Five Ways Eddie Guerrero left pro wrestling in a better place because of his influence

Eddie Guerrero (photo credit Mike Lano © PWTorch)

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

When I sit to write an article each week, itâ€s usually influenced by something that has recently happened on a show or is a headline, and look at the past as a nostalgia writer. Today I was inspired by a headline exactly 20 years ago when we lost one of the greats far too soon.

Eddie Guerrero was from the Guerrero wrestling dynasty, one of the most influential families in what was an American meets Lucha Libre styles of wrestling. Technically American, but in a heavy Hispanic area in Texas, his father Gory was a legend who had birthed children who became stars themselves, but no star was brighter than Eddieâ€s.

On my podcast associated with my day job of operating a nerd store (www.nerdstalgia.shop), we had a recent episode of the “What Are You Nerdy About?” podcast about The Ruthless Aggression Era WWE and Eddie was at the top of the list for influential wrestlers for my guest. As a young child, he remembered him from WCW, and later as an adult came back to watching wrestling and was thrilled seeing his childhood favorite again, but now as a bigger star in WWE. This was the hook he needed for him to pay attention again.

In his shortened career, his legacy can fill books, but here are my top five legacies left that left wrestling as a better place.

Diverse Work

Wrestling is more than stories, athleticism, and characters. Professional wrestling is a form of art, as art is something created that brings about an emotional response to it, and a great professional wrestler is nothing short of an artist. Eddie learned how to make you cheer what he did in a ring, and when to cheer. When he became a heel, he knew the buttons to push for the proper response. Many Hall of Fame wrestlers can play one role well, but have trouble transforming themselves into a different character.

Eddie was the lovable hothead uncle. You love the guy, but he makes choices that can be selfish or short sighted, and it really upsets you, and it fractures the relationship, but he always will eventually come back to apologize. Youâ€ll forgive him every time, hoping the change will stick, but heâ€s too damn lovable when his heads on straight, that you canâ€t help but want him around.

Eddie never held back in what could be looked down on by some wrestlers as well. A memorable program at one point saw the macho wrestler become submissive to Chyna, a female wrestler and love interest for Eddie. He also used his vulnerabilities on his last run in coming back to the WWE after lifeâ€s demons were a struggle that led his to leave for a period. This built up a true story of redemption for a man and his family and that was played out well with his return.

This entire article could be about different programs with Rey Mysterio, Dean Malenko, Kurt Angle, John Cena, and so many more that were remarkable, and the internet has it all available as works of art left by Eddie for generations to come.

Hispanic Influence

When Smackdown was on small tier networks, there was a strong demographic that was notable. Many Hispanic homes only had the ability to watch what was on OTA Television, so Smackdown was the main wrestling show in the U.S. for that demographic. This was why Eddie was picked as the guy when he was put in that position. He was a ratings-mover. Lucha Libre runs deep in that culture and WWE was finally starting to catch on.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

Check out the latest episode of “PWTorch ’90s Pastcast” with Patrick Moynahan and Alex McDonald, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “wade keller†on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)

Rey Mysterio

Rey created his own legacy. He was special and was always destined to be. That said, Rey would likely be the first to tell you that he wouldnâ€t be who he is as a wrestler and as a man without Eddie Guerrero in his life. Knowing each other for as long as they had, spending time together in and out of the ring as long as they did, you form a bond as thick as you would to a blood relative. So itâ€s impossible not to be influenced, especially when Eddie was a little older and always had that edge on experience as well. Rey was able to see Eddie make big steps that Rey was able to follow and make his own way in the space Eddie made. Rey was able to be bolder and he always had Eddie as an advocate, bringing Rey up with him.

Now the legacy of Eddie Guerrero is carried on by many wrestlers he influenced, but none more influenced than his storyline surrogate son, Dominik. Not only was Rey an obvious person for Dominik to learn from, but he also had “Uncle†Eddie. By emulating the other influence, Dirty Dom isnâ€t pigeonholed into living up to his dadâ€s career. And while he emulates, we all get to have Eddie live on.

Cheat-to-Win Babyface

MJF popularized the “Heâ€s our scumbag!†chants, which was the butterfly effect of Eddie in MJF. In wrestling, there were years of babyface vs. heel, good guy vs. bad guy, white hat vs. black hat. There was room for nuisance. The most prominent of his era was “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Often referred to as a “tweener,†a poor descriptor of a good guy who doesnâ€t always follow the rules. Eddie did this blatantly. Where Austin broke rules that were put in as obstacles by a power structure or disregarded what many saw as dumb rules or taking things into his own hands when necessary, Eddie cheated. No remorse, no apology. He wanted to win. Itâ€s not that he was a bad guy, itâ€s just what he did to make it. All one had to do was hear it in his theme song that he lied, cheated, and stole. He was just so damn charming we couldnâ€t help but love the man.

Smaller Guys as Top Stars

When Brock Lesnar was leaving WWE after WrestleMania XX and Eddie’s star had been rising, the decision was made to go with Guerrero as the brandâ€s top star. This could have been done many other ways. Having a “mailman†or transitional champion could have been expected. If you knew Vince McMahonâ€s preferred body type, did he want his new champion in the ring with a guy the size of Brock? Would the audience buy it? The company ended up having the faith in Eddie, and while not clean, did make Eddie the guy who hit the frog splash on Lesnar and took his WWE Championship away from him. After this was a trend where smaller wrestlers were good enough. When the story is told correctly, itâ€s absolutely believable. Eddie was that good. He had Lesnarâ€s number.

(Griffin is a lifelong fan of wrestling, superheroes, and rebellious music of all forms. He is the owner of Nerdstalgia, and you can shop online, learn about visiting the store in Colorado Springs, or catch him at a comic con in the Rocky Mountain area by going to www.nerdstalgia.shop.)

Source link