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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Viva La Raza – The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero – Disc 2

May 15, 2015 | Posted by TJ Hawke

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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Viva La Raza – The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero – Disc 2

The transition to the WWF is discussed.

WWF Raw
April 3, 2000

Chris Jericho(c) (w/ Chyna) vs. Eddie Guerrero

Eddie dedicates the match to Chyna.

Eddie cut Jericho off fairly early and worked him over. Jericho came back after hitting a snap powerslam. Ref bump. Jericho got a phantom pinfall after the Lionsault. Chyna went into the ring and made a fast count to give Jericho the moral victory. Chyna turned on Jericho! DDT! She put Eddie on him, and threw the referee into the ring: 1…2…3? Apparently that was the most devastating DDT in the history of the DDTs.

Eddie seemed surprised, but he was obviously happy.

They didn’t get to do too much, and the finish was all about Chyna’s turn. Meh.

Match Rating: **1/4

WWF Smackdown
June 6, 2000

Eddie Guerrero vs. Matt Hardy

This was a King of the Ring qualifying match.

It was all back and forth stuff early on. They did a pinning combo trade sequence. Eddie finally cut him off with a neckbreaker. Matt was fighting back, but Eddie caught him with a hurricanrana pin: 1…2…3!

This was tragically short, but this was at least a case of two guys making the most of the time they had. Matt looked really strong here, and this made wish he had a babyface singles push before he lost most of his athleticism.

Match Rating: ***

While predictably and understandably not discussed, Eddie did wrestle between his WWF stints. Watch him wrestle on the first ROH show, work in NJPW, and do a triple threat with CM Punk and Rey Mysterio.

WWF Backlash
April 21, 2002

Rob Van Dam(c) vs. Eddie Guerrero [WWF Intercontinental Championship]

RVD was getting about 60-70% of the offense in early, but Eddie blocked a Rolling Thunder to cut him off. He then worked RVD over for a while. Eddie called for the frog splash, but RVD miraculously recovered and battled Eddie on the turnbuckle. Eddie then murdered him with a sunset flip powerbomb. Dear lord. Eddie went for the belt, and RVD accidentally hit the ref when he went to take it away. Eddie gave RVD a neckbreaker on the belt and then hit the frog splash: 1…2…3

This was interesting if for no other reason than that RVD never made a comeback. He fought back a couple of times, but Eddie always maintained control. It doesn’t make for an especially exciting match to be sure. It’s a fine way to kick off a feud/rivalry though.

Match Rating: ***

WWF Raw
April 29, 2002

Eddie Guerrero(c) vs. Jeff Hardy [WWF Intercontinental Championship]

Jeff had some success early. Eddie cut him off sure enough though and then worked him over. Jeff came back after hitting a superplex. Eddie avoided the swanton, but he couldn’t avoid Whisper in the Wind. The ref also somehow got hit by that. That was a very labored ref bump. Jeff then went for a pescado, but Eddie hit him with the title belt. Frogsplash: 1…2…3

This was a real nifty match. After watching this, I wish their main event pushes happened at the same time. They could have done some very special stuff together in that position.

Match Rating: ***

WWE Smackdown
September 24, 2002

Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge [No DQ]

Eddie got control early on and worked Edge over. Edge pulled out a ladder after giving Eddie a hot shot. Edge git the ref by mistake though, and Eddie cut Edge off again with a chair shot. Edge avoided a frog splash, but Eddie maintained control. We learned that Edge got a nearfall with a spear during a commercial break. Back in “real time,” Edge reversed a hurricanrana into a powerbomb. Edge still couldn’t come back though. That was the story of the match. Edge kept appearing to be on the…edge…of a comeback, but Eddie kept cutting him off. Eddie started to use the ladders for his offense. Edge tried to fight back yet again, but Eddie murdered him with a sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder! Edge finally came back after back body dropping Eddie into the ladder. Eddie took a bump on the back of his neck for that. Nasty stuff. Edge then climb a ladder for some reason. Eddie met him up there. Edge then gave him an Edge-a-cution off the ladder: 1…2…3!

Eddie was left bleeding from the head after the match.

That was genuinely one of my favorite matches from either guy ever. In terms of creating a match where both guys come out of a match (and feud) looking strong, you couldn’t ask for a better execution than this match.

Eddie dominated almost the entire match, but Edge looked credible throughout. I loved that the first time Edge had an opening, he went to use a ladder. His character has had a ton of success with ladders, and that makes perfect sense. Eddie still managed to use his wits to keep a step ahead of him though and the ensuing ref bump gave Eddie enough time to recover from the only spear of the match.

Eddie continued to look great for dominating the rest of the match. The fact that Edge won at the end after only 2-3 moves didn’t hurt him at all, as the finish was just so devastating. This was very close to perfect. The more I think about it, the more confident I am that this is the best Edge match of all time.

Match Rating: ****1/2

Watch this match here.

WWE Backlash
April 27, 2003

Team Angle(c) (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas) vs. Los Guerreros (Eddie & Chavo Guerrero) [WWE Tag Team Championship]

Los Guerreros actually got control first, and Shelton became YOUR heel in peril. Shelton ended up using the tag rope to choke Eddie in order to cut him off. Eddie was worked over for a while. Chavo made the hot tag. It was fiery. Just as Team Angle started to fight back, Eddie was able to get back involved. He gave Haas the frog splash. Shelton saved Haas. Shelton then tripped Chavo from the floor to allow Haas to pin Chavo while Shelton held down Chavo’s legs: 1…2…3

Los Guerreros attacked them after the match and stole the belts. We saw them celebrating in Eddie’s fancy car.

Mechanically and structurally, this match was fine and inoffensive. Unfortunately, the energy just was not there, and it was impossible to get invested.

Match Rating: **1/4

WWE Smackdown
September 9, 2003

Eddie Guerrero vs. John Cena [Latino Heat Parking Lot Brawl]

Cena cut a rap promo before the match with lots of homophobic jokes. Eddie showed up in his truck. It was a “ring of cars” match. Cena gave him a suplex onto the roof of a car. Cena took out a…lawnmower. That attacked failed, and Eddie gave him a hot shot onto a car. Cena sent Eddie into a windshield. They both sent each other into car windows. They ended up in the car. Eddie burned him with a cigarette lighter. Cena’s forehead was busted open by this point. Chavo Guerrero popped up and hit Cena with some object. Eddie then hit a frogsplash from a van: 1…2…3

This was much better than it had any right to be. I didn’t especially like the match, but they worked hard and made the most of a shit situation.

Match Rating: **1/2

The worst part of watching Eddie/Rey comps is that Chavo is usually all over them.

WWE Royal Rumble
January 25, 2004

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chavo Guerrero (w/ Chavo Guerrero Sr.)

The match did not grab me at all. They were “playing the feud” the whole time. Chavo Classic helped Chavo get control of the match. Eddie being hesitant to punch his nephew kept costing him. He was willing to apply a cross armbreaker though. Everyone’s got to have a code, I suppose. Chavo survived and went for the Three Amigos. Eddie avoided the final one though. Eddie eventually hit the Three Amigos and the frog splash: 1…2…3

Eddie attacked both Chavos after the match. He bloodied Chavo Jr. up after tying Classic to the ropes.

A terribly boring match that completely failed to make me care in the slightest. I understand what they were going for, but I don’t think it worked at all.

Match Rating: *

WWE No Way Out
February 15, 2004

Brock Lesnar(c) vs. Eddie Guerrero [WWE Heavyweight Championship]

Brock is noticeably smaller here than he would be in his second WWE run.

Brock dominated Eddie for a while. Eddie went after Brock’s left leg, but Brock maintained control. Brock did the Shellshock but with fewer theatrics. Was that a regular move of his? Eddie was sporadically fighting back, but Brock kept putting a stop to that. Brock went for a leaping knee in the corner, but he crashed and burned to the floor after Eddie avoided it. Eddie then hit a HUGE pescado. Eddie then made a comeback. He got a kneebar on Brock’s injured knee. He transitioned into an STF. Brock avoided the figure four twice, but Eddie got it on the third attempt. Brock got to the ropes, but Eddie kept going right after the injured wheel. Brock came back with a German and a spinebuster. Brock slowed the match down. Eddie fought back. He hit the Three Amigos. Brock avoided the frog splash though. Brock hit the F5, but it also took out the ref. That got Brock a phantom pinfall. He went to grab the title belt, but Goldberg showed up and speared him!!! Eddie made the cover: 1…2…NO! Eddie tried to whack Brock with the belt, but Brock avoided it. He went for the F5, but Eddie reversed it into a DDT onto (sort of) the belt. FROG SPLASH: 1…2…3!

This was a great match. They took the crowd on a long and gradual journey, and it was all worth it. The big man/little man dynamic was in full effect, and the broad strokes of that at least was executed to perfection.

Some of the details of the match were disappointing though. For instance, I would have preferred for Brock to keep selling the leg down the stretch or for Eddie to at least return to the leg when the match mattered most. The match also kind or awkwardly was grounded to a halt right before Eddie’s final comeback for reasons that are logical (Brock slowing down a match to wear down an opponent) but are not exactly entertaining. The Goldberg interference has always bothered me a little bit, and it would have been nice for Eddie to win in a cleaner fashion. Regardless, this was a great match and a great moment.

Match Rating: ****

Watch some free Eddie matches!

Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge [GREAT match. One of the best either man ever had.]

Eddie Guerrero vs. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio [Campeonatos en Mascara]

Eddie Guerrero vs. The Rock

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho

Eddie Guerrero vs. Low Ki

Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko [from ECW]

Eddie Guerrero vs. Shinjiro Otani

Eddie Guerrero vs. Super Crazy [from the first ROH show]