Eddie Guerrero Tribute Show Transcripts

John Cena:
Today you are going to here a lot of things from a lot of people. Some you like some you don’t. But the one constant you are going to here the one thing that reigns more constant and rings truer then anything else and in anything that is said is that Eddie Guerrero was a great man. He was one of the most passionate individuals about everything he did. On a personal level when I did not know anything here, he helped me, not only as an in ring partner but as a father figure. The stuff you don’t necessarily teach, the hip tosses, the bodyslams. Eddie Guerrero went past that. And taught me to find this (points at his heart) through all his technical prowess, that is what Eddie had best. He had this (points at his heart again). He taught me to find it, he taught me to embrace it. Good, bad or indifferent. My condolences go out to the Eddie Guerrero family, and I know those who are in the locker room who are close to him. Chavo, of course, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Dean Malenko. Eddie was a man of faith so I know he is in a better place. But selfishly every single one of us will miss him. We love you Eddie.

Lillian Garcia:
I was actually very lucky to know Eddie from the very beginning when he got here. And immediately we bonded of course, because we have that Latino thing going on. We spoke in Spanish with each other all the time and he was such a good person and my fondest memory of his was actually last year when he and I were apart of the group that got to go to Iraq. And we all got split into smaller groups and he was in my group. So there was 5 of us so for 3 or 4 days we were going around together flying in black helicopters from base to base, And just seeing the faces of the troops that were so excited to see him, And he was so humble, he was just so busy going the whole time “are you kidding why are you so” they were thanking him for coming and all of us and he was like “Don’t thank me thank you for what you are doing for our country.” And just sing him that way and seeing him humbled, He was with all the soldiers and it shows you what he really was, And I Eddie I just wanted to say (Spoken in Spanish) Eddie I love you and you were an inspiration. Goodbye.

Dean Malenko:
I never thought I'd be sitting here talking about Eddie in the past tense. I lost my dad a little over 10 years ago and never got to experience that type of loss before until Eddie. I remember when we first came here, me and Eddie and Chris, we used to talk about who would make it here and we definitely said if anybody was really going to make it here, it would be Eddie. Eddie had everything, he had charisma. He had the in ring talent. He had it all. He was the total package; and he did it. The day he won the title, I couldn’t have been prouder if it was my own kid and I’m gonna miss him. I know people are gonna miss him, but I don’t want Eddie to be one of those wrestlers that passed away that was just, at times, would just remember and forget. I don’t want to forget him and I don’t want the people to forge him. Eddie, I’ll miss you and you’ll always be in my memory; you’ll be in my heart. You made me a better wrestler and ill never forget that.

John Layfield:
I’ve been arch nemesis of Eddie Guerrero for 2 years now, in World Wrestling Entertainment, in one of the greatest feuds in modern WWE history. In fact, it got so hot in El Paso, Texas, the home of Eddie Guerrero, the home of Eddie’s father, Gory Guerrero, he was a legend in El Paso, that they need the state troopers to not only get me out of the arena, but to escort me all the way to the city limits down Interstate 20. We almost had a riot in Albuquerque, Odessa, San Diego, San Bernardino and Los Angeles. Everywhere we wrestled, there was almost a riot.

I started wrestling in Dallas with Eddie Guerrero’s brothers. I’ve known the Guerrero family for a long time, as long as I’ve been wrestling. Eddie Guerrero has been my enemy in World Wrestling Entertainment for quite a while. In true life, he’s been on of my very best friends. My first main event pay per view was with Eddie in the Staples center in Los Angeles, where we sold it out. That main event might have never happened if it hadn't been for Eddie Guerrero. You see, a lot of people within the WWE, a lot of fans, believed that I wasn’t capable of being a main event wrestler. Eddie Guerrero went to bat for me. Eddie Guerrero asked off work to be the groomsman at my wedding. I have a picture of Eddie and my father in cowboy hats hanging in my office in New York.

Eddie Guerrero, when I went through a divorce, set me aside in Calgary in a restaurant bar for 3 hours and tried to help me out. Every week, he'd bring me scriptures; he'd bring me passages from books he'd read just for me, to try to help me get through that. When I met my wife Meredith, I think Eddie was as happy as I was. This world was a better place because of Eddie, but you know what, to hell with the world, I was a better person because of Eddie. He just moved to Phoenix with his beautiful wife Vicky and daughters. His mother just moved there. They’re going to miss him more that I am, and I’m sorry, but Vicky, to you and your family, thank you for letting me be a part of your life, and to the people who gave us Eddie Guerrero, thank you. And to Eddie, I wish one more time, I can see you come out in the low rider. Thanks Eddie.

Eric Bischoff:
I last saw Eddie, last Wednesday, at the Phoenix airport. Eddie and his family had just recently moved to Phoenix, and we were waiting for our bags together, and he asked me about my son, and I asked him about his family and he proceeded to take out pictures of his daughters and tell me how important they were to him and how they’ve changed his life and made his life better. And that’s the last time I saw Eddie. We hugged and said goodbye and I looked forward to seeing him this weekend which of course isn’t going to happen. I’ll miss Eddie greatly and my thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Shelton Benjamin:
It goes without saying he was a phenomenal talent. I think he was a man who, everyday, strived to better himself, to improve himself, and uh he did it for himself, he did it for his family which, I mean which, he loved more than anything. We've actually gotten into arguments and he'd bring up like "I do this for my family and if you mess this up for me, watch out." So I just want to say to Eddie I love you, I thank you for everything you've done for me. To his family, Eddie was someone you could be proud of. Eddie's an inspiration. Eddie's a leader. Eddie's I mean Eddie was just a great man all around. I thank God everyday for the chance, for the time that I spent with him. That's it. I love you Eddie.

Ric Flair:
He had a very controlled piece about him, really made him unique. He had this fabulous ability to look you in the eye and say something ... you knew it was really sincere, you know, it came from the heart. He was one of those guys who went like this (hits his heart with his fist) and you knew it was real.

He'll be thought of as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. He was a great father, a great husband and he was a great person who had the respect of everybody he touched and everybody around him and that's all you can ask in life. When you die, you want someone to think that you were good at what you did for a living, you want someone who respected you, you want someone to think that you were a good father and a good husband. You can't ask for much more than that and Eddie had all of that. He was a great, great performer, a great man and a great, great person and the girls should be very proud of their dad, and will be I'm sure. As a matter of fact, Eddie's legacy is so great that he'll just grow in stature as the years go by; you'll always have a chance to remember him cause he'll be on television for years to come, with a lot of great memories. He wont be duplicated.

William Regal:
I’m hoping that everybody, every single person realizes that if they spent any time with Eddie, they’ve certainly been blessed, because he was a truly great human being. (Silently: “It’s all I’ve got guys.”)

Matt Hardy:
Eddie's life had really come together because a lot of people know that Eddie had a lot of ups and downs and had a lot of battles and had a lot of fights in his life, but he really got back to a point where he was really happy with everything because he'd so long and hard and passionately fought to get back to that thing; to try to make everybody happy because he knew in his heart that's what felt right to him.

It's just really unfortunate that Eddies gone. I'm gonna miss him because he's truly one of a kind, as a person and as a performer ... and it's just sad. Eddie, I miss you and uh I'll be praying for you and your family.

Trish Stratus:
Um, I'll tell you what, watching Eddie out there and knowing and seeing what he did and what he loved and what he grew up with and man, he did that. He lived and when he was out there, he was alive and you know, it makes you think about what's important. This is a love of his. Um, go for it in life. Just do what you gotta do, because that's what he did. He loved what he did and he loved his family and those are so important in life and all I can say is that to walk away from this experience is just, you know, puts things in perspective and thanks Eddie for everything you did and for the business, as a friend. Thank you.

Theodore Long:
The thing I really want to say is Eddie, you know we all loved Eddie uh and Eddie certainly cared about all of us. He always took the time out to help the young guys that are just now coming into our business and you know trying to make it. Eddie was always there to lend his advice or step in the ring with any of them and to do whatever he had to do.

Eddie was just funny all the time. you know, just a joy to work with and because he was so comical, you know, he made his character come to life, and he was just natural, I mean most of Eddie's character was him. Eddie was ... the only way I can describe Eddie is just a beautiful person.

Candice Michelle:
Well I've had the opportunity to be able to know Eddie for the past year and I learned from him two thing what I didn't know of him. I saw his heart and most of all I saw his passion; and not a lot of people have a lot of passion in their life. So to be able to see somebody that has that and to be able to learn from them, I think that was a great honor and a great way to remember Eddie. My condolences go out to his family, because I also had the opportunity to meet his wife and his kids and I know that he was a very strong family man and loved nobody more than his family. So, I don't believe in goodbyes and I believe that we will all be a family again in the future. Your family will be in my prayers and God bless you guys.

Big Show:
Eddie was very, very spiritual. A great, great dad. Every time I saw him around his kids, he was just so full of life itself, just full of joy cause he was so proud of his family and he was so thankful for God for all of it. My only comfort in losing a friend is knowing that he’s with God now. He’s safe. He’s loved. I know it’s not right but I can’t believe Eddie’s gone. I love you bro. There’ll never be another like you. You were awesome.

Chavo Guerrero:
Eddie Guerrero was my uncle, technically, but we were brothers. We were three years apart. He was the big brother I never had. I was the little brother he never had. Growing up a Guerrero was definitely different. We had a lot of big shoes to fill. We didn’t just decide to get into wrestling because you know, it looked cool on TV. We lived it ever since we were born. Eddie and I had our first match was together, was against each other. I was four and must have been seven. My grandfather had a promotion in El Paso, Texas and across the border in Juárez, Mexico and at intermission Eddie and I would get in the ring and wrestle each other. Well, the fans knew who we were, so this caught on and people started to not go to intermission and not buy concessions, they would sit and watch Eddie and I wrestle. The finally had to stop it because no one was spending money at the concession stands. That was Eddie and I first real matches together. We always grew up with the dream of being tag team champions and … (“excuse me”) … and finally we were able to let that dream come true. That dream came true here in the WWE when Vince McMahon and others decided to put us together as a tag team. That was a tag team, for me that will never be replaced. I’ll never ever have a tag team partner like you Eddie ever, ever again. That you were … I can’t explain it. Together we didn’t … we thought the same in the ring. I knew what he was doing; he knew what I was doing. We knew what each other was thinking at all times. It was, it was crazy. We just … stuff that we didn’t have to work on; becoming a tag team, it was just there. Eddie, I just want to tell you, you’re my brother; you’ll always be my brother. I love you with all of my heart. You were my great inspiration to me, and you still are a great inspiration to me, not through just my faith, but my career, my family, every aspect of my life, I've come to you for help and you've always been there for me, so I want to say thank you. You will be missed tremendously and I'll see you again.

Shawn Michaels:
Um...my memories of Eddie Guerrero have nothing to do with wrestling, nothing to do with the ring, because I never wrestled the man. It's all about faith. Eddie and I had a lot of wonderful talks about our faith. We were both born-again Christians and the one thing I do know, we are sure of, that Eddie's last breath here was the his first breath in eternity and Eddie Guerrero and the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels will someday get wrestle in what is the very biggest stage of them all and it isn't WrestleMania, it is in the heavenlies in front of a crowd of one and that is the lord of lords and the king of kings Jesus Christ. I want to thank Eddie Guerrero for always being there to be able to share that common faith with and to let him know that he did something that nobody has been able to do in the history of this business and that is bring everybody in the WWE, from the top man to the bottom guy, bring them all together, in prayer, in the name of Jesus and Eddie Guerrero left his last and greatest witness here with us today and Eddie I want to say God bless you and I will see you again my friend.

Dave Batista:
I woke up this morning and got a call from Dr. Rios and got a message from him and he told me that Eddie was dead. It just doesn't seem real. We had grown really close. He's really helped me out of tough spots. It's really hard for me, the position I'm in, carrying the title, I had a lot of weight on my shoulders and Eddie has always sat down with me, he was always good to pull out the bible and quote something from the bible, something inspirational that would lift me up a little bit. Help me out through some problems I was going through. Kind of keep my head on straight.

The thing I loved about Eddie the most is that he was so damn funny. He would just kill you, that's why I loved working with him, he was so easy to work with, cause he was so funny and it always amazed me cause he seemed like he was always in such pain and as soon as he walked through that curtain, it seemed like all that pain just went away. You would never know by looking at him. He was always struggling physically cause he loved being out there. Loved being in front of the fans. I'm gonna miss him.

Shane McMahon:
There are very few families that have the privilege of being generation after generation in this business. The Hart family, the Orton’s, the Briscoe’s, the Jarrett’s; I’m leaving many many out. One of the more special families were the Guerrero’s and the most special was Eddie. Eddie was such a wonderful man and God he loved what he did. This is all, this business was all Eddie ever wanted to do; he wanted to wrestle. He wanted to perform and God did he ever do that. He lit up the crowds every single night. Every night, whether he was hurt or not. Eddie was a consummate professional, a consummate pro, but more important than that he opened his heart cause he loved it so much. He loved the fans, he loved being there. But Eddie’s legacy, his greatest legacy, was not in the ring. The thing he loved the most, more than anything, in spite of his relationships on the road and his family on the road, but he loved his own family. He loved his wife Vicky and he loved his daughters and that’s what he fought for. That’s what he fought for every single night. He loved you. That’s what Eddie would want to get home to the most. This is talking specifically to you Vicky … and his daughters. He loved you. He did everything for you. We will all miss him very much. And the chants of “Eddie, Eddie, Eddie” will live in our hearts forever.

Val Venis:
Eddie had a passion for this business that drove him to succeed and I believe that passion is an inspiration and always will be an inspiration to every single person in this business. He had a passion like no other. He was ... you could feel the intensity and passion in the ring when you were working with him. It is something that will be sorely missed. You know, Eddie was a family man and I remember he was very very proud of his family. He loved his job. He enjoyed working in this business so much, and Eddie, man you will be so sorely missed man.

Kurt Angle:
(I) just wanted to talk to you about Eddie Guerrero and what he meant to me. He was one of the most loving and caring individuals I have ever met. When he was on, he was the best wrestler in the business; might have even been the best ever. Eddie Guerrero taught me a lot about this business. He taught me what this business is about, the respect of this business. He showed me a lot of things and said a lot of things that not only helped me professionally, but personally. Eddie ... Eddie was a saint. Uh, he cared about everybody. he loved everybody. I love you Eddie and I'll miss you.

Daivari:
I don't think its fair that the world only got to see Eddie Guerrero for what he did on TV because not a lot of people know what type of person he was, around the locker room with us, and I didn't get to spend too much time with him the short while I was on Smackdown, but after every show he would always come up with and he would talk to me and I never why or what interest he had with me, but he always wanted to talk to me about everything with the "I know you love this and I want you to get better," and I was always so shocked that you know Eddie Guerrero, this is someone I watched on television who would actually want anything to do with me.

It's been a while since I got to see him, and I was looking forward to coming to this show tonight cause I knew I'd get a chance to run into him again, and that opportunity never came. I'm gonna miss him so much. I send my prayers with all my heart to his family and kids.

Dusty Rhodes:
When I think about Eddie Guerrero and the Guerrero family, I go back a long time.  When I started out in this industry in El Paso, Amarillo, Odessa with all the family; I’ve known them for so long.  There was such a great love affair within their .. their whole make up of a family.  It’s kind of like the fraternity we have in our industry. You know, we’re a family, and things like this really bring you closer together. Sometimes you just say "well sometimes we don’t see enough of each other and we don’t listen to everybody’s problems and we go about each others business."  Road life is a long life.  The end comes too soon for so many people and Eddie Guerrero was ... I’ve said this on numerous occasions, last two or three years as he fought his demons, and fought the battles that he fought that without a doubt he was the greatest performer in our industry.  Whether he was making you laugh on an interview or making you cry when you knew he was fighting them demons; you can see it.  So many young athletes have fallen because of that struggle I call it that ... I call it dying to be in the main event and what it takes to get there.  I will remember his family and him with much love. We ask each other well he’s in a better place. Hell I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t know if anybody has been at this place that can actually tell me that. The better place for him to be would be here tonight, but I love his family and I love him and the memory of him...will get us through.  an old Willie song reminds me of this situation, "the road goes on forever and the party never ends." It will never end for Eddie Guerrero is an inspiration for all the kids that really want to be somebody.  I love you.

Orlando Jordan:
Eddie Guerrero was one of the most compassionate men I've ever known. He was like a big brother to me and whenever I needed an ear or advice, he was always the guy I could go to and talk to and everything. His ... only thing bigger than his heat was his heart. He was always there, you know, for me and you know, never placed judgment on anybody so if you know, he would always say 'How could I place judgment on anybody when I have so much that can be judged on me.' He was such a good friend to me. I miss him and I'm not going to say 'bye,' I just want to say thanks Eddie for everything and I'm definitely gonna miss you.

Michael Hayes:
Boy, this is one of those curves that life throws at you that you just don't really know how to handle. Um, I can't even begin to express my sympathies that go out to Vicky, Eddie's daughters, as well as the Guerrero brothers, Eddie's mother, the whole Guerrero family, all of Eddie's friends. There's not a lot you can say about Eddie Guerrero that probably already hasn't been said, but there is one thing I would like to say from the bottom of my heart to his family and his wife and his kids: Thanks for sharing Eddie with us. Cause Eddie was a unique individual, a very special person. Eddie was one of the few people I've ever met in my life, and I've met a lot of them, that had the inate ability to make you laugh and cry and cuss, I mean all at the same time and that was before he got in the ring. That was backstage. Eddie was special. Eddie was unique and we're gonna miss Eddie, but what's beautiful is that we're never ever going to forget Eddie Guerrero. There's no way you could forget Eddie Guerrero. One of a kind, one in a million.

Mickey Jay:
Um, I feel very lucky, very privilaged to be able to know and work with Eddie Guerrero. In my opinion, I put him in a very elite group of performers who always go above and beyond all expectations. Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Curt Henning and most definetely Eddie Guerrero. I know I'm going to miss him cause I'm sure the enitre wrestling world will. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Rey Mysterio:

Chris Benoit:

Steve Keirn:
Undoubtedly Eddie Guerrero had to be one of the greatest wrestlers to ever step foot in the ring. He had it all. He could make the moves. He could battle with the best of them, when you handed him the microphone, he had more charisma than nine, ten wrestlers combined, but what I'd like to say is that not only was he a great wrestler, he was a great friend. He was a great husband, great family father man. He was to be honored and I'm not saying goodbye to Eddie Guerrero, I'm saying Eddie, I'll see you again in the afterlife. My deepest sympathies go out to Vickie and the family. God bless you all in this time of sorrow.

Ted DiBiase:
Eddie was a lot of things to a lot of people. He was a friend, he was a brother, he was a dad, he was a husband, and like so many of us in this business, he went through his hard times. A lot of those hard times, I can personally identify with as I went through my own, but the old saying is it's not how you start the race that counts, but how you finish. And I want to say that Eddie Guerrero finished really strong. Eddie was a friend to all. Eddie was a guy who ... if Eddie didn't like you, you must be pretty, pretty bad and everybody loved Eddie. Everybody loved Eddie.

Eddie, just know that where you are is in a better place and we love you and we miss you and I promise you we won't let your legacy die