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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Viva La Raza – The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero – Disc 1

May 14, 2015 | Posted by TJ Hawke

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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Viva La Raza – The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero – Disc 1

Vickie Guerrero gives some insight on Eddie’s early years.

Hardcore TV
April 8, 1995

2 Cold Scorpio(c) vs. Eddy Guerrero [ECW TV Championship]

They kept it on the mat early on, battling for control. Eddy got control and planted Scorpio with a brainbuster. He followed it up with a frog splash for a nearfall. Scorpio came back and got control. Eddy eventually came back and hit a plancha. Eddy worked him over again. Scorpio came back and got a couple of good nearfalls. Scorpio seemed to have the match won with the Tumbleweed, but Eddie kicked out. It actually looked like Scorpio picked him up, but Joey Styles assured us Eddy kicked out. Eddy ate a superkick but then caught him with a roll-up out of nowhere: 1…2…3

The match went like this: Eddy did stuff, Scorpio did stuff, Eddy did stuff, Scorpio did more stuff, and then Eddy won. It was fun but not especially interesting.

Match Rating: ***

Dean Malenko spoke about his history of working with Eddy up until their time in ECW.

ECW Hostile City Showdown
April 15, 1995

Eddy Guerrero(c) vs. Dean Malenko [ECW Television Championship]

They did some very stylish sequences early on. Eddy got control first and went after Dean’s left arm. Dean then got control by doing the very same thing. Dean transitioned to targeting the left leg. There were audible “This match sucks!” chants. The leg work went on for a while. Eddy fought back and hit a big swinging DDT. Eddy made a comeback where he sold his legs during the transitions. They spilled to the floor. Eddy hit a plancha. They traded brainbusters in the ring. Eddy hit the frog splash for a nearfall. The leg apparently is no longer injured. Dean got control again. Eddy then got control until they did one of their trademarked pinning combo sequences. The thirty minute time limit expired, and Eddy retained the title.

Eddy Guerrero completely abandoning the selling of the leg that Malenko worked over for a considerable time is fucking terrible. They did just enough to slightly make up for that issue, but then they went and worked a very long time with nowhere near enough in-ring story to justify it. This was a significant letdown.

Match Rating: **1/2

The DVD transitioned to Eddy’s time in WCW.

WCW Starrcade
December 27, 1995

Eddy Guerrero vs. Shinjiro Otani (w/ Sonny Ono)

Eddy got the first advantage after some brief back and forth action. Otani came back and hit a springboard plancha. Otani was then in control. He hit a springboard spinning heel kick. The crowd does not care about this one at all. They woke up a little bit after Eddy hit a Frankensteiner. Otani survived Splash Mountain and then applied an ankle lock. Eddy came back and hit a scoop slam on the floor. He followed it up with an Asai Crossbody. Back in the ring, Otani defeated Eddy after keeping him down for a three count first during a pinning combination sequence.

There were some solid sequences and movez, but this was a very underwhelming overall. There was nothing keeping the match together, and the crowd never seemed to get invested until the final thirty seconds.

Match Rating: **1/4

Ric Flair puts Guerrero as one of the top ten or top twenty wrestlers he’s ever been in the ring with.

WCW Hog Wild
August 10, 1996

Ric Flair(c) (w/ Miss Elizabeth & Woman) vs. Eddie Guerrero [WCW United States Championship]

Embedded image permalink

WCW was a great place.

The match started out competitively. Flair did control eventually though and then worked him over. Eddie fought back sooner than I expected. He got control of the match and dominated Flair for a bit. Eddie got the figure four. Flair survived that, but Eddie continued to dominate him for a while. Guerrero injured his right knee on a frog splash. Flair pounced on the injury and applied the figure four. Woman assisted Flair, and Eddie’s shoulders actually stayed down for a three count. Flair retains.

The ending was obviously not especially satisfying, but the journey there was just delightful. Eddie absolutely looked like a potential main eventer in this match. Flair seemed a step slower than I expected. He seemed physically capable of working like his old self. He just wasn’t doing it.

Match Rating: ***1/2

Chris Jericho discuss his fond memories for his short-lived team with Eddie.

WCW Superbrawl
February 23, 1997

Eddie Guerrero(c) vs. Chris Jericho [WCW United States Championship]

They were working hard, but no one cared. They battled for control for a while to start the match. The crowd was growing restless. Jericho got firm control with an Argentinian Backbreaker. Well, he appeared to anyway. Eddie came roaring back and connected on a series of movez. Jericho got control. Jericho injured his knee on a Silver King splash. They started going back and forth in the ring. Eddie appeared to be going for a crucifix pin, but he flawlessly transitioned to a sunset flip pin to pick up the win.

This was a solid match. It was exactly what Jericho advertised in the talking head: they worked hard, but no one in the crowd cared. Jericho talked about how frustrating it was in WCW because they weren’t put in a position to succeed (in general and in this match). Working a back-and-forth babyface vs. babyface match was definitely a terrible idea though. Eddie or Jericho should have called an audible early on when that match was clearly not working.

Match Rating: **3/4

WCW Nitro
November 10, 1997

Rey Mysterio(c) vs. Eddie Guerrero [WCW Cruiserweight Championship]

This was the return match from their celebrated Halloween Havoc Campeonatos en Mascara match.

Eddie attacked Rey before the bell. Rey made a comeback quickly enough. Rey hit a wacky headscissors takeover to the floor. Eddie came back with a superplex. Rey came back with a lionsault. They’re kind of just doing stuff in this match. Finally, Eddie got control for an extended period of time. Rey came back with a wacky flipping, reverse, springboard DDT. Somehow, Eddie and Rey survived that. Eddie managed to hot-shot Rey and then hit a Frog Splash: 1…2…3

Dean Malenko came out after the match.

Old Review: This was honestly not all that good. This is what happens when you try to get a lot of shit in for a six minute TV match. Still, it’s Eddie vs. Rey. You can spend seven minutes in less interesting ways.

New Review: I don’t think they worked a particularly smart match given the amount of time they had. It was tough to get invested in the match. I would have much preferred for Eddie to just dominate Rey for the majority of such a short match. With that said, I enjoyed this much more the second time around.

Match Rating: **3/4

Watch this match here.

WCW Starrcade
December 28, 1997

Eddie Guerrero(c) vs. Dean Malenko [WCW Cruiserweight Championship]

This started out surprisingly physical. Malenko was able to catch Eddy is a series of movez early and then properly cut him off with a gourdbuster hot shot. Malenko then worked him over. Eddy fought back by going after Dean’s left leg. Dean put a stop to Eddy’s momentum with a wheelbarrow German. Eddy went for something goofy, but Dean caught him with a backbreaker. Eddy came back with a missile dropkick on the injured knee and then hits a frogsplash on the injured knee: 1…2…3!

Whoa, I liked this one a lot more than the first time I saw it! I’d actually put this match over *some* of their other matches just for the consistency in tone throughout. It was a physical match all the way through, and they managed to organically work in some floor brawling and high spots. Eddy’s work on Dean’s left leg eventually being his key to victory also obviously played into my tastes.

Match Rating: ***1/4

Watch this match here.

WCW Slamboree
May 17, 1998

Eddie Guerrero (w/ Chavo Guerrero) vs. Ultimo Dragon

Chavo will “get his freedom” if Dragon wins.

They did some very cool stuff early on. Eddie eventually cut him off and worked him over. Dragon crotched him and hit an Asai Moonsault. He followed it up with the Argentinean Backbreaker. Dragon avoided the frog splash. They traded Dragon Sleepers. Chavo prevented Eddie from using the ropes to his advantage. Eddie slapped him a few times. Dragon accidentally gave Chavo a spinning heel kick. Eddie then finished Dragon with a brainbuster and then a frog splash.

Chavo attacked Dragon after the match. Eddie gave Chavo a chance to hit him, but Chavo passed.

I do not think that I’ve ever seen a match between these two before, and I’ve clearly been missing out. They did not do the wild/spectacular spots that Eddie and Rey did, but there was a silky-smooth chemistry that made this enjoyable all the way through. I also did not mind the Chavo stuff for whatever reason.

Match Rating: ***1/2

WCW Nitro
August 3, 1998

Eddie Guerrero vs. Juventud Guerrera

Juice was having a lot of success early on and even hit the Deadman Suicida. Guerrero cut him off in the ring and eventually hit the frogsplash.

Juice lost very quickly and looked like a geek. I mentioned that because he apparently had a title shot the following weekend. I’m not sure of the context of this match, but it’s hard to imagine that the context would make this result sensible. The match itself was an enjoyable few minutes, but there was nothing to get invested in.

Match Rating: **

WCW Thunder
June 24, 1999

Eddie Guerrero vs. Psychosis

Psychosis had a ton of success early on. Eddie cut him off after eating a pescado. Eddie worked him over for a while. Eddie targeted Psychosis’ left leg. Psychosis fought back briefly. Eddie appeared to cut him off again, but Psychosis hit an Arabian Press Moonsault and then seemed to have all the momentum. Eddie avoided a diving attack though and then finished Psychosis with the frog splash.

This was a little awkward times. I was mostly entertained throughout the match, which is definitely a positive. The leg work not really leading to anything or being sold well was disappointing. The finishing stretch did not seem to be too inspired either.

Match Rating: **1/2

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]