Juventud Guerrera vs Queensland Police Service

Date: October 7, 2000
Location: Marriott Hotel in Brisbane, Australia
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Armpit readers Chuck Richmond and Lewis Feinman

Juventud Guerrera was one of the most talented wrestlers on the WCW roster during most of his time there, certainly in late 2000 when the company was on a major downswing. As rumors of a WCW sale to the WWF were swirling, the out of ring behavior within the WCW locker room was out of control and discipline was almost non-existent.

While WCW was on a tour of Australia, Guerrera got into major legal trouble following a wild, drug induced craze that embarrassed both he and the company. Apparently on the night of October 6, he went to a nightclub alone, meeting up with some of the other wrestlers. It’s not clear what he smoked that night, but it’s strongly believed it may have been laced with a drug called PCP, without his knowledge.

That was all it took. He either had a bad reaction to the drug, or it was a bad mix with something else he may have taken (cops found two green ecstasy tablets in his clothing later). The following morning, at around 10am, he was near the dining area of the Marriott Hotel making a scene in front of the other wrestlers and guests at the hotel. He began shouting obscenities at Disco Inferno, and then others, including his good friends Rey Mysterio Jr and Konnan.

He then stripped naked, and asked Mysterio and Konnan to get naked too. He shouted, “This is how I came into the world, and this is how I want to go out!” He also made suicidal comments like, “I’m gonna die,” and “It’s my turn to go!” There was fear that even if they subdued him and sent him to his hotel room, he may have jumped out the window and killed himself. He was throwing chairs and swinging wildly at anyone who came near him, including Mysterio and Konnan. Nobody was able to restrain him, not even noted tough guy road agent David Finlay.

It was Terry Taylor who finally called the police. Some within the company were upset with Taylor for making the call, but those who were there said that was the only option. People who heard about it later couldn’t believe a relatively small man (Guerrera was a legit 165 pounds at the time) wasn’t able to be restrained, but everyone there swore it was impossible. At one point he grabbed the glasses from Mysterio and Konnan, broke them, and threw them at Taylor.

The police arrived, and three of them were unable to take him down. It took a giant army of six officers to finally contain him, and even with that, he broke the rib of a female cop. They also had to use pepper spray, and in a hilarious scene, Guerrera ducked the initial spray and it ended up getting into the eyes of another officer. Witnesses said it looked like a spot in a pro wrestling match.

Guerrera was dragged to the police station, hours before Monday Nitro was about to begin taping. Two days later, at the hearing, his attorney Peter Shields worked a miracle and prevented a conviction. He convinced authorities to reconsider a conviction because Guerrera needed to travel internationally as part of his job, and was the sole provider for his wife and child. He was only forced to pay $1,850 in US currency, which included both a fine and compensation to the officers. He was then sent home from the tour.

Guerrera was fortunate to have gotten off, and also to have kept his job. In 1999 he injured the knee of the late Brad Armstrong after driving out of control in the parking lot with Psicosis. In early 2000, he was almost deported back to Mexico following a DUI that resulted in a wild car chase with Jerry Flynn after a WCW TV taping in Pennsylvania. By not disciplining Guerrera, WCW enabled his behavior and shouldn’t have been surprised over what happened in Australia.