10 Best World Title Celebrations In WWE History
1. Eddie Guerrero (No Way Out 2004)
If any celebration can match Mick Foley’s for pure emotional impact, it’s Eddie Guerrero’s at No Way Out 2004.
As one of the most universally admired, respected, and cherished performers in wrestling history, Eddie Guerrero had faced a lifetime of adversity. He’d endured the kind of lows that most human beings simply wouldn’t be able to recover from. On New Year’s Day 1999, he almost lost his life in a severe car accident, and while he made a full recovery, he developed a crippling addiction to alcohol and painkillers that plagued his early WWE career.
His demons got the better of him, and in 2001, Eddie was sent to rehab. WWE released him in November that year after being arrested for drunk driving, and in one of the darkest periods of his life, Eddie became estranged from his closest friends and family.
Eddie rebounded. He went to the independents, worked like a demon, and rebuilt his reputation as a professional wrestler. Not only that, but he kicked his addictions, cleaned up his act, and returned to the company in 2002. The “lie, cheat, steal” mantra turned him into a natural babyface, and with WWE playing-up the storyline of Eddie fighting his demons, he found himself competing for the Championship at No Way Out 2004.
Few gave Guerrero a shot against the surging Brock Lesnar, but that’s exactly what he did. After an entertaining battle featuring a ref bump and a Goldberg interference, Guerrero reversed an F-5 into a DDT on the belt, then hit his patented Frog Splash for the victory.
The building erupted with euphoria, and Eddie’s epic celebration saw him leap into the fans, crowdsurf, and engage his mother in an emotional embrace. Finishing off by standing on the announce table with the Championship in one hand and the Mexican flag in the other, Eddie’s title celebration was a truly special moment, and the kind of moment that makes watching wrestling worthwhile in the first place.