Eddie Guerrero's Daughter Raquel Diaz Addresses Eating Disorder, Battling Demons

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Of Eddie Guerrero's three daughters, Shaul — or Raquel Diaz — was the only one who attempted to follow him into the sport. Unfortunately, things didn't go too well in that regard, and in an interview with "Developmentally Speaking," Diaz explained how her eating disorder and other struggles, combined with the state of the industry during her training, soured the experience for her. 

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She described how her wrestling training was a high-pressure environment, and that the view of women then largely affected the route her training took.

"I had a lot of demons in my younger life and I still do now," Diaz said. "We were still the 'let me up' match, we were still doing bikini contests instead of wrestling, we were still doing dance contests instead of wrestling."

Diaz explained that the women trained as often as the men, however, at the end of the week, instead of having matches, they would have bikini contests. "I think, with having an eating disorder — pre-existing eating disorder — I think just fanned the flames." 

Diaz recalled how women were marketed as "the most beautiful women in the world" at the time, which only compounded the pressure she felt. Despite this, she still looks back at the experience as a "journey of self-discovery" and how it taught her all the good, bad, and ugly parts of her character. "So, I'm happy how it happened. I grew up; I think WWE had me grow up in a lot of ways."

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Raquel Diaz also recalled how the main roster call-ups were often based on WWE wanting to find stars to fit into a new faction, instead of basing their picks on merit. But, she didn't take this personally and simply compared it to casting.

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"It would be hard when, sometimes like, you know, somebody that's maybe been there for three months and barely has any training and you have people there for years, that have been cutting their teeth for years, and they still haven't been called up," said the former WWE star. "Sometimes you're not the look, and sometimes you're not what they're looking for and that's just like, 'Eh, c'est la vie, it's showbusiness, baby.'" 

Despite this, she criticized the other factors that held women back at the time, with the main problem being the physique that was required of women stars. "You know, you're not thin enough –- or for me, like a mid-size person, who — I'm not particularly very thin, and I'm also not so like tall or super, super buff or fit. You were either the model or you were the monster." 

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She explained how she never fit into either role, but is happy that things have since changed for women in wrestling.

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Eddie Guerrero left behind a monumental wrestling legacy and is still praised today. However, while some might have expected Raquel Diaz to somehow fill his shoes, she never had such ambitions.

"I wasn't feminine enough — AKA I wasn't losing enough weight. And also, I wasn't Latina enough for what they wanted." Following this, she claims she rebelled against what was expected of her, and while her promos were good, her wrestling ability wasn't on the same level. "I know I'm no Eddie Guerrero, and that is okay because nobody's Eddie Guerrero."

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Diaz then recalled how she had Dusty Rhodes' trust, who allowed her to run wild with the mic and cut promos, and it led to a character pitch that she was interested in sinking her teeth into. "They were just kind of like, 'Okay, you're gonna be this Lady Gaga b**ch. And like you're gonna run this tour and you're gonna put lipstick on people's faces after you win, and be like loser,' and I was just, 'F**k yeah!'"

Unfortunately, while there were plans to have her face Tamina on "NXT," she claims that a stint in rehab set her back too far. "Because my eating disorder got so unruly, I did have to take a break, and that really took any momentum away from my main roster debut."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Developmentally Speaking" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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