History of WWE
The two top stars of the Attitude Era, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, eventually left the company in 2003 and 2004 respectively, while newcomers such as Brock Lesnar, who would become the youngest WWE Champion and Randy Orton, who became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion, saw huge success. Triple H would also be featured prominently during this time, winning several of his fourteen world championships, as would The Undertaker whose WrestleMania win streak started gaining fame. Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Edge, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, John Cena, Batista, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, and Rob Van Dam were also given main event opportunities and all ended up becoming multiple-time world champions. From mid 2002 to 2003, WWE brought several prominent WCW stars to the company, including Eric Bischoff, Scott Steiner, Goldberg, Kevin Nash and Ric Flair. The Great American Bash, originally a WCW pay-per-view event, made its debut in WWE.
History of WWE
Eddie Guerrero from the famous Mexican Guerrero wrestling family achieved huge stardom during this period. He gained a large fanbase in 2003 on "SmackDown!", which lead to a rapid increase in his popularity, promoting him to main event status and he ultimately won his first world championship, the WWE Championship at No Way Out in 2004 defeating Brock Lesnar in a highly acclaimed match. He remained the top wrestler of the company after winning the WWE title, until his untimely death on November 13, 2005. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, the following year in 2006. Guerrero's death due to his drug addictions caused WWE to implement WWE Wellness Policy to prevent wrestlers from taking drugs. The circumstances of his death would provide a medium to his off-screen friend Rey Mysterio to emerge as a major main eventer and win the 2006 Royal Rumble match and the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22.