Eddie: My new addiction Eddie: My new addiction
Last updated 21 April 2015
[ Photo: ST-EDDIE ON ... Guerrero with The Sun's gorgeous Page 3 girls ]
WHEN Eddie Guerrero beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE title one year ago it was the end of a journey that saw him conquer his drink and drug demons.
But it was also the start of a new addiction for the Latino star - an obsession with his work.
All wrestling champions experience the stress of being their promotion's leading light, with everyone looking to them to deliver big crowds and PPV buy rates.
But Eddie, 37, said he didn't just feel that pressure, he was consumed by it.
In an exclusive interview he revealed: "It's a great responsibility being champion, as you're the one carrying the ball, and I found it very difficult.
"It was the first time I'd held the title and I don't think I was ready.
"I was ready to win the belt, but not for what lay ahead of me.
"I wasn't prepared mentally for what happens outside the ring - because I think that's where the real challenges lie.
"I was taking things like attendances and ratings very personally.
"I'm an extremist and that's one thing I'd like to change in my life.
"It's good to be hard on myself but not to the point where I beat myself up about things.
"And if I'm honest and look back at my mistakes then I was too hard on myself when I was carrying the title.
"I let things eat me up inside and I questioned myself when I shouldn't have.
"But it's a lesson learned and I won't make that mistake again."
The WWE originally planned a long title reign for Eddie.
With huge crowd support - especially from wrestling's growing Hispanic fan base - Guerrero was the perfect choice to be Smackdown's new figurehead.
But after his problems coping with being champion, and with WWE boss Vince McMahon wanting to change direction, Eddie dropped the gold to John Bradshaw Layfield after four and a half months.
[ Photo: HE'S NOT ROPEY ... Eddie praises the man who took his title ]
Previously a mid-card tag team star, Bradshaw was a controversial choice to win the title.
But Eddie feels the man who beat him for the belt has proved all his critics wrong.
"I've got to give a lot of perks to JBL," he told us.
"Of course I was disappointed to drop the title, how could I not be?
"The WWE championship was everything I'd worked for and it was heartbreaking for me to lose it.
"But JBL was great in our matches and he's really stepped up to the plate as champion.
"A lot of people doubted him, although I never did, and I think he's made them eat their words.
"JBL's the WWE champion for a reason. He's not there because he's anybody's friend, but because he's working hard and continues to do a great job."
Eddie's programme with Bradshaw had many contentious moments, intended to get fans to hate bad guy JBL.
John insulted Mexicans, caused Eddie's mother to have a 'heart-attack' and, most controversially of all, did repeated Nazi salutes at a show in Germany.
The gesture caused a huge uproar, floods of complaints and got JBL fired from his job as a financial analyst on American TV station CNBC.
However Eddie - his opponent that night in Munich - says he wasn't surprised by the commotion.
"I was actually kind of expecting it," the star admitted.
"I hate to say that, but it's true. Unfortunately some people still live in the past."
Despite losing the WWE title, Eddie has remained one of Smackdown's top players.
He went straight into an entertaining wrestling-based feud with Kurt Angle, and saved the show at December's Armageddon PPV in a four-way with JBL, Undertaker and Booker T.
Now Guerrero looks like he may be heading into a WrestleMania 21 showdown with Rey Mysterio.
[ Photo: LIVE ANOTHER REY ... Guerrero wants Mysterio one more time ]
Rey is one of only two men in the wrestling business Eddie considers a "close personal friend" - along with Chris Benoit - and the duo just won the WWE's tag team titles at No Way Out.
But could a split be on the cards?
Eddie told us: "I'd love the opportunity to wrestle Rey again on TV or at a PPV, as he's a phenomenal athlete, but it's too soon to say where things are going.
"Every time I've had the opportunity to go at it with Rey one-on-one it always turns out to be a great match. We have such good chemistry together.
"People still talk about the bout we had in WCW at Halloween Havoc, but we're at a different level now to where we were then and I know if we wrestle again we'll have a better match.
"I know I'm stepping out in saying something like that, but I have faith we can accomplish it."
However good Eddie's bout is at WrestleMania 21, it will be difficult to top the magical moment at last year's event where he stood in the middle of the ring embracing Chris Benoit.
After his triumph over Brock at No Way Out 2004, Eddie defeated Kurt Angle at Mania then watched lifelong pal Chris overcome Triple H and Shawn Michaels to win Raw's world title.
Together they smashed through the theory that you have to be big to be a champion in the WWE.
Eddie said: "You know how sometimes a dream seems too far-fetched and unreachable - well WrestleMania XX was one of the moments where I realised that dream. Not only for myself but also for Chris.
"Breaking that mould of giants was great - I'll take a pat on the back for that one.
"Being a smaller wrestler is something I've been dealing with all my life.
"But it's not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, it's the size of the fight in the dog.
"And that's what I'd say about me and Chris.
"When you put us in the ring, we're just as big as any other wrestler out there.
"And I'd say our hearts are even bigger, as we are taking on people larger and stronger than ourselves.
[ Photo: VIVA LA RAZA ... beating Brock Lesnar is the highlight of Eddie's career ]
He added: "I think WrestleMania XX was more Chris's night than it was mine.
"I don't want to take away from my match with Kurt - as I have so much respect and admiration for him - or that moment with Benoit, but beating Brock at No Way Out was more emotional for me.
"Winning the WWE title was just so special, especially as I had my mum right there at ringside."
That moment was made even more emotional for the Guerrero family because they knew how Eddie had pulled himself back from the brink of self-destruction.
During his darkest times, after becoming addicted to drink and drugs, Eddie lost his job, his wife and almost his life.
But through hard work and with the support of his friends, family and religion, Eddie won back everything he'd lost.
And the star says now the only "fix" he needs is the one he gets when the ring bell sounds.
"When I'm out there I'm on a natural high," he revealed.
"I grew up in this business and I love it.
"It's not everything to me in life, Jesus Christ is my saviour and what I live for.
"But he's blessed me by putting the fire within my heart to wrestle. So every time I get that opportunity, I give my body and life.
"When I'm wrestling I personally carry the responsibility and challenge in my heart to live or die in the ring.
"And If I were to die in the wrestling ring - I'd die a happy man."