Post by Pennyroyal_Tea (admin) on Nov 26, 2005 18:56:21 GMT -5
Rita Cosby, host of "Live and Direct" on MSNBC, interviewed Vince McMahon, Chavo Guerrero, and JBL Tuesday night regarding Eddie Guerrero's passing. The two-part segment, which lasted roughly 25 minutes, began with a video package highlighting Eddie's life and in-ring accomplishments. Video footage from Raw on Monday night showed the opening ten-bell salute. "Powerful huge men - built like solid rocks - broke down into tears," Cosby said before introducing the special report. Cosby recapped the story before introducing footage from Ron Meier of the Minneapolis police department, who confirmed there was no sign of foul play in Eddie's death.
Cosby read a message from Vickie Guerrero, which was posted on WWE.com Tuesday afternoon, stating that initial autopsy results indicate Eddie's death was from heart disease. Cosby said drug abuse contributed to the obstacles Eddie faced in life prior to cleaning up and being sober for four years. Before bringing in Vince McMahon, Cosby said Guerrero won his final match on this past Friday's edition of "WWE Shakedown."
"This is a family atmosphere and Eddie was a bit of a patriarch to many of the wrestlers," Vince McMahon said. "It's always tough to endure because he was beloved by so many fans all over the world." Cosby asked about the hurdles Eddie overcame in years prior before turning his life around before asking McMahon how he heard about the news. "I'm very proud of the hurdles he overcame and his accomplishments," McMahon said. "I was in the car on the way to the arena (Target Center) that morning when I got the phone call. Something like that - you can't prepare for that; it's very surreal and doesn't sink in at first. (It was) just a shock to everyone because Eddie had overcome his demons."
After setting the stage, Cosby asked McMahon about Eddie's heart failure. Text of Vickie's statement on WWE.com discussing Eddie's enlarged hard as a result of stress through working out and previous drug use appeared on the screen before Cosby asked McMahon what consequences could come about from Eddie's passing. "We've had situations like this in the past," McMahon said. "I'm not a physician and you wonder how much of the hard life Eddie lived in the past caught up to him."
Regarding the tough lifestyle a WWE wrestler must endure, Vince said: "There's an extraordinary amount of travel and time spent in the gym to keep up your body. What we do in the ring - it may be entertainment - takes its toll. All of those factors combined to have an effect on Eddie. (It) could have been genetic as well; it's only speculating now."
Cosby quickly moved away from the subject without following up on what measures WWE could take to ensure better health conditions for its wrestlers before heading to the first commercial.
After commercial, Chavo Guerrero and JBL, who was in studio with Cosby, were brought in to discuss Eddie's life. Cosby asked Chavo how he felt finding Eddie in his hotel room. "It was like not real," Chavo said. "There were so many things that were happening that I couldn’t be shocked." When asked about growing up a Guerrero and having to live up to the family legacy, Chavo said: "It was a blessing and detrimental - we had a lot of doors opened for us because we were Guerreros, but once we stepped through that door, we had to be the best. It was tough, but it was great also."
Footage aired from the recent feud between JBL and Eddie Guerrero. JBL said he was enemies with Guerrero inside the ring, but he had a strong relationship with Eddie outside of the ring. Cosby pointed out the shiner JBL had on his eye following his match against Chavo at the Smackdown taping Sunday night. Chavo and JBL joked that Chavo won the match since JBL took the worst blow.
"Eddie and I had a tremendous relationship," JBL said regarding his experiences with Eddie. "Eddie and his wife were part of my wedding and Eddie touched a lot of lives - not just in the ring, but outside of the ring. He influenced hundreds and hundreds of people." Regarding his upcoming speech at Eddie's funeral on Wednesday in Arizona, JBL said: "To be able to justify his life in any form, I'm not going to be able to do it. I'll try to at least explain to his wife Vickie that he influenced hundreds of lives (in the locker room)."
Cosby asked McMahon what WWE planned to do in memory of Eddie's passing following Monday's edition of Raw. "We have a Friday Night Smackdown where we're going to do something similar to what we did last night," McMahon said. "With someone like Eddie, who was so passionate about his craft and this business, there isn't enough you can do to recognize Eddie." Eddie connected with the fans because...his whole style was different than everyone else; everything about Eddie was unique."
Cosby asked Chavo how Eddie's family was holding up in wake of Eddie's passing. "We're all trying to rally together for his wife and kids," Chavo said. Vickie outright denied Eddie's death before she received a call from John Laurenaitis to confirm the news. Chavo said the entire family is "very up and down" and Vickie is very emotional.
Chavo closed the segment by describing Eddie as the big brother he never had. "Eddie always looked out for me; he always had my back," Chavo said. "Now, I don’t have anyone like that in my life and it's going to be a huge adjustment for me. When we were tag team partners together, I knew we could go up against anyone in the world because he had my back."
Overall: Cosby lobbed softball questions and glossed over the major issues of how Eddie's death could affect the wrestling industry where Eddie's passing could be used as a chance to learn from the past in order to prevent future tragedies such as Eddie dying at a young age and as a top performer in wrestling. McMahon said the right things to keep the interview focused on Eddie's accomplishments in life by overcoming his personal demons and becoming a top performer in the business. A different interviewer might have asked tougher questions to get to the heart of how Eddie's death came about and what can be done to prevent future occurrences that seem to happen far too often.
Credit: PWTorch.com
Cosby read a message from Vickie Guerrero, which was posted on WWE.com Tuesday afternoon, stating that initial autopsy results indicate Eddie's death was from heart disease. Cosby said drug abuse contributed to the obstacles Eddie faced in life prior to cleaning up and being sober for four years. Before bringing in Vince McMahon, Cosby said Guerrero won his final match on this past Friday's edition of "WWE Shakedown."
"This is a family atmosphere and Eddie was a bit of a patriarch to many of the wrestlers," Vince McMahon said. "It's always tough to endure because he was beloved by so many fans all over the world." Cosby asked about the hurdles Eddie overcame in years prior before turning his life around before asking McMahon how he heard about the news. "I'm very proud of the hurdles he overcame and his accomplishments," McMahon said. "I was in the car on the way to the arena (Target Center) that morning when I got the phone call. Something like that - you can't prepare for that; it's very surreal and doesn't sink in at first. (It was) just a shock to everyone because Eddie had overcome his demons."
After setting the stage, Cosby asked McMahon about Eddie's heart failure. Text of Vickie's statement on WWE.com discussing Eddie's enlarged hard as a result of stress through working out and previous drug use appeared on the screen before Cosby asked McMahon what consequences could come about from Eddie's passing. "We've had situations like this in the past," McMahon said. "I'm not a physician and you wonder how much of the hard life Eddie lived in the past caught up to him."
Regarding the tough lifestyle a WWE wrestler must endure, Vince said: "There's an extraordinary amount of travel and time spent in the gym to keep up your body. What we do in the ring - it may be entertainment - takes its toll. All of those factors combined to have an effect on Eddie. (It) could have been genetic as well; it's only speculating now."
Cosby quickly moved away from the subject without following up on what measures WWE could take to ensure better health conditions for its wrestlers before heading to the first commercial.
After commercial, Chavo Guerrero and JBL, who was in studio with Cosby, were brought in to discuss Eddie's life. Cosby asked Chavo how he felt finding Eddie in his hotel room. "It was like not real," Chavo said. "There were so many things that were happening that I couldn’t be shocked." When asked about growing up a Guerrero and having to live up to the family legacy, Chavo said: "It was a blessing and detrimental - we had a lot of doors opened for us because we were Guerreros, but once we stepped through that door, we had to be the best. It was tough, but it was great also."
Footage aired from the recent feud between JBL and Eddie Guerrero. JBL said he was enemies with Guerrero inside the ring, but he had a strong relationship with Eddie outside of the ring. Cosby pointed out the shiner JBL had on his eye following his match against Chavo at the Smackdown taping Sunday night. Chavo and JBL joked that Chavo won the match since JBL took the worst blow.
"Eddie and I had a tremendous relationship," JBL said regarding his experiences with Eddie. "Eddie and his wife were part of my wedding and Eddie touched a lot of lives - not just in the ring, but outside of the ring. He influenced hundreds and hundreds of people." Regarding his upcoming speech at Eddie's funeral on Wednesday in Arizona, JBL said: "To be able to justify his life in any form, I'm not going to be able to do it. I'll try to at least explain to his wife Vickie that he influenced hundreds of lives (in the locker room)."
Cosby asked McMahon what WWE planned to do in memory of Eddie's passing following Monday's edition of Raw. "We have a Friday Night Smackdown where we're going to do something similar to what we did last night," McMahon said. "With someone like Eddie, who was so passionate about his craft and this business, there isn't enough you can do to recognize Eddie." Eddie connected with the fans because...his whole style was different than everyone else; everything about Eddie was unique."
Cosby asked Chavo how Eddie's family was holding up in wake of Eddie's passing. "We're all trying to rally together for his wife and kids," Chavo said. Vickie outright denied Eddie's death before she received a call from John Laurenaitis to confirm the news. Chavo said the entire family is "very up and down" and Vickie is very emotional.
Chavo closed the segment by describing Eddie as the big brother he never had. "Eddie always looked out for me; he always had my back," Chavo said. "Now, I don’t have anyone like that in my life and it's going to be a huge adjustment for me. When we were tag team partners together, I knew we could go up against anyone in the world because he had my back."
Overall: Cosby lobbed softball questions and glossed over the major issues of how Eddie's death could affect the wrestling industry where Eddie's passing could be used as a chance to learn from the past in order to prevent future tragedies such as Eddie dying at a young age and as a top performer in wrestling. McMahon said the right things to keep the interview focused on Eddie's accomplishments in life by overcoming his personal demons and becoming a top performer in the business. A different interviewer might have asked tougher questions to get to the heart of how Eddie's death came about and what can be done to prevent future occurrences that seem to happen far too often.
Credit: PWTorch.com