For reasons publicly unclear, Vickie Guerrero has been subject to numerous verbal taunts concerning her weight throughout her tenure with WWE. Despite the placement of an anti-bullying policy and Guerrero herself losing over fifty pounds, the insults about her appearance continue to linger on WWE television shows. Last month at Over the Limit, commentator Jerry Lawler spent much of the WWE Tag Team Championship Match hurling weight-related barbs at Guerrero, who was wearing a dress with holes cut out.
When Vickie’s husband Eddie Guerrero died of heart failure in November 2005, Vince McMahon stated at a press conference that he promised to financially take care of her family for the rest of their lives. However, rather than dispense money to Guerrero for free, she was summoned to work for the organization as a television character despite having minimal training and experience. Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer was asked by a reader this weekend whether McMahon’s constant degradation of Guerrero is being done to get her to quit WWE, thereby forfeiting their lifetime deal.
“I don’t think they’ve ever tried to run her off. They just had an idea for her character.” Meltzer states. “The worst stuff was when she had already given notice a few years back, as opposed to them trying to get her to leave.”
In May 2009, Guerrero requested to be released from her contract with WWE. As a single parent, she felt it was important to spend more time with her fatherless teenage daughters during their crucial adolescent years. McMahon, however, was livid over Guerrero’s decision.
Matthew Randazzo V writes of the WWE CEO’s reaction in the July 2009 issue of Power Slam: “He takes grievous offence and begins to rant and rave that Guerrero has betrayed WWE. Yes, Vince believes that the widow of Eddie Guerrero is ungrateful to the professional wrestling industry because she is putting her family first. From this point on, Vince’s shameless lackeys curry his favour by pitching gratuitous pig and fatso jokes at creative meetings—which earn booming guffaws from Vince.”
McMahon’s ire shifts on-screen, with Santino Marella and his fictitious twin sister “Santina” insulting Guerrero for weeks, calling her a pig and making oinking noises. The storyline climaxes with Guerrero being placed in a Hog Pen Match at the June 2009 Extreme Rules pay-per-view—Vickie and Santina brawl in a pen full of mud. With the Guerrero character refusing to be humiliated anymore, she quits her job as General Manager of Raw the following evening. After her announcement, she was joined in the ring by her estranged storyline husband, Edge. Requesting a divorce, the Rated-R Superstar viciously blasts Guerrero, calling her a “she-beast” among other insults.
Guerrero was asked last year during an interview with The Baltimore Sun whether WWE’s negative remarks toward her weight affect her.
“They really don’t bother me. Well, I guess they did to an extent, but not to where I was feeling bad about myself. It was who I was,” she said. “We have beautiful women that work with us, and when I was in the locker room with them and we’re dressing and stuff, I would look at them and be like, ‘Oh, this is ridiculous. I’m going to change.’ I wanted to feel good being a part of their group and to live a lifestyle that was going to be promoted with the WWE. Now when they say the jokes, it’s like, ‘Whatever.’ [laughs] The jokes have helped grow my character to what it is. I just kind of roll with it and leave it behind me when I leave the arena. Again, there’s the character and then there’s the real person. You can’t take what’s going on at work personally.”