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The positives from WWE's "Viva La Raza" DVD chronicling the life of Eddie Guerrero far outweigh the negatives from the three-disc presentation.

Essentially, that was Eddie's life in a nutshell, where the negatives from drug abuse and nearly losing his family were far outweighed by the impact he had on friends, family, and colleagues through his dedication to people and dedication to his craft of being the very best professional wrestler.

Over the course of 26 days, I've looked at Eddie's matches and the context of those matches starting in ECW and finishing with Mr. Kennedy in WWE. The in-ring transformation is never a subject within the confines of the DVD series, but the over-arching, unspoken theme is captured very effectively.

Eddie was unsure of himself when he jumped into ECW after the death of his close friend Art Barr. At the end of his career, Eddie had taken what he learned as the under-study to Barr and made himself into one of the more charismatic wrestlers in WWE at the time.

Eddie was an underappreciated wrestler, as well, when he burst onto the ECW scene in the mid-'90s. Dean Malenko was the shooter. Chris Benoit was the technician. Chris Jericho was the entertainer. What was Eddie?

Eddie drew from all three to become one of the best all-time wrestlers, even if he's still widely under-appreciated because people think first of his infectious smile, Latino Heat character, and "I lie, I cheat, I steal" persona that was merely the icing, not the whole cake.

Eddie might not have been the most technically-sound wrestler on the appearance, but looking beneath the frosty icing to see what Eddie could do in the ring over the course of 26 days of reviewing this DVD, I saw a wrestler who could bang with the big boys like JBL and Batista or steady the quick hand of a Psychosis, Rey Mysterio, or Juvi.

There wasn't an opponent Eddie couldn't get a good match out of. The DVD captures that by featuring a wide-range of Eddie's top matches, along with the early struggles in his career to be recognized for his achievements.

The DVD doesn't have a "universal theme" to Eddie's career. It's more of a compilation where the viewer is allowed to fill in the blanks and draw his or her own conclusions about how to evaluate Eddie's career based on the entire body of work.

It's a pretty darn good body of work, by the way. And with the additional commentary from wrestlers, friends, and family who were closest to Eddie, we also were able to see the personal aspect of Eddie's life.

In the DVD review series, I also included some of Eddie's quotes from his autobiography to establish significance and context of some of Eddie's key moments.

The book is superior in allowing Eddie to tell an unfiltered story about the personal damage he overcame to become one of the most-respected wrestlers in the WWE Smackdown locker room, which is why it's necessary to read the book side-by-side with watching the matches and hearing the WWE-produced commentary from wrestlers and family.

The DVD lacks that central theme in the storytelling, which is why I thought it was important to establish that throughout each match in a very important WWE product chronicling one of the most-important wrestlers of this generation.

Not only was Eddie's in-ring important, but his outside-of-the-ring commitment to restoring relationships and his life is a very important story to tell.

Pro wrestling is theater and redemption is one of its most-used tools. For example, a notorious heel turns babyface and tries to redeem himself to the audience. That was actually the storyline Eddie was involved in right at the end of his career.

Eddie's storyline took him from the high of winning his first World Title in February 2004, then turning against Rey Mysterio and cheating his best friend, before redeeming himself by turning babyface again with a storyline that focused on trying not to be the old Eddie.

After cleaning himself up to set up his second WWE run in 2002, Eddie fought the personal problems again. He admitted in his book to be struggling with his sobriety, even after everything he went through following his first WWE firing.

The same struggle played out on TV, and Eddie was magnificent telling the story in the ring and on the microphone while connecting with the audience in a believable way.

Eddie was merely a wrestler with a Hispanic family heritage when he burst onto the ECW scene in 1995. He could do great things in the ring, but he couldn't put it all together.

After learning how to be charismatic and learning the WWE main event style of how to connect with 15,000 rather than 1,500 fans inside the wrestling ring, Eddie turned into one of the most-respected wrestlers in wrestling.

He wanted respect. He felt he deserved it, and didn't get it in WCW. Redemption. Hard-work. Dedication to his craft and family. Those qualities helped him become a top star in wrestling.

The DVD captures that effectively and eloquently. The DVD misses the boat on enhancing his legacy, unfortunately, as Eddie's sudden death after years of physical abuse on his body catching up with him led to WWE's Wellness Policy that will hopefully prevent future deaths of WWE wrestlers for years to come.

Eddie's career and life is captured well on the DVD, and hopefully with the addition of this 26-Day series establishing the individual importance of each key match and moment, wrestling fans can look back on Eddie's career a little differently, recognizing his under-appreciated contributions to the wrestling business both in the ring and behind the scenes.

EDDIE GUERRERO DVD REVIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE LISTING

-- Bonus Day 26 - WWE colleagues remember Eddie Guerrero.
-- Day 25 - Eddie's final PPV match vs. Batista.
-- Day 24 - Eddie vs. Rey II.
-- Day 23 - Eddie vs. Angle in a match-up made for a wrestling ring
-- Day 22 - JBL cage match; Kurt Angle mirror image.
-- Day 21 - Sickest Match Ever vs. JBL.
-- Day 20 - Eddie as True Champion; vs. Rey Mysterio.
-- Day 19 - Eddie's Greatest Moment as WWE champion.
-- Day 18 - Guerrero Family Rivalry.
-- Day 17 - John Cena learns wrestling psychology.
-- Day 16 - The life-saving bond with Chavo Guerrero
-- Day 15 - Must-See Match of the DVD vs. Edge.
-- Day 14 - Working with Jeff Hardy.
-- Day 13 - RVD match; Eddie overcomes personal pain.
-- Day 12 - Matt Hardy match; void in life unfulfilled.
-- Day 11 - WWE debut against Chris Jericho.
-- Day 10 - Personal tragedy with Vickie Guerrero's public commentary.
-- Day 9 - Battle with Juvi; personal issues bubbling below surface.
-- Day 8 - WCW front office issues and vs. Ultimo Dragon.
-- Day 7 - Eddie the in-ring Technician vs. Dean Malenko.
-- Day 6 - Rey Mysterio classic and character adjustment.
-- Day 5 - vs. Chris Jericho and no one cared.
-- Day 4 - Rubbing shoulders with Ric Flair.
-- Day 3 - Stealing the show at Starrcade '95.
-- Day 2 - Breakthrough in ECW - Eddie vs. Dean Malenko.
-- Day 1 - influence of Art Barr; Eddie vs. 2 Cold Scorpio.
-- Intro on DVD review series.

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