Eddie Guerrero

[Childs]

That and his BOSJ matches from '96 against Liger and Benoit were the highlights. He didn't have a ton of great matches in Japan.

 

Edit: Tim beat me to the punch.

[Grimmas]

I've been thinking that Eddie may do insanely well for me. In 94, 97 and 05 he had an all-time great heel run. In 04 had was all-time great babyface. 94, 97, 04 he had matches that were top 50 all-time. He could do great brawls, great technical matches and great spot fests. He really is one of the most complete wrestlers of all-time.

[JerryvonKramer]

He's done pretty well on my list.

 

I will say though that I find his WCW stuff broadly overrated, especially the Rey match.

[MoS]

I am about to start on a 41 GB compilation of Eddie from 1989-1999. I really loke his WWE rin, so this binge-watching will determine where e ranks for me.

[Eegah]

Am I on an island in voting Eddie higher than Rey? To echo Grimmas' thoughts, he was such a complete pro wrestler. Obviously Rey is great as well, I value Eddie's ability to work heel and face at a high level. Obviously the argument for Rey there is there is no reason for a guy with his size and skillset to be a heel but I think Eddie could do every facet of professional wrestling at such a high level that he narrowly edges out Rey.

[WingedEagle]

I'm not a Rey guy so not much of a shock here, but Eddy will certainly place higher. I binged a bunch of random WCW this weekend and was blown away by just how strongly I preferred Guerrero in WCW as opposed to WWE. The WWE run has Brock, JBL at Judgment Day and the Rey Smackdown match. I don't think he has a single other match in the company I'd take over what he did against Malenko, Jericho, Benoit and others in WCW.

 

While his character work was miles ahead on Smackdown, he was so much smoother and wrestling with a purpose in WCW, particularly as a heel. I'm guessing part of that had to with the car accident and bulking up, as he was much more springy and had a real slithery style at Turner, but cannot believe how strongly it stood out.

[Eegah]

He really did pack in a bunch of great stuff in a lot of limited time match wise while in WCW. Always entertaining.

[InYourCase]

Am I on an island in voting Eddie higher than Rey? To echo Grimmas' thoughts, he was such a complete pro wrestler. Obviously Rey is great as well, I value Eddie's ability to work heel and face at a high level. Obviously the argument for Rey there is there is no reason for a guy with his size and skillset to be a heel but I think Eddie could do every facet of professional wrestling at such a high level that he narrowly edges out Rey.

Rey is my #5, so I won't have Eddie ahead of him. That being said, Eddie is someone sneaking into the bottom half of my 20's right now and he'll finish in that 27-35 range. I loved going through a bunch of his random TV matches a few weeks ago and I just knocked out a bunch of his big PPV matches from his WWE run and he's totally blown me away.

[Quentin Skinner]

Am I on an island in voting Eddie higher than Rey? To echo Grimmas' thoughts, he was such a complete pro wrestler. Obviously Rey is great as well, I value Eddie's ability to work heel and face at a high level. Obviously the argument for Rey there is there is no reason for a guy with his size and skillset to be a heel but I think Eddie could do every facet of professional wrestling at such a high level that he narrowly edges out Rey.

 

I have Eddie slightly above Rey for the exact same reasons. It's jarring to me how good he was at every single thing I could want in a pro wrestler.

[abrasiveobelisksa]

I'd be really interested in seeing where his short NJPW stint in 2001-2002 helps or hurts his case.

[JerryvonKramer]

I'm pretty sure Eddie is above Rey on mine.

[bradhindsight]

Eddie is also above Rey on mine.

[NotJayTabb]

Rey is about 20 places higher than Eddie on mine.

[KB8]

They're side-by-side on my list right now with Eddie one spot higher.

[Jimmy Redman]

They're side-by-side on my list right now with Eddie one spot higher.

 

Same, but with Rey one spot higher.

[stunning_grover]

I have Eddie higher than Rey.

 

Eddie was my #1 in 2006. This time around he will probably be at least 50 spots lower.

[Eegah]

I have Eddie higher than Rey.

 

Eddie was my #1 in 2006. This time around he will probably be at least 50 spots lower.

 

Thats a monumental drop, any reason why?

[stunning_grover]

 

I have Eddie higher than Rey.

 

Eddie was my #1 in 2006. This time around he will probably be at least 50 spots lower.

 

Thats a monumental drop, any reason why?

 

 

It's not necessarily because of Eddie. It's mostly because of discovering the greatness of other wrestlers. I have been watching a lot of different wrestling in the past 10 years (just like most people here, I'm sure) and I have discovered new workers I consider really great. In 2006, Eddie's 1994-1997 work was how I felt the GOAT should work. In 2016, I'm not really into that New Japan juniors/AAA/WCW cruiserweight stuff as much as I was 10 years ago (I still enjoy it from time to time though). This is not the only reason for Eddie dropping this much on my list though, because several others I ranked highly in 2006 are still ranked highly (there are in general a lot of changes on this year's list compared to my 2006 list though). So I guess I simply ranked him way too high last time. I don't regret my ballot from 2006 though. It was simply how I felt at the time. My list in 2006 was very different from how my list would have been in 1996 (not that I was making lists like this back then). My list in 2026 will probably be very different from this year's list (if I will make one in 2026). I guess what I'm looking for in wrestling matches has changed over the years and it will probably continue to change.

[Microstatistics]

The most effortlessly brilliant wrestler I've seen. Eddie could simply do anything and do it well and was a guy who delivered in every setting he was in. I think those gaps in his career do hurt his case somewhat, but Top 10 still seems like a safe bet.

[Cap]

To me, Eddie is the greatest peak wrestler. All that means is that when Eddie was at his absolute best I don't think anyone has ever been better. Unfortunately, that high praise is brought down to earth by not only the big gaps in his work, but also in the fact that he couldn't hit that peak too many times or maintain it for very long (for any number of reasons).  A complete performer who excelled in a variety of settings. He would probably rank higher in my favorites than "best", but he will place very well for me.

[Alex]

My favorite wrestler of all time.  Could pretty much do everything well, promos, storyline acting, matches were fantastic and he had good matches with a variety of quality of wrestlers and in different settings.  His 2004 year is one of my favorite wrestling performances for a year, and he had a lot of strong matches in 2003 and 2005 (that June Smackdown match with Rey goddamn) also.  He's a lock for my top 10.  It just sucks he had so many matches with Benoit (I can't watch them anymore).

[elliott]

I ranked Eddie 23rd in 2016 and I feel great about that. He'll probably land in this same range again for me. I don't know what else there is to say about Eddie Guerrero at this point. Oh, I got some questions, @TimCooke which was the Guerrero vs Big Show match you used to put over? Smackdown match as I recall? 

Additionally everyone, what's available from his 2001-02 work? There's some interesting looking matches I haven't thought about or seen in 20 years now. The Low-Ki match is good. There's some stuff with CM Punk including a time limit draw from 4/26/02? Does that exist still? A Christopher Daniels match. Daniels isn't my guy, but I'd watch him vs Eddie. I forgot about the Doug Williams  match. Someone named Will Damon? I'd watch all of his NJPW matches too. How does that stuff look? Eddie's career wasn't very long so the year he was out of the WWE and traveling represents a fairly significant portion of his career that should theoretically be available. I remember thinking this was a return to form watching at the time, but I've only seen the Low-Ki match in the last 20 years. 

[KB8]

Tim may like a different one, but the Eddie/Show match from the 4/15/04 Smackdown is wonderful and one of my favourite monster v underdog matches ever. Has some of the most creative lie, cheat and steal shtick Eddie ever did. He was so good that year. 

[elliott]

It might be that match. I'm pretty sure it was 04. Definitely not before then. 

[Boss Rock]

Eddie is definitely one where the gaps probably hurt his overall case, but his versatility and high-end matches are great. There are so few wrestlers who could play both a fired-up babyface (Brock, JBL) and absolute bastard of a heel (Rey) with such believability.