Chavo Guerrero Jr

Early life

Salvador was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. Guerrero grew up watching wrestling and going to wrestling promotions where he watched his family wrestle. There was also a wrestling ring in the Guerreros' back garden. Chavo played with his uncle Eddie Guerrero constantly in the ring, practicing moves on each other.

Early career (1994–1996)

Guerrero made his professional wrestling debut in May 1994 wrestling in Mexico. He toured with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) during 1996, featuring mainly on the lower card. Guerrero competed in the Best Of The Super Junior IV but did not earn enough points to be the victor.

Debut (1996–1998)

He joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in May 1996. He made his in-ring debut wrestling Steven Regal in a dark match. On 22 July—Guerrero's WCW Monday Nitro debut—he lost to Dean Malenko via submission. On 3 August 1996 Guerrero received his first title shot in WCW against Ric Flair on WCW Saturday Night for the WCW United States Championship. Flair beat Guerrero via submission to retain his championship.

Guerrero's first pay-per-view (PPV) appearance was in a dark match loss to Konnan on WCW Hog Wild. Then at WCW WorldWide, on 11 August 1996, he and Eddie Guerrero defeated High Voltage. After a series of singles wins, Guerrero faced Diamond Dallas Page on WCW Fall Brawl in a losing effort on 15 September.

Pepe and Eddie Guerrero feud (1998–1999)

While in WCW, Guerrero shared the limelight with his uncle Eddie, becoming a reluctant ally of his uncle's. As part of their storyline, Eddie continually tried to make Guerrero adopt Eddie's cheating tactics, but he often refused to do so. Eventually, Guerrero's treatment at the hands of Eddie would drive him "crazy," and he adopted the gimmick of a psycho fixated with a hobby horse he dubbed "Pepé." This led to a feud with Norman Smiley in which Pepé was thrown into a woodchipper. Another result of his insanity was his inability to join Eddie's Latino World Order stable, which was a take-off of the nWo. On 14 June 1998, Guerrero defeated his uncle Eddie at the Great American Bash PPV. In July 1998 at the Bash at the Beach PPV, Guerrero faced Stevie Ray in a "tune up match" before he faced Eddie in a Hair vs Hair match, a match where the winner gets to shave his opponent's hair. Guerrero lost and began to shave his own hair off.

On 17 January 1999 at WCW Souled Out, Guerrero was defeated by Norman Smiley in a match that was booked due to Guerrero's companion Pepe being burnt by Smiley, ending the Pepe gimmick.

Various storylines and departure (1999–2001)

Guerrero and Billy Kidman tag teamed for a WCW tag team title tournament held on Nitro. Guerrero then turned on Kidman after being eliminated from the tournament, starting a feud. Guerrero faced Kidman for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship on WCW Superbrawl 9 on 21 February 1999 but failed to win the championship.

He was also a member of the comedy stable The Misfits in Action (MIA), consisting of himself, Hugh Morris (better known as Bill Demott), Lash Leroux and Van Hammer. They were managed by Major Gunns. Guerrero was billed as "Lieutenant Loco." As Loco, he defeated Daffney for the Cruiserweight Championship in a triangle match also involving Disco Inferno on the 7 June 2000 episode of Thunder. On 11 June 2000 at The Great American Bash, Lt. Loco defeated Disco Inferno to retain the title. Loco lost the championship to Lance Storm a month later on Nitro. At WCW Mayhem, Loco left the MIA and reverted to Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Guerrero won the Cruiserweight Championship from Mike Sanders on 6 December episode of Thunder. He retained the title against Rey Mysterio Jr. on 18 February 2001 at the WCW SuperBrawl Revenge. As Cruiserweight Champion, Guerrero engaged in a feud against "Sugar" Shane Helms eventually losing the championship to Helms at WCW Greed.

Los Guerreros (2001–2004)

Guerrero's contract with WCW was one of the twenty-five contracts that were included in WCW's sale to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Like most of the wrestling talent that came over with WCW, Guerrero wrestled under the WCW banner as his WWF debut was as part of The Alliance, a group of WCW and ECW employees who had, in storyline, invaded WWF after their promotion was bought out. On 13 April 2002, Guerrero faced Billy Kidman on an episode of WWF Metal for the Cruiserweight Championship and lost the match via pinfall. Guerrero spent time as an undercard wrestler in the company, which was soon rebranded World Wrestling Entertainment, wrestling for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship on numerous occasions. He also worked as a trainer for WWE's second Tough Enough competition.

Soon after returning to the active roster, Guerrero was aligned with his uncle Eddie, forming the tag team Los Guerreros. In contrast to his previous WCW storyline with his uncle, Guerrero fully adopted his uncle's policy of "Lie, Cheat and Steal" to win matches as part of the gimmick. Los Guerreros won the tag team championships at Survivor Series, when they defeated Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit and Edge and Rey Mysterio in a Triple threat tag team elimination match. On the 2 February 2003 episode of SmackDown!, Los Guerreros lost their tag team championships to Team Angle. At WrestleMania XIX, they were again defeated by Team Angle in a triple threat match for the tag team titles, also involving the team of Benoit and Rhyno. They continued to feud with Team Angle and won the championships back on the 18 September episode of SmackDown!. One month later, they lost the titles to The Basham Brothers. After losing their tag team championships, Guerrero became jealous of his uncle's growing popularity and WWE Championship ambitions, turned on Eddie, broke from the team, and became a villain again. He was soon joined by his father Chavo Sr. who sided with his son instead of his brother. Guerrero and his father teamed together to defeat Eddie and Kurt Angle on the 22 January 2004 episode of SmackDown! Eddie, however, defeated Guerrero at the 2004 Royal Rumble to end their feud.

Cruiserweight Champion and Kerwin White (2004–2005)

At the No Way Out event, Guerrero defeated Rey Mysterio to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, following interference from his father (now known as Chavo Classic). At WrestleMania XX, Guerrero successfully defended his title in a 10-man Cruiserweight Open by last eliminating Mysterio. In the following weeks, Guerrero defeated Mysterio, Funaki, Ultimo Dragon, Spike Dudley, Jamie Noble, Nunzio in one-on-one title matches. On the 4 May taping of SmackDown!, Guerrero issued an open challenge for anyone he had not yet defeated to face him for his title. The challenge was answered by Jacqueline, who defeated Guerrero for the title after she gave him a "low blow." He regained the title at Judgment Day.Guerrero then dropped the title on a 18 May taping of SmackDown! to his father, who "accidentally" pinned his son in a Triple Threat match which also involved Spike Dudley.

On the 26 August 2004, episode of SmackDown!, Guerrero suffered a legitimate concussion due to Billy Kidman's shooting star press and had to be taken to the hospital. Guerrero returned several months later, exacting revenge from Kidman, who had turned into a villain as a result of the injury to Guerrero. Shortly after his feud with Kidman ended, Guerrero returned to his villainous persona after receiving a villain reaction while facing then-cruiserweight champion Funaki in a losing effort during a SmackDown! show in Japan. Guerrero went on to win the Cruiserweight Championship once again at No Way Out in 2005, after eliminating Paul London in a six-way cruiserweight gauntlet match. He lost the title to London in a battle royal a few weeks later; Guerrero was the first person eliminated from the battle royal when everyone else in the match ganged up to throw him out right at the beginning.

In June, Guerrero became one of the last minute trades in the 2005 WWE Draft, which saw him jump from SmackDown! to the Raw brand. The next week, on Raw, he denounced his Hispanic heritage in favor of the "Anglo-American way". This came after two weeks of being battered by the Mexican faction, The Mexicools. It led to the changing of his persona to "Kerwin White", a stereotypical, middle-class, white, conservative, Anglo-American man. He dyed his hair blond and often drove a golf cart to the ring which held his golf clubs. Soon after his debut, White started making suggestive remarks towards African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and other non-White people, specifically directed towards Shelton Benjamin. On an episode of Raw, White cost Benajmin a match against Rob Conway. Benjamin defeated White by disqualification the following week when White attacked him with his golf club. At Unforgiven, White was beaten by Benjamin. White then hired Nick Nemeth as his new "caddy" to help him in his matches.

Aftermath of Eddie's death (2005–2007)

On the morning of 13 November 2005, Guerrero checked into the same hotel as his uncle, Eddie, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Guerrero was alerted by hotel security that Eddie did not respond to a wake-up call and opened the locked door to the room, Guerrero found his uncle unconscious. Guerrero attempted CPR but Eddie was declared dead when paramedics arrived on the scene. Later that afternoon, Guerrero appeared at a press conference with WWE chairman Vince McMahon to address Eddie's death. These events resulted in Guerrero dropping the Kerwin White gimmick and wrestling under his real name. He defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) on 18 November 2005 episode of SmackDown!, using the "Three Amigos" triple suplexes and the Frog Splash in tribute to Eddie. He also used the cheating tactic of throwing a steel chair to an opponent who catches it (while lying down himself) as the referee turns around and disqualifies the opponent, which Eddie made famous.

On 24 February 2006 episode of SmackDown!, Guerrero attacked Randy Orton when Orton began to insult Eddie and the heritage of the Guerreros. Guerrero was soon dragged out by security. On 27 February episode of Raw, Guerrero faced off against Shelton Benjamin in a qualifying match for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 22. During the match, Orton interfered and hit Guerrero with the RKO, allowing Benjamin to get the pinfall victory. He proceeded to unsuccessfully challenge Benjamin for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. In a segment that aired on WWE Unlimited, an emotional Guerrero decided to quit WWE, in storyline, after believing he had let his family, Eddie, and the fans down and expressed his doubts about being a wrestler.

Guerrero appeared at Judgment Day to support Rey Mysterio. At the Great American Bash, Guerrero interfered in Mysterio's World Heavyweight Championship match, ostensibly to help Mysterio. Guerrero turned into a villain once more, however, by hitting Mysterio with a steel chair, which allowed challenger King Booker to win the match. On 4 August episode of SmackDown!, Guerrero accused Mysterio of using Eddie's name to succeed, claiming that he had disrespected Eddie's memory. Guerrero went on to beat Mysterio at SummerSlam after Vickie Guerrero (Eddie's widow) accidentally knocked Mysterio off the top turnbuckle. On 25 August, Vickie came down to the ring to apologize to Mysterio and Guerrero but turned on Mysterio by hitting him in the back with a steel chair. The following week on SmackDown!, Vickie announced herself as Guerrero's new manager. Weeks later on 8 October, Mysterio gained his revenge on Guerrero by defeating him in a Falls Count Anywhere match at No Mercy. Guerrero eventually challenged Mysterio to an "I Quit" match, which Guerrero won, and as per the condition of the match, Mysterio was forced to leave SmackDown!.

A week later, Chris Benoit, another old friend of Eddie's, began feuding with Guerrero and Vickie, and the men would have numerous confrontations over the following weeks. Benoit defeated Guerrero to retain the WWE United States Championship at the Survivor Series. After weeks of continued interaction, the two faced off in a United States title rematch at Armageddon that Guerrero lost when he tapped out to a Sharpshooter. Guerrero got yet another rematch the following Friday, losing the match after Vickie hit Benoit with the title belt. Guerrero snapped after the match, knocking over Vickie and attacking Benoit. The feud concluded with Benoit forcing Guerrero to submit in a No Disqualification match.

At No Way Out, Guerrero won a Cruiserweight Open Match when he pinned Jimmy Wang Yang, thus winning the Cruiserweight Championship from Gregory Helms. On 24 June, Guerrero retained his title against Wang Yang at Vengeance: Night of Champions. At The Great American Bash, he lost the Cruiserweight title in a Cruiserweight open when Hornswoggle pinned Jamie Noble.

Guerrero then turned his attention to Rey Mysterio, whom he had put out of action, in storyline, in 2006. Before Mysterio's return at SummerSlam, Guerrero mocked Mysterio's knee injury and taunted him during matches. He was, however, unable to defeat Mysterio at the pay-per-view. Guerrero then lost an "I Quit" rematch to Mysterio, after Mysterio assaulted his left knee with a steel chair. This allowed Guerrero to have time off to serve his suspension for violating the WWE Wellness Policy.

ECW Champion and La Familia (2007–2009)

Guerrero remained inactive until the 18 December 2007 episode of ECW, where he appeared after the main event between WWE United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter and ECW Champion CM Punk and attacked the vulnerable Punk, sending a message that he wanted a title shot. Guerrero challenged Punk to several matches until he finally won the third after interference from World Heavyweight Champion Edge to earn a championship match. On 22 January episode of ECW, Guerrero defeated Punk in a No Disqualification match to win the ECW title following interference from Edge. In the process he proclaimed Edge and company as his "familia". He then successfully defended his title against Punk at No Way Out and on the 4 March episode of ECW.

At WrestleMania XXIV, Guerrero lost the ECW Championship to Kane in a record eleven seconds. Shortly afterward, Bam Neely debuted to act as his bodyguard. Guerrero lost a rematch against Kane at Backlash and also failed to become the number one contender at One Night Stand. After Edge turned on La Familia, Guerrero returned to singles and tag team action with Neely. He also failed to regain the ECW Championship at Unforgiven in a Championship Scramble match, and later against champion Matt Hardy.

Final storylines (2009–2011)

Guerrero was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. He then became involved in the feud between Vickie Guerrero and Santino Marella. At Extreme Rules, Guerrero and Vickie were defeated by Marella in a Hog Pen match. Upon Vickie's departure from WWE, Guerrero continued to feud with Marella and defeated him on the 18 June episode of WWE Superstars. Guerrero next feuded with Hornswoggle, where the two faced off in various types of matches (in which a handicap of some sort was imposed on Guerrero by the various celebrity guests left in charge of Raw every week) with Hornswoggle gaining the wins. Guerrero finally picked up a win when he teamed with Chris Masters to defeat Hornswoggle and Santino Marella in a tag team match on the 28 September 2009 episode of Raw. Their feud won the award of Worst Feud of the Year by Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

As part of the 2010 WWE Supplemental Draft, Guererro was drafted back to the SmackDown brand. He started an alliance with Dolph Ziggler, and the duo defeated Christian in a handicap match. On the 9 July episode of Smackdown, Guerrero competed in a triple threat Money in the Bank qualifying match, along with Ziggler and MVP. Throughout the match, it became apparent that Vickie Guerrero (Ziggler's manager) had told Guerrero and Ziggler to work together to ensure Ziggler qualified for the match. During the match, however, when both MVP and Ziggler were down, Guerrero attempted to pin MVP to win the match himself, turning his back on Vickie and Ziggler, thus ending the alliance.

On 8 March, Guerrero was announced as a NXT Pro to Darren Young for the fifth season of WWE NXT. On the 6 May episode of SmackDown, Guerrero commentated on a match between Tyson Kidd and Sin Cara, which Sin Cara won. On the 13 May episode of SmackDown, Guerrero aided Sin Cara in his match against Daniel Bryan. At Over The Limit, Sin Cara defeated Guerrero, and again on SmackDown to end their feud. Afterward, Guerrero mainly appeared on NXT with Darren Young. His last match in WWE was teaming up with JTG and Young against Yoshi Tatsu, Conor O'Brian and Vladimir Kozlov on NXT in a losing effort. On 25 June 2011, at his request, Guerrero was released by WWE.

Independent circuit (2011–2012)

Guerrero appeared for the first time since his WWE departure at World Wrestling Council (WWC)'s Anniversario event on 15 and 16 July 2011. On 16 July, Guerrero defeated El Sensacional Carlitos and Orlando Colón to win the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship. In December 2011, Guerrero took part in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's India project, Ring Ka King. During the first week of tapings, Guerrero and Bulldog Hart were crowned the promotion's inaugural Tag Team Champions. On 28 July 2012, Guerrero appeared at a Vendetta Pro Wrestling event in Lompoc, California, defeating Joey Ryan for the vacant Vendetta Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship, holding the title until 27 October 2012 when he lost it to Chris Masters.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2012–2013)

On 18 July 2012, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) announced that they had signed Guerrero to a contract. He made his debut on the 26 July episode of Impact Wrestling, aligning himself with Hernandez and beginning a short feud with Gunner and Kid Kash. Guerrero appeared on 12 August at Hardcore Justice, where he teamed with Hernandez to defeat Gunner and Kash. The two subsequently set their sights on the TNA World Tag Team Championship, unsuccessfully challenging champions Christopher Daniels and Kazarian for the titles on 6 September episode of Impact Wrestling. Guerrero and Hernandez ultimately defeated Daniels and Kazarian on 14 October at Bound for Glory, in three-way match, also involving A.J. Styles and Kurt Angle to become the new TNA World Tag Team Champions. On 25 January, at the tapings of the 31 January episode of Impact Wrestling, Guerrero and Hernandez lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship to Austin Aries and Bobby Roode.

Guerrero and Hernandez received their rematch for the titles on 10 March at Lockdown, but were again defeated by Aries and Roode in a three-way match, also involving Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels and Kazarian). On following episode of Impact Wrestling, Guerrero and Hernandez were set for another shot at the titles, but the two were ambushed by the Aces & Eights before the match could start. The title match took place the following week, where Guerrero and Hernandez failed again to regain the TNA World Tag Team Championship, following interference from Daniels and Kazarian. On the next episode of Impact Wrestling, Guerrero and Hernandez defeated Daniels and Kazarian to earn another shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Guerrero and Hernandez received their title shot on 11 April episode of Impact Wrestling, where they defeated Aries and Roode in a Two-out-of-Three Falls match, with the added stipulation that they would have to break up if they lost, to regain the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On 2 June at Slammiversary XI, Guerrero and Hernandez lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship to Gunner and James Storm in a fatal four-way elimination match, also involving Austin Aries and Bobby Roode and Bad Influence. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Guerrero was defeated by Hernandez in a 2013 Bound for Glory Series qualifying match. On 12 December, Guerrero collected a briefcase in the Feast or Fired match, which was revealed the following week to contain a pink slip meaning he was fired from TNA. Guerrero's profile was later removed from the official site, and TNA issued a press release confirming his release as legitimate.

Return to the independent circuit (2014–present)

On 2 August 2014, Guerrero teamed with his father Chavo Guerrero, Sr. at Vendetta Pro Wrestling's "Summer Sizzle V – VendettaVersary" event in a "Father & Son vs. Father & Son" Tag Team match against La Familia de Tijuana (Damián 666 and Bestia 666). Los Guerreros picked up the win. Following the match, Damián made a challenge to Guerrero Jr. to a hair-vs-hair match, in which he volunteered to put Bestia's hair on the line against the hair of Guerrero Sr. Guerrero Jr. picked up the win, but Bestia fled the arena, claiming later that he never agreed to the stipulation himself. On 19 September 2014, Guerrero made his debut for Chikara, when he, Hernandez and Homicide, representing LAX, took part in the 2014 King of Trios. They were eliminated from the tournament in the first round by the Golden Trio (Dasher Hatfield, Icarus and Mark Angelosetti).

In 2017, Chavo signed with Imperio Lucha Libre to compete in the title tournament for the Imperio Sudamerican Title.

Lucha Underground (2014–present)

In September 2014, it was reported that Guerrero had signed with Lucha Underground. Guerrero wrestled in the first match of the debut episode of Lucha Underground on 29 October, losing to Blue Demon Jr. On 5 November episode, Guerrero used a chair to attack both Blue Demon Jr. and Sexy Star, who was Guerrero's tag partner earlier in the episode. On 7 January 2015, episode (taped 5 October 2014), Guerrero participated in a 20-men Aztec Warfare battle royal to become the inaugural Lucha Underground Champion. However, he was attacked by Blue Demon and eliminated by Sexy Star. On 18 January 2015, (aired 18 February) Guerrero was defeated by Mil Muertes and left Lucha Underground.

On 20 May 2015, Guerrero appeared in a video where he offered his help to Aztec Dragon to save his protegeé, Black Lotus. However, on 3 June, Guerrero attacked Lotus, aligned himself with Dario Cueto and The Crew. Guerrero returned to Lucha Underground on 10 June (taped 22 March 2015), defeating Blue Demon Jr. On 10 January 2016, Guerrero won the vacant Gift of the Gods Championship in a match also involving Aero Star, El Siniestro de la Muerte, Joey Ryan, Sexy Star, Texano, and The Mack, though he lost the championship a week later to Cage. On 3 November Guerrero lost to Rey Mysterio in a "loser leaves Lucha Underground" match and per stipulation had to leave the temple. Guerrero still works with Lucha Underground backstage.

Chavo is currently a producer for Lucha Underground.

Other media

He has appeared at least 19 video games, including WCW games (WCW/nWo Revenge), and WWE games such as WWE Survivor Series, WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW and WWE '12.

Chavo was in two documentaries about Rey Mysterio called Rey Mysterio: The Biggest Little Man and Rey Mysterio: 619. He was also featured in Viva La Raza: The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero.

Guerrero also has his own internet show/podcast called "The Chavo Show" on GeekNation. He has appeared on various other podcasts such as Chris Jericho's Talk is Jericho and Roddy Piper's Piper's Pit podcast. In 2016, Chavo appeared in three episodes of The Business of the Businesspodcast created by Vince Russo.

Guerrero and Rey Mysterio own an online merchandise stored named "VivaVLR.com"

Acting

Guerrero's acting career has consisted of minor roles over the years. Starting in 1996 when he appeared in the TV show "Red Shoe Diaries", in which he played as a wrestler.

He played a character named Eddie on the Investigation Discovery series "Detective" in 2017 on episode titled "Warm Revolver".

He made an appearance as a fictional wrestler on the NBC TV series Grimm on the fifth-season episode "Silence of the Slams". The episode aired on 18 March 2016. Also in 2016 Chavo played as a character named "Silas" in "Fight to the Finish", an action/sport/romance and was directed by Warren Sheppard. He also played a character named "Tex-Mex" in the movie 2016 Vigilante Diaries, an action movie.

In 2017, Chavo appeared in two episodes of GLOW which is a Netflix series. He played as El Mayordomo / James Vasquez. Chavo also served as Fight Coordinator for the series, training the cast as professional wrestlers.

Comic books

Guerrero worked with Lion Forge Studios to create "Chavo Guerrero's Warrior's Creed" which stars the main character as himself. The first issue was published in June 2016. At least four issues of the comic have been published. The comics were written by author Fabian Nicieza.

Personal life

Chavo is the son of Salvador "Chavo" Guerrero and Nancy Vasquez. He married his wife Shari in 1998 and has two sons with her.

On 25 June 2007, Chris Benoit (a close friend of Guerrero), his wife Nancy, and their son Daniel were found dead at their home (their deaths have since been ruled a double homicide-suicide perpetrated by Chris Benoit). Guerrero was reportedly one of the last people to talk to Benoit and one of the people to whom Benoit sent text messages before committing suicide.

On 30 August 2007, Guerrero, along with nine other WWE wrestlers were named by Sports Illustrated to be given illegal steroids not in compliance with the Talent Wellness program. Guerrero received somatropin, nandrolone, and anastrozole between April 2005 and May 2006. Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Brian Adams were also discovered to have been given steroids prior to their deaths during this investigation, as well as Sylvain Grenier.

In July 2016, Guerrero and his father 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.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments