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February 15, 2004 will be remembered forever as the night that "Latino Heat" Eddie Guerrero finally reached the mountain top and became the WWE Champion for the first, and what would turn out to be the only time. Guerrero defeated Brock Lesnar at No Way Out 2004 in front of a San Francisco crowd filled with Latin Americans who wanted to see one of their own become champion.
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It was an emotional night for everyone involved, and on "Something to Wrestle," Bruce Prichard opened up about how much it meant to Guerrero. "It was very personal to Eddie to be the champion, and to know that 'okay all this is on you now," Prichard said. "Eddie coming back ... man it was just — we hugged each other and cried, because it was the culmination of so many people telling him he'll never make it and he was not going to do it you know? 'No Eddie you're a f*** up, you're a drug addict, you can't do this, you're too small."
Prichard stated he would always remember seeing Guerrero wrestle in AAA as part of Los Gringos Locos and The Love Machines with the late Art Barr, where Prichard always believed Guerrero would be a huge star and one day a world champion. From there, Prichard and Guerrero became close friends in WWE, with Prichard revealing he had always tried to help Guerrero when he was at his lowest. Because of this, Prichard described the night as like seeing a family member achieve their dream. "It was special. It was like a member of the family finally making it and getting that nod. That was a big deal."
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Please credit "Something to Wrestle" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
