How Good Was Eddie Guerrero Actually?
5. Rivalries
This is where Eddie’s case falters somewhat.
As unpleasant as it is to state in 2026, Guerrero’s wrestling soulmate was Chris Benoit. Initially put off by one another, their shared love of stiff, high-impact, mechanically perfect pro wrestling bonded them together. Their work in New Japan Pro Wrestling was incredible. Almost improving the frame rate of the form, every bump and collision was committed to the point of being disgusting. In WWE, it was never as good. Matches at Armageddon 2002 and WWE/ECW One Night Stand 2005 fell well below their best. The latter in particular was a major disappointment.
Both men were in rough shape, and were unable on the night to do more with the spaces between the moves. Benoit’s almost entire lack of personality might account for that, but a similar tale unfolded in the WWE continuation of Eddie’s feud with Rey Mysterio.
Great in WCW, you’d blow somebody’s mind in 1997, if you were to tell them that they’d make it to WWE and do much better work in the most popular soap opera on the show than in the actual ring. Then again, maybe not: Eddie’s feud with nephew Chavo was delightfully silly. Eddie Guerrero Vs. JBL was not a classic wrestling rivalry. Eddie deserves immense praise for making the idea of JBL: WWE Champion less inexplicable, but relative to storylines that are actually great, it was far from great.
Away from story-driven sagas, the feuds he worked more or less for the sake of match quality were uneven. Eddie’s 2004 series with Kurt Angle was unable to breach the almost dreaded “very good, not great” barrier. As good as it was, and as good as the WrestleMania 20 finish was, it was probably reasonable to expect more from the pairing. His series with Edge was fantastic, but his matches with Rob Van Dam were often a bit awkward.
7/10