guerrero became a wrestler, while his uncle Enrique Llanes (Yañez) and cousin Javier Llanes (Yañez) wrestled in Mexico. As a boy, Eddie Guerrero's father allowed him and Chavo Jr. to wrestle one another during intermissions in the wrestling promotions that Gory held. Gory ran wrestling promotions for nearly 15 years in the El Paso Coliseum.

Eddie Guerrero was born and raised in El Paso, Texas where he graduated from Jefferson High School and attended the University of New Mexico as well as New Mexico Highlands University on an athletic scholarship where he wrestled collegiately before going to Mexico to train as a professional wrestler, which he loved.^[4]

Professional wrestling career[link]

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (1992–1994)[link]

In Mexico, he wrestled mainly for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), teaming with El Hijo del Santo as the new version of La Pareja Atómica (The Atomic Pair), the 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.^[1] Along with Barr, Konnan, Chicano Power, and Madonna’s Boyfriend, Guerrero formed Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans), a villainous stable.^[1][6] Guerrero later said that no matter how many people joined Los Gringos Locos, the stable was all about Art. 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.^[7]

Guerrero and Barr's first break would come when they were noticed in late 1994 by the owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Paul Heyman, and were approached about wrestling for him in 1995. Barr, however, died before he could join ECW with Guerrero.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (1993–1996)[link]

In 1993, Guerrero began wrestling in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he was known as the second incarnation of Black Tiger. He became more successful upon his return when he won the Best of the Super Juniors 1996 tournament of junior heavyweights. He received a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion The Great Sasuke at NJPW Skydiving J but lost the match.^[8]

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995)[link]

Guerrero won the ECW World Television Championship from 2 Cold Scorpio on his debut in ECW,^[9][10] and went on to have a series of acclaimed matches with Dean Malenko before they both signed with World Championship Wrestling later that year.^[11] Guerrero lost the ECW Television Championship to Malenko on July 21 of that year,^[12] but Guerrero regained the title on July 28.^[10] Guerrero lost the ECW Television Championship back to 2 Cold Scorpio on August 25.^[13] The next day, they had their last match which ended in a draw in a two out of three falls match at the ECW Arena. After the match, the locker room emptied and the two were carried around the ring by their fellow wrestlers while the crowd chanted "please don't go".^[14]

World Championship Wrestling (1995–2000)[link]

Return (1995)[link]

Guerrero returned to WCW in late 1995 along with Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit with whom he had worked with in NJPW and ECW.^[11][15] During his first few pay-per-view events, he competed in dark matches against Alex Wright.^[16] His first televised pay-per-view appearance was at World War 3 where he competed in the 3-ring, 60-man World War 3 battle royal for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Guerrero was one of the final nine men in the battle royal until he was tossed out of the ring by Four Horsemen members.^[17][18] At Starrcade 1995, Guerrero represented WCW in a WCW vs. NJPW World Cup tournament. He lost to Shinjiro Otani in the match, but WCW went on to win the series.^[19]

United States and Cruiserweight Champion (1996–1997)[link]

In 1996, Guerrero received several shots at the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship against Konnan at Uncensored^[20] and Ric Flair at Hog Wild.^[21] He feuded with Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen during 1996 after Guerrero's partner Arn Anderson turned on him during a tag team match against Ric Flair and Randy Savage.^[22] In late 1996, he feuded with Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) after defeating him in a match at Clash of the Champions XXXIII.^[23] He started feuding with DDP to steal his nickname of "Lord of the Ring" but lost.^[24] Guerrero participated in a tournament for the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight Championship and defeated DDP in the final round at Starrcade 1996 to win the United States title.^[25]

In 1997, Guerrero defended the United States Heavyweight Championship against Scott Norton at Clash of the Champions XXXIV,^[26] Syxx in a ladder match at Souled Out,^[27] and Chris Jericho at SuperBrawl VII.^[28] His reign came to an end at Uncensored when Dean Malenko defeated him for the title.^[29]

After losing the United States Championship, Guerrero feuded with Jericho focusing on Jericho's WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. He challenged Jericho for the title at Clash of the Champions XXXV but lost.^[30] Guerrero demanded a rematch for the title. In the opening match of Fall Brawl 1997, Guerrero defeated Jericho to win the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship.^[31] He dropped the Cruiserweight title to Rey Mysterio, Jr. at Halloween Havoc in a Title vs. Mask match where Mysterio's mask was also on the line.^[32] On the November 10 episode of WCW Monday Nitro, he regained the Cruiserweight title back from Mysterio,^[33] and made a successful title defense against Mysterio at World War 3.^[34] After retaining the title against Dean Malenko in the opening bout of Starrcade 1997,^[35] Guerrero dropped the title to Último Dragón the following day on the December 29 episode of Nitro.^[36]

Feuding with Chavo Guerrero (1998)[link]

Guerrero feuded with Booker T. On the March 9, 1998 episode of Nitro, Guerrero's nephew Chavo Guerrero lost to Booker in a match. After the match, Guerrero suplexed Chavo to teach him a lesson.^[37] On the March 12 episode of WCW Thunder, he defeated his nephew Chavo in a match and forced him to become his "slave".^[38] At Uncensored, Chavo was forced to support Guerrero when he faced Booker T for Booker's WCW World Television Championship. Guerrero lost the match after receiving a missile dropkick.^[39] Guerrero and Chavo feuded with Último Dragón. Chavo lost to Dragón at Spring Stampede.^[40] At Slamboree, Guerrero defeated Dragón despite interference from Chavo.^[41] After the match, Chavo kissed Eddie and began to display insane behavior. At The Great American Bash, Chavo got an upset victory over Guerrero.^[42] They faced each other in a Hair vs. Hair match at Bash at the Beach which Guerrero won. Continuing to show his crazy behavior Chavo would shave his own head while Guerrero looked on in disbelief.^[43] Guerrero saved Chavo from beatings by Stevie Ray, seeming that he would align with Chavo but he wanted his release.^[44]

Latino World Order (1998)[link]

Despite his success and popularity, Guerrero had been 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 allegedly throwing coffee at Guerrero (however, 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). Furious, Guerrero demanded Bischoff release him from his contract on a live episode of Nitro. Guerrero then left the company for a period of months, angry at Bischoff for what he had done. 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 contradict himself 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 supposed continued refusal to elevate Guerrero and other similar wrestlers. He let Brian Adams pin him and get an upset victory in a match.^[44]

On-screen, Guerrero responded to Bischoff's actions by forming the Latino World Order (LWO), which was a take-off of Bischoff's New World Order.^[45] The group was an answer to Bischoff's "refusal" to push Latino wrestlers in ways they felt they deserved.^[45] The LWO was formed in October when Guerrero returned to WCW, with Héctor Garza and Damien.^[44] The group eventually grew to encompass almost all the Mexican wrestlers working for WCW at the time. They mainly feuded with Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Billy Kidman because they wanted Misterio to join the group. He faced Kidman in a match for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship but Misterio interfered and helped Kidman win the match and keep the title.^[44] However, Guerrero was involved in a serious car accident on New Year's Day, 1999 that cut short the LWO storyline. Guerrero survived the accident and returned to wrestling in a matter of months.

Filthy Animals (1999)[link]

After his return in the summer of 1999, Eddie was the founding member of the Filthy Animals stable with Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Konnan (later growing to include Juventud Guerrera, Billy Kidman, and Disco Inferno).^[46] They feuded with the Dead Pool (Insane Clown Posse and Vampiro). They received two straight victories over the Dead Pool at Road Wild and Fall Brawl.^[47][48] They next feuded with The Revolution (Shane Douglas, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn). Guerrero was victorious over Saturn by disqualification in a singles match at Halloween Havoc.^[49] At Mayhem, the Animals lost to Revolution in a mixed tag team elimination match.^[50] When Vince Russo was fired as WCW booker and replaced by Kevin Sullivan, Guerrero asked for and received a release from his contract on January 19.^[51] He signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 2000 along with WCW stars Benoit, Malenko, and Saturn.

World Wrestling Federation (2000–2001)[link]

The Radicalz (2000)[link]

Guerrero and along with Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn debuted in the WWF on the January 31, 2000 episode of Raw is War as The Radicalz, interfering in a match involving the New Age Outlaws.^[52] During his first match with the WWF, a tag team match with the Radicalz against the Outlaws, Guerrero performed a Frog Splash off the top rope and severely injured his elbow on the landing. As a result, he was sidelined for several weeks.^[53]

Latino Heat (2000)[link]

Guerrero as European Champion with Chyna at the 2000 King of the Ring.

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 could not resist his "Latino Heat."^[53][54] Guerrero won his first WWF title on the April 3, 2000 episode of Raw is War by defeating Chris Jericho for the WWF European Championship with help from Chyna.^[55][56] After Chyna abandoned Lita to be attacked by the Dudley Boyz, he and Chyna began a feud with Essa Rios and Lita, ending in a European title defense at Backlash, 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.^[53][57] Guerrero successfully retained the title against former Radicalz friends Saturn and Malenko in a Triple Threat match at Judgment Day,^[53][58] before finally losing the title to Saturn at Fully Loaded.^[53]

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.^[53] At SummerSlam, Chyna won the WWF Intercontinental Championship in a mixed tag match.^[53][59] They had also inserted themselves in the drama between Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Kurt Angle. Guerrero claimed to not mind and then begged Commissioner Mick Foley to let him take part in a title defense between Chyna and Angle on the September 4 episode of Raw is War, claiming he was afraid that Angle would injure Chyna. After Angle knocked Chyna down with the title belt, Guerrero "accidentally" pinned her to win his first Intercontinental Championship while trying to revive her.^[53][56][60] 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 photo shoot.^[53] Just when it appeared that Chyna would leave Guerrero, he proposed to her and she accepted.^[53] At Unforgiven, Chyna helped Guerrero in retaining his title against Rikishi.^[53][61] The engagement was called off when Guerrero was caught showering with two of The Godfather's hos (one was Victoria) claiming that "Two Mamacitas are better than one!"^[53]