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CALDWELL'S MEDIA CLUB: Eddie Guerrero DVD review Day 12 - Eddie vs. Matt Hardy; dealing with a void in life Dec 2, 2008 - 4:20:56 PM
Eddie Guerrero hit the reset button in his professional life when he jumped to WWE in January 2000. Personally, though, he was stuck in a world of drugs and misery with the wrestling ring being his only escape.
Yesterday, I reviewed the first WWE match included on the Eddie DVD. Today, I'm reviewing the last WWE match included on the DVD before a near-two-year gap until the next WWE match.
On June 8, 2000, Eddie wrestled a stellar five-minute match against a very young-looking Matt Hardy. The next match included on the DVD is from April 2002, which I'll review tomorrow, because Eddie went into a downward spiral that led to his dismissal from WWE in 2001.
The DVD focuses on Eddie as a great wrestler for the June 2000 match, but at the time, Eddie was simply using the ring as an escape from his personal problems. For Eddie, being in the ring was his personal safety zone where everything went away for five-to-ten minutes at a time.
"The only time I felt alive was when I was in the ring," Eddie said in his autobiography. "Even though I was messed up most of the time, when it came time to work I was still able to deliver, night after night after night."
One of his great TV matches during his first WWE run from 2000 to 2001 was this match against Hardy. It was a King of the Ring qualifying match and Eddie was in the middle of his program with Chyna, playing the "Latino Heat" role that made him an instant hit.
This was one of those matches where you're watching the first two minutes and hoping it goes another 10 or 15 minutes because it seems like the story could keep going and going. One of the highpoints was a series of pinfall exchanges between Eddie and Hardy that drew a rare "independent show" standing ovation out of appreciation for the work in the ring.
Hardy talks about that on the DVD; how working with Eddie in the ring was a dream for him because they matched professionally in the ring.
"I was a fan of Eddie Guerrero," Hardy says. "And to know that I was actually going into a wrestling ring to have a super-competitive match with him was such a complement."
Regarding the June 2000 match, Hardy said: "Our styles meshed very well because we both liked to move, we liked to work, and we both hustled. For me, it was an honor to be out there with Eddie Guerrero."
On the surface, Eddie seemed to be doing well six months into his WWE run. He was growing in popularity with Chyna, he was having great matches with the likes of Matt Hardy, and he was slowly becoming the star he envisioned for himself way back in ECW.
However, Eddie was dealing with drug problems that eventually led to his release from WWE before he rebounded on the independent scene and returned to WWE in April 2002. In 2000, though, Eddie was losing control of his life, especially his marriage to Vickie.
"Our relationship had degenerated into total chaos," Eddie wrote. "Even when I was home, I wasn't home. I was out getting drunk or trying to score drugs, hanging out with my friends and my various connections. And when I was there, I was high out of my mind."
The wrestling ring was Eddie's safety, but it was only a temporary release. It's a lesson for anyone that trying to excel in the ring (or at work or with a hobby) to escape "life" is probably a warning sign to deal with the personal issues before it becomes too late.
Not even a great TV match could cover for Eddie's emptiness inside. "I was unsatisfied by life," he said. "No matter what I tried, nothing could fill the void in my heart. Not alcohol, not pills, not even my family."
Over the course of 25 days, I will be reviewing the "Viva La Raza" Eddie Guerrero DVD recently put out by WWE. I'll be looking at the significance of each of the 25 matches on the DVD as well as establishing the context of events that were occurring at the time of each match.
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