Over the next few months not only did I have the opportunity to work in the ring with Eddie Guerrero, I also had the privilege of getting to know him on a personal level. That is when I discovered what a great guy Eddie really was. As I said earlier, he treated me with the utmost respect as he treated everyone who worked for the WWF. He was so humble and grateful that there were times when he would come down to ringside as we were assembling the ring and begin to help out. We would all tell him that it was not necessary and that we had plenty of help. Besides, he had already more than paid his dues and did not have to help us. He would always tell us that this was not his first rodeo and that he had set up many rings before and that he knew what he was doing. We didn’t argue with him as we knew he was speaking the truth but that wasn’t the point. So all of us on the ring crew would get together and physically get Eddie to stop helping. Of course this was done in a playful manner because we all knew if he wanted to, well, you can fill in the blanks.
Unfortunately for Eddie, he suffered a setback to his career when he was released from the WWF in November 2001. It’s no secret that Eddie had a substance abuse problem at that time. This is well documented in his book. His closest friends were all very concerned for his well-being as were his family. He and his wife had separated while Eddie worked very hard on getting his problem under control. I felt terrible for my friend and was hopeful that he would get the aid and support that he needed. Eddie fought his demons and got the help he so desperately wanted. During this time, Eddie turned to the Bible and, through his faith, reconciled with his family and was ready to return to where he belonged, the WWF.
Eddie returned to the WWF in April 2002. Our friendship pretty much picked up where it had left off. I say pretty much only because there was something a little different about Eddie. He was appreciative of the opportunity he had been given and was even more focused and determined to succeed. As anyone who has gone through the struggle that Eddie Guerrero faced can tell you, it is a daily fight when battling those demons that haunt them. There were many times when Eddie would just sit next to me and share some of the things he was finding conflict with. He told me that sometimes he just needed to express his thoughts without someone judging him or trying to offer advice. All I would do was listen, I mean really listen, and offer words of encouragement. I also stressed to him that anytime, day or night, he was more than welcome to call me and I would be there to help. Even if it was just to let him vent. Don’t get me wrong here. I don’t want to make it appear that I was Eddie’s best friend. After all, Chris, Dean, Rey Mysterio, Chavo, and JBL were all his closest friends. Not that we didn’t have a special bond as well — I just want people to understand our relationship. We were good friends and as a good friend will do, he also offered me some great advice.
Here’s a quick story demonstrating how big a heart Eddie had and how he gave back to his fans. Fast-forward a few years to the day after Eddie realized his dream of becoming WWE champion. It was February 16, 2004, and we had a live event scheduled for Stockton, California. Eddie had just finished wrestling in the main event, a six-man tag match. After the match was over and the boys were back in the locker rooms, Charles Robinson and I began to dismantle the ring. All the fans had been cleared out of the building, all except for one young boy in a wheelchair and his mother. The building security was trying desperately to get them to leave but the boy was crying. I wanted to find out what was going on so I walked over to where they all were and right away knew the young boy in the wheelchair was a special needs kid. He wanted so badly to meet his idol, Eddie Guerrero.
The security guard was having none of it and when his mother tried to explain to the boy that it was not possible for him to meet his hero, the kid just fell apart. Watching all this unfold, I decided I would try to help the situation. I told the security guy and the boy’s mother to wait two minutes and I would see what I could do, no promises. I yelled to Charles that I would be right back and ran to where Eddie was changing. Fortunately, Eddie had not begun to change. He was engaged in a conversation with the others in the room. I excused myself for interrupting and whispered to Eddie what was going on out in the arena. Before I could finish, he snatched his WWE title, got up, and said, “Show me where they are.”
I led him to where the boy and his mother were. It was an incredible sight to see. Watching Eddie interact with this kid was magical. He spent about 15 minutes with the youngster chatting, asking him how he was, and giving him encouragement. It was truly an amazing moment that really no one but a few of us was privileged to witness. It is a memory that I vividly recall to this day, a reminder of how much Eddie gave back to the fans.
One of the things Eddie did for me was to help me bring out my creative side as it related to the wrestling business. For a long time, I had ideas for adding to existing storylines and spots for matches as well as some ideas for match finishes. The problem was I didn’t believe it was my place to suggest certain things to the wrestlers. Right or wrong, I wasn’t sure how my input would be interpreted by the guys who actually performed what I wanted to recommend to them. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Then one day Eddie was going over a match at ringside during a TV taping. This was the beginning of the Latino Heat character and involved his mantra “Lie, Cheat, and Steal.” As I listened in on the ideas being bandied about, Eddie noticed that a big smile had come over my face. He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Why have you got that big smile on your face? What are you thinking?”
“Something just popped into my head; you don’t want to hear it, though,” was my reply.
His smile almost seemed to disappear. “Look, if you have an idea, I want to hear it. Never think that you can’t say anything to me. Some guys may not appreciate it but I am open to everyone’s ideas. We all work together.”
I told Eddie that from then on whenever I had an idea pertaining to him, I would tell him about it and he could decide if he liked it or not. He actually used a few of my suggestions with a slight “Latino Heat” modification to it. I can’t describe how good that made me feel. Eddie Guerrero liked and implemented one of my ideas into his character. We often had conversations about different ways to utilize his Lie, Cheat, and Steal motto. Sometimes he would use them and sometimes he wouldn’t, but he always genuinely appreciated my input. He also told me that he could see that I had passion for the wrestling business and had good ideas. He said that I should not be shy and to present my ideas whenever I had them. After that day, my confidence got a huge shot in the arm. I learned quickly how to introduce an idea to the boys without appearing to be a smartass. Most of the boys welcomed my input whether they used the ideas or not, while only a few didn’t respond to them so well.
There was one scenario I talked to Eddie about that he liked and told me that I should tell someone about it. The idea was a finish to a tag-team match that would incorporate the Lie, Cheat, and Steal persona that was now synonymous with the Guerrero name. Eddie was one half of the tag-team champs with his partner Tajiri. His regular partner was his nephew Chavo Guerrero. Chavo was only three years younger than his uncle Eddie and they were more like brothers. Chavo had recently injured his arm and was on the shelf for a while, hence the substitution with Tajiri.
Back to the finish I had come up with. At SmackDown TV, I approached road agent/producer Dean Malenko. Dean was easygoing and we had a good rapport. I had become very comfortable talking to him about anything, especially presenting ideas for matches or storyline-related material. In this instance, my idea was for the heels, in this case Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, to be getting the better of Eddie during the match. Eddie would then make the “hot tag” to Tajiri, who would come in the ring and clean house. There would be several near-falls and eventually Charlie and Tajiri would be the only ones in the ring as Eddie would take out Shelton on the outside. Here is when it would get interesting. Charlie ends with his finishing move, the Haas of Pain, on Tajiri. The referee is asking Tajiri
if he wants to give up. The referee’s back is to the timekeeper’s table. Eddie, seeing an opportunity, walks over to the timekeeper’s table, grabs the bell hammer, and rings the bell and runs away. The referee turns to argue with the timekeeper, asking why he rang the bell when he did not call for it. While they argue, Eddie sneaks in the ring with one of the tag titles. As he is about to nail Charlie with the title, the ref begins to turn around. Before he turns completely, Eddie tosses the belt to Charlie and lies on the canvas as if he had been hit with the object Charlie was holding. The referee would see Eddie on his back and Charlie holding the incriminating evidence and call for a disqualification of Haas and Benjamin. Once again, Latino Heat would have Lied, Cheated, and Stolen his way to victory.
After I explained this whole scenario to Dean, he said he liked it a lot and would present the idea to Vince McMahon. If Vince liked it, Dean said he would take credit for it. If Vince didn’t like it, he would tell him that it was my idea. Funny guy! After the agents’ meeting that day Dean came to me and said that Vince loved the idea and that they were going to use it on TV that night. The match went off without a hitch. I did not officiate the match; instead I watched it in the Gorilla Position. The timing of everything was executed perfectly. Everyone in Gorilla applauded after the match. The Big Show, who was in Gorilla enjoying the match, looked over to Dean and said, “What a great finish; good job, Deano.”
As Dean stood up he pointed over to me and said to Show, “That was Jimmy’s finish. He came up with it.”
Show looked at Dean and then he looked over at me and smiled. He gave me a high five and said, “Good job, Jimmy. Not bad for a Greek.” Show’s wife is of Greek descent so he ribs me with Greek jokes all the time.
Vince and Stephanie McMahon were also in Gorilla watching the matches. Both of them looked over and nodded their approval. What a moment for me. Kudos from the bosses and the boys was a real badge of honour for me and I owe it all to Eddie for giving me the courage to speak up.
Another great honour for me was when I was given the opportunity to referee the match between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles, California. This bout was going to open the show — a very important spot on the card, especially for an event of this magnitude and importance. It sets the tone for the rest of the evening, and the opening match is counted upon to get the audience engaged. The choice of putting this match on first seemed logical. Both Eddie and Rey were hugely popular with the fans, making this an interesting and fun match-up that would deliver excitement. I must admit, the nervous energy exhibited by all three of us demonstrated how important WrestleMania is. It is like the Super Bowl of sports entertainment and that is exactly how we treated it. The nerves seemed to get to Eddie a bit more than Rey or me. Let me explain.
The story going into the match was that Eddie had faced Rey a few times recently but had been unable to score a victory. As the match progressed on this night, Eddie would attempt to pin Rey several times unsuccessfully. With each failed pin attempt, Eddie’s frustration would grow. Now the agent for this match was Dean Malenko, a close friend of both men. As the agent, Dean had a direct line to the referee, in this case yours truly. I’m not sure if it was Dean himself or possibly Vince McMahon, but someone was not happy with the frustration, or lack thereof, shown by Eddie. A few times during the match, Dean would tell me in my earpiece to “tell Eddie to show more frustration!”
Like any good referee, I did just what he told me to do. Unfortunately for me, Eddie didn’t appear too thrilled to be hearing me relay Dean’s message. The look on his face the first two or three times I told him what they wanted was really quite scary. I made sure to let him know that the instructions were coming from elsewhere and not from me. That didn’t seem to matter as I still got the cold stare.
As the end of the match neared, Eddie tried one more time to pin Rey and gain a victory over his friend. Once again, his pin attempt failed: Rey kicked out at two and three quarters. Eddie sat there dumbfounded for a moment. Right then and there Dean repeated the same thing he had told me several times before in this match, “Tell Eddie to show more frustration!”
I leaned in closer to Eddie so I could relay the same message as before. This time, I got a completely different result. I had barely begun to speak when Eddie, clearly and legitimately frustrated with being told the same thing over and over again, turned to me in the middle of the ring and angrily shouted, “Shut the fuck up!”
Stunned by what I had heard, my first thought was shutting the fuck up! I was not offended or anything like that. I completely understood where he was coming from. Here you are performing on the biggest show of the year and you have someone constantly telling you what to do. Meanwhile, you have this idea in your head and you want to execute the game plan your way. The last thing you need are distractions.
The match had ended as planned and we made our way backstage. Eddie and Rey hugged and thanked each other for the match. This is customary in wrestling, to thank your opponent and referee. It is a show of respect and gratitude. As I went up to Eddie to thank him for the match, the first thing he did was apologize for swearing at me in the ring. Before he could finish his apology, I cut him off and said there was no need to apologize and that I totally understood why he had said it. I know he felt bad, but after a few minutes we all had a good laugh about it with Rey as well. It did provide me with a WrestleMania moment I will never forget.
Once again, it was time for me to present another idea I had for Eddie regarding his eventual split with his tag-team partner Rey Mysterio. At this point in time Rey and Eddie were the tag champs but would eventually lose the titles to the team of MNM. The plan was for them to have a falling out and develop their own rivalry. The tension between the two was already well documented and now the time was right for them to go their separate ways — but not before they had engaged in a heated feud. How the split would finally happen was what I had been thinking about.
After weeks of minor dissension, the split was going to happen in England, where the WWE was taping their TV that week. Two or three nights before that tapings, we were in Ireland. Eddie and I had a long conversation about many things. After an evening of playing cards with the regulars and having a few pops, I made my way to the elevator, heading to my room. Eddie had just come out of the restaurant and headed to the elevators as well. In his hand he had a can of Coke Classic. We rode up the lift together and struck up a conversation. Since we exited on the same floor, we continued talking in the hall just outside the elevators. Among the topics we discussed were family, the business, and his ongoing battle to stay clean and sober. If you haven’t seen it, you really don’t know how much of struggle it is for someone battling substance abuse. The good thing for Eddie was he was winning his battle. At that time he was more than three years clean and sober. Another thing we talked about was his faith and how rediscovering and reconnecting with that faith saved him and gave him back his family. The conversation wasn’t one-sided. He did ask me a ton of questions about my family, my faith, as well as my goals in wrestling. Eddie knew that I wanted more than to just be a referee. I wanted to contribute creatively and in other ways as well.
One of the things I wanted to talk to Eddie about was how he and Rey could part ways with Eddie as the bad guy. After all, in my mind it was a great idea that I thought no one would see coming and be very surprised with. “Here’s the plan!” I told him excitedly. I sometimes tend to get just a little too animated when presenting my ideas. I have Greek blood flowing through my veins; I can’t help but talk with my hands. I continued to explain my vision to him all the while giving him my hand-assisted recreation. After finishing what I believed was a new and fresh approach to having tag-team partners break up, I waited for any kind of reaction from Eddie. He thought for a moment, turned his head to look me in the eyes, grinned, and said, “I love it! That’s great. When did you think of this?” I said that I had thought of it the previou
s night while on the bus heading back from the arena to the hotel. I explained to him that sometimes, ideas just pop in my mind and that usually it is sparked by something I had recently seen. He laughed and said he was going to suggest my scenario to the boss and was hopeful they would go with it. Eddie then wished me a good night and said we would talk more the next day. I thanked him for listening to my rambling, and we went to our respective rooms.
I guess I should let you in on my master plan. I will endeavour to explain it as best as I can without the use of my hands. The match featured the team of Rey and Eddie, who were already experiencing friction, as they took on MNM, Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro accompanied by Melina. As did happen during the match that aired on TV, there would be a point in the bout where Rey would accidentally hit Eddie instead of one of MNM. The only change I would have made was during the hot tag. Rey would enter the ring like “a house on fire” as the saying goes. He’d dominate both of his opponents, sending one of them crashing to the outside while isolating the other in the ring. As the match continued, Rey and his rival collide mid-ring and they both end up lying flat on their backs with the member of MNM closer to the babyface corner and Rey lying farther away. As the other MNM member, who was outside the ring, tries to enter to help his partner, the referee prevents him from getting in and interfering. With the referee distracted, Eddie climbs up to the top turnbuckle, about to leap with his signature Frog Splash finishing maneuver. As Eddie leaps from the top, instead of hitting the MNM opponent who was lying closest to him, he would fly over his opponent and come crashing down on his partner, Rey Mysterio. Then Eddie would pull MNM on top of Rey and exit the ring enraged. The referee would then turn to see Rey being pinned, count to three, and MNM are still your world tag-team champions. Eddie would walk away from the ring and his partner, thus beginning a new rivalry with his former friend. That was how I envisioned it going down. I liked it but, then again, I am just a tad biased.
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