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Latin Thunder: Chavo, Hector and Mando Guerrero

Posted: Aug 13th 2014 By: Latin Thunder

There are a lot of great wrestling families in professional wrestling. We all know the names. The Harts, Funks, Von Erichs and countless others. But for this Mexican American wrestler The Guerrero family has a special place in my heart.

Patriarch Gory Guerrero had a Hall Of Fame career in both Mexico and the Southwest United States. He formed a legendary tag team with the mythic El Santo calling themselves "La Pareja Atomica".

Gory settled into the Texas border and had four boys and two girls. I heard the stories as I was training in Texas about the famous Guerrero ring in the backyard of their house. All four of the boys followed in Gory's footsteps and had great careers of their own.

Surrounded by the sport it fed their art, the craft of professional wrestling, with a heavy dose of Lucha Libre. They all had strong fundamentals in amateur wrestling and gymnastics. Years later they paid back the art by adding to its canvas. Mexico, Japan and the U.S. style of wrestling have all been influenced by the familia Guerrero. By that ring in the backyard of the Texas border town of El Paso.

Current fans all have heard of the baby boy who would go on to be arguably the greatest Guerrero of all. Eduardo Gory Guerrero, better known to fans as "Latino Heat" Eddie Guerrero. Eddie set a standard of work in the ring and entertainment to match that still hasn't been seen since.

But many fans unfortunately don't know much of the other three Guerrero sons.

Mando had a solid career before he settled into the movie business doing stunt work and small acting jobs. I just saw Mando on the GLOW documentary detailing how he trained all the ladies for the syndicated show that was seen in the 80's all over the states. As Mando focused more on Hollywood he still would come back to team in tags and six man matches alongside his brothers.

Before Eddie developed into a superstar Chavo Guerrero was the best wrestler of the boys I thought. A tough amateur wrestler who could do Lucha as well as American style wrestling he was a huge star very early in Los Angeles.

Chavos feud with a young Roddy Piper put both men on the map as young talent who could headline cards to packed houses. Chavo was the perfect Hispanic babyface protecting the honor of his heritage against the big mouthed Piper.

Chavo spent time in Japan where he could earn a good paycheck for his skills working against all the top light heavyweights of the orient. He also worked in the San Antonio territory for Joe Blanchard as well as Houston and Florida among others.

Chavo had his last run as Chavo Classic on Smackdown where he did some of his most entertaining work on TV. Chavo is still working some Indy shows today and can still pull off a moonsault!

My first chance to see Chavo on TV though was in one of my favorite tag teams. The first "Los Guerrerroes" I saw were Chavo with younger brother Hector in Mid South for Bill Watts promotion.

When I asked Jim Ross who saw both as a tag as well as singles wrestlers in Mid South which was the better of the two brothers Ross answered, "Chavo. He had a bit of an edge in interviews as a heel."

But my personal favorite of the brothers was always Hector Guerrero. Hector just had a style that was unique to me. Maybe he was the very first star to plant in my subconscious I could be a wrestler. I could see myself being as big as him and possibly trying to emulate his style.

Hector wrestled all over including some main events in Memphis against Jerry "The King" Lawler. He worked Superdome shows for Watts teaming with Chavo, the Portland promotion for Don Owens and was Florida Heavyweight Champion for Eddie Graham.

Hector had a great gimmick that appealed to me as a teen and was popular with younger kids called Lazertron. The character capitalized on a popular 80's game and was perfect for Hector I thought. Grizzly Smith told me when he was alive "Hectors style of wrestling, that acrobatic style, that's very popular with kids." Lazertron looked like a combination of a Power Ranger and a Luchador. No wonder kids loved it.

Hector had a good run for Jim Crockett using the Lazertron character and even used it for AAA in Mexico during their boom period. He would struggle afterwards as the territories dried up before getting one last major run on a national stage when he was employed by WCW during the late 90's.

There Hector had a dream match for Guerrero fans against his brother Eddy on Monday Nitro in front of a national audience during a hot era for wrestling. It was a great match that showcased Hector as he was ending his prime in ring years.

I had the pleasure of meeting Hector in Dallas at the Sportatorium when Jim Crockett booked him for a tag team tournament in 1995. Hector was a gentleman who was very kind to me when I told him how big of a fan I was of him and his family. He had a great match against the Rock and Roll Express that night I got to see in person.

Later on in 1998 or so I booked Hector for a show I promoted in the heavily Hispanic populated town of West Liberty Iowa. I got to know Hector a bit more picking him up at the airport and using him for our main event. He was funny, enthusiastic and hard working.

I'm not the least bit surprised to see Hector involved with wrestling today doing Spanish commentary for TNA. He was still in love with wrestling at the time we booked him and i didn't see that enthusiasm going away way. I'm happy to see him still working in our sport.

Hector, Chavo and Mando have left a legacy that honored and continued the Guerrero wrestling dynasty. Today Chavo Jr continues the Guerrero legacy of excellence. Que viva Los Guerreroes!!