On this date in pro wrestling history: The death of Eddie Guerrero

One of the worst days in pro wrestling occurred on this date in history (Nov. 13, 2005) when Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room around 7 a.m. in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by his cousin, Chavo, and members of the hotel staff, who had grown concerned when Eddie didn't answer his wake up call.

He was scheduled to wrestle Randy Orton and Batista later in the night at SmackDown tapings.

His death rocked the industry. He was as popular as ever, likely looking at another run with the WWE championship (it's been reported in many places that Guerrero was scheduled to win the triple threat match with Orton and Batista for the world title), before his untimely death. He had just turned 38-years-old the month prior and had also apparently gotten his personal life together.

Unfortunately, his hard life had taken its toll.

His wife, Vickie, spoke to WWE.com days after his death and gave the cause:

"It was from his past drinking and the drug abuse. They found signs of heart disease. She (the examiner) said that the blood vessels were very worn and narrow, and that just showed all the abuse from the scheduling of work and his past. And Eddie just worked out like crazy all the time. It made his heart grow bigger and work harder and the vessels were getting smaller, and that's what caused the heart failure. He went into a deep sleep. As soon as they saw his heart, they saw the lining of his heart already had the heart disease. There was no trauma, and Eddie hadn't hurt himself in any way. It answered a lot of questions. I knew Eddie wasn't feeling very good for the last week. He was home and kept saying he wasn't feeling good and we thought it was just 'road tired.' So we thought he just had to rest. It answered a lot of my questions, too, because he was just so exhausted. She said it was normal because the heart was working so hard."

WWE aired tribute shows and were as classy as could be, giving Vickie a job and treating Guerrero's death with the proper respect. That didn't last long, of course, but that's a story for another time.

Instead here's the Monday Night Raw tribute show dedicated to Eddie.

Feel free to pass along your favorite Eddie Guerrero moments and remember the life and legacy of one of the greatest in-ring talents who ever lived.

RIP, Eddie.