RECAP AND REVIEW: Prime Time with Sean Mooney with Vickie Guerrero on Eddie’s frustrating WCW years, his relationship with Vince McMahon, becoming an on-screen character, the origins of “excuse me”

Prime Time with Sean Mooney – Vickie Guerrero

Release Date: November 14, 2018

Running time: 1:26:15

Recap by: Joe Aguinaldo

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This week is the 13th anniversary of Eddie Guerrero’s death and this week’s guest is Vickie Guerrero.

Intro

• Vickie is the first female guest on the Prime Time podcast.
• She recently got a chance to meet with Sean a short time ago during the filming of the Edge And Christian Show That Reeks Of Awesomeness.
• Sean was impressed by Edge and Christian’s ability to get a bunch of different people and the show was out there. Vickie agrees and says Edge and Christian are both passionate about their work and it was fun to be part of the project.
• This is also the 13th anniversary of Eddie’s death. Vickie says it still is a surreal moment. Sean says he was a big presence in life and he affected a number of people.
• Vickie still does appearances and is humbled by the stories from fans who shared their experiences about meeting Eddie and the impact he had on their lives. It allows her to still be close to Eddie.

When Eddie Met Vickie

• Sean says Vickie lived two lives, the first as a wrestler’s wife. She credits Eddie’s mom for teaching her how to be a wrestler’s wife. It takes a big person and someone with a lot of patience to support someone you hardly see because they are on the road.
• Both Vickie and Eddie were born and raised in El Paso (in fact they were born in the same hospital). Vickie’s grandfather owned a leather shop and Eddie’s father would buy his wrestling gear at that shop. Eddie and Vickie used to play in the playpen together when they were babies.
• When Vickie first met Eddie, she didn’t care about wrestling, however, her brothers loved wrestling and they knew who he was. They thought he was great. Vickie says it was fate that brought them together.
• The Guerreros were well known in that part of the country. Gory (Eddie’s father) promoted the El Paso coliseum. Once a month, they would have a huge show and bring in the Funks, the Von Erichs and Andre the Giant. Vickie would be asked for autographs because she was Eddie’s girlfriend.

• They also did a lot of wrestling in Juarez, Mexico. She learned a great respect for the business and also realized a lot of other women liked Eddie too.
• Vickie and Eddie married and had kids young. The same week they got married Eddie’s father passed away so they moved in with his mom to help her with the passing of Gory. That helped them financially because at the time they were poor.
• Living in Eddie’s parents’ house was amazing because there was a wrestling ring and a lot of history.
• Vickie’s daughter was born on October 14th and around February/March, Eddie was invited to work in AAA. She knew he was going to be gone for a good 8 to 15 months because he wanted to train and work shows.
• After two months, Vickie moved to Mexico to be with Eddie. They lived in a hotel where Chris Jericho, Chavo Jr., Chavo Sr. and Norman Smiley were living. It was like having a second family.
• Vickie and Eddie lived in Mexico for 8 months. After Mexico, Eddie and Art Barr had an opportunity to work in LA. Eddie put in his dues. He didn’t get paid a lot but that was a sacrifice they knew they were in for.
• When Eddie started working in Japan, Shaul was two at the time and they were living in El Paso. Eddie went for a month at a time and loved it. He would work 4 to 6 weeks and get a month off. They paid him well in Japan.

Home Life

• Sean asks how tough it was when Eddie wouldn’t be home for long periods. Vickie says it’s tough because you’re the mom and dad as well as the good guy and bad guy.
• It was hard because they already had their second child when Eddie went to WCW and would be gone for 3 to 4 weeks at a time. It takes a strong person and someone who cares about the business to work at this with your partner. You can’t be in it for the fame and the money. When you get married to a wrestler you’re there to support them while they are on the road. Vickie wanted to be the best mom and wife she could be and would make sacrifices to accommodate his work schedule.
• When Eddie was home, they would enjoy him being around but when he wasn’t home, Vickie would try to keep herself and the girls busy.
• People looking from the outside in would think they had a great life but Vickie says there was a lot of sorrow and sadness because they wouldn’t see each other very long.

Working WCW vs. WWE

• Eddie’s first real break wasn’t WCW because there was a lot of politics with the bigger guys trying to get TV time and time in the ring.
• It wasn’t until he jumped to the WWE that he got treated well and got involved in main storylines.
• The first time he was in a WWE ring, he broke his elbow which was horrible as he was ready to turn over a new leaf.
• Vickie says God humbles you in different ways and you have to have patience, get back up and try again. That said, Eddie loved his time in the WWE. Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio and Dean Malenko were his posse and they kept each other motivated

• The WCW were frustrating years. Vickie says Eddie always wanted to be creative and would get pissed off because he wasn’t getting the opportunity to be himself.
• In the WWE, when he started working with Chyna and that storyline, that was the true Eddie because he was funny, sarcastic, a jokester and wanted to make everyone laugh.
• He had a good time with that storyline because that was a genuine character for him. It’s who he was. They let him be what he wanted to be and he would take the ball and run with it. He would be excited to go to work and that helped Vickie relax because she could see he was having a good time.
• Vickie says Vince and Eddie had a good relationship both professionally and personally. Vince listened to Eddie and Vickie says Vince was Eddie’s saving grace. Eddie was frustrated at times with writers and agents. They had their own ideas and it took a lot of time and effort for Eddie to prove he didn’t need a script and could call matches. Some of the guys loved that because they didn’t have to rehearse.
• Eddie liked to see what the crowd was like and take them to the next level. If the crowd was in a good mood, he wanted to piss them off or if they were pissed off the wanted to make them laugh. That was an art that Eddie treasured, being able to move the crowd.

Eddie’s Demons

• Eddie’s demons had been coming years before he came back to the WWE the second time. After he went to rehab, the last four years of Eddie’s life was really enjoyable.
• It was hell dealing with a person you love so much and there are substances that take overtake their thinking and action.
• You can’t fight with a pill or alcohol. Vickie says the drugs and alcohol had a hold of him for a long time so she didn’t have Eddie with her for a long time. It was touch and go for awhile and it started affecting his work.
• During this period, Vickie would make excuses for people not to come over because Eddie was having a bad day. She would stay busy with the girls outside the house so Eddie wouldn’t be around them.
• It is a truly horrible disease. Vickie had to hide from everyone because she was trying to protect Eddie from his work and his loved ones. The only person that knew was Eddie’s mom.
• There was finally a point when he fired and got in trouble with his DUI when Vickie finally said enough and left.
• Vickie called it quits when the IRS started coming after them. She had a talk with Eddie and said she’d rather not have anything and be at peace than have everything and worry that he wasn’t going to come home.
• Eddie didn’t blame her because he knew he put her through a lot.
• When Eddie got fired from WWE, she knew it was time to get out because she knew it was going to get worse.
• When Eddie went back to rehab for the sixth time, Vickie was able to sleep because she wasn’t worried if he was going to come home or not.

Vickie and Eddie Reunite

• Eddie had a relationship with another women when he and Vickie were separate. Eddie had a baby in this relationship.
• Through this whole process, Vickie saw Eddie changing to where he was calm. The rehab was working and he was investing a lot of time in himself
• The girls would come home saying that Eddie was doing well and he and Vickie started flirting again.
• Vickie says they always missed each other. Eddie had broken up with the girl he had the relationship with.
• Vicke and Eddie’s first date was back at the beach and things started coming back into place.
• He really changed and became the old Eddie Vickie used to know. They renewed their vows and he promised his daughters he was always going to take it one day at a time. Vickie never thought they would be back together.
• They eventually got an apartment together and moved to Phoenix. In essence, they started over.
• Even when they had gotten their stuff repossessed and Eddie was out of work, he always took care of the girls. Regardless of any issues Vickie and Eddie had, their discussions were always about the girls

Getting Back To The WWE

• Vickie thinks the WWE had been watching him during this time. She says Vince didn’t want to fire him but it got to a point where they had no choice. Eddie was doing a horrible job at everything he was involved in.
• During his time away from the WWE, everyone was waiting for him to drop the ball again. Every independent show he did, he showed he was getting stronger. It was difficult for him to go from big crowds to small crowds but the one thing he was doing was what he loved which was wrestling.
• The WWE saw that he was being serious about his recovery and when they found out Vickie and Eddie were getting back together, the WWE thought this was a good sign.

Vickie On TV

• Rey Mysterio and Eddie were doing a child custody storyline that they didn’t think would get that big. After 4 or 5 months, they started getting into it and had a bunch of ideas. Vince suggested bringing in their families into the storyline to take this to another level. Everyone loved it and the girls liked being in front of the cameras and the crowds.

Eddie’s Passing

• Vickie and Eddie had just moved to Phoenix. He had been home for three days and on the Saturday, they were going to go for a PPV, TV and an international show. It was like any normal flight going to a show.
• On the Sunday, Eddie called Vickie in the morning at 5:30 a.m., however, she had missed the call. His family came at 7:00 a.m. that morning and that’s when she found out about his passing. She kicks herself for missing that call.
• Eddie had missed his wake up call and the bellman had gone to check on him. They found Eddie in the bathroom and that’s when they alerted Chavo, Dean, and Vince. They also called Eddie’s sister Linda to go to Vickie’s house.
• Vickie says she can’t remember that whole time period. The WWE did a tribute to Eddie on Smackdown and showed some of the funeral. Vickie doesn’t remember any of this and was in shock. She was a mess.
• When Eddie passed away, Nancy Benoit was the one who helped her through this. Vickie thanks God for Nancy because she and Chris were the ones who were there to check on them. Chris had a hard time getting over Eddie’s death. Nancy was strong and she was Vickie’s rock.
• Working with WWE helped Vickie feel closer to Eddie because that was their second family. She had to leave the girls with a nanny but they understood the life.
• At the time, Vickie had no job skills and had nothing to fall back on, which is why she is so dedicated to her school today. She tells her girls that if they get into the business to make sure they have a backup plan.
• Vickie moved back to El Paso to be close to family and friends. Also being away from Phoenix helped because they didn’t have the memory of Eddie not being home in Phoenix.

Vickie Guerrero – The Character

• Vickie says she got a chance to prove she could do promos during the Rey/Eddie storyline but she wasn’t sure if she could be a full character.
• Johnny Ace called her to see if Vickie wanted to do some storylines with Rey, Benoit and Jericho. She said maybe for two months to see how it would go.
• When the WWE brought Vickie in, everyone was great towards her. They took it slow. Working with Jericho, Rey and Benoit was easy because they were her family.
• She loved performing and she enjoyed developing a character she was comfortable and she ended up with a 10 year run.

• Sean says he hadn’t been watching and hadn’t seen Vickie’s transition. When he saw Vickie in ‘excuse me’ mode, he initially thought she was horrible, however, one of Sean’s backstage friends said she was one of the nicest people.
• When it comes to generating heat she was one of the best.
• Vickie credits Edge with helping her with psychology and watching him made her fall in love with the performance part of the industry.
• Vickie misses performing because that’s a natural high.
• Vickie also took some major bumps including a tombstone from the Undertaker. Vickie was scared to death to take the piledriver but after it was over, she went back stage and said she wanted to do it again. They didn’t rehearse the move, Taker just talked Vickie through it.
• ‘Excuse Me’ came from Vickie forgetting her promo one night. That night, they had changed her promo a few minutes before show time and she forgot it. The fans started making fun of her and she yelled excuse me to get their attention.
• Vickie says Eddie and the girls had heard that voice before. It was very familiar in the household.

• Vickie had a great time but sometimes there was some animosity with some of the girls. She didn’t think of it as being more popular, she had a job to do. Every time she went out there, she wanted to give 100% and stayed humble because that’s what Eddie taught her to do.
• She says the highlight of her career was being able to work with the McMahons.
• Sean and Vickie say being in the business is a stressful job because there’s a lot of competition for TV time. Not only that you have to face Vince. She says the kids today have more stress than she did.
• Vickie says she worked with these great wrestlers and didn’t want to be the one to screw up a segment. It was important for her to put everyone over and be the worst heel she could be. It was an honor for her to work with some of these people

What’s Next

• Vickie’s next journey she’s acting. She will start auditioning for roles in December.

Sean thanks Vickie for being on the show. Vickie thanks Sean and they sign off.

Rating – 8.5/10

Another great podcast from Sean Mooney. I am a fan of Eddie Guerrero so even though I had heard a lot of this from previous podcasts, I still enjoy listening to his story, especially when it’s being told by his wife. Vickie has a unique perspective as she was married to a wrestler but also got into the business as a character. You know she has talent because of that 10 year run and she was absolutely a great heel. You can also tell she has a genuine love and respect for the business. Definite thumbs up recommend for me, especially if you are an Eddie Guerrero fan.

About Joe:

Joe is a long time wrestling fan from Toronto. He is a co-host on the Pull Apart Podcast with Jeff Rush and Caitlin Lavelle as well as a contributor to www.pwpodcasts.com. One of his life goals is to be a guest host on one of Wade Keller’s post-show podcasts. He doesn’t consider himself any sort of expert, he just likes wrestling. Check him out on Twitter and Instagram @ja113.