Eddie Guerrero's Career

R.I.P. Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes. On November 13, 2005, Guerrero was found unconscious in his hotel room (The Marriott City Center) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by his nephew, Chavo. Chavo attempted CPR, but Guerrero was pronounced dead when paramedics arrived on the scene. An autopsy revealed that Guerrero died as a result of acute heart failure, caused by undiagnosed arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Although Guerrero had not taken alcohol or illicit drugs for nearly four years, his past excesses contributed to his heart failure. Guerrero's wife Vickie claimed that he had been unwell in the week preceding his death, but had attributed it to the stress of continuously traveling and performing. She added that the doctors had told her that Guerrero's blood vessels had shriveled and weakened as a result of an undiagnosed heart disease, and that he had simply dropped into a deep sleep. On the November 30 edition of WWE Byte This!, Chavo said that Guerrero had been working hard and was at peak physical fitness as a result, doing cardiovascular and weight training exercises every day. There had been no symptoms or cause for concern. Chavo noted that, while many people abuse drugs for over ten years with no ill effects, Guerrero had suffered heart complications that were not detected in time to prevent his death, even though he had ceased his drug abuse some four years earlier. Guerrero was set to face Batista and Randy Orton in a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship on the November 15, 2005 taping of SmackDown! (which would have aired on November 18, 2005). Stephanie McMahon hinted that Guerrero had been scheduled to defeat Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship, which would have begun Guerrero's first reign as World Heavyweight Champion and his second world championship reign overall. The episodes of Raw on November 14, 2005 and SmackDown! on November 18, 2005 each aired as tributes to Guerrero. No WWE employees were forced to perform, although several matches took place, including one featuring Chavo, who finished the match with his uncle's frog splash. Raw started off with all the superstars and several personnel on stage, as Vince McMahon addressed the live crowd. A video was then shown featuring many clips of Guerrero in and out of the ring. In addition to the Raw and SmackDown! tribute shows, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling dedicated the pay-per-view TNA Genesis (which aired the evening of his death) to Guerrero,[163] while Ring of Honor named their next show "Night of Tribute."[164] NECW (New England Championship Wrestling) also honored the fallen star with a tribute video and their show in his honor. Guerrero was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006 by Rey Mysterio, his nephew Chavo Guerrero, and Chris Benoit in Chicago, Illinois on the night before WrestleMania 22.[3] His widow, Vickie, accepted the honor. Guerrero also appears in the video games, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 (PSP version only) as a legend. On every house show on the European tour in cities of Germany (Leipzig, Berlin, Nuremberg), a ten-bell salute occurred and fans stood up in silence to honor Guerrero who died several days before the event. The same happened in the Mexican tour. The cities of Monterrey, Guadalajara and Mexico City shouted dramatically during each function on behalf of Guerrero and Rey Mysterio in each one said a word in his memory. Eventually, other wrestlers (primarily Chavo, Mysterio, and Christian Cage) paid tribute to him in their matches by using the Frog Splash, Eddie's finisher. On November 11, 2008 WWE will release Viva La Raza: The Legacy Of Eddie Guerrero on DVD.