From The Shelf- Viva La Raza: The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero (Disc One)

Viva La Raza: The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero

Before we start, I’M TAKING REQUESTS!!!! With the WWE Network launching, I’m going to be reviewing the crap out of anything available and with the plethora of PPVs on demand, going forward in the comments section feel free to make requests who what you guys want me to review going forward.

Throughout the set, there are small talking segments about Eddie’s career but there is nothing worthwhile about them so I’m going to focus on the matches in this series of reviews.

Disc One

ECW TV Championship- 2 Cold Scorpio © vs. Eddie Guerrero from ECW 4-8-95
Feeling out process to start and both men battle for control on the mat. Saito suplex by Guerrero and Scorpio bails. Back in, Scorpio wants a handshake but Guerrero draws him into a short arm clothesline. He steps on the face of Scorpio and hits a slam. Hilo by Guerrero and he grabs the Sharpshooter. Scorpio escapes and Guerrero hits a dropkick. Brainbuster by Guerrero and he goes up. Frog Splash by Eddie gets 2. Chinlock by Guerrero but Scorpio escapes once again. Arm drag and a dropkick by Scorpio and he hits a superkick. Bicycle kick by Scorpio and he dumps Guerrero to the floor. He follows out and sends Eddie into the railings. Back in, Scorpio suplexes Guerrero into the ring for 2. Double underhook suplex by Scorpio gets 2. Guerrero goes low and he hits a clothesline. Guerrero goes up and he hits a crossbody to the floor!!! Back in, Guerrero hits the Fisherman’s Suplex for 2. Guerrero goes up but Scorpio stops him. Guerrero catches him with the Tornado DDT for 2. Guerrero charges in the corner but misses and Scorpio goes up. Eddie crotches him and follows up. Frankensteiner off the top by Guerrero gets 2. Guerrero puts Scorpio on top and follows up but Scorpio shoves him off and hits a flying forearm off the top for 2. He knocks Guerrero down for 2 and Scorpio hits a corner splash. Slam by Scorpio and he goes up. Moonsault off the top by Scorpio gets 2!!! Powerbomb by Scorpio and he hits a standing summersault legdrop. Scorpio goes up and hits the Tumbleweed for 2!!! Superkick by Scorpio but Guerrero catches him with the Wheelbarrow roll-up for 3!!!
Winner and NEW ECW TV Champion- Eddie Guerrero ***3/4 ( This was an excellent match, as Scorpio’s style meshed well with Guerrero which resulted in some great chain wrestling and exciting high flying that impressed the usually bloodthirsty ECW crowd. )

ECW TV Championship- Eddie Guerrero © vs. Dean Malenko from ECW Hostile City Showdown 1995
Guerrero looks to work over the right arm of Malenko to start and he snap mares Guerrero before stepping on his face. Eddie pokes the eye of Malenko and he snap mares Malenko before stepping on his face in return. Malenko bails to recover and back in, Malenko gets the O’Connor roll for 2. Clothesline by Malenko and he hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Hurricanrana by Eddie and they reach a standstill. Eddie grabs the cross armbreaker as there seems to be some sort of incident going on in the crowd. Malenko gets to the ropes to break and they go to the test of strength. Guerrero breaks with the Urinage and he hits a slam. Hilo by Guerrero gets 2 as Malenko gets his foot on the ropes. Chinlock by Guerrero but Malenko backs him to the corner to break. Double underhook suplex by Malenko gets 2. Dropkick to the leg by Malenko and he begins to work over the bad leg of Guerrero. Inverted surfboard by Malenko and he releases to continue his assault on the leg of Guerrero. Guerrero goes into the ropes to stop him so Malenko wraps Eddie’s leg across the post. Back in, Malenko goes right back to the leg of Guerrero and he grabs a rear spinning toe hold. Eddie makes the ropes to break and Malenko hits the knee breaker. STF by Malenko but Eddie makes the ropes to break. Sunset flip by Eddie gets 2 and he hits a release Fisherman’s suplex. Powerbomb by Eddie gets 2. Eddie goes for the Tornado DDT but Malenko blocks. Eddie pokes the eye of Malenko and finally connects with the Tornado DDT for 2. Eddie puts Malenko on top and follows up with the Frankensteiner off the top for 2. Laso from El Paso by Eddie and he converts it into the STF. Uppercuts by Eddie but Malenko comes back with some punches in the corner. Eddie shoves Malenko to the floor but Malenko wraps Eddie up to bring him out with him. Eddie goes for a Brainbuster but Malenko blocks and he suplexes Eddie to the floor!!! Slingshot pescado misses and Eddie goes up. Crossbody to the floor by Eddie and back in, Malenko hits the Brainbuster. Malenko goes for the Brainbuster again but Eddie blocks and hits one of his own. Eddie goes up and hits the Frog Splash for 2!!! Eddie charges in the corner but misses and Malenko hits a Northern Lights suplex for 2. Spinebuster by Malenko and he goes for the Texas Cloverleaf but Eddie goes to the ropes to block. Tiger Driver by Malenko but Eddie rolls him up immediately for 2. Springboard hurricanrana by Eddie gets 2. Pumphandle backbreaker by Guerrero gets 2 and Guerrero grabs the Gory Special. He converts it into a cover for 2 and this leads to the roll-up exchange for several near falls. The crowd is on their feet as Guerrero gets a small package for 2. Slam by Eddie and he goes up but Malenko stops him and follows up. Sunset flip powerbomb off the top by Eddie gets 2!!! The bell rings and the match is over after thirty minutes.
Match ends in a Draw ****1/4 ( This was a phenomenal wrestling match. The leg work in the middle of the match was just there to drag out the time but the rest of the match exciting, smash mouth wrestling that wowed the ECW Arena. It matches like this that influenced the Ring of Honor style years later.)

Shinjiro Otani w/Sonny Ono vs. Eddie Guerrero from WCW Starrcade 1995
Both men look for control to start and they reach a standstill. Enzuigiri by Guerrero and he steps on the face of Otani. Otani takes Eddie down and goes to work on the leg of Guerrero. Monkey flip by Otani and Eddie comes back with a hurricanrana forcing Otani to bail. Back in, Eddie dropkicks Otani and hits a slam. Hilo by Eddie and he grabs the Boston Crab. Otani makes the ropes to break and Eddie hits a powerbomb for 2. Brainbuster by Eddie gets 2 as Otani gets his foot on the ropes to break. Corner clothesline by Guerrero and he charges in the corner but misses. Springboard dropkick by Otani and Eddie bails. Springboard crossbody to the floor by Otani and back in, Otani hits a dropkick. He chokes Eddie in the ropes and goes to the chinlock. Eddie fights out and hits a Saito suplex to Otani for 2. Otani escapes a Brainbuster attempt and he hits a German suplex for 2. Springboard spinning heel kick by Otani and he hits a slam. Otani goes up but Eddie stops him and follows up. Frankensteiner off the top by Guerrero gets 2. Splash Mountain by Guerrero gets 2. Otani catches Eddie in the Grapevine but Eddie makes the ropes to break. Otani charges but Eddie low bridges him sending him to the floor. Eddie follows and he slams Otani on the floor. Guerrero hits a springboard crossbody to the floor and back in, Eddie goes to suplex Otani to the floor but he blocks and reverses into his own. Springboard dropkick to the back by Otani and he goes for the Dragon suplex but Eddie blocks. Hurricanrana by Eddie but Otani rolls through for 2, leading to a roll-up exchange where Otani actually gets the 3!!!
Winner- Shinjiro Otani ***1/2 ( Really good match. The crowd wasn’t into it to start due to the unfamiliarity with Otani but the faced pace, exciting action got the crowd into it by the end.)

WCW US Championship- Ric Flair © w/Woman and Elizabeth vs. Eddie Guerrero from WCW Hog Wild 1996
Flair and Guerrero shove each other to start and Eddie slaps Flair, so Flair bails. Back in, they botch a blocked back suplex spot and Eddie goes to the floor to recover. Back in, Guerrero chops away on Flair in the corner and he knocks Flair down. Flair bails again and back in, Eddie throws some chops. Backdrop by Guerrero and Flair pokes the eyes to come back. He knocks Guerrero down with a chop and he hits a straight right hand. Eddie hammers away in the corner and he hits some punches in the corner. Chops by Eddie and he dropkicks Flair off the apron. Back in, Eddie backdrops Flair and he clotheslines Flair back to the floor. Back in, Eddie hammers away in the corner and he throws more chops. Flair pokes the eye to come back and he goes low on Eddie. Crossbody by Eddie gets 2 and he hits a clothesline for 2. Eddie goes up for a sunset flip off the top but Flair blocks. Drop toe hold by Eddie and he grabs the Figure-4!!! Flair makes the ropes to break and Eddie hits the assisted hurricanrana for 2. Tornado DDT by Eddie gets 2. Eddie charges in the corner but misses and Flair snap mares him. He goes up but Eddie tosses him off the top for 2. Flair pulls Eddie to the apron and Eddie goes for the sunset flip but again Flair blocks. Eddie grabs a hold of Flair’s tights though and is able to bring him down into the cover for 2 in a great spot. Eddie pokes the eye of Flair and he takes Flair down with a side headlock takeover. Eddie goes up and hits the Frog Splash but hurt his knee on impact!!! Eddie escapes a back suplex attempt but eats a clothesline from Flair. Figure-4 by Flair and he uses the ropes for leverage. Woman assists Flair and Eddie is counted out by the ref!!!
Winner and Still WCW US Champion- Ric Flair ***1/2 ( The opening moments of the match were really awkward as they blew some spots and there was too much stalling for my tastes. However, they eventually got into a rhythm and had a really good match with some brilliant psychology toward the end. )

WCW US Championship- Eddie Guerrero © vs. Chris Jericho from WCW Superbrawl VII
Feeling out process to start and Eddie takes Jericho down into an inverted STF. Jericho makes the ropes to break. Back elbow by Guerrero and he hits a back suplex for 2. Back suplex by Jericho gets 2. Abdominal stretch by Jericho and it turns into the test of strength. Northern lights suplex by Jericho gets 2 and he gets a backslide for 2. Suplex by Jericho gets 2. Spinebuster by Jericho and he grabs the Liontamer. Guerrero counters out of it and Jericho hits a clothesline for 2. Chinlock by Jericho but Eddie escapes so Jericho catches him in the Torture Rack. He converts it into a backbreaker for 2. Springboard crossbody misses and Eddie hits a clothesline. Powerbomb by Eddie gets 2. Brainbuster by Guerrero and he goes up. He dives but Jericho moves and he hits a release German suplex. Forearms by Jericho and they trade counters until Jericho hits an overhead belly to belly suplex for 2 as Eddie gets his foot on the ropes. Jericho crotches Eddie in the ropes and he hits a springboard dropkick knocking Eddie to the floor. Springboard splash to the floor by Jericho and back in, Jericho goes up. He leaps but Eddie catches him with an inverted atomic drop on the way down. Backslide by Eddie gets 2 and they collide mid-ring, taking both men down. Powerslam by Jericho gets 2 and he goes for a suplex but Eddie counters with an O’Connor roll for 2. Superkick by Jericho and he grabs an inside cradle for 2. Jericho charges in the ciorr but eats elbow and Eddie goes for the Tornado DDT. Jericho counters with the Northern lights suplex for 2. Eddie escapes a powerbomb attempt and gets the sunset flip for 3.
Winner and Still WCW US Champion- Eddie Guerrero ***1/2 ( The usual really good match between these two but holy crap the crowd could not have cared less for this match. Crazy to think months later these guys would be two of the hottest heels in the company. )

WCW Cruiserweight Championship- Rey Mysterio Jr. © vs. Eddie Guerrero from WCW Nitro 11-10-97
Eddie attacks to start and he hits a backbreaker. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Guerrero gets 2 and he goes for a corner dropkick but misses. Assisted headscissors by Mysterio and he hits a monkey flip. Dropkick by Mysterio knocks Guerrero to the floor. Headscissors to the floor by Rey and back in, Rey goes up. Guerrero stops him and follows up. Superplex by Eddie gets 2. Backdrop by Rey and he hits the springboard hurricanrana for 2. Slam by Rey and he hits the springboard moonsault for 2. Headscissors by Rey and he hits a slam. Arabian Press eats knees and Eddie hits a dropkick to the back. Eddie goes for a powerbomb but Rey blocks so Eddie presses Rey to the mat. Rey escapes another powerbomb attempt and they botch the springboard DDT spot they hit at Halloween Havoc. Rey goes for the springboard seaton senton but Eddie blocks and hot shots Rey. Eddie goes up and hits the Frog Splash for 3!!!
Winner and NEW WCW Cruiserweight Champion- Eddie Guerrero *** ( Good match, but it was going to be damn near impossible to follow up their Halloween Havoc classic. They tried though, and they would go to have much better matches. )

WCW Cruiserweight Championship- Eddie Guerrero © vs. Dean Malenko from WCW Starrcade 1997
Eddie attacks from behind to start but Malenko takes him down and hammers him on the mat. Eddie pokes the eye to come back and he rakes Malenko’s face off the ropes. Leg lariat by Malenko gets 2. Brainbuster by Malenko and he hammers Eddie on the mat again. Eddie goes for the assisted hurricanrana but Malenko blocks with a powerbomb for 2. Alabama Slam by Malenko gets 2 and he hits a powerslam for 2. Eddie bails to the floor to recover and back in, he clips Malenko as he was distracted. Guerrero works over Malenko and he pokes the eye as Malenko tries to fight back. Snap mare and Eddie steps on the face of Malenko. Basement dropkick by Eddie and he goes for a suplex but Malenko blocks. Gordbuster in the ropes by Malenko and he hits a clothesline for 2. Snapmare and Malenko grabs a chinlock. Eddie gets to the ropes to break and Malenko presses Eddie to the mat. Eddie tries to suck up to Malenko so Malenko dropkicks him. Eddie bails again and back in, Malenko dropkicks him again. Eddie rams Malenko in the corner and throws some shoulders to the gut. Eddie goes for the Tornado DDT but Malenko blocks and he presses Eddie into the top turnbuckle. Back suplex by Malenko gets 2 and Guerrero goes for the Brainbuster but Malenko blocks. Eddie snaps Malenko’s back off the ropes and he works over the leg of Malenko on the apron. Slingshot pescado onto the leg by Guerrero and he wraps Malenko’s knee off the post. Eddie dropkicks the steps into the leg of Malenko and back in, Eddie continues to work the leg of Malenko. Powerbomb by Eddie gets 2. Malenko catches Eddie with the Wheelbarrow suplex for 2. Malenko charges in the corner but eats elbow but Malenko counters an arm drag attempt into a backbreaker for 2. Eddie goes up but Malenko stops him and he follows up. They battle for position on top and he shoves Eddie to the mat as they botch a super reverse atomic drop attempt. Inside cradle by Malenko gets 2 as Eddie grabs the ropes. Powerbomb by Malenko and he goes for the Texas Cloverleaf but Eddie blocks. He misses a dropkick to the knee and Eddie falls to the floor. Back in, Eddie goes up and hits a missile dropkick to the leg. Eddie goes up and hits the Frog Splash onto the knee for 3!!!
Winner and Still WCW Cruiserweight Champion- Eddie Guerrero ***1/4 ( They got a ton of time to work with and Eddie had major heat early but the leg work was all over the place and at time both guys didn’t seem to know what they wanted to do which resulted in awkward spots. Love the finished though, and despite the issues at least the leg work played into the finish. )

Ultimo Dragon vs. Eddie Guerrero w/Chavo Guerrero Jr. from WCW Slamboree 1998
If Ultimo Dragon wins, Chavo wins his freedom from Eddie. Feel out process to start and they reach a standstill. Snapmare by Dragon and Eddie bails. Back in, Dragon takes Eddie down into the cross armbreaker but Eddie escapes into the test of strength. Dropkick by Eddie and he stomps away in the corner. Eddie chokes Dragon with his boot in the corner and Dragon comes back with a headscissors. Monkey flip by Dragon and he sweeps the leg of Guerrero. Spin kick by Dragon and Eddie bails. Back in, Dragon snap mares Guerrero and throws some kicks to the back. Half crab by Dragon and he converts it into the inverted bow and arrow. Eddie pokes the eye of Dragon and he snap mares Dragon. He steps on Dragon’s face and hits a clothesline to come back. Brainbuster by Guerrero gets 2 and he goes to the chinlock. Eddie dumps Dragon to the floor and follows out. He sends Dragon into the railings and he chokes Dragon with a cable. Back in, Eddie puts Dragon on top and follows up. Dragon crotches Eddie and he hits a kick to the head knocking Eddie to the floor. Asai moonsault to the floor by Dragon and back in, Dragon hits the After Shock for 2. He hammers Eddie on the mat and he goes up. Moonsault off the top by Dragon gets 2. Dragon puts Eddie on top and follows up. Eddie shoves him off and hits the Tornado DDT. Eddie goes up for the Frog Splash but misses. Inside Cradle by Dragon gets 2. Dragon grabs the Dragon Sleeper but Eddie uses the ropes to counter into one of his own. Eddie uses the ropes for leverage but Chavo takes his feet off the ropes. Eddie slaps Chavo and Dragon goes for a spinning heel kick but misses Eddie and nails Chavo. Brainbuster by Eddie and he goes up. Frog Splash by Eddie gets 3. Chavo attacks Ultimo Dragon for not winning the match.
Winner- Eddie Guerrero ***1/4 ( Really solid match but unfortunately the crowd could not have cared less about the match which killed any potential this match had at being great. )

Eddie Guerrero vs. Juventud Guerrera from WCW Nitro 8-3-98
Eddie slaps Juventud to start and Juventud chops away on Eddie. Dropkick by Juvi and Eddie hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Chops by Eddie and Juvi comes back with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Eddie puts Juvi on top and he follows up. Juvi shoves him off the top and Juvi hits the spinning heel kick. Eddie bails and he hits a Suicide plancha to the floor. Back in, Eddie snake eyes Juvi in the corner and he goes for a powerbomb but Juvi counters into a DDT for 2. Springboard dropkick by Juvi and he goes for the Juvi Driver but Eddie counters into a shoulder breaker. Eddie goes up and hits the Frog Splash for 3.
Winner- Eddie Guerrero **1/2 ( Nice little sprint but I question why Eddie won considering Juvi was getting a title shot at Chris Jericho just five days later at Road Wild.)

Psychosis vs. Eddie Guerrero from WCW Thunder 6-24-99
This is Eddie’s second match since his car accident in 1998 and the crowd is chanting his name. Clothesline by Psychosis and he hits a hurricanrana. Psychosis crotches Eddie and he goes up. Spinning heel kick to the back by Psychosis and he hits a slingshot pescado to the floor. Back in, Eddie hits a hurricanrana and he hits a basement dropkick. Eddie chokes Psychosis in the ropes and they go to the floor where Eddie sends Psychosis into the railings. Eddie sends Psychosis into the steps and he dropkicks the steps into Psychosis. Back in, Eddie hits the Hilo into the ring and he sends Psychosis chest first into the corner. Abdominal stretch by Eddie as we go to break.
Back and Eddie has the grape vine on Psychosis. He releases and Psychosis presses Eddie to the mat. Rights by Psychosis but Eddie takes him down and goes back to work on the leg of Psychosis. Eddie dumps Psychosis to the floor and he follows out. Psychosis sends Eddie into the railings and he dropkicks Eddie on the floor. Back in, Eddie hits a back elbow to Psychosis and he hits a slam. Eddie goes up and leaps but Psychosis catches him with a reverse atomic drop on the way down. Rights by Psychosis and he hits a spinning heel kick forcing Eddie to bail. Slingshot moonsault press by Psychosis to the floor and back in, Psychosis goes up. Spinning heel kick off the top by Psychosis gets 2 as Eddie grabs the ropes to break. Psychosis puts Eddie on top but Eddie tries the Tornado DDT. Psychosis blocks and he puts Eddie on top again. Frankensteiner off the top by Psychosis gets 2. Psychosis goes up for a crossbody off the top but misses. Eddie goes up and hits the Frog Splash on the back of Psychosis for 3.
Winner- Eddie Guerrero *** ( Solid match that gave Eddie a strong win as he is slowly ushered back into the main roster after his injury. )

The 411: To Be Continued.....
Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]