Chavo Guerrero Jr is one of the most underrated stars in pro wrestling. Chavo was born into wrestling. His father Chavo Guerrero Sr was also an accomplished wrestler in his own right. His uncles Hector, Mando, and the great Eddie Guerrero impacted the business.
His grandfather was Gory Guerrero. Along with Eddie, Chavo became a multi-time tag team champion. Chavo Guerrero Jr put the WWE Cruiserweight title on the map during the ruthless aggression era.
He retained the title at WrestleMania XX in a cruiserweight open that included Jamie Noble, Billy Kidman, and Rey Mysterio. Speaking of Rey, Chavo’s most classic matchups occurred against the man from the 619.
Chavo Guerrero Jr – Early Beginnings
Chavo was literally born into wrestling. When pro wrestling is all said and done the Guerreros are one of the most prestigious names in the business. He got his start in his family’s ring wrestling with his uncle Eddie. Just so you know Eddie was only a couple of years older than Chavo.
According to Chavo Guerrero Jr, it was not really a nephew and uncle relationship. They were more like brothers. In May 1994 he made his pro wrestling debut in Mexico. He also competed in New Japan Pro Wrestling in The Best Of The Best Super Junior IV Tournament. That tournament is a staple in NJPW history.
World Championship Wrestling
It wasn’t long before Chavo was with World Championship Wrestling. In May 1996, he had his first match against the man from Blackpool, Lord Steven Regal. Even at this stage, a match with Regal was a test.
Chavo passed that test and made his WCW Nitro debut against a Guerrero family friend Dean Malenko. Chavo lost but impressed WCW. In August 1996 he received a United States Title match against WCW’s Icon Ric Flair. Again Chavo lost but impressed matchmakers. He was awarded a PPV match against Konnan at WCW Hog Wild in Sturgis, South Dakota.
His first rivalry was with Diamond Dallas Page, however, The Master of The Diamond Cutter defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr at Fall Brawl ending their rivalry.
Chavo and Pepe
Shortly after that Chavo teamed up with his Uncle Eddie. Eddie Guerrero had been in WCW before Chavo and was a cruiserweight success. His classics with Rey Mysterio during that time period are a must-watch for any Lucha fan.
Eddie was known for his “lying, cheating, and stealing” mentality. He was really good at being bad. He tried to convince Chavo that cheating to win was the only way, but Chavo refused to follow this mentality.
Eddie did not like the insubordination and humiliated his nephew. This was when Chavo Guerrero Jr lost his mind in the storyline. He started coming to the ring with a hobby horse on a stick he named Pepe. WCW felt that giving him this gimmick would put a lot more “pep in his step”.
On TV Chavo thought Pepe was real. Looking back on this it may have been WCW’s answer to WWF’s Al Snow and his fascination with a mannequin head. No, I am not making this up people, the ’90s was a crazy time.
Eventually, Pepe met his demise when Norman Smiley kidnapped the toy and threw it into a woodchipper. Of Course, Chavo’s character reacted like his best friend was murdered. Wrestling wise this was probably the best thing to happen to Chavo. The Pepe gimmick was not taking off. It wasn’t really believable.
Fighting with Familia
Shortly after that Chavo Guerrero Jr began feuding with Eddie. At this point, Eddie was the leader of the Latino World Order (LWO). The fans were starting to get behind Chavo more. On June 14, 1998, he defeated Eddie at the Great American Bash.
Even though Pepe was gone Chavo’s insane gimmick was still alive. At Bash at the Beach, he challenged his uncle to a hair vs. hair match. In these matches, the winner shaves the loser’s head bald. Chavo lost but shaved his own head afterward.
It was like his own personal Britanny Spears moment. At WCW Souled Out on January 17, 1999, he gained some retribution for Pepe when he defeated Norman Smiley.
Guerrero now teamed with another WCW Cruiserweight gaining momentum, Billy Kidman. Both stars recently broke away from the mind-control of someone else. Kidman was a part of Ravens’ flock until he figured out that Raven was only looking out for Raven.
He also became a Cruiserweight success winning the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. Together they entered the WCW tag title tournament. Jealous of Kidman, Chavo turned on him. This led to several matches with Kidman for the title. Unfortunately for Chavo Guerrero Jr, he was on the losing end of that feud.
Lieutenant Loco
Chavo joined a group called Misfits in Action(MIA). This group consisted of Hugh Morris, Lash Leroux, and Van Hammer. Chavo went by the name of “Lieutenant Loco”. During this time Chavo won his first WCW Cruiserweight championship on June 7, 2000.
A month later Locos’ luck ran out as he was defeated by Lance Storm on Nitro. After this loss, Chavo left MIA. This proved to be a good move as he won back the WCW Cruiserweight Championship from Mike Sanders.
Chavo had some exciting matches with Rey Mysterio and Sugar Shane Helms aka The Hurricane. Eventually, Helms defeated Chavo ending his WCW Cruiserweight Championship run at WCW Greed.
World Wrestling Entertainment
In 2001 it was announced that WCW was bought out by its competitor World Wrestling Federation. In a historic move, Vince McMahon now owned WCW. Along with that purchase, McMahon acquired 25 WCW wrestling contracts, and Chavo Guerrero was now a part of WWF. He was a part of the Alliance.
This was a group of WCW stars that “invaded” WWE. After The Alliance lost the war, Guerrero went back into the singles division resuming his feud with Billy Kidman. After several losses, WWE decided to pair up Chavo with his uncle Eddie, and Los Guerreros were born.
Los Guerreros
Eddie was already established in WWE. He was with the company way before the WCW buyout. He arrived in a group called the Radicals with several other WCW stars. He was a multi-time Intercontinental Champion. He also had an on-screen romance with Chyna or “Mamacita” as he called her.
This time Chavo was all about lying cheating and stealing to win. However, they were so entertaining that the fans immediately took to the duo. WWE would play vignettes about Los Guerreros pretending to be pool cleaners then swindle the homeowner out of pay without doing the work.
Both Chavo and Eddie’s stars began to rise. Soon they found themselves challenging for the WWE Tag Team Titles. They won their first championship in a 3-way match at Survivor Series 2002. After that, they lost the title to Team Angle on February 6, 2003, Smackdown.
They won back the tag titles on September 18, 2003. You could feel the heat when Los Guerreros were in tag team action. However, that fire was unexpectedly put out when Los Guerreros were defeated by the Basham Brothers for the title.
Breakup of Los Guerreros
It was clear that Eddie was headed for bigger things including a WWE championship run. WWE decided to break up Los Guerreros. Again jealousy was the angle, as Chavo stabbed Eddie in the back. Chavo Guererro Sr, chavos dad, was in his corner.
Chavo called him “Chavo Classic “. They began a feud with Eddie. It was a family affair at the 2004 Royal Rumble as Eddie defeated Chavo. Eddie Guerrero then went on to defeat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Undisputed Heavyweight Championship at No Way Out.
WWE Crusierweight Champion
Down but not out, Chavo also won a championship at No Way Out. With the help of Chavo Classic, he beat Rey Mysterio to become the WWE Cruiserweight Champion. The Guerreros were on top of the world.
At WrestleMania XX Chavo Guerrero defended the title against 10 Crusierweights. To be fair it was an elimination match. Chavo was last and defeated his rival Mysterio to retain. Even though he did not defeat 10 cruiserweights a win was a win in Guerreros’ book.
It was a win as the fans hated him more. Chavo was so confident that he issued an open challenge. WWE fans were shocked when it was answered by Jaqueline. Wrestling fans know that Jaqueline is as tough as they come and no stranger to defeating her male competitors.
She gave a low blow to Chavo and won the Cruiserweight Title. It was short-lived as he regained it at the next PPV Judgement Day.
Rivalry with Rey Mysterio
Known for putting together Triple-threat matches, WWE Smackdowns GM Theodore Long made Chavo Guerrero Jr defend the Cruiserweight Title against Spike Dudley and his father Chavo Classic.
In a Crazy turn of events, Chavo Classic pinned Chavo and won the title in the process. Yes, Chavo Classic was the WWE Cruiserweight Champion. That was definitely a problem. Not to worry, Rey Mysterio solved that problem for the Guerreros by winning the championship back.
Chavo tried several times to defeat Mysterio but he just couldn’t get the job done. Mysterio was the cruiserweight champion and there was no one who could defeat him at this point.
Chavo’s Unexpected Concussion
An unexpected injury occurred on an episode of Smackdown on August 26, 2004. During an unbelievable match with Billy Kidman, a misplaced Shooting Star Press struck Chavo in the temple.
As a result, Guerrero had a real concussion. Anyone in wrestling knows that mixing reality with fiction is the best possible storyline. While Chavo was injured, Kidman became a heel. Chavo returned and got revenge on Billy Kidman.
However, after that, he returned to his lying cheating stealing ways. Chavo once again became WWE Cruiserweight Champion defeating Paul London at No Way Out 2005. Chavo participated in a Cruiserweight Battle Royal for the title.
The rest of the cruiserweight division was sick of Chavo ganging up on him and eliminated him first. This guaranteed a new champion. It was won by Chavo’s rival Paul London.
Kerwin White
In the WWE draft of 2005, Chavo Guerrero was drafted from Smackdown to RAW. Not one to shy away from controversy Chavo reinvented himself as Kerwin White. Kerwin was everything Chavo wasn’t in real life nor wanted to be.
Guerrero knew this would bring hate from the fans. He basically renounced his entire Latino heritage. His new catchphrase was “If it isn’t white it’s not right. This was 2005 can you imagine how that would go over in current society?
Chavo looked like a stereotypical country club rich snob. He had a sweater tied around his shoulders and wore khakis. He golfed and even had a caddy who was played by WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler.
He currently began a feud with New Raw Superstar Shelton Benjamin. Benjamin was one of the hottest draft picks and as the song goes Ain’t No Stopping him now. Kerwin White attacked Benjamin with his golf clubs on several occasions. Unfortunately, a nine iron was not enough to get the upper hand on Benjamin, and Kerwin White lost.
Eddie Guerrero Passes Away
Then on November 13, 2005, the wrestling world changed forever. Eddie Guerrero unexpectedly passed away. Chavo Guerrero Jr was the one who found him. The WWE locker room was never the same.
Chavo was never the same either. In honor of his fallen uncle, Chavo dropped Kerwin White stating now was not the time. Instead, he honored Eddie by representing the Guerrero name. Chavo truly was a warrior.
On November 18, 2005, at the Eddie Guerrero tribute show on Smackdown Chavo Guerrero Jr defeated JBL in his finest WWE moment. During that match, he used the three amigos suplexes on Bradshaw. He also used Eddie’s finisher the Frogsplash.
During one point he even used Eddie’s famous chair tactic. Where he would pretend like he got hit by a chair then put the chair in his opponent’s hands. If you have never seen this spot it’s a must-see.
Fighting for Eddies Honor
Randy Orton began to insult the Guerrero name. As a result, Chavo attacked the Legend Killer. He was so enraged he was dragged out by security. Orton was actually a good friend of Eddie’s and felt awful about that promo but knew the show must go on.
During a MITB qualifying match against Shelton Benjamin, Randy Orton snuck into the ring and leveled Chavo with an RKO costing him the match. After that Chavo Guerrero Jr unsuccessfully challenged Benjamin for the WWE Intercontinental Title. Feeling he was a disgrace to his family Chavo quit WWE.
During Chavo’s absence another of Eddie’s closest friends Rey Mysterio, went after Orton. Rey’s popularity continued to skyrocket. He continued to keep Eddie’s legacy alive. Rey Mysterio won the Royal Rumble as well as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania.
At Judgment Day 2006 Chavo Guerrero Jr returned to the WWE and immediately became Rey’s cornerman. At the Great American Bash 2006 Rey Mysterio received a WWE World title match against King Booker.
This was just a plan to attack Mysterio. During the match Chavo got Rey disqualified and attacked him with a steel chair. Chavo believed that Rey was using Eddie’s name to further his career.
La Familia
At Summerslam, Chavo challenged Rey Mysterio to a match. Vikki Guerrero was in Rey’s corner. During the match, she accidentally knocked Mysterio off the top rope. For the record, she did not even say Excuse Me for bumping into Rey.
On the next Smackdown Vickie came to the ring to apologize to Rey but it was a distraction so Chavo could hit Rey with a chair. Vickie Guerrero was now Chavos’s manager. La Familia had been born. The feud between Chavo and Mysterio intensified. At No Mercy in a falls count anywhere match Chavo lost to Mysterio when
Chavo the Warrior
After that on an episode of Smackdown Guerrero defeated Rey in a brutal “I quit ” match injuring Rey’s knee in the process. After tying up Rey in the corner he beat his knee so badly that Rey was taken out on a stretcher.
Chavo Guerrero was determined to win back his respect as a Warrior. After several failed attempts at winning the United States Championship, Chavo focused back on the cruiserweight division.
At No Way Out Chavo Guerrero won the WWE Cruiserweight Title again in a Cruiserweight open. Those types of matches had been very lucky for Chavo. He successfully defended the belt against all challengers. However his third Cruiserweight open was his downfall.
Unfortunately, as I stated earlier in those matches the champion does not need to be pinned. At the 2006 Great American Bash, the unthinkable happened as Hornswaggle became the WWE Cruiserweight champion.
Losing his belt angered Chavo Guerrero. A returning Rey Mysterio became the target of that anger. However this time Rey was also angry. He wanted revenge on Chavo for injuring his knee.
Ironically Rey’s knee was actually injured over the years of so many high-flying moves. He was slowed down and more aggressive. Both superstars were headed for a collision course with each other. Chavo would taunt Mysterio weekly making fun of his knee injury.
He vowed that this time he would put Rey on the shelf for good. This led to a match at Summerslam. Unfortunately, Rey’s fire was too much for Chavo and he lost to the master of the 619.
De Ja Vu was in full force when Chavo challenged Rey to another “I quit ” match on SmackDown. This time it was Mysterio who got revenge by injuring Chavo’s knee. In reality, Guerrero had violated the WWE wellness policy and was suspended.
Extreme Championship Wrestling Champion
Chavo Guerrero was off TV until December 18. 2007 appearing on ECW. WWE had recently brought in ECW as their third brand. At this time CM Punk was ECW champion. During a match with MVP, Chavo attacked Punk. Chavo was back for one thing the ECW title.
On January 22, 2008, Chavo Guerrero defeated Punk in a no-DQ match to win the ECW with the help of Edge. After this Edge became part of “La Familia” when he started a relationship with now Smackdown GM Vickie Guerrero.
At WrestleMania XXIV all hell broke loose when Chavo lost the ECW title to Kane in 11 seconds. Do to this fact Chavo hired a bodyguard named Bam Neely to take care of Kane. Not only did Chavo lose his title in 2008 but La Familia also imploded. Matt Hardy was now ECW champion. Chavo had several attempts at Hardys title but did not capitalize.
Chavo vs Hornswoggle
Again in 2009 Chavo Guerrero Jr was drafted to RAW. He reunited with Vickie and began a feud with Samartino Marrella. He then started a feud with Hornswoggle. Throughout the next few weeks, it became a running gag at the types of matches Chavo would face hornswoggle in.
Unfortunately for Chavo, Hornswoggle always had the luck of the Irish and got the victories. Week after week Chavo was humiliated. In 2010 Chavo Guerrero was drafted back to Smackdown with hopefully a clean slate.
He teamed up again with his former caddy now a champion in his own right Dolph Ziggler. Even Vickie Guerrero became enamored with Ziggler and took him on as her special interest.
As fate would have it Chavo, Ziggler, and MVP were in a triple-threat MITB qualifying match. Vickie told both Ziggler and Chavo to work as a team to make sure Ziggler qualifies. Angry Chavo seized the opportunity to get the win himself.
He had a short rivalry with Sin Cara. After that, Chavo Guerrero Jr made fewer tv appearances. In 2011 he requested and was granted his release from the WWE .
Life after WWE
After spending 10 years under the bright lights of the WWE, Chavo Guerrero Jr needed to refresh but he still loved wrestling. He decided to make a few Independent appearances. He went to Puerto Rico and won the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship.
In 2011 he competed at an event called Ring Ka King. There he teamed up with David Hart Smith and won the tag team championship. On July 28, 2012 he also captured the Vendetta Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship.
In Vendetta Pro he teamed up once again with his father Chavo Classic In its Father & Son tag team match. He also wrestled in Chikara teaming up with LAX in the 2014 King of Trios tournament.
Total Non-Stop Action
In 2012 Chavo returned to televised wrestling with Total Non Stop Action aka Impact Wrestling. He immediately aligned himself with LAX member Hernandez. They attacked Gunner and Kid Cash making a major impact.
The duo wanted to be tag team champions. After several unsuccessful attempts, they finally achieved that goal on October 14, 2012, at Bound for Glory in a 3-way tag match consisting of Kurt Angle and AJ Styles and the team of the champions Christopher Daniels and Kazarian.
It wasn’t long though before the team of Dirty Heels comprised of Austin Aries and Robert Roode defeated LAX.
Chavo Guerrero Jr and Hernandez spent the rest of 2012 and most of 2013 chasing those belts. They received a rematch at Lockdown on March 10, 2013, but were unsuccessful. Another time they were attacked by Aces and Eights before their match began.
The week after they finally got what looked like a legitimate rematch against the Dirty Heels, However, Daniels and Kazarian interfered. The two teams had a match to determine who was the number one contender for the Dirty Heels title.
This time Luck was in LAX’s corner as they defeated Daniels and Kazarian winning the opportunity to face the champions. A stipulation was added to the match that if Chavo and Hernandez did not win the TNA tag team title they would break up.
Fortunately, they proved everyone wrong defeating Dirty Heels in a 2 out of 3 falls match and in the process winning the TNA tag team championship. On June 2, 2013, at Slammiversary XI LAX lost the tag titles to Gunner and James Storm in a fatal 4-way.
Guerrero and Henandez may not have had a falling out earlier but after this loss, they ended up facing each other in a 2013 Bound for Glory qualifying match where Hernandez got the victory.
Chavo’s bad luck continued at a Feast or Famine match when he collected a briefcase with the words “You’re Fired ” in it. Guerrero’s time with TNA was officially over.
Lucha Underground
Chavo Guerrero decided to go back to his Lucha roots. In 2014 he joined Lucha Underground. However, in his first match, he lost. Chavo couldn’t take anymore and also went back to his heel ways.
In a tag team match he not only attacked his opponent The Blue Demon with a steel chair, but also his tag team partner Sexy Star. This was the real Chavo Guerrero. After that, he won a battle royal and became the Lucha Underground Champion.
Unfortunately, he lost it a few days later to Mil Muertes. Chavo left Lucha underground for a few months. When he returned he was even more vicious. He pretended to take Black Lotus on as a protege but beat him senseless with a steel chair.
On January 10, 2016, Chavo Guerrero Jr won the Gift of the Gods Championship. Unfortunately, this was another short title reign as he lost the title to Brian Cage. Following that Chavo faced his old rival from WWE Rey Mysterio in a “Loser Leaves Lucha Underground”.
Again the King of Mystery defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr. As per the stipulation, Chavo left Lucha Underground.
Chavo did return to the temple at Aztec Warfare 4. He entered the battle royal and made it to the final 3. Chavo’s cousin Shaul Guerrero had recently become a part of Lucha Underground. She became the target of Famous B. In one episode Chavo saved his cousin from B.
In 2019 Chavo and Alberto El Patron aka Alberto del Rio created their own promotion called Nacion Lucha Libre. The promotion had the best of the best. LA Park, Thunder Rosa, and fresh from WWE Alberto himself.
However, it did not survive and closed in 2020. After that, Chavo returned to TNA and wrestled a few matches against MVP. They had a few matches but most occurred off regular TV.
In 2021 All Elite Wrestling burst on the scene. For the first time since the days of WCW, WWE had major competition. On July 21, 2021, Chavo became the ‘executive consultant ” for Andrade.
Andrade had recently left the WWE and was out to make a name for himself, even if it was at the expense of his own manager. Andrade attacked Chavo on the September 11th, 2021, episode of AEW Dynamite.
After that Chavo Guerrero Jr took some time off. Then he reappeared on April 22, 2022, at the ROH Supercard of Honor XV. He was assigned as Bandido manager. Unfortunately due to Chavos’ interference, two Bandido lost the match for the ROH Undisputed Championship.
Accomplishments outside the ring
It may interest you to know that much like Chris Jericho, Chavo is a media triple threat. Not only does he wrestle but he has his own podcast and acts on occasion. Chavo’s podcast is called “The Chavo Show” on it he has special guests, talks about his time in all the promotions, and discusses his life as a Guerrero.
Did you know that Chavo Guerrero Jr has been exercising his acting chops since 1996? He was in several minor roles including Red Shoe Diaries on HBO and Detective on Investigation Discovery.
He was also on NBC’s series Grimm. In 2017 he took the position of fight coordinator for the Netflix show GLOW. Guerrero’s job was to train the cast to wrestle. He also ended up appearing in two episodes. In 2021 Dwayne The Rock Johnson hired him as a wrestling coordinator on his show NBC’s Young Rock.
There are also two other side notes about Chavo Guerrero Jr that not many wrestling fans know about. Did you know Chavo is in a comic book? Thats right he is the main character in “Chavo Guerrero’s Warrior’s Creed.”
Also, he has developed his own craft beer with Alosta Brewing Co. called Los Guerreros Mexican Style Lager Complete with the Viva La Raza slogan on the can this is sure to get craft beer enthusiasts excited. Unfortunately, this brew is currently only available if you live in the state of California.
Chavo Guerrero Jr definitely had a successful career. He competed in every major wrestling organization. He put a spotlight on the WCW and WWE Cruiserweight divisions. As one-half of Los Guerreros, he set the WWE tag team division on fire.
Outside the ring, he is a dedicated family man and entrepreneur. He continues to give back to the business that gave him and his familia so much. Hardworking, driven, and talented Chavo Guerrero Jr truly is a warrior in the ring. Viva La Raza.
