MINNEAPOLIS – World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Eduardo Gory Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room Sunday morning in Minneapolis, where he was scheduled to appear that evening in a WWE Supershow.
When Guerrero, 38, didn’t respond to a wake-up call, hotel security at Minneapolis Marriott City Center and Guerrero’s nephew and fellow WWE wrestler, Chavo Guerrero, forced entry into the room shortly after 7 a.m., police said.
The 5-feet-8, 220-pound wrestler was found on the floor. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.
There were no apparent signs of foul play or suicide, police said. An autopsy was planned at the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office.
He was a featured star on the UPN series “WWE Smackdown!” and son of Mexican wrestler Gory Guerrero.
He is survived by his wife, Vickie, and daughters Shaul, 14; Sherilyn, 9; and Kaylie Marie, 3, according to WWE Web site.
“This is a huge loss,” said WWE chairman Vince McMahon. “Eddie was a wonderful, fun-loving human being. Eddie was a consummate performer.”
Chavo Guerrero and McMahon said Guerrero was open about his past drug and alcohol abuse but they said he’d been sober for four years.
Guerrero was in the Twin Cities with 60 to 80 other wrestlers to film “Friday Night Smackdown” at the Target Center.
“I know Eddie would want the show to go on,” Chavo Guerrero said.
In February 2004, Guerrero became the second wrestler of Hispanic heritage to be WWE champion when he defeated Brock Lesnar, a former University of Minnesota wrestling standout. Guerrero lost the title four months later.
In May 2004, UPN aired the special “Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story.” The one-hour program chronicled his childhood and his struggle with drug addiction that almost cost him his job, family and life before his recovery and eventual capture of the WWE championship.
Guerrero grew up in El Paso, Texas. He and his three older brothers were all wrestlers.