Monday, November 14, 2005
oh man, pt. 2
The unseemliness of the professional wrestling industry pretty much knows no bounds. The fact that wrestlers die as often as I get a haircut is proof. Usually it's a "legend" from the '80's, a Curt Hennig or Road Warrior Hawk, that passes on, and usually from a drug-related heart attack or, rarer, overdose. I'll read about it on the internet a few hours after the corpse is identified, maybe get bummed out for a few minutes, and then move on. A few weeks later I'll have a hard time remembering if the guy's dead or not. It happens far too often, it's always horrible, and yet it's almost never shocking, not after so many have already gone.
Eddie's death, though, is pretty damn staggering. It's not the biggest surprise, but it's the first time a top WWF wrestler has died in the prime of his career since 1999. Nothing short of live premeditated in-ring murder could ever surpass the shock and horror of Owen Hart's death, but Eddie's passing is easily the most shocking, most significant, and hardest to stomach since Owen's tragic fall. Here's the deal: Eddie Guerrero is/was the best all-around pro wrestler active today. Other than Kurt Angle, no other active wrestler came close to mastering both the athletic and performance sides of pro wrestling. Eddie wasn't quite at the level of Angle, the Rock, Steve Austin, or Ric Flair when it came to interviews, but he was right at the top of the next tier. When it came to the matches themselves, Eddie was maybe the very best currently active in North America. If he wasn't Chris Benoit's equal, then he was only a quarter-step behind. His skill on the microphone far surpassed Benoit, though, and when both sides are taken into consideration, nobody was better at this fake sport than Eddie Guerrero. To lose him at his peak is almost impossible to believe.
And yet it's really not that great of a shock. The majority of drug-related wrestling deaths involve pain-killers, which are maybe less sensational than coke or heroin, but still quite remarkable when taken in the gargantuan quantities wrestlers are accustomed to. Unfortunately Eddie Guerrero's problems with painkillers were well-known, as he was fired briefly from the WWF back in 2001 after relapsing. He got his shit together, though, eventually getting rehired and pushed to the very top of the organization. I don't remember him ever getting in any drug or alcohol trouble since his return, although it's certainly possible, as I didn't follow wrestling very closely for most of this time. But he did have problems, and so his death isn't quite as shocking as it could be.
Still, this is a tremendous loss. Maybe because they're playing themselves, maybe because it's easy to become obsessed with the sport, I don't know, but for some reason wrestler deaths hit me personally more than with other celebrities. Brian Pillman's death was staggering, even though I wasn't really a large fan of his, in part because it was the first time a major name died while still an active part of one of the big two's storylines. Owen Hart's death two years later remains one of the most depressing and disturbing events imaginable. Eddie's passing falls somewhere in-between; less shocking than either, it is still almost as depressing as Owen's death, and an incalculable loss to the industry. He was a bit older, but in terms of success, prominence, and all around talent Eddie was akin to Alex Rodriguez, Peyton Manning, or (you won't want to be around me the day this man dies) Shaq-zaam. This is massively bad news for wrestling fans.
The unseemliness of the professional wrestling industry pretty much knows no bounds. The fact that wrestlers die as often as I get a haircut is proof. Usually it's a "legend" from the '80's, a Curt Hennig or Road Warrior Hawk, that passes on, and usually from a drug-related heart attack or, rarer, overdose. I'll read about it on the internet a few hours after the corpse is identified, maybe get bummed out for a few minutes, and then move on. A few weeks later I'll have a hard time remembering if the guy's dead or not. It happens far too often, it's always horrible, and yet it's almost never shocking, not after so many have already gone.
Eddie's death, though, is pretty damn staggering. It's not the biggest surprise, but it's the first time a top WWF wrestler has died in the prime of his career since 1999. Nothing short of live premeditated in-ring murder could ever surpass the shock and horror of Owen Hart's death, but Eddie's passing is easily the most shocking, most significant, and hardest to stomach since Owen's tragic fall. Here's the deal: Eddie Guerrero is/was the best all-around pro wrestler active today. Other than Kurt Angle, no other active wrestler came close to mastering both the athletic and performance sides of pro wrestling. Eddie wasn't quite at the level of Angle, the Rock, Steve Austin, or Ric Flair when it came to interviews, but he was right at the top of the next tier. When it came to the matches themselves, Eddie was maybe the very best currently active in North America. If he wasn't Chris Benoit's equal, then he was only a quarter-step behind. His skill on the microphone far surpassed Benoit, though, and when both sides are taken into consideration, nobody was better at this fake sport than Eddie Guerrero. To lose him at his peak is almost impossible to believe.
And yet it's really not that great of a shock. The majority of drug-related wrestling deaths involve pain-killers, which are maybe less sensational than coke or heroin, but still quite remarkable when taken in the gargantuan quantities wrestlers are accustomed to. Unfortunately Eddie Guerrero's problems with painkillers were well-known, as he was fired briefly from the WWF back in 2001 after relapsing. He got his shit together, though, eventually getting rehired and pushed to the very top of the organization. I don't remember him ever getting in any drug or alcohol trouble since his return, although it's certainly possible, as I didn't follow wrestling very closely for most of this time. But he did have problems, and so his death isn't quite as shocking as it could be.
Still, this is a tremendous loss. Maybe because they're playing themselves, maybe because it's easy to become obsessed with the sport, I don't know, but for some reason wrestler deaths hit me personally more than with other celebrities. Brian Pillman's death was staggering, even though I wasn't really a large fan of his, in part because it was the first time a major name died while still an active part of one of the big two's storylines. Owen Hart's death two years later remains one of the most depressing and disturbing events imaginable. Eddie's passing falls somewhere in-between; less shocking than either, it is still almost as depressing as Owen's death, and an incalculable loss to the industry. He was a bit older, but in terms of success, prominence, and all around talent Eddie was akin to Alex Rodriguez, Peyton Manning, or (you won't want to be around me the day this man dies) Shaq-zaam. This is massively bad news for wrestling fans.
