It was one of the saddest news items wrestling fans have ever read. When Eddie Guerrero died on November 13, 2005 in a hotel in Minneapolis, it rocked the wrestling world. We got to know a lot about Eddie in three years before his death. He was built up as one of the best performers in WWE and was locked in as a top babyface on the Smackdown brand especially in 2004. A heel turn followed in 2005 as he was engaged in a long time feud with good friend Mysterio. What mattered most was his very real connection with the audience. By the time Eddie became WWE Champion in 2004, we knew about how he was battling alcohol and drug addictions for many years. He became estranged from his family. Then they got everything back together thanks in part because of his love for the wrestling business. Being in the ring was something he loved as much as anybody. We could see it in his face as well as his body language. There are some wrestlers that we watched that we can say were naturals at it. They were born to be in that ring. Eddie was one of those guys. When Eddie died because of heart failure it really made fans sad. Maybe if WWE's Wellness Policy was in place at that point his heart issue would have been detected and he would have been able to live a longer life. We'll never know. The reason some fans wanted to stop watching because it was too sad to know that Eddie wasn't on our TV screens lying, cheating and stealing like he famously did so many times before.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
