Chavo Guerrero Sr.
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| Chavo Guerrero Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Salvador Guerrero III |
| Born | January 7, 1949[1] El Paso, Texas[1] |
| Died | February 11, 2017 (aged 68) El Paso, Texas |
| Family | Guerrero |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Chavo Guerrero Chavo Guerrero Sr.[1] Chavo Classic[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 229 lb (104 kg)[1] |
| Trained by | Gory Guerrero[1] |
| Debut | 1970[1] |
| Retired | 2010 |
Salvador Guerrero III[1] (January 7, 1949 – February 11, 2017),[1] better known as Chavo Guerrero or Chavo Guerrero Sr., and also known during the 21st century as "Chavo Classic", was a professional wrestler. He was best known for his work in Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), American Wrestling Association (AWA) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and for being the father of third generation wrestler Chavo Guerrero Jr. He was the oldest son of Salvador "Gory" Guerrero, and part of the Guerrero wrestling family. He was the oldest WWE Cruiserweight Champion.
Contents
Professional wrestling career[edit]
Early career[edit]
Earlier in his career, Guerrero feuded with Atsushi Onita in Japan over lighter-weight titles.
In the 1970s, Guerrero moved his family to California so he could compete in Los Angeles's NWA Hollywood Wrestling.[2] He also feuded with Roddy Piper for the NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship.[2] Guerrero held the title 15 times between 1975 and 1980.[2]
He usually teamed with his brothers, Mando and Héctor wherever he wrestled. In the late 1980s, he teamed with his brother Mando to go after the AWA World Tag Team Championship held by Diamond Dallas Page's team of Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka).
World Wrestling Entertainment (2004)[edit]
In 2004, Guerrero began working for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), joining his son Chavo Jr. in a feud with the younger Chavo's uncle and the older Chavo's brother Eddie.[1] While with WWE he competed as Chavo Classic and became the oldest WWE Cruiserweight Champion in history,[3] defeating Chavo Jr. and Spike Dudley in a triple threat match. On the April 1 episode of Smackdown, Classic and Chavo Jr. lost to Spike Dudley and Rey Mysterio. In the April 22 episode of Smackdown, Classic and Chavo Jr defeated John Cena in a 2-on-1 handicap match. On the May 11 episode of Smackdown, Chavo Classic defeated Jacqueline thanks to outside help by Chavo Jr. On the June 3 episode of Smackdown, Chavo Classic retained the Cruiserweight Title against Funaki thanks to outside help from Chavo Jr. He eventually lost the title to Rey Mysterio less than a month later. On June 15, 2004, he was fired by WWE for no-showing multiple SmackDown! house shows.[3]
On the November 15, 2010, "Old School" episode of Raw, Guerrero returned as Chavo Classic, driving Alberto Del Rio to the arena.
Lucha Underground (2016)[edit]
Chavo Classic first appeared on Lucha Underground talking with Rey Mysterio about the upcoming match of the latter against his son Chavo Guerrero Jr. in a Loser Leaves Lucha match. During the match, Classic, who was in the attendance, turned on Mysterio, helping his son win the match, but Dario Cueto ordered to restart the match, and Mysterio hit the 619 on Classic and defeated Chavo Guerrero, leaving Lucha Underground without the Guerreros.
Personal life[edit]
Chavo is the son of Gory Guerrero and the older brother of Mando, Hector, and Eddie Guerrero.[4] He grew up in El Paso, Texas, where he attended a segregated school.[4]
He has two children, wrestler Chavo Jr. and daughter Victoria.[2][4] and he is the brother in-law of Vickie Guerrero.
In July 2016, Guerrero and his son were named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit is litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[5]
On February 11, 2017, Guerrero died of liver cancer, at the age of 68.
Other media[edit]
In 1978 he co-starred with Henry Winkler in the movie The One and Only as a wrestler called Indian Joe.
He is the subject of the song "The Legend of Chavo Guerrero" by The Mountain Goats and is featured in its music video.[6]
In wrestling[edit]
- Finishing moves
- Gory Special[1] – adopted from his father Gory Guerrero
- Moonsault[1][7] – adopted from his brother Mando Guerrero
- Signature moves
- Managers
Championships and accomplishments[edit]
- All Japan Pro Wrestling
- National Wrestling Alliance
- Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling
- ACCW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- Eastern Wrestling Federation
- EWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- Empire Wrestling Federation
- Hollywood Heavyweight Wrestling
- HHW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- International Wrestling Federation
- IWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Hollywood Wrestling
- NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (15 times)[2]
- NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (11 times) – with Raul Mata (2), John Tolos (1), Gory Guerrero (1), Butcher Vachon (1), Victor Rivera (1), The Canadian (1), Hector Guerrero (1), El Halcon (1), Black Gordman (1) and Al Madril (1)[11]
- NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times)1[12]
- New Japan Pro Wrestling
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him # 130 out of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- Southwest Championship Wrestling / Texas All-Star Wrestling
- SCW Southwest Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[13]
- SCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Manny Fernandez[14]
- TASW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[15]
- TASW Texas Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Al Madril (1) and himself (1)3[16]
- Texas All-Star USA Heavyweight Championship (1 times)[1]
- Vendetta Pro Wrestling
- Vendetty Award—2014 Co-Special Guest star of the Year (w/ Chavo Guerrero Jr. & The Godfather)[17]
- World Wrestling Association
- WWA Trios Championship (1 time) – with Mando and Eddy Guerrero[18]
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Best Wrestling Maneuver (1986) Moonsault block
Notes[edit]
1When Chavo Guerrero won this championship, it was still officially recognized and sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and was primarily defended in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, an NWA affiliated promotion in Mexico. After the promotion's withdrawal from the National Wrestling Alliance, they kept the title and continue to use the NWA initials. However, the NWA no longer recognizes or sanctions it.
3Defeats Al Madril to claim Madril's part of the championship, though he quickly surrenders the titles on the same day.
Footnotes[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Chavo Guerrero Sr. profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
- ^ a b c d e Guerrero, Eddie. Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story, p. 16.
- ^ a b Kapur, Bob (November 27, 2007). "Chavo Classic still loves 'that feeling'". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ a b c Van Der Griend, Blaine (January 28, 2010). "Discrimination was always a part of Chavo Guerrero Sr.'s life". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ "WWE sued in wrestler class action lawsuit featuring Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka, Paul 'Mr Wonderful' Orndorff". FoxSports.com. Fox Entertainment Group (21st Century Fox). July 18, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9YvDfiAXT8
- ^ American Wrestling Association (1988-12-26). "AWA Vs CWA; The RPMs & Cactus Jack Vs The Guerrero Brothers". AWA SuperClash III.
- ^ a b NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ NWA United States Tag Team Title (Florida version) history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ "Independent Wrestling Results - March 2006". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
- ^ NWA Americas Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ NWA World Light Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ SCW Southwest Junior Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ SCW World Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ Texas All-Star Wrestling USA Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ SCW Southwest Tag Team Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ "2014 Vendetty Awards". Vendetta Pro Wrestling. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
- ^ WWA World Trios Title (Mexico) history At wrestling-titles.com
References[edit]
- Guerrero, Eddie (2005). Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7434-9353-2.
External links[edit]
- Chavo Guerrero Sr.: A Legend (Official Website)
- Profile at Online World Of Wrestling
- Chavo Guerrero Sr. at the Internet Movie Database
- 1949 births
- 2017 deaths
- Los Guerreros
- American professional wrestlers of Mexican descent
- People from El Paso, Texas
- Professional wrestlers from Texas
- Professional wrestling managers and valets
- Professional wrestling trainers
- American male professional wrestlers
- Deaths from liver cancer
- Deaths from cancer in Texas
