How Good Was Eddie Guerrero Actually?

In terms of pure technique and execution, Eddie is one of the very best to ever do it. When you watch him almost hover in mid-air before appearing to dislocate his opponent’s shoulder with the sheer torque of his hooking armdrag - or quickly adjust his feet to allow him to hit a 1.75 speed backbreaker - you might argue that no other wrestler ever was such an expert mechanic. Brutal, crisp, beautiful, Eddie’s GIF’s are immaculate. They could loop for minutes on end, and you’d still be hypnotised. 

As Eddy, his match against Rey Mysterio at WCW Halloween Havoc 1997 is considered one of the very best ever wrestled on U.S. soil. It should be impossible for something that was so futuristic then to feel so timeless now. It remains one of the most special matches in the history of the medium. This wasn’t even his best ever match; that will be covered elsewhere. 

Spoiler: Eddie doesn’t get a ‘10’ rating in this section. This will scan as sacrilege to some people. The score he receives is excellent, but some might wonder why it isn’t a ‘10’. Why isn’t it the maximum? 

If you were to compile a list of Eddie Guerrero’s best matches, though, you might find that it isn’t quite as deep nor as impressive as some of his contemporaries in the field of all-time greats.

The context of the era in which Eddie wrestled in the U.S. is important to consider. With the exception of his years as part of the legendary ‘SmackDown Six’, Eddie did not wrestle for a promotion interested in critical acclaim doping. He didn’t wrestle in a time and place where great wrestling all the time was the objective. What was he meant to do against Erik Watts on WCW Worldwide in October 1999? And who could forget the classic ‘Key For Torrie Wilson’s Steel Cage On A Pole’ match against Perry Saturn in November?  

That said, when Eddie did make it to pay-per-view - where the quality of the match is inarguably the point - he did not always steal it.  

Eddie’s 2005 series with Rey wasn’t amazing bell to bell. The WrestleMania 21 match was awkward. Rey kept adjusting his mask. The SummerSlam Ladder match is remembered only for Vickie Guerrero’s infamous botch. But even when things weren’t going wrong, the old chemistry barely fizzed; their Great American Bash match was good, but nothing close to phenomenal. Similarly, Eddie wrestled Kurt Angle frequently throughout 2004. You’d have expected their matches to be right up there with the very best WWE ever promoted, but they weren’t quite that, let down by a notable flatness in the final third. Eddie was working through injury constantly, which wouldn’t have helped at all. 

The very best big match workers ever hold the key to unlocking an elusive level of drama. Shawn Michaels reached it with a broad, corny use of melodrama that would not have worked without world-class selling. Kenta Kobashi reached it with unparalleled incandescent babyface fire. Peak Kazuchika Okada used super-deliberate pacing early so that every one of his finishes felt like an unthinkable potential upset. Peak Kenny Omega used delayed selling to allow the head and neck trauma to sink in and fester into the atmosphere, creating a sense of deep and unbearable unease. That’s not to say Eddie could not unlock that level - he did it using just his gait and his face against John Bradshaw Layfield at Judgment Day 2004 - he just didn’t do it a great deal. 

The escalation, the breach into pure hypnosis, the blissful crescendo of the absolute very best matches ever - in which you’re so into the action that you are borderline delirious - is something Eddie did not manipulate as much as his posthumous legacy might suggest. The fervent and frankly childish way in which wrestling is debated nowadays somehow makes it difficult to offer a very complimentary opinion. That opinion is: Eddie Guerrero was one of the best TV wrestlers ever. 

We know that Eddie was plagued by self-doubt throughout his career. We know that he was very critical of his own performances, sharing that perfectionist trait with best friend Chris Benoit. We know that he was happy to lose the WWE title under the belief that he was letting the company down. 

It makes sense, then, that his record on TV blows away his WWE pay-per-view catalogue. This would explain why his pulsating No Disqualification showdown against Edge (SmackDown, September 24, 2002) was far better than his PPV efforts against the same opponent, or even his WWE PPV showings against his New Japan soulmate Benoit. 

Eddie’s personal issues affected his performances in WWE. By the time he made his return to the promotion, and was pushed as one of its top stars, he was breaking down physically. He was a true “demon”, as the kids say, in his physical prime. He stole Starrcade 1995 from ‘90s workrate gods Benoit and Jushin Liger with his match against Shinjiro Otani. In addition to wrestling what might be the best WCW match ever at Halloween Havoc 1997, his match against Dean Malenko at Hostile City Showdown ‘95 is a strong consensus contender for the best ECW match ever. 

When Eddie was at his most confident, free of the top guy burden and WWE’s daft 2000s finishes, he was a tour de force. 

8.5/10