Vickie Guerrero recently sat down with WWE Vault’s YouTube series WWE Retrospective, where she looked back on her two decades with the company and opened up about the highs, lows, and happy accidents that shaped her career.

Guerrero revealed that her run in WWE was never supposed to happen. Following the passing of her husband Eddie Guerrero, she initially agreed to a short-term tribute. “After Eddie’s passing, I came to WWE for two months. It was just to be for two months, just to get Eddie’s name to be remembered by the fans,” she explained. “But then it just built. And they’re like, ‘Well, let’s try a year contract.’ And I was like, ‘Sure.’ And then a year turned into five, and then it’s here I am again. It’s been 20 years.”

She admitted her early days were rough, recalling blunt critiques from some of wrestling’s biggest names. “My character at the beginning sucked. I was horrible,” Guerrero said. “From Teddy Long to Dusty Rhodes to Undertaker, they would tell me, ‘You’re horrible, you suck. Your camera work is bad.’ And through those people, they coached me, and they helped me night after night.”

One of her defining trademarks, the infamous “Excuse Me!” catchphrase, was the result of a mistake during a live promo. Overloaded with last-minute revisions, Guerrero froze, looked into the crowd, and blurted it out at a heckler. “The fans caught on right away… I looked at this one particular guy, and he was flipping me off… and I just looked at him, ‘Excuse me!’” Writers backstage loved it, and the phrase became her calling card, one she has since trademarked.

Guerrero credited Edge for helping her grow into one of WWE’s most effective villains. “I contribute a lot of my success to Edge’s knowledge, and just for him believing in me and to trust me,” she said. “Edge taught me a lot. He’s the one who had me close my eyes and teach me how to navigate the ring and be very comfortable in the ring. And he showed me how to work the cameras.”

She also reflected on her tribute to Eddie at WrestleMania, where she hit a Frog Splash. “To know that I was gonna do a Frog Splash… that was a little intimidating, because my husband, my husband, Eddie, did the best,” she recalled. “So whether it was good or bad, I knew that it was gonna be my own way.”

Her 2014 farewell saw her face off with Stephanie McMahon in a mud match, an idea that changed on the fly. Guerrero, who had given WWE a year’s notice of her departure to focus on her daughters, got her last laugh when she threw McMahon into the mud and walked away to Eddie’s music.

She closed by reflecting on her surprise appearance in the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble in 2018. “To know that they were granting the women their first Royal Rumble was historical,” she said. “I got the call in late November… and I had to keep it quiet for four months… to know that I was able to be a part of this, I was honored.”