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It works both ways I think. Yes his death helped his legacy, and cut out the "fall" that inevitably comes whether it be due to controllable circumstances or just age.
For those non-wrestling examples I gave, death was huge just as it was for Eddie in making them legendary.
But it only does so much. The legend has to be in the making already because people certainly aren't chanting the names of lesser wrestlers who've died like they do for Eddie or even Owen.
Joe Schmo in music isn't gonna die and have as many posters and record sales as say, Tupac.
But you look at the situation with someone like them (Doors, Nirvana) and you realize that those bands would be remembered, but were fading away into obscurity. They'd be legendary in a different way, and just fade away.
But Eddie dies in his peak, prematurely and people miss what could have been and see it as a tragedy (even though he may have peaked and fizzled out).
It's kind of the 'don't know what you got til its gone' mentality, and people associate even higher greatness with someone who was taken early. They become almost a martyr for their art and fanbase, and become an instant legend as opposed to an eventual one.
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