wrestling / Columns

Chavo’s Last Stand: Can Lucha Underground Provide Him a Spot to Cement His Own Individual Legacy?

November 15, 2014 | Posted by Dino Zee

For a long time, I’ve had a distaste for Chavo Guerrero. I’m sure that bothers him roughly zero percent, but it doesn’t make it any less true. And to be fair, it wasn’t always like this between us. When Chavo first arrived on the scene in WCW as “third generation superstar Chavo Guerrero, Jr” in 1996, I figured he’d be someone to keep an eye on. His uncle Eddy had joined up with WCW the year prior and had quickly earned a spot as a guy you must watch, and I assumed that Chavo probably had some of that to him as well.

He’d stay with WCW until its end, gaining popularity through his feud with Eddy, which led to him going crazy and finding Pepe, a wooden horse. This act actually got Chavo pretty over with the WCW crowd, who dug his crazy routine, loved the comedy, and wanted to see him give Eddy his comeuppance.

Upon his arrival to WWE, I wondered where he would fit in. Eddy of course had jumped nearly 2 years prior, debuting in January 2000 alongside Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn, and Chris Benoit to form “The Radicalz,” and would eventually be released due to his well-known demons. Upon Eddy’s return, however, he and Chavo were put together as Los Guerreros, where they would go on to form one third of the famed “Smackdown Six” along with Benoit, Kurt Angle, Edge, and Rey Misterio.

However, this team would eventually run its course, and when Eddy started focusing on singles action again, Chavo would turn on Eddy, returning to his rulebreaking ways. This led to a match between the two at the 2004 Royal Rumble, as well as another match on Smackdown following Eddy’s WWE Championship win over Brock Lesnar at No Mercy. Chavo had now shown that he could hang with Eddy both as his partner, and as a top level opponent. It appeared that Chavo had finally found his footing.

And then came Kerwin White.

Fun, annoying, a bit racist, a waste of talent; Kerwin White was all of these things. Supposedly done to give Chavo some sort of character to work with, the repackaging did nearly nothing for Chavo, besides get him some screen time on Raw, and a little feud with Shelton Benjamin. And sure, there were those who enjoyed the character, and more power to them. Overall, Kerwin White struck me as a huge waste of time and talent, and would have been better served on someone without the legacy and skills that Chavo brought to the table.

Unfortunately, it was around this time that I began to tire of Chavo. Following Eddy’s passing in November of 2005, Chavo immediately dropped the Kerwin character and returned to being who he is. After an emotional win over JBL on that week’s Smackdown, Chavo would slowly be returned to earth, losing matches left and right, before “quitting” WWE. He’d return, and eventually cost Rey Misterio his World Championship against Booker T, sparking a feud between the two. He’d defeat Rey in an “I Quit” match, and then move onto a feud with Chris Benoit, and then join La Familia… the point is, no matter what they tried, Chavo Guerrero just couldn’t garner much heat. As Cruiserweight Champion, as ECW Champion… it just didn’t matter. Something just wasn’t clicking anymore, no matter how good he was in the ring.

His WWE run would mercifully come to an end after a neverending feud with Hornswoggle that saw Chavo lose nearly every single interaction, further devaluing his stock. He’d request his release in June of 2011, after nearly two years of spinning his wheels. He would then show up in TNA, where he’d be billed way higher than his deserved place on the card, teaming with Hernandez and winning the TNA Tag Titles on two occasions. Again, however, Chavo failed to really gain any fanfare during this run, as some fans vocalized their displeasure with how Chavo was allowed to come right in and act like a huge star at the expense of TNA’s own wrestlers.

When Chavo was released after stupidly going for a briefcase in a match where one of them has your pink slip (which is the one Chavo picked), some of those same fans sighed in relief. Respected but not necessarily loved, it appeared that Chavo’s time in American televised wrestling had come to a whimpering end, for better or for worse.

Enter: Lucha Underground. In the first match of the new promotion, Chavo would take on Mexican legend Blue Demon, Jr. After losing in a spirited contest, Chavo would have a confrontation with owner Dario Cueto, and return the following week to team up with Sexy Starr to take on Son of Havoc and Ivelisse in a winning effort. After the match, however, Chavo would turn heel, taking out Blue Demon and Sexy Starr with some vicious chairshots.

Lucha Underground could be exactly what Chavo Guerrero needs to cement his own place in wrestling history, besides “that’s Eddy Guerrero’s nephew!” In Lucha Underground, Chavo can be treated with the reverence that his name commands, while also being treated as a bigger star simply because, in comparison with the rest of the roster, he is a bigger star. At least, he is in America.

In the first two episodes, he went from someone we know and should be happy to see, to a guy smashing a woman in the face with a steel chair. Whether you were comfortable with the segment or not, the fact is that it stuck with you. I honestly can’t remember the last time Chavo did anything that I thought was an important or memorable occasion. And again, this isn’t to say that Chavo isn’t good, or that he sucks outright. The point is that it’s been a long time since Chavo has made himself matter, or been made to matter by the company that employs him. It’s a shared fault, really. Prior to Lucha Underground, the only thing anyone wanted to talk about when it came to Chavo, was Eddy. The shadow always loomed over him, whether in WCW, WWE, or TNA. He didn’t help things out by aping many of Eddy’s mannerisms after his passing. Sure, tributes are great, but in this case, I always felt his tributes only helped to remind us of who he wasn’t.

In Lucha Underground, Chavo’s message is simple: he’s doing it his way. He’s no longer following the legacy his family has left behind, and is instead looking to write a new chapter in his career. At 44, thinking that he’s going to reinvent wrestling is perhaps a tad silly. But he has shown that he can still go, and on his new stage, he has finally been given the chance to make his own mark. There’s no Eddy, no Chavo Classic around to distract us. Chavo finally has the opportunity to, as he said, “make himself a star.”

Of course, whether or not he actually fulfills his promise is something entirely different. As it stands, he has his chance to do it. Lucha Underground has caused a bit of a murmur amongst the wrestling fans, as its different presentation style and less backstage bullshit has resonated with some. A new league on a new channel provides Chavo the opportunity to show us, once and for all, that he’s much more than “Eddy’s nephew.” He’s his own man, looking to do things his way. If his promise to provide Dario Cueto with the violence he desires comes to fruition, then it is absolutely possible that when Chavo Guerrero, Jr calls it a career, we will remember him not only for what he did with others, but also for how he managed to make himself a star when it was all coming to an end.

As someone who has been pretty apathetic to Chavo these last eight or so years, it’s fun to see him getting one more chance to prove that he’s got something to offer, and that he always did. I’m rooting for you, Chavo. Show us all the star that you know yourself to be!

PUT SLICK IN THE HALL OF FAME!!