The Wrath of Tito - R.I.P. Eddie Guerrero, stop ESPN bashing, Bret Hart DVD, more
Submitted by Mr. Tito on Thursday, November 17, 2005 at 10:28 PM EST
Another one bit the dust... Eddie Guerrero, a wrestler whom became one of my favorite wrestlers since 2002, has passed away. Guerrero joins the long list of professional wrestlers who have died before the age of 50. This is a guy who was an emotional wreck backstage, always fighting temptation to take up old habits to ease the pain his body was in from years of busting his ass in the ring. I'll be honest... I wasn't that big of an Eddie Guerrero fan until he joined the Smackdown brand in 2002. When he was in the WWE and he was busted for drunken driving after his rehab stint, I spoke out against him. I was skeptical when he returned to the WWE after the brand draft, worried he'd allow old habits to take over his life again.
But it didn't. Eddie's continuous adversity against old demons inspired me to begin to like him... then, his in-ring performance said it all. The guy oozed personality and charisma, always giving fans a great show. It fucking sucks that Eddie Guerrero is no longer with us. It's hard to believe that someone in such great physical shape can drop dead... when Eddie hit the ring, he was so full of life. As Batista hinted at on RAW, Eddie was in a lot of physical pain backstage. Yet he always put it together as he hit the ring.
I'm going to miss Latino Heat forever... I have a nice DVD to look back on his fantastic career...
The show must go on... Welcome to the Wrath of Tito. It's been a dark week with Eddie passing. That seems to be on most peoples' minds... I thought RAW was very well done in tribute to Eddie. I can't say it's a positive about Eddie's death, but we did see some fantastic match-ups, especially Shawn Michaels vs. Rey Mysterio. Seeing those two do battle will probably set up a sweet Wrestlemania rematch, in addition to probably fueling a brand reunion. It's what the WWE needs to grow its fanbase and probably what they'll do if TNA ever gets off their ass.
-One thing I would like to note is how irresponsible several internet wrestling fans have been about ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd's comments about Eddie Guerrero. I know this feeling because Craig Kilborn's Owen Hart comments pissed me off and I, too, called for his head... but soon realized how foolish I was for doing so. Like it or not, Cowherd was expressing his 1st amendment right. His radio show is controversial.... I listen to it daily at my new job and enjoy agreeing or disagreeing with his view points. He's been an outspoken critic of professional wrestling since he started. I'm guessing someone from show prep prompted him to say something about Eddie Guerrero and we heard his response "who cares about Eddie Guerrero", and then going on to speculate what his death was. I heard it and thought it was business as usual for Cowherd. Is he wrong? Cowherd hates wrestling and he continued his cause here. With speculating on what Eddie's death was, how can you say Cowherd is wrong? Look at the history of recent wrestler deaths! Drugs! Alcohol! (early speculation suggests heart disease/failure due to his long history of drugs/alcohol... poor Eddie went through a lot)
To call for Cowherd's head, like anyone who urges fans to call the ESPN radio customer service lines, is irresponsible. Just call his show and tell him that you disagree with him. Send him an email. But to bug the folks at ESPN Radio to fire a guy for expressing his 1st Amendment Right is ludicrous. I hate hearing a lot of different views when it comes to politics or other opinionated debates. But I respect the fact that it's someone expressing their freedom of speech, and in return, I express MY freedom of speech. That's what you do here in America. Go to communist China, North Korea, or the majority of the dictatorship Middle Eastern countries to see the worst negative reactions to free speech. People are killed or promptly censored for expressing their opinion. To deny Cowherd his rights as an American, trying to put on an entertaining show while making an honest living, is going down that road...
If Cowherd offended you, just turn his radio show off. Try Glenn Beck or Local Talk radio during 10 am instead. Maybe pop in a CD? Listen to Jack FM, which is quickly gaining my addiction since coming on the air in my area. Call his show to challenge him on the air or email him. How hard is that to comprehend? I actually found his comments to be usual Colin, whereas Kilborn's Owen Hart comments were a lot worse, given the conditions of Owen's death. Kilborn said something to the effect that the Red Sweater was sobbing the death of the Blue Blazer, or something like that. Just idiotic to make humor out of a recent event. Cowherd just passed off Eddie's death as another bad wrestling story which he didn't care about in the first place.
-RAW was highly rated this week, as expected. 4.5... I don't honestly believe that the show was a ratings ploy. Well, maybe the dream matches set up for the show, but the WWE was very classy in honoring Eddie. I wonder what Smackdown will offer?
-I did buy the Bret Hart DVD.... watched Disc #1. I must say, the documentary was very good and interesting. It appears that time has humbled the Hitman a great deal. He was very calm about the redhot issues, such as Shawn Michaels, Survivor Series 1997, and Owen Hart. He hinted at HBK's backstage problems, but he rarely mentioned HBK by name or trashed him that much, if at all. It seems that time has given Bret an understanding of Survivor Series 1997 and to not hold that big of a grudge... oh, it's still there... but he's doing the DVD and he probably realizes how 8 years ago that incident was. I figured he'd shoot on the WWE for Owen's death, but he was more remorseful for Owen's death and was basically mentioning great Owen memories instead of talking about his death.
Lots and lots of Hitman footage shown throughout the DVD... The matches he appeared to have with Dynamite Kid are something I'd like to see more of from his Stampede matches. I've never seen Dynamite in his prime and he moved so fast during those matches. WWE fans saw Dynamite in the later stages of his career when his body was starting to breakdown from excessive steroid use. The match selection interests me and I will get to those bouts soon.
The main thing I've always liked about Bret was his respect and love for the business. He took great pride in holding titles and having great matches. He was always focused on that throughout his entire career and he was possibly the most durable wrestler around until his career-ending concussion. He had a lot of dedication to his craft, which is something that's becoming absent, more and more, in today's wrestling business.
BUY THIS DVD! Buy Eddie Guerrero's, too.
I'm at a loss for any further words... May Eddie Guerrero rest in peace.
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