How Good Was Eddie Guerrero Actually?

Eddie Guerrero, former WWE Champion and NJPW Best of the Super Juniors winner, boasts a 9.52/10 ‘Total Rating’ on the fan-voted Cagematch database. This ranks among the highest scores awarded to any wrestler past or present. 

Eddie was utterly incredible at his very best. That is almost as objective a take as one can offer in the entirely subjective field of pro wrestling criticism. He’s not merely considered one of the greatest wrestlers ever by the wider fanbase; he’s considered a God of sorts, a polymath who was incredible at every single aspect of the game. 

Eddie tragically died, aged just 38 years old, on November 13, 2005. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2006. His untimely death did not entirely inform his glittering reputation within wrestling - everybody knew how good Eddie was when he was alive - but has it led to an overly sentimental appraisal? 

CM Punk has a rather high opinion of himself. This unshakeable trust in his ability was so unwavering that it informed his main event persona in WWE: he was the genius, they were the idiots for failing to see it. Punk has always felt this way - until he wrestled Eddie Guerrero in March 2002. As Punk revealed on his 2012 ‘Best In The World’ DVD, Punk was humbled when he encountered Guerrero on the indies during his enforced mainstream hiatus. “Boy, do I suck,” was Punk’s choice of words. He knew then that Eddie literally operated on another level of greatness unseen even by the trained eye. 

But was he great consistently?

Eddy Guerrero rocked a mullet in the 1990s - i.e., the period of time in which the haircut wasn’t merely unfashionable, but a punchline. 1980s nostalgia may never go away at this point, but in the ‘90s, the era felt like a century ago, much less a decade. 

Guerrero probably didn’t style his hair into a mullet in order to draw heat. It’s likely that he just thought it looked good. (Then again, he did reach the pinnacle as a babyface when he lopped it off).  

But when he recovered from injury and started to make regular appearances in the WWF in 2000, the mullet felt less like a baffling choice, even if it was. Synonymous with an era of hair metal sleaze, Guerrero’s lecherous advances towards Chyna worked all the more for that haircut. 

While he’d tweak it, like most wrestlers do, Eddie’s most memorable colour palette was the black, red, and gold variant of his tights. His attire, very fittingly, made him look lethal and elegant at the same time. While tights condemned many a wrestler to the midcard in the late ‘90s and early 2000s - Triple H ascended almost the second he made the switch - Eddie’s top-heavy, cobra-like physique suited them. 

WWE, even at its creative worst, tends to get its presentation bang on. Eddie’s Fed themes were more broad and bombastic - and more over - than his WCW library. Viva La Raza was an instant popper written to make an arena erupt. 

Eddie was considered a mere great hand in an era where size still mattered above all else. Nobody could deny his charisma, but the bleak fact of the matter is that it still wasn’t enough. Eddie was a special talent, so intense and passionate that he could maximise the effect of every incredible facial expression. Somehow, it never felt like he was overdoing it. He beamed at his own bullsh*t and conveyed a borderline terrifying contempt when handed more serious traditional heel material. The guy simply looked like a great in-ring talent before executing a single move, you could tell who he was through the silhouette alone, and his face was hypnotic. 

A cartoon and a gritty, believable character actor alike (both complimentary). 

8.5/10