Viva La Raza! The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero


By Andrew Amies Rudd
Purchase at OWW Store

Eddie Guerrero passed away on November 13th 2005. the world mourned his loss with the world of wrestling deeply mourning the loss of an entertainer, legnd and real-life fighter. to commemorate the life of Eduardo Gory Guerrero, WWE released this DVD with talking heads (his friends and family) describing his influence on the world of wrestling and how his short career and life was an infleunce to all. The talking heads are descriptive and clearly describe how they met Eddie Guerrero, what he meant to them and how & why the selected matches are on the disks. The matches follow a unique order with each match leading to the next in one way or another. The 4-disc edition also features edited versions of the Raw and SD! tribute shows with all matches rated watchable – great. However, the real highlights are the tearful tributes that his colleagues pay to the fallen star.

3-disc matches

vs. 2 Cold Scorpio ***
A good example of early Eddie. The match is given time, some great moves are executed and there are near falls aplenty.

vs. Dean Malenko ****
Joey Styles calls this best: an unusual ECW classic.

vs. Sanjito Ojinaro ***
A little over-hyped for my liking but this is still a good contest that shows that when it came to ‘proper’ wrestling, WCW vs. New Japan was always going to deliver.

vs. Ric Flair ****
A nice contest that meets expectations and is given just the right amount of time.

vs. Chris Jericho ****
A ‘wrestling clinic’.

vs. Rey Mysterio **
Not Halloween Havoc, but a TV rematch. Some nice moves but it is a little short and in general disappoints.

vs. Dean Malenko ***
A nice technical contest ruined by the commentators’ obsession with the Sting vs. Hogan main event throughout the contest.

vs. Ultimo Dragon ***
A good contest ruined by the Free Chavo storyline and the fact that it is a letdown on terms of what you expect based on the buildup.

vs. Juventud Guerrera *
Poor contest in general: poor time allowed for the match and a massively overhyped build-up contribute towards this conclusion.

vs. Piscosis **
Way better than the Juventud match but still only average.

vs. Chris Jericho **
A watchable contest with some nice moves on display and a decent ending that some will see as predictable based on the pre-match build-up.

vs. Matt Hardy ***
A nice KOTR qualifier that is entertaining and a good showcase for both superstars involved.

vs. Rob Van Dam ****
A great contest for the Intercontinental Championship and a decent PPV outing for Eddie.

vs. Jeff Hardy ***
A good contest from Raw that is similar to the Matt Hardy match.

vs. Edge *****
The greatest No DQ match ever! Starting off as an exceptational technical contest, the contest turns into an equallyentertaining brawl

vs. Team Angle ****
A great showcase for Eddie’s Los Guerrero days; this is a great tag team contest that does wonders for both teams involved.

vs. John Cena ****
An entertaining Parking Lot Brawl.

vs. Chavo Guerrero **
A letdown of a PPV contest between Eddie and Chavo. Slow but watchable.

vs. Brock Lesnar *****
One of the greatest WWE Title matches of all time! Exciting with near falls aplenty and a great show of determination from the challenger.

vs. Rey Mysterio ****
Possibly Eddie’s greatest WWE Title defence in terms of technical wrestling.

vs. JBL ****
An underrated contest in terms of technical wrestling skills, this is remembered for being a brutal brawl.

vs. JBL ***
A good Steel Cage match with some nice moments on presentation and a good finish.

vs. Kurt Angle ****
A great contest between the two respected technical wrestlers only letdown by the storyline finish.

vs. Rey Mysterio ***
Another good Steel Cage match with some good escape scrambles but a disappointing finish lets the match down.

vs. Batista ***
Not the best World Heavyweight Championship match but a fitting PPV finale for Eddie neitherless with some good storytelling in the mix.

vs. Ken Kennedy ***
A good finale for Eddie with a great Eddie style finish.

A great DVD that represents Eddie in the right light with some great choice of matches adding to the impact the DVD has. Some detailed talking heads segments and an inspired choice to include the Raw & SD! tribute shows are all sure to be fan-favourite decisions. On the otherhand, some match choices are just average-rated bouts from WCW or WWE with some of the poor choices having some great pre-match build-up. However, this is a minor complaint with this an otherwise great DVD from WWE.

9/10