November 13, 2025, marks 20 years since Eddie Guerrero passed away tragically young at the age of 38. Guerrero wrestled with countless stars during his tenure in the ring and few had better matches with him than his bouts with Rey Mysterio.
In The Players’ Tribune, Mysterio paid tribute to his late friend. In the piece, Mysterio recalled the first time he saw Guerrero in action.
“I have a lot of amazing memories from back then. Memories that mean so much to me, and shaped who I am. But there’s one that means more and shaped me more than the rest. And it’s the memory of how — on one of those nights?? I basically saw a shooting star. I saw the greatest wrestler of all time, for the first time. I saw you.”
Rey expressed a deep sadness that Guerrero died young and never lived to see 40 while Mysterio himself turned 50 last December. Though he is now the older of the two, he will never see himself as a senior to the man he loved like a brother.
“I’m writing this to you now, and I swear: I could live another 50 years — and when it comes to our friendship, I’d still be Little Bro. I’m forever your little bro. And you’re forever my big brother.”
Mysterio shared that he sometimes imagines what the past 20 years would have been like if Eddie had not passed. While Rey would love for just another moment with Guerrero, he knows there are people who would deserve to see Eddie so much more.
“I’d trade every moment I wish I could have had with you, for just that — for you to have gotten to see your daughters grow up, and into the women they are.”
Guerrero reached the very top of WWE in 2004 when he became WWE Champion, despite not being the usual size and musculature of past World Champion. For Rey, the path Eddie laid for talent to come is a testament to his enduring legacy.
“Maybe the best way to express how much you changed these perceptions, it’s to promise you there are young people reading this letter right now who didn’t know it was ever another way. That’s how fundamental it’s become.”
Like many, Rey wishes Eddie could have seen the performer Dominik Mysterio has become in WWE. After Dom played a pivotal role in Eddie and Rey’s feud in 2005 mere months before Guerrero’s death, Mysterio is honored that he and Dom are able to evoke Eddie’s name on WWE TV.
“It took my breath away. I mean, Eddie — I swear to you: It was like you were there. And not in the way we sometimes say about the dead. Their presence remains with us, and so on. What I’m talking about is something much more powerful.”
Mysterio summed up his tribute, calling Guerrero his big brother and his greatest rival. For Rey Mysterio, 20 years of living without being able to share with his brother has been far from easy.
“My true friend. I wish I could tell you everything. I wish I could tell you anything.”