4. Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio, Jr. (Halloween Havoc 97)
Even as of the early 1990s, WCW had identified that the smaller, faster wrestlers from places like Japan and Mexico could help separate their product from the competition. Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Liger (at SuperBrawl 1), for instance, was a match considered for this list. Yet, it was not until 1996 that what became known as the Cruiserweight division really got off the ground. Having signed world-renowned talents with various styles, WCW was able to offer something that WWE did not have and never seemed to have the gumption to match. The most exciting cruiserweight of them all was Rey Misterio, Jr. Intangibly, he jumped off the page. The general American audience had no idea what a high flyer truly was until it laid eyes on Rey. For a solid year, he dazzled the wrestling world with moves that they had never seen before, developing a fast reputation as one of the most popular stars in the world. With ratings on the rise and buyrates up, never before (or since) had a global viewership been privy to that caliber of fast-paced grappling. Misterio was the catalyst. All the while, Eddie Guerrero was becoming one of the best all-around performers in the industry. He could talk, he could act, he could fly, he could wrestle, and he could psychologically piece together a match like few others. He was able to add something on the character side of the division that set him apart. His feud with Misterio was, thus, a little different from the average game of one-upmanship that had become the norm for the cruiserweights. Guerrero stepped in, physically, and stepped on a lot of toes, verbally. When he came to blows with Rey with his title and Misterios mask on the line at Halloween Havoc in 1997, the Cruiserweight Championship peaked. The match was an exercise in aerial artistry. As has been asked of you before on this journey, put yourself back in your late 1997 shoes and pretend that you had not spent much of the last decade watching Rey do his thing. What Rey and Eddie did that night was amazing. Guerrero was not as good an opponent for Rey, hold for hold, as Malenko was, but he was better at bringing out Misterios emotions. The story told in Eddie vs. Rey, consequently, was superior.
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
