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The Guerrero clan is one of the most influential families in the history of professional wrestling. In fact, the argument can be made that the Guerreros are the most important family in pro-wrestling this side of the McMahons. The Hart family might want to dispute that, but it is impossible to deny the fact that Gory and Herlinda Guerrero have produced more champions and major international stars than the Hart House.

Since 2014, there has not been a single blood member of the Guerrero family on the WWE roster. Despite this, the company is not shy about discussing the Guerreros on-screen, with color commentator John “Bradshaw” Layfield frequently mentioning his late buddy and former WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero. However, there are some things about the Guerreros which Vince McMahon and his employees usually neglect to mention. A lot of the stuff WWE chooses not to talk about is understandable, as there are many unflattering stories which could change the fans’ perception of the Guerrero family, if they were covered in too much detail. Other things, however, are simply storylines formulated by WWE writers which seemed like a good idea at the time, but that WWE would now like you to forget as it could impact the company’s PG image.

Fortunately, we’re big wrestling nerds and we don’t need WWE to remind us about the terrible things they did to various Guerreros over the years for us to remember them.

15. Only One Guerrero In The Hall Of Fame

WWE really loves to talk about the Guerrero family, and you would be hard pressed to find a pay-per-view or an episode of Monday Night Raw during which the family name is not mentioned at least once. But despite their constant praising of the Guerreros and their labelling of them as wrestling royalty (which they are), there is only one Guerrero in the WWE Hall of Fame.

Eddie Guerrero, who remains the only Guerrero to ever hold the WWE Championship, passed away in 2005 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006. At the time, he was the only Guerrero to receive such an honor, and not one member of the family has been inducted since that day.

It’s unclear why Vince McMahon and company have not inducted any other members of the Guerrero family, especially since most of them are far more accomplished wrestlers than a lot of others in the Hall. Some might argue that only a few Guerreros actually competed in WWE, but the company has inducted a number of performers who made their mark on the business without ever stepping into a WWE ring.

Perhaps more members of the Guerrero family will be inducted as time passes by, or maybe we’ll see the entire family inducted as one. If such an induction ever does occur, it will be well-deserved and much celebrated in the wrestling world.

14. Edge Marrying Into The Family

WWE writers have created a lot of controversial storylines centered around the Guerrero family. One of the most memorable was Edge’s attempt to marry into the family by seducing Vickie Guerrero.

Vickie Guerrero, former wife of the late Eddie Guerrero, was general manager of the SmackDown brand during the height of Edge’s time in the World title picture. In a blatant attempt to gain power and prolong his reign as WWE World Heavyweight Champion, the Rated-R Superstar embarked on a tempestuous affair with the widowed Guerrero.

In order to seal his place in the Guerrero family, Edge planned a summer wedding for he and his general manager bride-to-be. Things seemed to be going well for the happy couple in the run up to the wedding, but their relationship was destroyed when Triple H revealed Edge had been cheating on his fiancé with their wedding planner, the debuting Alicia Fox.

The storyline took place over the first half of 2008 and capped off several years of terrible Guerrero storylines.

13. Aidan English Guerrero

Unlike Edge, current WWE superstar Aidan English succeeded in his attempts to marry into the Guerrero family. Of course, English’s relationship with Shaul Guerrero was not part of a storyline and his motives were nothing but earnest.

Aidan English is currently competing in WWE’s tag team division, alongside Simon Gotch as The Vaudevillains. Having been one of the most popular performers in NXT and now carving out a nice following for himself on Raw, interest in Aidan English has never been higher.

Commentators on both Raw and Smackdown frequently reference English’s history outside WWE and his time in the theatre, but they have never discussed his relationship with the daughter of Eddie and Vickie Guerrero. This is likely because WWE feels acknowledging English as a Guerrero will mean they have to push him into the main event, something which they are not willing to do at this time.

That being said, if WWE’s history is anything to go by, it shouldn’t be long before we see Aidan English as his wife dragged into some truly tasteless storyline.

12. Guerreros Can Still Be Seen Outside WWE

Vince McMahon is extremely insecure and doesn’t like to talk about any wrestling promotion but his own, with the occasional exception of New Japan Pro Wrestling, which is incredibly difficult to find on American television. For this reason, WWE commentators rarely mention promotions like TNA, Ring of Honor, or Lucha Underground.

In a lot of ways, this is understandable, but becomes a little frustrating when on-screen figures talk about the legacy of the Guerrero family, but don’t tell the casual viewer where they can see the Guerreros for themselves.

There are no blood members of the Guerrero family in WWE today, but there are some competing in other promotions around the world. Chavo Guerrero Jr., for example, can be seen on the ever-growing Lucha Underground, where he has feuded with lucha libre legend Blue Demon Jr., and held the Gift of the Gods Championship. He has also represented the Guerrero family on Impact Wrestling.

WWE likely won’t ever encourage their viewers to seek out the Guerreros in other promotions, but with the upcoming brand split and rumors of former WWE superstars returning in droves, it’s possible we’ll see Chavo Guerrero Jr. inside a WWE ring once again.

11. Vickie vs. The Family

The former wife of Eddie Guerrero and longtime on-screen authority figure, Vickie Guerrero is one of the most well-known members of the Guerrero family, at least among the new generation of wrestling fans. However, her relationship with her late husband’s siblings has been rocky since his death in 2005.

When Vickie left WWE in 2014, she penned an emotional letter in which she thanked her friends, fans, and the McMahons for their support during the most turbulent years of her life. However, she failed to thank the Guerrero family, which they took issue with.

In a post online, Héctor Guerrero, Eddie’s eldest brother, slammed Vickie for failing to stay in touch with the family following Eddie’s Hall of Fame induction in 2006. Héctor’s wife also took to social media to accuse her former sister-in-law of turning her back on the family in favor of the “all mighty dollar [sic].” Vickie responded to the Guerrero family in a tweet, saying “I am free from their chaos and negative lives… hope they find peace.”

It is unclear if there has since been a reconciliation between Vickie and the Guerrero family, but many signs suggest the feud is ongoing.

10. Guerreros & Benoits

One of the most memorable and heart-warming moments in the history of professional wrestling came when Eddie Guerrero, holding the WWE Championship, stood in the ring with his close friend and new WWE World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit to close out WrestleMania XX. That moment of standing in the middle of the ring with their championships aloft while confetti and applause rained down upon them signified their descent to the top of the wrestling mountain.

Benoit was also close friends with a number of other Guerreros, and after Eddie’s death in 2005, his relationship with Chavo Guerrero Jr. became even more important to him. For the next couple of years, Benoit and Guerrero would compete together, ride together, and even visit each other’s families. Guerrero was one of the last people to see Chris Benoit alive and received a number of messages from him before and during the weekend on which he murdered his wife and child.

Owing to the nature of Benoit’s crimes and death, WWE are reluctant to acknowledge his involvement with the Guerrero family as they don’t want his deeds to be attributed to a family which has produced some of wrestlings most profitable stars; especially when that family’s refusal to obey the law is well-documented in storylines, magazines, and t-shirts.

9. Booking of Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. is a great wrestler, though you can be forgiven for not thinking that if you’re only familiar with the man from his WWE work.

Guerrero spent a decade in WWE and was rarely booked in a manner deserving of his talents. He toiled away for much of his WWE career on the lower and mid-card, usually competing on Heat and Velocity. He held a couple of championships during the first half of his time in the company, but never anything major. Chavo usually wound up as a transitional champion and his reigns proved easily forgettable.

Towards the end of the naughties, it seemed like WWE were beginning to sweeten on Chavo and he found himself holding the ECW Championship, though that quickly died down like every other push he received. After a little bit more drifting around, Guerrero was put in a bird costume (a Guerrero family tradition) and forced to portray Jack Swagger’s eagle mascot. Chavo Guerrero Jr. left WWE in 2011, ending a career in which he had never become more than a footnote on the main event.

8. The Paternity Suit

In the first half of 2005, the newly heel Eddie Guerrero entered into a feud with his former friend Rey Mysterio, which saw him threaten to reveal a dark secret regarding Mysterio’s son, Dominick.

Mysterio, not wanting the secret to get out, challenged Guerrero to a match at The Great American Bash with the agreement that Eddie would not reveal the secret if he was defeated. Despite falling short in the bout, Guerrero revealed the secret anyway: Dominick was, in fact, his son. According to Guerrero, he had fathered a child (Dominick) with a woman who was not his wife during a particularly trying time in his marriage. Once he and Vickie had reconciled, Eddie allowed Mysterio and his wife to adopt the child, as they were having a hard time conceiving.

The storyline became more and more controversial (and sickening) as the weeks went on, and came to an end only when Rey Mysterio won guardianship of Dominick by retrieving his custody papers from above the ring in a ladder match.

7. Herlinda Guerrero’s Heart Attack

During Eddie Guerrero’s 2004 feud with John “Bradshaw” Layfield (the feud which would ultimately end his one and only WWE Championship reign) WWE tried to get some extra heat on the number one contender by having him cause Eddie’s mother, Herlinda, to have a heart attack.

During a SmackDown live event in Texas, Eddie invited his family into the ring to celebrate Mother’s Day, though it was still a week away. After sharing a moment with his wife and children, the WWE Champion turned his attention to his mother, and thanked her for everything she had done for him and the rest of the Guerrero clan. It really was a lovely moment, until JBL interrupted it and struck Eddie with a particularly devastating clothesline.

Herlinda Guerrero proceeded to scold Layfield, as mothers tend to do, which lead to the two getting involved in a screaming match. As per the script, Herlinda became so worked up that she suffered a heart attack in the ring, as the crowd looked on in legitimate concern. Mamma Guerrero was carried out on a stretcher and the whole ordeal was shown on SmackDown a few days later. The event is certainly not in keeping with WWE’s current PG rating, but is made all the more unpalatable by the fact Eddie Guerrero died of acute heart failure just one year later.

6. Eddie’s Daughter Not Using Her Real Name

As the daughter of Eddie and Vickie Guerrero, Shaul Guerrero seemed to have a bright future in WWE. During her time in FCW, she held the Queen of FCW Championship and put on a number of stellar performances with some of the biggest stars in WWE’s modern women’s division.

However, for reasons unknown, Shaul was forbidden from using her real name. Rather than competing as Shaul Guerrero, the young woman was given the name Raquel Diaz and the gimmick of an ultra diva.

Shaul left the company in 2014 after a period of inactivity, having never achieved her full potential. However, her heritage and her aforementioned marriage to current WWE superstar Aidan English likely leaves the door open for a return any time she sees fit. It is uncertain if Guerrero ever will step back in a WWE ring, but if she does, we have to hope she is allowed to carry on the Guerrero name.

5. Chavo Guerrero Sr., Homophobe

The father of Chavo Guerrero, Jr. and the older brother of Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero Sr. had a brief but gold-winning career in WWE. After years of traveling the world and wrestling for various companies and holding various titles, Chavo Guerrero Sr. arrived in WWE in 2004 as a grizzled veteran. During his time there, he defeated Spike Dudley to become the oldest Cruiserweight Champion in WWE history.

His reign didn’t last very long, however, and he found himself out of the company shortly after losing the title to Rey Mysterio. In recent years, Guerrero has established himself as a proud bigot, having spent much time on social media voicing his conservative and controversial opinions. Last year, the former Cruiserweight Champion announced that he would no longer be responding to tweets from members of the LGBTQ community, as his Christian beliefs would not allow it. He has also expressed his fear that “queers r taking over the world”.

Obviously, it would be a PR disaster for WWE if it was discovered a former Cruiserweight Champion and brother of the former face of the company was spreading hatred like this, so they would prefer we all just forget Chavo Classic ever spent time in the company.

4. The Exploitation of Eddie’s Death

In recent years, Vince McMahon and his team of writers have been pretty good at honoring former performers following their deaths. The passings of Dusty Rhodes, Roddy Piper, and Randy Savage were all handled with class and integrity. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the death of Eddie Guerrero.

At the time of Eddie’s passing in 2005, he was booked to defeat Batista for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, so he was a pretty big figure in WWE storylines. Obviously, WWE couldn’t just stop talking about Eddie altogether, but they really didn’t have to exploit his death the way they did.

Though the death was originally treated as a sombre affair, it wasn’t long before WWE’s marketing wing began releasing various Eddie Guerrero tribute gear, including the black “E.G” armbands which we saw a number of superstars wearing in the weeks and months following his death. Eddie’s passing was also mentioned dozens of times during Rey Mysterio’s rise to the top of WWE, with Randy Orton even telling Mysterio that Eddie was in hell.

WWE’s handling of the situation could be justified had Mysterio gone on to have a lengthy World title reign which honored Eddie’s legacy, but he was instead buried after becoming champion, and lost the belt to King Booker just two months after WrestleMania 22.

3. The Constant Embarrassment of Vickie Guerrero

Vickie Guerrero had appeared on-screen a number of times during Eddie’s career, but after his death her appearances on WWE television became more frequent. Though she was at first revered by WWE and the audience alike, the company soon began to sour on Eddie’s widow and forced her into a number of humiliating storylines.

While she was general manager of the Smackdown brand, Vickie Guerrero was cheated on by Edge, booed by the fans, and Tombstoned by The Undertaker. She was also the subject of incessant fat jokes from Triple H, The Rock, and John Cena, who were all top stars.

On her final Raw as a regular performer, Vickie was unceremoniously fired after being pushed into a pool full of an unnamed brown liquid, which Stephanie McMahon noted “smells horrible.” Vickie recently returned to Monday Night Raw for a one-off appearance in which she lobbied for a job as Chief Operating Officer. Not only was she unsuccessful in getting the role, the former Mrs. Eddie Guerrero was tossed out of the building by security while yelling her catchphrase, “Excuse me!”

2. The GobbledyGooker

I mentioned earlier that dressing up as a giant bird is something of a Guerrero family tradition. This is because long before Chavo Guerrero Jr. ever donned the Swagger eagle costume, his uncle Héctor had been subjected to similar embarrassment.

At Survivor Series 1990, a truly iconic character debuted as part of Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Team. That character was The Undertaker, an instantly impressive supernatural mortician portrayed by Mark Calaway.

Survivor Series 1990 also saw the debut of another character who has since gone down in wrestling history, unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. The Gobbledy Gooker, which was basically Héctor Guerrero in a turkey suit, hatched from an egg just in time for the Thanksgiving Holiday (when it would presumably be slaughtered). After spending some time pecking at “Mean” Gene Okerlund, the gigantic turkey jumped into the ring to perform a dance for the nice people, who booed him throughout.

This was the height of Hector Guerrero’s time in WWE and left the Guerrero family wary of the company for years to come.

1. Kerwin White

Prior to Eddie Guerrero’s death in 2005, Chavo Guerrero Jr. was drafted from Smackdown to Raw, where he immediately began reinventing himself. After denouncing his Hispanic roots on WWE television, Chavo changed his name to Kerwin White and adopted the gimmick of a well-to-do white American male.

Embracing the white picket fence lifestyle, White embarked on a series of racially insensitive rants about African-American, Asian, and Hispanic members of the WWE roster. He was even given the catchphrase of “If it’s not White, it’s not right.” During his time as Kerwin White, Chavo took to entering the ring on a golf cart, and was accompanied by his very own caddie, a young Dolph Ziggler. After Eddie’s death, Chavo reverted back to his real name and Kerwin White crawled back to the country club from which he came.

If there is one good thing which can be said about the character, it is that we at least got Dolph Ziggler out of it.

Sources: Wrestling Inc., Huffington Post, Google Books, WrestleHeat