Eddie Guerrero As a Top Five Wrestler

Viva la raza~!
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Last week, I floated a question on Twitter, more like a "buy or sell" deal regarding Eddie Guerrero as a top five all-time wrestler. I kinda knew what the response would be, but I wanted to get some conversation going, get some people thinking about a non-traditional GOAT candidate. The responses did go as I thought they would; people sold en masse. I couldn't blame them, as I didn't believe it. I defended the choice just to be Devil's Advocate and because yeah, I'm a pretty big Eddie mark. However, I still want to look at the case for him because I think he's got a strong one.

Looking at a guy as an all-timer, you have to look at him in and out of the ring. If we were looking at this only through the perspective of wrestling ability and how to work a match, there's no doubt that Guerrero would be a top five wrestler. I think he might be the best ever, or at the very least top five behind Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. His workrate and technical ability are unquestioned and he always had a flair for the high spot, but I think what he was best at was holding a crowd in the palm of his hand. He was the best at getting a crowd behind him as a face or making them want his blood as a heel. Seriously, he could find the puppet strings on a crowd better than 99% of wrestlers in history.

Out of the ring is where the strikes start coming against Guerrero. He never drew as a solo attraction - that's the big strike that other guys have in their corners. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Harley Race, Steve Austin and The Rock all drew mad cash, and it wasn't like they all drew it by accident. All five were good in the ring too - yes, Hogan was good in the ring, just not by "smark" standards, at least in America. Still, while Eddie didn't draw by himself, he was the part of an ensemble cast that helped usher along the new era of draws. Arguably, he was the most important piece of the puzzle outside of the emerging John Cena and Batista.

Yes, the not-drawing was a big thing. He also didn't have the strongest of promos, but he did get over his catchphrases. He was able to control crowds, whether he was wrestling or not. People were attracted to him, and people wanted to like him. He was over, and over as the top Champion on his brand. That HAS to count for something. I can't comment on Race because he's one guy that I have yet to get into, but all the other top guys have flaws too. The Rock doesn't have longevity. Austin kept getting hurt. Flair, after around 1994 or '95, worked the same match over and over and became a caricature of himself. Hogan ruined his run in WCW with indulgent self-booking and playing his role in destroying the company. Randy Savage sabotaged himself. That isn't to say that puts them below Eddie, but it does make the gap a little closer. Just a little.

Again, I don't think Eddie is top five. However, I do think he's a bit underrated in the scheme of things, and if he does get love, it's tempered by the whole "if he had lived, he wouldn't be remembered as fondly" backlash. I think if he had stuck around, he might be in the same stratusphere as say, Cena or Savage or Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. It might be much to say he's top five, but top twenty or even top ten? He's an interesting case, and he's one that I'd make.

Even if I had to lie, cheat and steal to make the case.

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