10 WWE Moments That Shocked The Wrestling World
5. The Death Of Eddie Guerrero
The passing of Eddie Guerrero sent shockwaves through WWE and the wrestling industry as a whole. A skilled performer, a bona fide main eventer and a beloved character both on screen and off, Guerrero was seemingly at the top of his game.
To make matters even more tragic, Guerrero had allegedly been earmarked for another run with the gold, penciled to win with 'The Big Gold Belt' held at the time by Batista.
The Batista feud was already in motion, naturally progressing before the fans' eyes. Their main event at No Mercy 2005 had been well received; meanwhile, Guerrero had spent the following month almost exclusively challenging for the World Title on house shows.
The world awaited the tweener, Eddie, to finally turn on 'Big Dave' and show his true colours. Sadly, the story never got its conclusion. Just two days after his final match aired on TV, Guerrero died in his hotel room on 13 November as a result of heart failure.
Eddie's shocking passing instigated the re-introduction of WWE's now fabled Wellness Policy. Despite this fact, the frequency of wrestler deaths has remained alarmingly high in the years since - though with one notable exception - none whilst under contract with the company.
A similar situation would occur almost a decade later, when Ultimate Warrior passed away just as suddenly, mere hours after appearing on Raw.