At the time of his untimely passing on November 13th, 2005, Eddie Guerrero had become one of the most popular WWE stars of the modern era.
Plenty of other wrestlers featured at more WrestleManias, won more championships and headlined more live events, but fans around the world loved Eddie Guerrero.
In the years since he passed away, it has often been said that the star was determined to do everything he could for his family and had become acutely aware of how much time he was spending on the road.
Speaking in a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Guerrero’s nephew Chavo, explained that the former World Champion was feeling burned out by the industry. Chavo said that his uncle had discussed retiring, but felt he didn’t know how to do anything else other than be a wrestler.
“Eddie had a great mind for the business, he just didn’t want to be on the road anymore. He loved his family a lot, he really really did, and he wanted to be home with his family.
I remember before he passed, like 6 months before, I remember him coming to me and saying ‘I don’t want to be here anymore.’ I said what do you mean? He said ‘I don’t want to wrestle anymore.’ I said, ‘Dude drop out and do something else.’ He got real mad, [and said] ‘what am I going to do? What else am I going to do? This is what we do, we wrestle.
I said that it doesn’t matter, your family life is more important. What good is it if you are away from your family all of the time? That’s why I left WWE.
My kids at the time were 8 and 11 maybe, and I just didn’t want them growing up without a dad. I had already been on the road for 20 years, I didn’t want to be that casualty and divorced from wrestling and the whole thing. Everything you work hard for and you lose it. I didn’t want to get divorced, I didn’t want my kids to grow up without a dad.
That’s kind of why I left. It’s funny because they don’t really remember me being gone all the time.”
Eddie Guerrero Wasn’t Best Friends With Rey Mysterio
In the same interview, Chavo Guerrero also claimed that Eddie’s relationship with Rey Mysterio wasn’t as close as has been presented since his death. Chavo stated that the pair weren’t best friends, and his uncle was actually closer to Chris Benoit.
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