Border Heritage Center: Eddie Guerrero

Eddie Guerrero the "Latino Heat" (Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes) was born October 9, 1967 in El Paso, TX. He was a Mexican-American professional wrestler and had a distinguished career working for Extreme Championship Wresting (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He was a recipient of the 2008 Men's Wrestling Award from the Cauliflower Alley Club as the Guerrero Family. Eddie achieved the most success of his career using a in-ring character who was a crafty, resourceful wrestler who would do anything to win a match. His famous mantras became "Cheat to Win" and "Lie, Cheat, Steal". Lying, cheating, stealing – it was all fair play in the ring for the unpredictable WWE Hall of Famer. Eddie posthumously received the Star of the Mountain Award in recognition of the pride he brought to his hometown. His wife Vickie and their three daughters also all received keys to the city of El Paso, the same city in which they grew up.

Eddie Guerrero Entrance Video

Eddie Guerrero's Championship Entrance

He is a member of the Guerrero-Llanes Dynasty being the youngest son of Gory Guerrero. Eddie discovered his unbridled passion for sports-entertainment as a child through his father, longtime wrestling promoter Gory Guerrero who once wrestled at the El Paso County Coliseum. As Gory plied his trade in El Paso, TX, Eddie was busy scrapping with his nephew, Chavo Guerrero Jr., during the show intermissions. Eddie Guerrero, a graduate of Jefferson High School, was a member of the wrestling team, but shortly after graduating high school he decided to give pro-wrestling a try.

Guerrero Family

With the help of his father, and his three older brothers, Guerrero worked his way to the very top of the wrestling world. Eddie would later move on to wrestle collegiately at New Mexico Highlands University before returning to El Paso to learn how to become a future WWE Superstar. He was born to wrestle.

Several sources say his debut was in 1987 at Auditorio Municipal de Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua in a tag team match with El Matemático aganist Flama Roja and El Vikingo. However, his in ring career should be since at least 1986. Javier Llanes stated that Eddie debuted at Arena Internacional, in Colonia Chaveña in Ciudad Juárez where all Guerreros and Llanes debuted. According to Revista KO #1718 published on June 29, 1986, it states his debut was in June 15, 1986 in El Paso Civic Center. His debut in Arena Mexico was on September 5, 1986. He went in a tag team match with Mogur against Ari Romero and Guerrero Negro. So, it is safe to say that Eddie Guerrero’s debut occurred somewhere in 1986. In the early days he went as Gory Guerrero Jr.

Guerrero began wrestling as the original Mascara Magica in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) until his departure in 1992. He left the company to pursue a career with AAA. Although the Mascara Magica gimmick was popular, CMLL owned the rights to the character. Guerrero then appeared on a televised AAA show as Mascara Magica, only to then unmask himself along with the aide of his tag team partner that night, Octagón. He was the first luchador to voluntarily unmask and was also immediately physically attacked by the opposing tag team for doing so.

The moment when Mascara Magica "Eddie Guerrero" left CMLL and went over to AAA

In Mexico, he wrestled mainly for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), teaming with El Hijo del Santo as the new version of La Pareja Atómica (The Atomic Pair), the original tag team of Gory Guerrero and El Santo. After Guerrero turned on Santo and allied with Art Barr as La Pareja del Terror (The Pain of Terror), the duo became arguably the most hated tag team in lucha libre history. Along with Barr, Konnan, Chicano Power, and Madonna’s Boyfriend (Louie Spicolli), Guerrero formed Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans), a villainous stable. Guerrero later said that no matter how many people joined Los Gringos Locos, the stable was all about Barr. Locos feuded mostly with El Hijo del Santo and his partner Octagón, eventually ending in a Hair vs. Mask match at the first lucha pay-per-view in America, When Worlds Collide, which they lost.

Eddie Guerrero vs Konnan - Juarez-Feud

Video - Eddie Guerrero special from Juarez - early 90s

In 1992 he was in the movie Octagon y Atlantis: La Revancha as himself/assassin. He was also on the cover of many wrestling magazine covers.

In 2005, Guerrero died unexpectedly from acute heart failure. He was just 38 years old. In 2006, Guerrero was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Even though his career was cut tragically short, Guerrero left an indeniable mark on the sports-entertainment landscape. His battle cry was "Viva La Raza," but the WWE Universe to this day shouts "Viva Eddie Guerrero" in remembrance of a legend.

Eddie Guerrero was inducted into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2023.

El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2023: Eddie Guerrero

Celebrating El Paso’s Eddie Guerrero’s Iconic Hall of Fame Legacy

He has an influence in the wrestling world to this day. Dominik Mysterio presents legendary Eddie Guerrero Hair vs. Mask Match: From the WWE Vault

Lucha libre's roots in the El Paso-Juárez Borderland

The pioneering ancestor of Mexican wrestling is said to be Enrique Ugartechea, who was known as "Mexico's Strongest Man" and is credited with developing lucha libre from Greco-Roman wrestling in 1863, a year after the Battle of Puebla, Cinco de Mayo. The seeds of the modern form of lucha libre go back far in the El Paso-Juárez Borderland history.

In 1929, Salvador Lutteroth González, who fought in the Mexican Revolution against Pancho Villa, moved to Juárez to work for Mexico’s Tax Department. Soon after, he attended wrestling matches in El Paso’s Liberty Hall. The fighting was a type of freestyle wrestling with few rules, which sometimes descended into pure violence. González was captivated and felt certain his home country would also love the spectacle. In 1933, he founded Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (now CMLL) to expand the sport’s popularity from El Paso to Mexico, earning González recognition as the “Father of Lucha Libre.”

If Salvador Lutteroth is known as the "father of lucha libre," then some say that Juárez is "la abuela de la lucha libre," the grandmother of lucha libre.

Pablo Martinez Coronado talks about the El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico transnational roots of Lucha Libre--the Mexican wrestling tradition which has become an international phenomena--in the late 1920s and afterward. Length 9:10

Lucha libre is an expression of this place between two countries divided by a dried river but connected by families, shared bridges, history, and culture.