RIP Tributes
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Both RAW and SmackDown! were booked as tribute events in memory of Eddie Guerrero. Throughout the events, several wrestlers wore Eddie Guerrero's "I'm Your Papi" T-shirt to the ring, and some also wore a black armband marked with the initials "EG." Both shows consisted almost entirely of interbrand matches. RAW Taped in Minneapolis barely 12 hours after Eddie's passing, this special edition of RAW was the first WWE show to air following Eddie's passing and included the expression of grief and tribute by WWE superstars and fans. Video tributes from John Cena, Lilian Garcia, Chavo Guerrero, Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, Batista, Chris Benoit, Triple H, and Stephanie McMahon were aired. It aired the following day, November 14. The show began with a ten-bell salute with the entire roster standing at the entrance ramp, a tradition in professional wrestling used to honor a recently fallen comrade. Following that, a video tribute, using the song "Hurt" by Johnny Cash was shown, and the audience emotionally chanted "Thank you, Eddie!" out of respect to the late Superstar. Rey Mysterio (who wore a black mask) wrestled Shawn Michaels in an interpromotional tribute match, which Mysterio won. Following the match, both men embraced one another and Mysterio cried while pointing skyward. In the aftermath of his match with Randy Orton, WWE Champion John Cena, who had previously described Guerrero as a great man and father figure, laid the Eddie Guerrero t-shirt he had worn throughout the match in the center of the ring then placed the WWE Championship atop the shirt, reflecting Stephanie McMahon's earlier comment that "Eddie was always a champion." Stephanie's comments also seemed to confirm rumours that Eddie was due to win the World Heavyweight Title on the day of his death. The broadcast ended with commentator Joey Styles eulogizing Guerrero with the words "Eddie Guerrero was a champion competitor, he was a champion in life." Smackdown! After the RAW taping, the scheduled edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown! was conducted and taped entirely as a tribute to Eddie Guerrero, who was a part of their roster. The show opened with Batista driving one of Eddie Guerrero's signature lowriders to the ring, then after making a tearful speech he laid his sunglasses and the World Heavyweight Championship belt on the hood of the lowrider, where they remained throughout the show. Video tributes by Vince McMahon, Booker T and Sharmell, The Big Show, Shane McMahon, JBL and Eric Bischoff were also aired, with each one of them recounting memories they had of Eddie Guerrero. Chavo Guerrero wrestled a match against John "Bradshaw" Layfield in which he performed several trademark Eddie Guerrero spots, such as the *Three Amigos (Combination three vertical suplexes), as well as tricking the referee into thinking JBL had used a chair, and using the frog splash as a finisher. A modified video tribute to Eddie Guerrero was shown, this time the song used for it was "Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down. The show ended with Chris Benoit defeating Triple H. Before the match, Triple H paused at the entrance to the ring and stared at the lowrider with the championship belt on the hood. At the point in his entrance where he stands on the ring apron and spits water, he pointed skyward and the crowd erupted. Then he mounted the ropes in the corner and mouthed 'It's not about me tonight' and pointed to his wrist, where he was wearing his 'EG' armband. After the match, Triple H and Benoit shook hands and embraced, celebrating Eddie's life in the ring. Also, Dean Malenko, who came in to the WWE with Eddie and Benoit as 'The Radicalz', came into the ring and embraced his friend. Following that match, announcer Michael Cole remembered the night in which Eddie won the WWE Championship, telling the TV audience how grateful he was to Guerrero for letting him call that match and finished the show off by saying "Thank you Eddie, one last time." Matches: Matt Hardy (SmackDown!) defeats Carlito (RAW). Legion of Doom (Road Warrior Animal and Heidenreich) (SmackDown!) defeats Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch (RAW). Chavo Guerrero (RAW) defeats John "Bradshaw" Layfield (SmackDown!). WWE Cruiserweight Champion Juventud (SmackDown!) won a cruiserweight battle royal. Chris Benoit (SmackDown!) defeats Triple H (RAW). Tributes from friends Dusty Rhodes spoke of his belief that Guerrero's death would bring the entire wrestling family together, and of how Guerrero had fought and beat his "personal demons" and was an inspiration to all young people. John "Bradshaw" Layfield tearfully recounted how Guerrero had given him crucial personal support during both his divorce and his elevation to main-event status. Shawn Michaels spoke of how he and Guerrero shared a deep Christian faith, and Kurt Angle recounted how much Guerrero had personally and professionally helped him. Dean Malenko spoke of how much Guerrero's sudden death had hurt him, and how much he would miss him. Edge talked about how the news was unbelievable and shocking to him, while Batista recollected that Guerrero had helped him with the burden of being World Heavyweight Champion and Guerrero was the first in the SmackDown! locker room to make him feel welcomed. Guerrero's nephew Chavo said that Guerrero was like a brother to him, and reminisced about their childhood together. Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio emotionally recounted the multi-decade friendship with Guerrero, how he had striven to help them and the important role he had played in their success. Ric Flair, Booker T and his wife Sharmell, Val Venis, Shelton Benjamin, Matt Hardy, Theodore Long and other WWE employees described Guerrero's intense passion and position at the apex of the wrestling industry profession in terms of both athleticism and entertainment, Vampiro spoke about his early days in Mexico City when he frequently roomed with Guerrero and Bret Hart spoke about Guerrero's work ethic and wrestling ability. A large number of independent wrestlers and promotions also acknowledged Guerrero's passing, including Ring of Honor and TNA, who acknowledged his death on their PPV event Genesis, which occurred that same day. Konnan, a long time friend of Guerrero's from their early days in Mexico, spoke about him during the ppv telecast. He talked about how much everyone loved him and how much he learned about the business from him. Christian Cage also spoke about how much Eddie meant to him in an interview, and he also stated that it was a shock and that it didn't fully hit him until a few days later. In addition, he went on to say how much he adored Eddie as a wrestler and great friend. Jim Ross also wrote a column for WWE.com recalling meeting Eddie Guerrero, the importance Guerrero had in his personal life ("You were a wonderful inspiration to me and to so many others — not only as a wrestler but as a husband, father, brother and friend."), and how talented Guerrero was as a wrestler and entertainer ("Eddie Guerrero is easily one of the 10 best in-ring talents I have seen in 33 years in this business"). El Hijo del Santo, Eddie's rival and partner in lucha libre, posted a message in English and Spanish on his website in tribute and wore an Eddie T-Shirt and "EG" armband during his match against Último Guerrero in Arena México the following week. Later on, JBL recounted that even though he was Eddie's enemy onscreen, in real life, they were best friends. His wife spoke about how he would tease her that he was dating Chyna onscreen. Stephanie spoke about how she first met him and what a decent person he was. Other personal tributes were given by Candice Michelle, Trish Stratus, Orlando Jordan, Christy Hemme, Eric Bischoff, Arn Anderson, Steve Keirn, Ted DiBiase, Michael Hayes, Gerald Brisco and Mickie Jay, while mournful e-mails from fans were published on WWE.com. Tributes from fans and WWE The WWE web servers crashed twenty four hours after Guerrero's death was announced, as more than 150,000 e-mail messages of sympathy and support came in from fans across the world. WWE made many videos of Guerrero's best performances, personal accounts and testimonies from his DVD and two musical video tributes (featuring Here Without You by 3 Doors Down and Hurt by Johnny Cash respectively) available on his profile at WWE.com. Fans commemorated Eddie through artwork and posters, and through all the WWE TV and other events held over two weeks since his death. The WWE War Zone knew all about his death and Bill Thompson (current World Hardcore Champion) said a sad speech and he was crying at the same time. In El Paso, Texas, a statue of Eddie Guerrero, with him holding the WWE Belt. was put as his tombstone. International News had a segment about the death of Eddie Guerrero. Reportera Bill Thompson & Stephanine McMahon showed some of his greatest matches. WWE has announced plans to compile e-mail tributes from fans across the world into a book dedicated to Guerrero, which will then be presented to Vickie Guerrero and the Guerrero family. WWE is currently selling black "EG" armbands similar to those worn by several WWE wrestlers at the Guerrero tribute shows, along with an Eddie Guerrero tribute T-shirt. All of the proceeds from those items will go to the Guerrero family. The WWE plans to release a DVD package in 2006 commemorating the life and work of Eddie Guerrero. Vince McMahon also wished to make a movie based on the life of Eddie Guerrero. Continuing tributes Chavo Guerrero, Jr. said on Byte This!, November 30, 2005, that the entire Guerrero family were still to come to terms with Eddie's passing, and it was a big adjustment for them to make. Eddie's widow Vickie Guerrero and Eddie's three daughters were still unable to overcome their grief, but were getting back to normal slowly. Rey Mysterio, Edge, John Cena, Batista, and the Mexicools continued displaying their E.G. black armbands and wristbands while performing. Although now only Chavo Guerrero, Rey Mysterio and the Mexicools wear the armband. On November 29, a SmackDown! Special aired in which Rey Mysterio dedicated his match with The Big Show to Eddie. Rey entered the arena in a low-rider in a similar fashion to Eddie's ring entrance, with Eddie's entrance music playing. On the SmackDown! Live Tour, SmackDown! went to Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey and each of the three shows were dedicated to the memory of Eddie Guerrero. Close friends of Eddie Guerrero, particularly Rey Mysterio, Chavo Guerrero and Chris Benoit have adapted some of Eddie Guerrero's moves into their movesets as a tribute such as the Three Amigos, Frog Splash, Eddie's classic cheating tactics and various Eddie taunts. Before the Royal Rumble PPV on January 29, 2006, Rey Mysterio dedicated his performance in the Royal Rumble Match to Eddie. After drawing number 2 and spending an hour and two minutes in the ring (breaking Chris Benoit's Royal Rumble record from 2004, when he himself won by last eliminating the Big Show), Rey eliminated Triple H and Randy Orton to win the Rumble. Mysterio later won the World Heavyweight Championship in a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania 22 against Kurt Angle and Randy Orton as a tribute to Eddie. At the entrance ramp Vickie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero congratulated him. In February, Eddie's hometown of El Paso, TX honoured Eddie with the Star Of The Mountain Award, El Paso's Mayor exclaimed him as El Paso's True Champion. Guerrero was named as the second member of the Class of 2006 inductees for the WWE Hall of Fame. He was inducted by Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, and his nephew Chavo Guerrero. The next night, at Wrestlemania 22, Rey Mysterio won the World Heavyweight Championship, which was dedicated to Eddie, and was congratulated by Chavo and Vickie afterward. Controversy In the closing moments of the SmackDown! Special match between Mysterio and Big Show, Big Show caught Rey Mysterio on the outside of the ring and Powerbombed him on top of the lowrider which Rey had driven to the ring in tribute of Guerrero. This was considered unnecessary and tasteless because of the huge size difference between the 500lbs Big Show, and the 5'6" cruiserweight of Mysterio. After the match had ended (in which Big Show's tag team partner Kane came out to attack Mysterio) The Undertaker came out to the aid of his fellow Smackdown superstar (there was currently a feud between both WWE brands; Raw and SmackDown!). Shortly after this, Undertaker's rival Randy Orton used the lowrider to beat up The Undertaker, and drove the car through the backscreen of the entrance area with an injured Undertaker reeling on its backseat, crashing into heavy metal and electrical equipment. The electrical equipment caught fire, and soon the car was up in flames. While the event was staged as a dangerous attack on the Undertaker, the burning of the car was seen by many fans as disrespectful to Eddie. Many WWE employees and former employees (including The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin) were also very upset about this. The next day, WWE, through its live show Byte This!, answered questions from fans and emphasized that the WWE performers were the last people to do anything controversial regarding Eddie's memory and they and Eddie's family were basically fine with the events staged, and would have spoken out before if they had felt any qualms. In between the two events, former referee Tim White was involved in a "suicide storyline" where he attempted to shoot himself with a rifle during the broadcast of Armageddon 2005. Many found this to be in bad taste, having been booked so shortly after the death of Guerrero. The storyline, referred to as "Lunchtime Suicide," are skits showing White attempting various methods of suicide (and ultimately failing). But the series ended when White holds a "celebration of life" party and Josh Matthews, who interviews him every skit, gets shot by White. Further displeasure has erupted over the use of Guerrero's death in some WWE storylines. One such storyline involved Randy Orton, a heel at the time, telling Rey Mysterio that "Eddie ain't in heaven he's down there in Hell!" Many fans (as well as industry insiders and WWE employees) felt WWE was disrespecting Guerrero's memory. Mick Foley stated on his WWE.com blog that he feels WWE was majorly out of line, and even suggested he might call Vince McMahon himself over the matter. Eddie Guerrero Tributes |
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