10 Nastiest Backstage Incidents In Wrestling History
8. Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero
The great Eddie Guerrero tragically died in November 2006 of heart failure. What wasnt immediately apparent to most was that the condition had been affecting him for some time prior to his death. On most nights he was Latino Heat: one of the worlds most gifted, hardest working technical wrestlers, working under the most lucrative and creatively successful gimmick he had ever used. But then there were the occasions that his heart just wasnt pumping as it should when he could barely move in the ring, let alone work a match. In mid-to-late 2004, Eddie was working a heated program with Kurt Angle, supposedly a dream feud for the WWE given the sheer talent involved on both sides. There was only one problem: Eddie wasnt always up to it. In an interview with RF Video, Angle recalls a lumberjack match where Guerrero couldnt even lock up, suffering from such anxiety over the problem that hed panicked over even being touched. Angles heel henchmen were the hefty Mark Jindrak and Luther Reigns, and on one occasion they were due to run in and deliver a beatdown to the babyfaced Guerrero. Afterwards, the ultrasensitive Eddie was convinced that the pair had been too stiff with the worked pasting theyd given him: that theyd taken liberties with him in the ring. Backstage after the match, he squared off with Angle, who was feeling the pressure himself, given that their matches werent living up to the hype (let alone his own incredibly high standards). Angle snapped back that Eddie was useless out there, and that hed been carrying him for weeks. Shoving turned into grappling, followed by Guerrero actually attempting a takedown on the Wrestling Machine. Angle responded by putting Eddie in a front facelock and grimly beginning to choke him out. Luckily Big Show was there to break the two of them up, and the two friends reconciled fairly swiftly, mortified that theyd let it get that far. Angle felt even worse about the incident after it became common knowledge exactly how ill Eddie had been. No wonder his performances werent always up to snuff towards the end. In an amusing postscript, JBL recalls sitting down with a seething Guerrero immediately afterward the scrap and incredulously asking him, why would you leg dive an Olympic gold medalist?! Without missing a beat, Eddie shouted back, Because Im stupid! Rest in power, Latino Heat.
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