Mask match which is still held in high regard by fans to this day.ĭespite his success and popularity, Guerrero had been one of many wrestlers who were frustrated at never being given a chance to be main event stars in WCW.
He had a series of outstanding matches with Rey Mysterio for the Cruiserweight title eventually losing losing the title to him at Halloween Havoc in a Title vs. The villainous Guerrero demanded a rematch and in the opening match of Fall Brawl 1997, Guerrero finally bested Jericho to win the Cruiserweight title. He wrestled Jericho for the title at Clash of the Champions XXXV but lost. Guerrero was finally able to capture the title in a tournament for the vacant championship defeating rival DDP, whom he had feuded with for much of the year, in the final round at Starrcade 1996.Īfter losing the United States Heavyweight Championship, Guerrero feuded with Jericho focusing on Jericho’s Cruiserweight Championship. In 1996, Guerrero received several shots at the United States Championship against Konnan at Uncensored and Ric Flair at Hog Wild. Guerrero landed WCW in late 1995 along with Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit with whom he had worked with in NJPW and ECW, these were to become the relationships that defined much of Eddie’s career. Eddie had endeared himself so much to the ECW faithful the crowd chanted “please don’t go” as he paraded around the ring.
After his last match for ECW against, the locker room emptied and the two were carried around the ring by their fellow wrestlers. He went on to have a series of legendary matches with Dean Malenko leading to both of them being signed with World Championship Wrestling later that year. Eddie won the ECW World Television Championship in his debut match for Extreme Championship Wrestling, beating 2 Cold Scorpio. Barr’s death affected Guerrero deeply as he had come to view Art as a brother more than a partner. Barr, however, died before he could join ECW with Guerrero. Guerrero’s big break in America came when he and Art Barr were noticed in late 1994 by the owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Paul Heyman, and were approached about wrestling for the promotion in 1995.
In 1993, Guerrero began wrestling in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he was known as the second incarnation of Black Tiger, winning annual Best of the Super Juniors 1996 tournament, one of the most prestigious of all New Japan’s many tournaments. Guerrero eventually turned on Santo and allied with Art Barr as La Pareja del Terror (The Pair of Terror), the duo became arguably the most hated tag team in lucha libre history. There was no doubt in Eddie’s mind that he would follow in his Dad’s footsteps and enter the family business.Įddie wrestled mainly for the famed AAA promotion (Asistencia Asesoría y Administración), teaming with El Hijo Santo as a replacement for his father.
Guerrero graduated from Jefferson High School and attended the University of New Mexico as New Mexico Highlands University on an athletic scholarship where he wrestled before going to Mexico to train as a professional wrestler.