vickie guerrero
Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images

Vickie Guerrero On Learning The Ropes And Earning Her Way In WWE, Her Work With Salvation Army

By Bill Pritchard

Vickie Guerrero recently spoke with Wrestlezone’s Kevin Kellam and talked about being brought into WWE storylines as a heel after her initial introduction as Eddie’s wife. Vickie said she got to see both sides of the business, and while there was a lot of stress on her, she feels like she ultimately earned her position by working hard:

“Being married to Eddie, I got to see the nice side of the business. Eddie got to travel and then he worked and came home, he got to enjoy the girls and myself, enjoy the quiet side.” Vickie said. “Of course he didn’t have the stressful side of getting him to the airport on time—that was my job—but to see it now [after performing herself], it’s quite a different role. I wasn’t supposed to be in this business. My job was to raise the girls and be the supporting wife and support Eddie. I just loved Eddie and the legacy he left and I’m very proud of that, but to be part of WWE put a lot of stress on me. I had the odds against me; I was just ‘the wife’ and when Eddie passed away, they thought ‘oh, she just got the job because Eddie died.’

It was true—I can’t say it wasn’t true because they did it to help me out—but I earned my way. I believed in my character they gave me and I truly loved all of the roster because they were my second family. With that love and appreciation and respect, for them to give me that opportunity, I really gave 100% to do the best that I could.”

Vickie says it took her a while to get comfortable on-screen, and joked about Dusty Rhodes’ reaction to her first promo. Vickie said ultimately excelled because she had good mentors and a strong work ethic, and cited advice from her late husband about giving the fans a memory to take home as a driving force:

“It did take awhile. The first show that I did on my own after Eddie passed, I had a promo in the ring—I’m working with Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho, and those were great times—but to do my first promo, I was lost mentally and emotionally. When I came backstage, Dusty Rhodes, God bless his soul, put his arm around me and goes [doing a Dusty impersonation] ‘Sweetheart, you sucked!’

Through him, and people like Paul Heyman, Teddy Long, Vince McMahon and Johnny Ace, they took me in. I would ask them every day ‘What do I need to work on?’ and ‘What did you see good, what did you see bad?’ because I cared about it so much. I wanted to respect Eddie’s legacy and not be a failure within myself. I wanted to become famous too, because I had a little taste of it. I wanted to go out there and give the crowd the best that I could because they paid for that ticket. That’s what Eddie taught me too; each fan pays for that ticket and when they go home you want them to talk about just one thing you did that night. I took that logic and used that to my advantage, and I just had a good time every night in the ring.”

Vickie has also been working with the Salvation Army’s local branch in San Antonio, Texas and their Family Emergency Shelter. Vickie talks about her role at the shelter and how she supports some of the people coming in by sharing her own story:

“I am so excited to be a part of the Salvation Army in San Antonio, Texas, I work with the Family Emergency Shelter. It’s women and men and the children who come from domestic, drug abuse, emotionally abused families and they give them a shelter to go, whether it be in the middle of the night or the morning or afternoon, and they feed them, clothe them and provide until they can find a safe place to live. It’s just something that’s really dear to me,” Vickie said. “It’s a really exciting time where I get to talk to the moms, and with me being a single mom and raising my two girls, I’m able to tell my story of the struggles and the triumphs that I had in my life. To just spread some positivity and be that enforcement that ‘I’m here, I want to work with you and I really want to see you succeed’ really makes a difference to these women that don’t know where to turn.”

You can see some videos Vickie posted on her Twitter account, giving fans a little more insight into her work with the Salvation Army. Those wanting to help the local chapter can make a donation through Vickie’s website; her videos and our full audio interview with her can be seen below:

Bill Pritchard
Bill Pritchard

Bill Pritchard is the Managing Editor of Wrestlezone.com. He joined the site in March 2010.

If you have a news tip, inquiry or general feedback, please feel free to e-mail him at: bill.pritchard@wrestlezone.com

Share article

TRENDING

Related