13. Eddie Guerrero And Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero embracing at the end of WrestleMania 20 remains an iconic wrestling moment, despite the tragedies that struck both just years away. The two were great friends in real life, whose careers followed a strikingly similar path. They were both incredible, but undersized workers respected by their peers and the hardcore fans alike. They both toured the globe and battled each other in Japan, with Benoit as Wild Pegasus and Guerrero under a mask as Black Tiger 2. Despite having international acclaim, neither break through in the United States. After each spent time in ECW, their careers crossed paths once more as Eric Bischoff signed them to WCW contracts. They were putting on brilliant performances in the ring, but were unfairly held back. After they endured a frustrating tenure there, they jumped ship. Along with with Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn, they finally made the impact they'd worked so hard for. As The Radicalz, Benoit and Guerrero fought alongside each other and received more of the spotlight than they did in WCW. When the brand split went down, they went to SmackDown before joining the Raw brand together. They again returned to the blue brand side by side. At Extreme Rules 2005, they faced off in a match displaying mutual respect for each other and the ECW brand. After Eddie passed away, Benoit took it incredibly hard. He lost one of his best friends, and one of the few people he could confide in. Their most memorable moment in a WWE ring together may be sharing that hug at WrestleMania. If only that memory could still be re-lived without all the underlying sadness casting a shadow over it.
Andrew Soucek
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
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