#FanX Fall 19: "EXCUSE ME!!" - An interview with WWE's Vickie Guerrero

I had the chance to chat with WWE's villainous manager Vickie Guerrero during FanX Fall 19 in Salt Lake City last weekend. On-screen, she was irritating, annoying and universally despised. Vickie broke into World Wrestling Entertainment in 2005, being incorporated into storylines with her husband, the late WWE Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero, and has since spent more than a decade as the recipient of relentless boos from the WWE Universe. Her shrill cries of "EXCUSE ME!!" send audiences across the country into a frenzy and maintain her reputation as one of the most reviled personas in the history of professional wrestling.

Her appearance at the convention last weekend was a surprise to many; she announced that she was in town in a social media post on September 5, the first day of FanX, and it became my immediate goal to track her down for an interview. Unlike her TV character, Vickie couldn't have been more pleasant in person. She was kind, friendly and remembered me on each day of the convention as I passed by her booth.

Here's my interview with Vickie, recorded on the second day of FanX Fall 2019:

Signs of the Times: All right, Vickie. How are you doing?

Vickie: “I’m great. How are you?”

SotT: Doing great. Thanks for coming out.

V: “It’s my pleasure. I love Salt Lake City. The people and the fans are just so wonderful to me. No one has thrown any food, so that’s good.”

SotT: Awesome. Not yet. That’s good. All right, awesome. I just wanted to ask you a few questions about your career. First of all, what got you into wrestling? Was it [late husband] Eddie? Or did you have an interest in that before?

V: “No, you know what? Before I met Eddie, I hated wrestling. I was in a family [with] five younger brothers. I couldn’t stand it. I was a cheerleader and a dancer, but when I dated Eddie, I kind of was like, ‘Fine, whatever.’ It slowly started growing on me and I had a big respect for it. Once I got married to Eddie, I just loved it. I started falling in love with the sport.”

SotT: Ok. Tell me about the “Excuse me!” catch phrase. [Both laugh] Where did that come from and how did it catch on so quickly?

V: “’Excuse me!’ came from me forgetting my promo lines one night. They gave me a promo that changed maybe like three or four times before we went live, and I just messed it up and the crowd was just being so awful with me that I just kind of yelled ‘Excuse me!’ at them. They kind of roared back, and I was kind of like, ‘Wait a minute…’ [Laughs] I didn’t think it was going to catch on until the writers said, ‘Let’s try this again,’ and the more times we did it, the crowd started recognizing that that was going to be my catch phrase. Eighteen years later, I’m still doing it, so it’s been great.”

SotT: Yeah. So, you were in the Women’s Royal Rumble, weren’t you?

V: “Yes – the first one.”

SotT: That’s right. I remember because, “Excuse me!” hit, and I said, “No! No way!” [Both laugh]

V: “I was so excited! That’s such a great honor to be in the first one. It was a lot of fun. I got to see my old friends and then meet the new women on the roster. Number 16 will be my lucky number forever.”

SotT: Awesome. Can you tell me a little bit about the “Women’s Evolution” in wrestling and where you see that going in the future?

V: “I think it’s been a great change for the women’s division. I mean, you take maybe eight to ten years before that, and the women were just eye candy for the show. The women back then were really talented, and they wanted to have these good matches that had quality time [on television], so to see how it’s changing and they’re getting the opportunity to main-event Wrestlemania, main-event “RAW” and “SmackDown!”… I’m really proud of where it’s [come] today.”

SotT: Great. Do you have any people that you really enjoyed working with – any favorite rivals or anyone that you were a manager of, or anything like that?

V: “Yeah, I think my favorite storylines were with Undertaker and Edge, Dolph Ziggler, the McMahons, ‘LayCool,’ Betty White, the Muppets… It goes on and on! [Laughs]”

SotT: What has been your favorite part of being in Salt Lake City this weekend?

V: “You know, I’m not on the Celebrity Row, but I came through a vendor and I love it because I can take my time and talk to the fans. They can share their stories, I can share mine, and it’s just a good quality time to enjoy their company. This is a blessing for me to be here.”

SotT: Well, thank you so much for coming. We’re so glad that you’re here.

V: “Thank you! I appreciate it!”

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Vickie Guerrero can be followed on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and at vickieguerrero.net. For future #FanX content and more blogs about wrestling, you know what to do. Keep it here with Signs of the Times.