EP.13 - Guerrero vs Mysterio - “If you're not cheating, you're not trying”

August 21st 2005 saw the WWE holding their 18th annual Summerslam PPV event. The MCI Center in Washington, DC is witnessing a ladder match for the ages between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Myesterio. The WWE universe has been enveloped by this heated rivalry, this very personal blood feud between these two men from storied lucha heritages. So, what are we getting? mask versus mask? Nope. Legacy versus Legacy? Na Na, this, my friend, is custody match to determine who the father of Dominick Mysterioh What the fuck… OK you know what, hit the time machine gimmick, we gotta roll this back with a rewind

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Transcript

EP: 13

TITLE: Eddie vs Rey

INTRO:

August 21st 2005 saw the WWE holding their 18th annual Summerslam PPV event. The MCI Center in Washington, DC is witnessing a ladder match for the ages between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Myesterio. The WWE universe has been enveloped by this heated rivalry, this very personal blood feud between these two men from storied lucha heritages. So, what are we getting? mask versus mask? Nope. Legacy versus Legacy? Na Na, this, my friend, is custody match to determine who the father of Dominick Mysterioh What the fuck… OK you know what, hit the time machine gimmick, we gotta roll this back with a rewind. 

theme music

Chapter 1:

Welcome to the rewind I’m your host Benza Lance 

Before we get started this week, I just wanted to address something that has been brought to my attention over the last handful of episodes. I have been trying to do a deeper dive into the lives of the talent that we’re discussing in order to ingratiate them more do you, the fan. I figured a little bit of a bio, a little glimpse into their pasts, was an addition to our narratives that helped paint a more complete picture. It never was, nor will it ever be, my intention to disrespect professional wrestlers by using their “government name” as opposed to their ring name. This was not done in an intentionally disrespectful way on my part, however, I can completely understand that exuding that level of familiarity with people that I don’t have a personal relationship with can be a little disingenuous, and for that I apologize. For example, I’ve never met Taz, and even if I had, I definitely wouldn't be calling him “Pete”, as I haven’t earned that level of respect and familiarity with said talent. Once again, I mean no disrespect to the talents that have been covered previously or do I mean any disrespect to the talents that will be discussing here or in episodes after this one. My most sincere apologies. 

And now that that little bit of housekeeping is out of the way, let’s hop right into our rivalry for this week.

Both Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio come from famed wrestling heritages. For those not that familiar with lucha libre, its history is rich and dates into the 1800s. Both the Guerreros and the Misterios have long storied histories in Mexico. Gory Guerrero, for example, made his debut in September of 1937, and would have not just a remarkable in ring career that not only saw him tag at times with legend El Santo, but Gory would also be credited with having an innovative mind, inventing a multitude of moves, most recognizable to the majority of fans being the Camel Clutch. Gory’s brother in laws were all luchadors as well, and the family tree for the Guerreros has many branches. Not Bloodline levels, but impressive nonetheless. Gory would have 6 children, 2 girls and 4 boys; all four boys would end up in professional wrestling. It’s his youngest, Eddie, that is probably the most well known, and one the men responsible for sparking my interest in wrestling when I was younger. Eddie was born in 1967 in El Paso, Texas. Growing up in a family such as his, it was predestined that Eddie would end up in the ring one day. His lucha career would start in the promotion CMLL, which is the oldest professional wrestling company still in existence. Wrestling under a mask as the original Mascara Magica, Guerrero would start building his name up in the lucha world. A move over to the AAA promotion led to a teaming with the son of his father’s old tag partner, El Hijo del Santo. Guerrero would ultimately turn heel on Santo and would align himself with PNW wrestler Art Barr; their team, La Pareja del Terror (the terror pair), would lead the duo into becoming no doubt the most hated tag team in lucha libre history. Joining their forces would be Konnan, and the legendary stable Los Gringos Locos was born. Others would join, and the group would grow into becoming the preeminent heel stable in wrestling for a time. La Pareja del Terror would feud with El Hijo del Santo and Octagon, with that feud culminating with the first ever lucha libre only ppv event to air in the US during the “When Worlds Collide” event. This helped get not only lucha libra national exposure in America for largely the first time, but also helped draw attention to the young Guerrero. There was also interest in his friend and partner Art Barr; unfortunately, Barr would pass away less than 3 weeks after this ppv due to a drug induced heart attack. An iconic stint in NJPW as Black Tiger II cemented Guerrero’s status as a top level cruiserweight. Back stateside, runs in both ECW and WCW propelled Eddie firmly into that upper midcard spotlight. Technically, Guerrero was beyond sound, and had the pedigree to back it up due to his lineage. As is the case with most lucha wrestlers, it was his height that would always prove to be his “deficiency”. Being 5’8” in the mid and late 90s was not a tenable height to be when you had aspirations to be main event level talent. While he had lapses in judgment sometimes, as we all do, Eddit had a laser focus on making himself a main event talent, and history would show us that he would indeed get there. While he was on the shorter side of life in comparison to most talents, Eddie’s enviable charisma could turn any rotten lemon you handed him into the finest lemonade you’ve ever tasted. His work as Latino Heat, his television relationship with Chyna as his Mamacita, his run with cousin Chavo Guerrero Jr as Los Guerreros…i’m literally wearing a Latino Heat hat as i record this, i cannot say enough about how much classic work Eddie was able to produce in a short time. His career in just the WWE is nothing short of outstanding, when you combine his look in relation to Vince McMahon’s usual preference to bigger men, and when you consider that he was only in the WWE for about 4.5 years. Looking into his trophy case, just for the WWE titles he’s held, he’s the 6th ever Grand Slam champion, having at one point four of the major men’s titles (he also held the since retired European Championship). It’s not like Eddie is short on accomplishments. Focusing on these titles, it would be his last title reign, his reign as a Tag Team Champion, that would lead us into our feud.

The start of 2005 had seen Eddie coming off a legendary story with Kurt Angle, and looking for a new tag partner, as longtime partner Chavo was in the midst of finding his sigh “anglo-american ways’ as his new character, Kerwin White. Yeah. SO, new partner time, and this one would be a man that Eddie had plenty of history with from his time in lucha libre and WCW; Rey Mysterio.

Oftentimes in wrestling, the term “spectacle” is used. Hell, I've used it on this very show plenty of times. Usually, this is in reference to “larger than life” characters; think your Awesome Kongs, your Brock Lesnars, Andre the Giant, etc. There is more to being a spectacle than just being the biggest, or strongest. What if i told you that we would have a man, some say generously being listed at 5’6”, that due to being such a spectacle, would become almost synonymous with luchadors to most of the American audience? That man is the owner of the 619, Rey Mysterio. Born in 1974 in the San Diego auburn of Chula Vista, Mysterio is the nephew of famous luchador Rey Misterio. The elder Mystery King wouldnt necessarily have the same type of fame that Gory Guerrero or El Santo had, for example; none the less, Rey Misterio would be a very well respect and acclaimed luchador on his own merit, but it perhaps would be through his training school that his presence is most well known and felt, even to this day. One of his first graduates was his 14 year old nephew. The younger Rey would wrestle under the names La Lagartija Verde, and Colibri before having the name Rey Mysterio Jr bestowed upon him by his uncle. Seeing the improvement that younger Rey had been making, and having the elder Mysterio’s son himself wrestling as El Hijo Del Misterio, Rey Misterio Jr was born in homage to the originator and to continue the excellence of the Misterio lineage.  Misterio would go on to have a multi year and multi promotional feud of sorts with Eddie Guerrero’s cousin Juventud, which would grab the attention of ECW. From there, Mysterio Jr would battle his way over to WCW to be showcased in the delightful times during Nitro when men of my same sized were showing me that talent under 6’ could put on an entertaining show. Outside of Rey being unmasked in WCW, which is so disrespectful in lucha lore, his times outside of being signed in WWE in 2002 saw Mysterio Jr becoming must see television. There were other luchadores, for sure, and definitely other talent that was doing more extreme versions of lucha moves; Rey, due to his size and his talent in being able to execute a litany of crisp moves, simply had the advantage of being the talent forever fighting from underneath, so to speak. Psychologically, there is something disarming about Rey’s stature, especially when you consider some of his opponents are over a foot taller than him, and might be double his weight. For example, the man has pretty much been a babyface since the turn of the century. He’ll always have to battle upwards, which can also be limiting, as the ebb and flow of the crowd’s emotional responses naturally lends talent to having to turn from babyface to heel and vice versa. Mysterio Jr is one of the only examples that i can think of at the time of this recording that for almost as long as i’ve been a fan of his, has always been on one side of the character coin. 

By 2005, Rey had already had already been a WWE tag team champion with Rob Van Damn, but would lose the titles to the Basham Brothers early on in the year due to Van Dam being injured. Our two forks in the road meet here, as Rey and Eddie team together to successfully win the tag team championships at No Way Out in February. Throwing aside the more traditional booking formula, Eddie took advice from his cousin Chavo to instead have a one-on-one match against Rey at Wrestlemania 21 because the two could “bring the house down”. So, indeed they did. Wrestlemania 21, April 3rd, 2005. The first Wrestlemania to take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles is opening with this Rey vs Eddie match. 13 minutes of what can only be desribed as an Eddie and Rey match ends with Mysterio getting the pin and the win over Guerrero. Post match, Eddie congratulates and embraces his partner, although he is visibly frustrated. Part of Eddie’s character was always being charismatic and overly cocky, in no doubt a nod to his own insecurities about his own reputation with the fans and standing within the company. With what should have been a friendly exhibition between two friends, the seeds are buried for this feud to grow.

Chapter 2

Eddie and Rey would start a short program with tagteam MNM. The challenge was issued and accepted; on the April 21st 2005 episode of Smackdown, Eddie and Rey would lose the tag titles to MNM. They would receive a rematch the following week; during the rematch, Rey would accidentally hit Guerrero with a flying crossbody press. This would cause Eddie to finally snap, and leave Rey to fend for himself. It was only at the urging of the crowd in attendance did Eddie return to the ring to save Rey, albeit too late, as MNM retains. The following week on Smackdown, GM Teddy Long books Mysterio in a street feet against Chavo Guerrero Jr, which Rey wins. Post match, MNM comes down to the ring to lay the boots on Rey, and Eddie rushes out to clear house. Only, Eddie instead fully turns on Rey, sending him into the ring posts, suplexing him onto the ring steps, and finally reigniting their feud from their early luchador days. Eddie would also start to adopt a slightly different persona; gone were the low riders being driven to the ring, instead replaced with a slow frowny walk and a darker remix of his entrance music.

GM Teddy Long would book Guerrero and Mysterio against each other in a Match at the Judgement Day PPV. 12,000 Minnesotans packed into the Target Center on May 22nd 2005 to witness the penultimate match of this card. This near 20 minute Rey and Eddie classic is a must watch. In one of the few rivalries where he would have the size advantage, Eddie is able to block most of Mysterio’s offense early on; its only when Mysterio is able to connect on a flying headbutt that Rey is able to gain some sort of advantage. Chavo comes out for the ref distraction; Eddie goes for the chair, but Rey is able to counter with a low kick and a 619. Eddie is finally able to nail Rey with the chair, causing Mysterio to technically win via DQ, although those chair shots make the win definitely bittersweet. 

On the June 30th episode of Smackdown where our feud gets a lil…spicy. Interesting. Eddie threatens to reveal a Mysterio family secret that involves their 8 year old son Dominick. Yeah. Dom Dom. That kid has been at this shit for a long time. Interestingly, both the Mysterios and every Guerrero but Eddie pleaded for Eddie not to reveal the secret. This went as far as to be made the stipulation for their match that was to happen at The Great American Bash. 

The July 24th 2005 PPV would feature a match between Rey and Eddie; if Rey won, Eddie would not be able to reveal his secret; if Eddie won, Eddie would be able to air the Mysterio family’s dirty laundry on live broadcast television. You might be able to guess where this is going; Mysterio, once again, is going to be able to score the pinfall victory on Guerrero. I dont mean to gloss over this or the previous matches, but trying to describe a Guerrero and Mysterio match is a feat that is near impossible to do without the visual medium. Hand to my heart, this talent is cut from the cloth that you could watch their matches without audio and still understand the story they’re telling. Absolute masters of their craft.

The following week on Smackdown, however, Eddie leans into his bad self, and does the true dick move and reveals the secret anyway; Rey is not Dominick’s father, Eddie is. 

Chapter 3

It wasn’t just the fact that Eddie told this very deeply personal secret about someone elses business; he did it in the ring, with the family, in front of Dominick, with an arena full of jaws on the ground. Now, since Eddie is in full blown, 5th gear, cartoon level badguy, we really know that Eddie is doing all of this just to exact petty revenge against Rey; Dominick’s custodial rights are just the machine gun that Eddie is using to blow the Mysterio family apart. I really need to point out once again that Dom is just 8 when this is all happening, because his acting chops and ability to convey emotional weight are what puts the chefs kiss on this angle. I mentioned last episode how I refer to watching wrestling as “watching my stories” much in the same way our moms in the 80’s referred to their soaps; this is a goddamn telenovela.

The following weeks would see Eddie start the reveal the dark details of this secret during his “Eddie’s Bedtime Stories” segments. In his first story, he claimed that he went through hard times in his marriage to Vicki Guerrero…no, not those hard times, but hard times are hard times, Dusty, thank you. Anyway, during a time which Eddie and Vicki were separated, Eddie happened to have an entanglement with someone, of which a child was produced. The classic child out of wedlock situation, we’ve all been there, amirite. For the record no, i’ve never been there. Incidentally, simultaneously to Eddie getting this news about his upcoming bundle of joy, his friend Rey and his wife were “having trouble conceiving”, insinuating that Rey is shooting blanks, if you will. As Eddie wanted nothing to do with this child, and Rey couldnt sire an aire of his own, Eddie allowed the Mysterios to adopt the child, albeit under the table. No paperwork.

Not only is this an emotional burden to bear for the Mysterio family, but it should also be noted that this is a tenuous situation for the Guerrero family, as Eddie and Vicki’s own daughters are also involved in this angle. Truly special for everyone to come together to make this work.

During his second story, Eddie goes full nuclear and drops official custody papers on Rey. Boom. Eddie really wants to impart a lot of pain on Mysterio; during their battles, Rey keeps on coming out on top. It would seem that a legal battle might be more in Eddie’s favor. Eddie wants his son back.

Our feud enters the courtrooms of NIGHT COURT…fantastic show. It’s about the night shift at a court. Harry Anderson is the judge?  John Larroquette? Richard Moll? Ah, you’re missing out if you dont know what the fuck I’m talking about. But no, this isnt a crossover, i’m just being silly. And NO, unlike an actual custody hearing, we aint going to court; we’re going to decide this in the squared circle, just like our forefathers intended. 

Summerslam is going to be our deciding event, and the match stipulation, if you dont know well now youre gonna, is a Dominick Mysterio on a pole match. Nah, actually, it was a Ladder Match, with the custody papers for Dominick hanging above the ring in a briefcase. Little known Lance Family fact, this is exactly how my own dad won his custody case against my mom! Yay!

August 21st 2005 saw 18,000+ pack into the MCI Center in Washington DC. The third match on our card saw Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio in a Ladder Match for the custodial rights to Dominick Mysterio. Fucking wrestling, man. It seems almost a prerequisite to give these two 20ish minutes to let em cook, and that’s exactly what Rey and Eddie do. Both the Guerrero and Mysterio families are ringside to witness the outcome of the bout. Mysterio uses his speed advantage to stay on the defensive, seemingly not wanting to impart any damage on his friend, whereas Eddie is deadset focused on inflicting as much damage as possible to Mysterio. At one point, Eddie is ascending the ladder to grab the briefcase, when young Dominick himself enters the melee to shake the ladder; this causes enough of a distraction that Rey is able to mount somewhat of a comeback. Later on, Guerrero is able to hit his trademark Three Amigos suplex combo onto some ladders, putting Rey down for the conceivable count. As Eddie is climbing the ladder, none other than Vicki Guerrero enters the ring and pushes the ladder over. Using the same ladder, Rey is able to finally complete his ascent and finally win the custodial rights to his son, as Eddie watched on being held back back by Vicki. Rey grabs the briefcase, and embraces his wife and son outside the ring; Eddie is throwing a temper tantrum due to the loss by throwing the ladders around the ring. In order to stop the petulant display, and also acting as a nice little cu de gra on our feud, Rey would slide back into the ring and deliver a headshot to Eddie with the briefcase. Symbolically, this could be seen as the natural recoil to Eddie trying to use something so dastardly in a rivalry. 
What really helped carry the emotional weight across the finish line, in my opinion, was the actions of Vicki in the final moments of this match. Eddie, Rey, and Dominick are doing alot of the heavy lifting during this story as they are the primary focuses, but Vicki really is the linchpin that holds this all together. Her actions dont strike me as the jilted wife whose trying to get back at her husband for his indiscretions; rather, her actions come off as the selfless parent, even if those actions result in anger at Eddie for using a child to get revenge on an opponent. Even if Dominick might not genenitically be a Mysterio in story line, Dominick is a Mysterio in heart, which is what really matters. The intricacies of emotional sinew that come from loving a child are somewhat indescribable; being a parent myself, rewatching these segments and reliving this story hits an entirely different core than when i watched this in real time as an early 20s doofus that didnt have the emotional capacity to comprehend the amount of depth to this situation. Just step back; if what Eddie is saying is true, Dominick is a Guerrero by blood. Even though Dominick isnt born by Vicki, the heartbreak it would cause to have to hold back your husband in order for the only dad that Dominick has ever known to remain that only dad…it makes me a lil misty just trying to describe this to you.

Canonically, this would be the end of our feud. A few weeks later, Guerrero would be the victor  in a steel cage match over Mysterio, but the custody of Dominick would already be settled.

After this feud, Mysterio would go onto have what is still an ongoing and storied career as one of the most recognizable luchadors, and wrestlers in general, of all time. He would break through the short guy glass ceiling and become a decorated champion in WWE, becoming world champion at Wrestlemania 22. He would stay with the Fed until 2015, having by this time wrestled for almost 30 years and putting many miles on his body. A much acclaimed run in Lucha Underground and a return to AAA would lead to a return to the WWE, where is he a current member of the LWO. Rey is a AAA and WWE Hall of Fame member, and his career achievements would certainly deserve a podcast episode all to themselves.

Guerrero would go on to start a new rivalry with World Heavyweight Champion Batista, culminating in what would be Eddie’s final PPV match at No Mercy. On November 13th 2005, Eddie Guerrero was unfortunately found by his cousin Chavo in Eddie’s hotel room, unconscious. The 38 year old left us far too soon, as i know realize that i, myself, am now older than Eddie Guerrero ever was, which is the most bizarre statement i’ve ever uttered. His legacy was one of supreme in ring talent, unparalleled charisma, and a myriad of moments that make his short time on this Earth feel like a century.

Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio are both generational talents, coming to my stateside tv at a time where myself and the world at large was at the beck and call of whatever was on our sets. In the ultimate bow on the package that is really a lifelong rivalry between two of luchas most prized talent of our era, Eddie and Rey pulled the curtain back to cover our eyes with a soul touching drama involving familial dynamics that were easy to write off as corny and maybe being too blue for some, but a story that was unique in it’s genesis. To be able to execute this story without it coming off as trite or filler truly takes everyone involved, all the Guerreros and all the Mysterios, to hit their queues and deliver the performance of their lifetimes. Thankfully,  they were able to nail this to such a degree that for a brief moment, in the summer of 2005, we were able to suspend our disbelief as two grown men tried to climb a ladder to gain custody of a child. To the entire Mysterio family, my greatest appreciation.

To the entire Guerrero family, my greatest appreciation.

To Rey, thank you so so much.

To Eddie, words cannot express how much you meant to my life. Thank you.

Ugh, Emotional.

So, this takes us to the end of our feud for the week. 

Thank you so much for listening.

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 If you have a feud you’d like to hear rewound, or any other comments, please feel free to reach me on the socials as Feud Rewind, and you can also drop me an email at feudrewind@gmail.com. I am really showing my age this episode, drop me a line?

Fellow fan, im’ your host Benza Lance, and I’ll roll it back with you next week, with another feud, to rewind