The late Eddie Guerrero would have celebrated his 53rd birthday on Friday. While paying homage to the legacy of Guerrero, Randy Orton posted a heartfelt message on Instagram.
Orton explained why it was always easy to approach Guerrero, who went out of his way to make youngsters like himself “feel comfortable” in a locker room full of established veterans.
“He [Eddie] saw a young newcomer to the biz who was excited to work with him and he took the time to make me feel comfortable. I take that with me these days, the understanding that the new guys aren’t anything more then exactly how I USED to be.
“He made me feel welcome. He made me feel important. I will forever miss him, and can say without a doubt that he was one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots. RIP #eddieguerrero”.
Chris Jericho responded to the post and joked that Orton was a rather difficult youngster to deal with backstage.
“[Dealing with today’s young guys] won’t be as difficult as you were back then dude!,” wrote Jericho.
In another post, Jericho wrote, “We ALL gaf [gave a f–k] about u man. But you didn’t make it easy.”
As of this writing, Orton has yet to respond to Jericho.
I knew eddie for a couple years. I was so young and knew that I shouldnt approach him but had the unimaginable job of wrestling in the main event on TV, so I had to. There has always been attitudes egos or whatever backstage, that will never change. But when I met eddie I forgot everything that I was supposed to know about the wrestling business. Here was this top talent, that cared enough to give me the time of day. When I thought that a simple word would bother him, or he would tell me to F off, I quickly realized that I was dead wrong and that he gaf. He saw a young newcomer to the biz who was excited to work with him and he took the time to make me feel comfortable. I take that with me these days, the understanding that the new guys aren’t anything more then exactly how I USED to be. He made me feel welcome. He made me feel important. I will forever miss him, and can say without a doubt that he was one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots. RIP #eddieguerrero
