This is my favorite mixtape to date. Eddie Guerrero is one of my faves as he is most everybody who had followed his career, I believe. I’m pouring my creative heart and soul into this one (not that I BS’ed the other three, but I really thought about this match list), so I hope you enjoy it!

There is a Terry Funk squash on Youtube with a 21-year old Eddie Guerrero from May of 1989 on an episode of World Championship Wrestling that is quite awesome and I definitely recommend you check it out if you haven’t already. Eddie takes a couple hard bumps in it especially for the time period. A Running Piledriver on the floor gives Funk the win. I’d say it was easily **½ to ***

• Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko- NJPW “Best of the Super Juniors” (6/15/93)
  

Obviously this is the pre-Black Tiger period for Eddie as he just basically reps Mexico at this point for the tournament. Both guys are real tentative to start until Malenko kicks out of a test of strength and launches Guerrero into the air off a whip. They go to the floor where Guerrero tosses Malenko into the guardrail and the ringpost. Eddie hits a Hilo back in the ring and grabs a chinlock. They trade headscissors which leads to a stalemate. Nice exchange there. Guerrero now goes after the leg to set up the eventual figure-four but Malenko turns it over into the ropes and staggers Eddie with an enziguri. Fisherman suplex gets two for Eddie. Rollup gets another two. Malenko takes a dropkick out to the floor so that Eddie can give him a springboard crossbody from the top rope (!!) as Malenko is leaned up against the guardrail. Awesome. Definitely the highlight of the match. They make it back in the ring where Guerrero Germans Malenko for 1-2-NO! Bridging powerbomb gets two! Eddie ducks low off a whip, so Malenko catches him and delivers a Tiger Driver for 1-2-NO! Dean wants another powerbomb, but Eddie counters into a rana for 1-2-NO! Eddie wants another rana, but Dean counters *that* into a powerbomb and goes for the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF! Eddie has nowhere to go, so he has no choice but to tap out. (9:42) Looks like it could have been a Nitro match that net fans would’ve went nuts over. Just a real fun match. Maybe I’m overrating it a bit, but I really enjoyed it and that’s all that matters. ****

We skip ahead through Eddie’s time in monumental year in Mexico and Japan in 1994, as well as his year spent in ECW in 1995. Sorry I just can’t cover everything. There’s still plenty of good here!

• Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit – WCW Saturday Night (11/18/95)
  

Benoit and Guerrero were putting on some great matches during the early days of Nitro and even on the muthaship Saturday Night show. This is one of those matches and in my opinion, the best of the series. Huge “Eddie” chants go up to begin things as he had already gained a decent audience inside WCW considering the short span of time since he had left ECW back when all he really did to get over was wrestle. I was one of those people. Of course I was only nine years old, but still. Benoit had just recently been chosen to join the 4 Horsemen along with Flair, AA and Pillman. Definitely a notch up from when Roma held up the four fingers. Can I get a witness? Amen. Some nice mat wrestling to start from these two. Benoit really works the arms during that exchange. They go into a great rollup sequence. Benoit wants a powerbomb, but Eddie counters and armdrags Benoit to the floor. Finally, Tony and Dusty are getting into the match. Eddie follows him out with a pescado. “Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!” Back in they go, Eddie hits a Hilo for two. Guerrero applies his daddy’s hold – the Gory Special. Eddie goes from that to a camel clutch for more stretching. Fisherman suplex into a floatover gets two. Guerrero delivers a headscissors out of the corner, but gets DRILLED with a Benoit clothesline. Benoit dares the crowd to chant “Eddie” some more as he delivers a back suplex. Swandive Headbutt is forthcoming, but Eddie moves! Eddie wants a torso rollup, but they botch it and Eddie still manages to get two. Benoit gets a rollup of his own for two. They do a standing switch which gets another two for Benoit. Eddie then slips out of a powerbomb and delivers Splash Mountain for 1-2-NO! Uh oh, Brainbuster connects! Cover, 1-2-NO! Eddie heads up top, but gets crotched. Benoit brings Eddie down to the mat with a back superplex! That knocks them both out as the ref counts ten on both guys. (11:56) Excellent back and forth match. I don’t even really mind the ending because it shows just how spent both guys were and how much of themselves they gave here. ****¼

• Black Tiger II vs. Jushin Liger – NJPW “Best of the Super Juniors” Final (6/12/96)
  

So we saw one of Eddie’s first matches from Japan and now we check out one of his last matches under the Black Tiger mask. This was actually the last Super Junior tournament that included Benoit, Eddie, and Dean who had all been regulars since 1993. Winner of this one gets an IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title shot against the Great Sasuke. Both guys have everything to gain and nothing to lose. A win here for Liger would grant him the opportunity to regain the title for the unprecedented eighth time, while Eddie could wind up winning some Japanese gold for the first time. Liger offers a handshake, but Tiger lets him know exactly what he thinks of handshakes. Black Tiger is just not a handshake kind-of-guy. Maybe if Liger wanted a high-five, he would be down for it though. But handshakes? No. Nice series of mat sequences to start. We catch a glimpse of Benoit and Otani watching on from the floor as Tiger has Liger in a modified STF. Tiger maneuvers over into a camel clutch, but escapes to the floor once Liger breaks loose. Back in, Tiger ranas out of a test of strength that takes Liger to the floor. Liger dares Tiger to join him and when Tiger heads to the top, Liger runs away. Haha, wuss. Tiger works the leg and slingshots himself on a leg as its draped across the apron. Tiger grabs a figure-four and Liger tries to block it by grabbing Tiger’s foot, but that doesn’t work out for him. Instead, Liger twists on Tiger’s free ankle until he turns the hold over to reverse the pressure! I love obvious counters that are never used! They roll into the ropes and now its Liger working the leg and applying the surfboard. Awesome. Liger goes from there to the camel clutch – giving Tiger a taste of his own medicine. He delivers a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Liger then applies an ab stretch on the mat and rolls him over for another two. Tiger escapes a short-arm scissors and powerbombs Liger to set up a Hilo. Tiger returns to the leg with a legbar, but Liger makes the ropes and grabs a headscissors. He whips Tiger into the corner and follows him in with a Rolling Koppo Kick. Tiger flips out to the apron off a whip, but takes a palm strike to the face that sends him from the top to the floor! Liger flies out onto Tiger from the top turnbuckle. Tiger makes it back in the ring, but then avoids a charge and sends Liger falling out to the floor. Liger sees the pescado coming and moves out of the way, but he’s quickly sent hard into the guardrail and slammed on the concrete. Tiger takes a chance by leaping off the top onto Liger to give him his receipt. Back in again, Black Tiger hits knees off a flying bodypress. La Majistral cradle by Liger gets 1-2-NO! Fisherman buster gets 1-2-NO! Tiger gets a torso rollup out of nowhere for two. Liger nails him with a palm strike for two. SWEET release German sets up the LIGER BOMB! That gets 1-2-NO! Oh snap. Tiger shoves off a tornado DDT and KILLS Liger with a Brainbuster! I’m sorry – BRAINBUSTAAAAAA! BLACK TIGER BOMB! 1-2-NO! That means Tiger is going to have to take this a step further. Tiger takes Liger to the top for a TOP-ROPE BRAINBUSTAAAAAA, but Liger lands on Tiger instead for 1-2-NO! Liger then jumps down on Tiger’s arm and hooks a crucifix armbar! Ahh, but Tiger gets his foot on the bottom rope. Liger places Tiger on the top rope for a possible top-rope brainbuster, but Tiger kicks him away. Liger charges at Tiger, but now he’s placed on the top! This time Tiger gets the TOP-ROPE BRAINBUSTAAAAAA! 1-2-3! Tiger wins! (18:44) Fantastic match. Not to the extent of some of the other Super J finals classics, but definitely one to check out. Eddie would receive the Jr. Heavyweight title shot against the Great Sasuke, but he came up short in a great match – making it his swan song in New Japan as the Black Tiger. At least until a short period in 1998 anyway. ****½

• WCW Cruiserweight Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko – House Show (9/18/97)
  

This was Eddie at his most over period in WCW. He was an integral part of the success of the Cruiserweight division during the second half of ’97 and gave it personality that it never had before. If you aren’t watching this, then I suggest you click the play button because it’s a fine watch. The crowd is all over Eddie for the entire match as he is at the pinnacle of his slimy heel character. Personally I think it got real silly with the Chavo feud and lost his appeal, but that’s just me. Eddie wants a handshake and then blindsides Malenko with a clothesline to piss the crowd off even more. He follows up with a dropkick and takes Dean to the corner for some European uppercuts and chops. Dean moves away from the Hilo and armdrags Eddie off the top. Eddie cowers away in the corner and begs off so Dean stomps him down. The ref wants a conference with Dean to get him out of the corner, so Eddie tries to cheapshot him again. Dean turns around just in time as Eddie drops to his knees to beg some more. Eddie wants another handshake. Oh Dean will shake your hand alright. AND THEN HE’LL CLOTHESLINE YOU IN THE FACE! Eddie takes a walk, but strong “Eddie sucks!” chants bring him back to the ring. A far cry from what we heard just two years before in the Benoit match. Malenko catches him with another clothesline to send him running again. Back in, we get a test of strength (not before Eddie shows us how ripped he is). Dean wins that by twisting the wrists and then stomping the hands. Another clothesline! Cover gets two. Eddie immediately takes over with a dropkick to the knee. Eddie slingshots onto Malenko’s leg across the apron and then taunts the crowd a little bit. “Eddie sucks!” He grabs a legbar, followed by a dropkick to the knee while Dean is stuck in the tree of woe. That sets up a figure-four. Dean tries to block it with his hand and then manages to get to the ropes. Eddie stays on the knee and uses the ropes for leverage like a master. That is until the ref finally catches him, drawing more thunderous “Eddie sucks!” chants. Hilo to the knee! Sweet. Eddie grapevines the leg and bridges back as the crowd starts to get behind Dean. He finally kicks Eddie off and drills him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Eddie lands on his feet off a swank-looking monkey flip, but gets shoved off the top crotch-first on the ropes to ruin his night. The crowd freakin’ loves it. Eddie comes back and dumps Dean out to the floor to slow him down. Back in, Eddie counters a powerbomb into a sunset flip for 1-2-NO! Holy crap was that smooth. Eddie tries a rana, but Dean counters *that* into a powerbomb. TEXAS CLOVERLEAF? No! Eddie scurries to the ropes. Eddie charges at Dean in the corner, but instead gets launched face-first into the top turnbuckle. Double-underhook sets up the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF this time! The ref gets tripped up by Eddie as he tries to avoid the hold at all cost, but he winds up reaching the ropes anyway. Dean whips Eddie in the corner and follows in, but Eddie catches him for a slam and gets the Ric Flair corner pin for 1-2-3. (18:09) Textbook heel vs. face match. Eddie did all the right things to make you hate his guts and the Dean comebacks came at just the right time. Excellent match. I might even be underrating this. ****¼

• WCW Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Eddie Guerrero – WCW Nitro (11/10/97)
  

The first Eddie/Rey rematch from Halloween Havoc. They set the bar so high with that match that there was no way they could ever surpass with these rematches. Nevertheless, Eddie wants him some of Rey. I know that because he attacks Rey at the bell. He gives him a SICK gutwrench backbreaker, followed by a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Eddie lands on his feet off a monkey flip, but gets caught with a headscissors. A monkey flip and a dropkick puts Eddie on the floor as Rey flips over the ropes and gives Eddie another headscissors takedown. Back in, Eddie gives Rey a superplex for 1-2-NO! Rey comes back with a springboard rana for 1-2-NO! Like I’ve said before, there’s a poetic fluidity in Eddie’s matches. Quebrada gets two. Split-legged moonsault hits knees. Then Eddie dropkicks Rey in the shoulder blades. Rey temporarily stops a powerbomb, but then Eddie whips Rey into the ropes and hoists him high into the air for a crash landing. Rey still manages to avoid the powerbomb and delivers the SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT DDT, but its botched pretty badly. Definitely not the pretty one we saw at HH. Rey looks to put Eddie away with the SPRINGBOARD HURRACANRANA, but Eddie catches him and drops him throat-first on the top-rope! FROG SPLASH! Cover, 1-2-3. Ladies and gents, we’ve got a title change. (5:59) Well they sure crammed a lot of action in six minutes. Good match, but completely lackluster when you know what they were capable of. After the match, Malenko walks down and gives Guerrero a stern look to let him know he’s around. ***¼

• Eddie Guerrero & Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko & Chavo Guerrero Jr. – WCW Nitro (2/9/98
  

Such a missed opportunity for WCW with a team like Eddie and Jericho. This match basically transitions the feuds around. Eddie/Dean would change over to Jericho/Dean for the cruiserweight belt, while Chavo/Eddie would get into their heated family rivalry that would last through the summer. We’re in Eddie’s hometown (and Chavo’s too, by the way) of El Paso in case you’re wondering what all the “Eddie” chants are about. Eddie dumps Chavo at the bell, but Chavo’s the one sending Eddie into the guardrail. Back in they go, they trade some serious chops. Chavo delivers a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and dropkicks Eddie to the point where he’s got to tag out to Jericho. Jericho’s still wearing the CW belt, but that’s just silly. You can’t wrestle with a belt on! “Jericho sucks!” Chavo snaps off a headscissors and connects with a springboard face slam before he tags in Malenko. What a face pop for Dean. He nails Jericho with the running shin kick and forearms Eddie off the apron to the guardrail! Malenko catches Jericho coming off the middle-rope and turns him over for the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF! But Dean, Eddie’s on the top and he’s going to missile dropkick you from behind. Bam. Down goes Dean. Eddie tags as the chants go up. He nails Dean with a back elbow and then applies an ab stretch while getting a little leverage help from “the paragon of virtue” Chris Jericho. Malenko armdrags out, but gets run down with a clothesline. Jericho tags and together he and Eddie run Malenko down again this time with a double shoulderblock. That gets two. Jericho hits the suplex-YEAH BABY cover. That’s followed by a Hilo from Eddie and a slingshot splash from Jericho for two. Malenko comes back with knee strikes to the face and a suplex. That offensive flurry took a lot out of Dean, allowing Eddie to hit him with a slingshot legdrop out of nowhere. Awesome. Eddie tags as the heels make-a-wish on Malenko. Dean gets a burst of energy and desperately launches Eddie throat-first on the top-rope before he hits a quick back suplex. Jericho cuts off the hot tag and then taunts Chavo. Double-underhook backbreaker gets 1-2-NO! Lionsault misses, and Chavo gets the hot tag. He goes DROPKICK CRAZY on the heels until he misses one and then he gets stomped big time. Malenko catches Eddie in the back with a knee from the apron while Chavo hits a release German suplex on Jericho. Eddie knocks Dean off the apron and then shoves Chavo off the top-rope to the mat. He’s easy pickings for the LIONTAMER. Tappity tap tap. It’s over. (9:04) Motivation was on their side in this one. Everything was crisp and the heat segment couldn’t have been done better. ****

Yeah, I’m going to skip the whole Filthy Animals time period. It’s a shame there’s no LWO stuff on these two streaming sites. At least if there is, I haven’t seen it. As for his time spent in the Radicalz, his time with Chyna and his indy stuff, can you really think of any matches that are worth sticking in this recap?

• WWE IC Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. Rob Van Dam – WWE Judgment Day (5/19/02)
  

After battling his addictions that got him released from his WWF contract and nearly killed him in November of 2001, Eddie made a triumph return in April of 2002. He was immediately put in this feud with Rob Van Dam who at the time was the most popular wrestler in the company – defeating RVD for the IC belt at Backlash. Quick start with a ton of nearfalls for RVD. Eddie’s “Latino Heat” acts up and he’s on the floor all pissed. Back in, RVD catches Eddie with a foot out of the corner and connects with a split-legged moonsault. King ~ “I think RVD saw too many of those movies with people kicking each other. What are they called? JR ~ “Martial arts movies?” RVD kicks away at the lower back and follows up with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. RVD using PSYCHOLOGY~! Now it’s surfboard time. RVD tries to get a pin out of it, but Eddie rolls the shoulder up at two. RVD throws him off and hits a standing moonsault for another two. The ref gets in between the two, allowing Eddie to get in a cheapshot on RVD to take over. Eddie foot-chokes RVD down into the corner and then grinds his wrist tape across his face. RVD comes back with a pair of monkey flips. Then he hits Rolling Thunder for 1-2-NO! Ooo. Eddie flips out of a suplex into a rollup for two. Man that was sweet. Too bad though, RVD connects with the stepover heel kick and calls for the FIVE STAR FROG SPLASH. Eddie’s there to crotch him good before anything bad happens. Eddie walks out of the corner with RVD and powerbombs him down. He goes up for the FROG SPLASH, but there’s nobody home. RVD nails Eddie with a roundhouse kick and heads up again for the FIVE-STAR, but he misses as well. Both men are up at the nine-count. They get pumped up and run the ropes, as RVD hits a crossbody for 1-2-NO! RVD counters a European uppercut into a backslide for two. Now Eddie avoids a roundhouse and backslides RVD with his feet on the ropes for 1-2-3! (11:00) Great match that’s overshadowed by the awesome ladder match from two weeks later. If there was anybody who could bring the best out of RVD as far as building a solid match, it’s Eddie Guerrero. ****

• Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge – No Holds Barred – WWE Smackdown (9/26/02)

The Eddie/Edge feud just kept getting better and better with matches at SummerSlam and Unforgiven, but here they had the ultimate opportunity to outshine those two other great matches. I remember this being one of the all-time best episodes of Smackdown too. Not only did it have this match, but also the Benoit/Angle/Rey triple-threat match in the main event. Edge monkey flips Eddie, but gets backed into the corner as Eddie takes over. Eddie uses the ropes to cover Edge after a hotshot. He can, because it’s NO HOLDS BARRED! Eddie enziguris out of an armbar and hits a suplex for two. Edge elbows out of a chinlock and hits a powerslam. Eddie meets him at the top and gives him a superplex! Slow cover, 1-2-NO! Eddie tries to rana Edge, but he’s caught up on his shoulders and dropped down throat-first on the ropes. Clothesline puts Eddie out on the floor. Edge follows him out and whips out a ladder from underneath the ring. This is NO HOLDS BARRED! He tries to ram Eddie with it, but Eddie ducks and the ref gets creamed. That’s what the ref gets for being out on the floor. Eddie grabs a chair and smacks Edge in the back with it. Back in, he brings the chair with him to beat on Edge’s ribs. Eddie’s feelin’ froggy, but Edge moves out of the way as we go to commercial. During the break, Edge got a nearfall after a spear as a new ref ran down to count. After the break, Eddie controls with a sleeper. Edge breaks loose and hits a half-nelson bulldog for two. Edge heads up to the middle rope, but Eddie ranas him down for two. Eddie walks the ropes and tries to spring off for another rana, but Edge counters with a powerbomb. Edge brings the ladder into the ring and Eddie dropkicks it back in his face. Now Eddie brings a second ladder into the ring and ladder sandwiches Edge for a Hilo! Both guys obviously hurting – Eddie takes too long to cover and only gets two. Eddie sets up a ladder in the corner and looks to FROG SPLASH Edge off it, but Edge meets him at the top. Eddie starts slamming Edge’s face into the top of ladder and then delivers a SUNSET FLIP POWERBOMB! Another slow cover gets 1-2-NO! Eddie props Edge onto the ladder in the corner and charges, but Edge backdrops him into the ladder! Edge sets up the other ladder in the corner and climbs up, but Eddie meets him at the top again. Edge slugs at Eddie and slams his face on the top of the ladder before giving Eddie an EDGECUTION OFF THE LADDER! Cover, 1-2-3! (16:44 shown) Holy crap. How can you not love this match? ****¼

• WWE Tag Team Champions Eddie & Chavo Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle – WWE Smackdown (11/28/02)
  

After the newly created Smackdown tag belts were used for a game of hot potato amongst the Smackdown Six since its inception a month before at No Mercy, the belts finally found a home with Eddie and Chavo at Survivor Series. At least for a few months anyway. Benoit and Angle were always trying to one-up each other in the ring and therefore can’t get anything accomplished like regaining the tag titles for instance. Ahh, who cares. Enjoy these four from the Smackdown Six! Angle gives Benoit a slap on the ol’ butt cheeks and when Benoit gives him a weird look, Angle responds with the “It’s okay, I play baseball!” look. Nice. Benoit and Chavo start the match. Eddie tries to sneak a knee in on Benoit, but he doesn’t play that and gives Los Guerreros tilt-a-whirl backbreakers to put them on the floor to regroup. Angle and Eddie tag. He slams Los Guerreros as well and sends them out again to the floor. While Angle and Benoit argue over who’s better, Eddie runs in and takes a German. Benoit saves Angle from Chavo and gives him a German. Angle and Benoit then get into a shoving contest, but then they give Los Guerreros STEREO GERMANS! Sweet. Eddie and Chavo take their belts and head up the ramp to take the countout loss while Benoit and Angle get in each others faces, but the senior ref Mike Chioda uses his fancy refereeing powers and demands the champs return to the ring. Commercial break! We come back and Eddie is stretching Benoit down on the mat. Chavo tags in for a double basement dropkick to Benoit for two. Chavo then dropkicks Eddie off the apron by accident and runs into the CRIPPLER CROSSFACE. Eddie breaks it up, drawing Angle in so he and Chavo can switch without a tag. Benoit hits a back suplex to escape a chinlock. Crowd wants Angle, as Chavo clotheslines Benoit down from the apron. Double-suplex from the Guerreros gets two. Eddie connects with a Hilo, but Benoit comes back by launching Eddie in the air. Chavo runs in and takes a suplex on TOP of Eddie! Angle gets the hot tag! German to Chavo! Release Belly-to-Belly Suplex to Eddie! Cover, 1-2-NO! Chavo saves, but Angle blind tags Benoit. He starts the Rolling Germans on Chavo, but Eddie breaks it up. Benoit delivers a German to Eddie and hits the Swandive Headbutt! Cover, 1-2-NO! Chavo gets rid of Benoit, but flies over the top when he goes after Angle. He tries the Rolling Germans on Eddie, but his trick knee acts up and Angle gets kicked in the balls. That pesky knee. Angle avoids the FROG SPLASH and hits the ANGLE SLAM! ANGLE SLAM to Chavo! Angle feels he’s done all the work, so when Benoit runs in and applies the CRIPPLER CROSSFACE on Eddie, he’s pretty pissed! He pulls him off Eddie and grabs an ANKLELOCK. Now Benoit shoves Angle away and they start arguing again like a couple of old married folks who need some serious counseling. Chavo runs up and decks Angle, but then Benoit drops him with a German. CRIPPLER CROSSFACE+ANKLELOCK to Eddie! Mike Chioda pulls Angle off of Eddie and gets shoved down by accident. Chavo breaks up the Crossface with a dropkick to Benoit and kicks Angle out to the floor, as he delivers a FROG SPLASH to Benoit. Eddie covers as the ref wakes up for 1-2-NO! Then Chioda goes back to his nap. Eddie heads up top because now he’s feelin’ froggy, but then Angle runs in out of nowhere and armdrags him down! DOWN COME THE STRAPS! Angle means business now. The ref remembers that Angle isn’t legal and tries to get him out of the ring. Meanwhile, Chavo sneaks in and decks Benoit with the belt. Eddie covers again and this time, he gets three. (12:37 shown) Lots of action, but a very short heat segment. The match wasn’t really long enough to build to that kind of chaos at the end just yet. Not a bad match though and pretty much standard Thursday night stuff at the time. ***½

• WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Eddie Guerrero – WWE No Way Out (2/15/04)

Eddie won a 15-man Royal Rumble match on Smackdown a few weeks prior to set up this match. Champ enters first, because San Francisco LOVES them some Eddie Guerrero. Lesnar overpowers Eddie and yells “You ain’t nothing, Eddie!” I’m only guessing the University of Minnesota doesn’t have a strong English program. Brock’s mind games doesn’t seem to bother Eddie, so Lesnar takes action and kicks him down in the corner. The “Eddie” chants get him going for a moment, but Lesnar buries a knee and takes back control. Brock runs into a boot in the corner and Eddie tries a rana, but Brock catches him for a modified giant swing. Lesnar delivers a pair of Release Belly-to-Belly Suplexes and hits Eddie with a running knee in the corner. Cole and Tazz have already given up on Eddie five minutes into this thing. Another Release Belly-to-Belly Suplex puts Eddie out on the floor to gain a breather. Brock keeps knocking Eddie off the apron until Eddie goes low and hotshots him so he can wrap Lesnar’s leg around the post. Eddie breaks the count, but rolls back out and gets yanked into the ringpost. Back in, a delayed fisherman buster gets 1-2-NO! Brock grabs a rear naked choke + body scissors. Eddie manages to jawbreaker out and then slips out of a guerilla press to dropkick Brock in the knee. Oh! Just like that, Brock drills Eddie with a clothesline. Lesnar hits a release German and goes to work on the mid-section in the corner. Lesnar goes for another running knee in the corner, but this time Eddie moves out of the way! That causes Lesnar to go flying out to the floor! Eddie uses almost all of his energy for a pescado on Brock. Both guys barely make it back in at the nine-count. Eddie kicks away at the knee and then delivers a back suplex. Eddie charges at Brock, but gets launched into the air for a hotshot. Slow cover gets two for Brock. He then sits on top of Eddie and continues with the trash talking, so Eddie grabs a leg and starts twisting until he locks into an STF. Holy crap that was great. Brock powers out, but Eddie stays on the knee. He tries a figure-four, but Brock’s legs are too big! Brock kicks him off after a few more attempts and then gives Eddie another Release Belly-to-Belly. Eddie flips out of a suplex and hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. He dropkicks the knee and finally gets that figure-four locked in. Brock makes the ropes, but my gosh Eddie is persistent with breaking down the knee. He hooks on a deathlock and then changes over to the STF again! Once Eddie lets Brock get to his feet, he explodes with another release German. Eddie runs into a spinebuster for two. Brock reverts to the rear naked choke + body scissors hold. Eddie makes it to his feet and crashes Brock’s face into the middle turnbuckle to escape the choke. He heads up top and tries a missile dropkick, but Brock completely avoids it. He follows up with a suplex and screams “Just die, Eddie!” Sad. Brock grabs a gutwrench on the mat and once Eddie’s to his feet again, he tosses him away. Back to the gutwrench. Eddie talks to God and gets out of the gutwrench! He dropkicks Brock in the knee and then the head. Another tilt-a-whirl headscissors connects. Lesnar misses a corner charge – setting up the Three Amigos! Eddie calls for the FROG SPLASH and comes off the top, but there’s nobody home. Uh oh, F-5! Lucky for Eddie, the ref got kicked in the head during the move. The crowd looks to the entrance ramp and expects Goldberg to do something. Lesnar grabs his belt and HERE COMES GOLDBERG! Spear! Have a great night, Bill. The crowd feels a title change is imminent. Eddie slowly covers for 1-2-NO! With the ref still kind of out of it, Eddie grabs the belt to nail Lesnar, but he ducks and hoists Eddie up for the F-5! No! Eddie counters and DDT’s Lesnar on the belt! Sort of! Eddie gets rid of the belt and climbs up top for the FROG SPLASH! The ref wakes up again and counts 1-2-3! Eddie wins his one and only WWE championship. (29:52) The most gratifying moments in wrestling that keep you watching is when you see your favorites get their due and this was definitely one of those moments. I don’t even feel like the Goldberg interference ruined anything because it didn’t lead directly to the finish, yet it was booked perfectly to pay off the earlier confrontation in the night and continues a major feud right into WrestleMania. It’s simple thinking ahead booking. Excellent match with a great finish to boot. ****½

• WWE Champion JBL vs. Eddie Guerrero – Cage Match – WWE Smackdown (7/15/04)

So JBL, who a year before was known as the beer-drinking, poker-playing, rough-housing Texan who got paid to protect people who went by the name of Bradshaw no more than five months earlier, is now WWE champion. A guy who was seemingly stuck in the mid-card for life is now on top of the wrestling world. Now he’s a clean-cut chubby millionaire who turns out has some pretty neat mic skills and makes you forget all about Bradshaw. This is the rubber match to close out the feud. JBL blocks a couple cage shots and instead gets leveled with a back suplex. Eddie ducks a big boot, but can’t avoid being sent head-first into the cage. JBL’s already had enough and starts to climb out. Eddie pulls him back in, but runs into a fallaway slam. JBL climbs up the cage again, but no way is Eddie done just yet. They slug it out on the top rope until Eddie smashes JBL’s face into the top of the cage, sending him crashing to the mat. The crowd wants to see a FROG SPLASH, but JBL moves out of harm’s way. JBL tries another climb, but Eddie crotches him on the top rope for two. Cole ~ “JBL just managed to kick the shoulder out.” Three Amigos! JBL meets Eddie on the top for a superplex. Commercial break! We’re back and JBL is in control. Eddie cuts off a CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL with a dropkick. Then Eddie kicks JBL square in the balls for 1-2-NO! JBL slows Eddie down with a spinebuster for two. Eddie then prevents JBL from climbing out the cage with a Russian legsweep from the top rope. Eddie breaks loose from a sleeper by sending JBL crashing face-first through the ropes into the cage. Eddie sends JBL again into the cage. That gets two. They trade blows, leading to a CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL! Cover, 1-2-NO! We break for commercials one last time. After the break, JBL wants to fallaway slam Eddie into the cage like he was an Irish bastard midget or something, but Eddie counters with a DDT! Eddie starts to climb and hangs from the top of the cage rim, but JBL pulls him back in just in time. Jackknife Powerbomb follows. That gets two and JBL can’t freakin’ believe it. They both fight on the top turnbuckle for a bit. Eddie kicks JBL down to the mat – making it easy for him to just climb out and win the belt. Instead of climbing out like a normal person, Eddie turns around and sees JBL lying there set in perfect position for a FROG SPLASH OFF THE CAGE! Awesome. Jimmy Snuka would be proud. The impact hurts Eddie as well and takes him a while to cover, so he only gets two. The crowd starts to boo. Both guys now climb up to the rim of the cage. They start to trade blows as Eddie’s so-called buddy the El Gran Luchadore climbs into the cage and grabs hold of Eddie’s legs so that JBL can climb down to the floor and retain his title. (21:10 shown) This had an old school Muraco/Snuka feel to it with the one high spot which will be the only thing people will probably remember from the match. Otherwise though, a very good brawl. El Gran Luchadore turns out to be the then-current Smackdown GM Kurt Angle – leading to Angle being fired as GM and Angle/Guerrero II at SummerSlam. ***½

• Eddie Guerrero vs. Ken Kennedy – WWE Smackdown (11/11/05)
  

Mr. Kennedy’s not a boy, and not quite a man either as people haven’t started calling him mister just yet. After the great Eddie/Rey feud that turned horribly bad by SummerSlam with the Dominic custody battle and then the building of the friendship with Batista, Eddie was finally turning around and coming back to being the lovable “lyin’, cheatin’ and stealin'” lovable babyface that everyone had been missing. This was the last match of Eddie Guerrero’s life. Maybe it’s just because I know that it is his last match, but it sounds like the crowd is cheering just a little bit louder for him tonight. Even Cole notices it. Winner of this match joins the Smackdown team against Raw at Survivor Series. Basic stuff to start. Kennedy then fakes a handshake and smacks Eddie across the face. Eddie laughs it off and then pokes Kennedy in the eye. His ‘Latino Heat’ acts up – causing him to go nuts on Kennedy in the corner. Kennedy yanks Eddie into the corner and hits the Running Face Wash. That gets two. Eddie delivers a back suplex to escape a hammerlock and connects with a pair of clotheslines. Three Amigos! Kennedy flips out of the third suplex and the ref gets bumped. Eddie smirks because it’s cheatin’ time! He grabs a chair and when he notices the ref is about to get back on his feet, he smacks the chair against the mat, tosses it to Kennedy, and sprawls out on the mat. The ref heard the noise and sees the evidence in Kennedy’s hands, so he DQ’s him to give Eddie the win! (5:01) Apparently the unwritten rule that says “the ref can only call what he sees” is thrown out of the unwritten rulebook. Since he’s blamed for what happened anyway, Kennedy goes ahead and WHACKS Eddie with the chair for real. While his life was truly cut short, I think this was a great way for Eddie to go out.**¼

Final Thoughts: Like I said earlier, this is my favorite and I believe my best mixtape to date. Eddie Guerrero will always be one of my all-time favorite wrestlers and this was a joy to complete. I hope you enjoy watching these matches as much as I did. RIP Eddie. You are still missed.