10 Most Inspirational Wrestling Stars Of All Time
5. Eddie Guerrero
Shortly before Eddie Guerrero passed away, the tentative plan for WrestleMania 22 was to pair him with Shawn Michaels. It was intended to be a fiery wrestling classic to complement the match Kurt Angle had had with Michaels at WrestleMania 21, a Savage vs. Steamboat for a new generation.
One of the selling points for this match-up was the clear parallels between the struggles both men had faced with substance abuse, nearly losing themselves in that battle before pulling themselves back out.
Beloved by fans and wrestlers alike, Eddie had a problem with alcohol and painkillers that wrecked his body, his marriage and very nearly his career. Guerrero wasn’t twisted by his addictions like Michaels. By all accounts, his was a Jekyll & Hyde issue: sober, he was the greatest guy on earth, the greatest husband on earth, the greatest father on earth.
Drunk, Latino Heat would pick a fight with anyone or anything, his temper spinning wildly out of control. On drugs, he crashed his car and nearly killed himself, causing injuries that might have paralysed a lesser man: he returned to work sooner than he should, increasing his dependency on prescription drugs and his pursuit of alcohol to further numb the pain.
By 2001, his problems couldn’t be hidden any longer, and he was released from his WWF contract around the same time as his wife Vickie asked him to leave their home and their family. Faced with losing everything he had in the world, Eddie sorted his life out, developing a reputation for ultra-professional, ultra-impressive work on the independent scene so fast that the initial demand for his services became a clamour that reached the ears of Vince McMahon and Jim Ross. The company rehired him almost immediately.
A peerless worker and talker, over like clover with the post-Attitude Era fanbase, Eddie Guerrero became the poster boy for inspirational comebacks, even reuniting with the love of his life and restoring his family again. Sadly, the years of drug abuse and steroid use had taken their toll on Guerrero’s heart, and he passed away in November 2005.
If Michaels and Regal are pitch-perfect, inspirational case studies in turning your life around, then Guerrero is that case study attached to a cautionary tale: that today is the best of all times to change your life for the better, because you never know how many tomorrows are left.