DaveyBoy's Wrestling Menu - Eddie Guerrero DVD Review; 'Cheating Death, Stealing Life'
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 at 2:34 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #148

Welcome one and all to the 148th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

Obviously, this isn’t my ‘Rookie Rankings’ column. That has been written for a couple of days now, but I have decided to hold back on that column due to the extraordinary circumstances this week. I thought about posting it this Friday, but mourning doesn't pass that quickly. So I have decided that I will wait until next Wednesday. Then, I will follow up with a Survivor Series predictions column on Friday the 25th of November. Well, that’s the most likely plan anyway.

But not only will I have 2 columns next week, but I will also have 2 columns this week. This one today & another one some time on Friday. Both will entirely be devoted to Eddie Guerrero! He deserves it. On Friday, I will have my tribute, the WWE's tribute & an Eddie Guerrero poll. But today, while I get my thoughts in order & attempt to return to normality, I will review Eddie Guerrero's DVD; 'Cheating Death, Stealing Life'. I hope it's a good way of remembering Eddie's career & all of it's positives.

The thing is, many readers will presume that I have quickly viewed Eddie Guerrero’s DVD in the past couple of days, so I can fill up an entire column. That is not actually the case. I had purchased the DVD earlier this year & simply never got around to watching it. 2 weekends ago, I had a spare 3 hours, so I watched the first disk. When I then heard news of Batista injuring his back, I decided to watch the remainder of the DVD with the hope that I could post the review in the week that Eddie possibly won the WWE Championship for a 2nd time.

Whether that title reign was going to occur or not, is now irrelevant. And to say that it is unfortunate is a huge understatement! Eddie Guerrero passed away on Sunday morning at the age of just 38. I’m certain he will be truly missed by all who knew him & my condolences go out to his family & friends. R.I.P Eddie.


EDDIE GUERRERO DVD REVIEW


APPETIZERS

Documentary Portion

NOTE: The full title of this 2 disc DVD set is “Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story”. The documentary portion has 13 chapters & lasts for approximately 43 minutes.

The opening 10 minutes is fairly similar to most WWE DVD beginnings, in that it looks at Eddie growing up in El Paso, Texas. We see interviews with his mother & his 2 sisters & they talk about how Eddie grew up in a famous professional wrestling family that included his father (Gory) & his 3 older brothers (Chavo Sr, Hector & Mondo). We see clips of a wrestling ring in the backyard of their home & some very good family footage of a young Eddie practicing taking bumps & performing dropkicks.

After a couple of minutes discussing low-riders, we see a quick 6 minute run through of Eddie’s career up to about 1998. We get to view some early footage from Mexico (after he turned pro at the age of 16), some footage from his stint in Japan, his ECW run (predominantly with Dean Malenko) & his early WCW years (mainly the infamous match at Halloween Havoc ’97 against Rey Mysterio Jr).

We then quickly head to the bad news of Eddie’s life. Firstly, just as he was about to marry Vicki, his father Gory dies in the same week. The wedding did go ahead, but I can’t imagine how hard it would have been for Eddie to proceed with. Then in 1999, Eddie had his horrific car accident after falling asleep at the wheel while under the influence. He sustained many internal injuries & it looked as if his career was over. He was lucky to be alive! He then tells the fact that he came back to WCW way too quickly & it took a huge toll on his body. This resulted in Eddie taking pain-killers & he eventually overdosed on them.

In January 2000, Eddie, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn got their releases from WCW & debuted in the WWE as ‘The Radicals’. We see some footage of the ‘Latino Heat’ gimmick & his angle with Chyna. But nothing much had changed deep down & Eddie still had an alcohol problem. When his 3 friends went to Jim Ross & told him that Eddie had a problem, the WWE gave him an ultimatum; Go home or go into rehab. Following a subsequent DUI charge, his wife Vicki asked for a divorce, and his career & whole life were in serious jeopardy. The song ‘Broken’ by Seether is cleverly played at this point of the DVD.

We next hear some comments from Vince McMahon & how he passed onto JR that he was to inform Eddie that he was being released by the WWE. It was this news that finally woke Eddie Guerrero up. He had to get back on track & he would do whatever it took to do so. Many will actually forget that about 4 years ago, Eddie did some wrestling in the independents! As he started to successfully get himself back on track, Vicki started to see him again (after a 2 year separation) & they eventually renewed their wedding vows in January 2003, with their 2 grown children present.

Eddie’s hard work & dedication eventually paid off, as he was amazingly hired back into the WWE by Vince McMahon. We see some footage & vignettes of Eddie with his nephew Chavo, in the Los Guerreros days. Eddie recounts how the tag-team & gimmick actually started as a joke, but it got over so well with the fans, that it just had to continue. We also hear Eddie talk about the frog splash, which he got from his late tag-team partner, ‘The Love Machine’ Art Barr.

We next see Eddie Guerrero unpredictably winning the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar at the ‘No Way Out’ pay-per-view in February 2004. This was a dream to him & he genuinely could not believe he was in this position after everything he had been through. He had overcome the odds, been given multiple chances & was now the titleholder of the most prestigious title in the WWE. He was not going to allow all his hard work & dedication go to waste.

To finish off the documentary portion of this DVD set, we see a highlights package set to the Creed song ‘Higher’.


ENTREE - Non-Match Extras

DISC-1

- 5 Los Guerreros Vignettes: Baby Carriage, Pool, Low Rider, Golf & Valet are the title of these vignettes. These average about 2 minutes in length each and are very clever & more than sufficiently funny. I’d probably say that ‘Valet’ is the funniest of the 5.

- 3 Music Videos: Finger Eleven’s “One Thing”, Seether’s “Gasoline” & Soil’s “Redefine”. These are the actual music videos & not the songs to any wrestling highlights. Positioned here to thank the artists for use of their songs on the documentary portion of the DVD.

- ‘Day Of Reckoning’ Video Game Trailer: I have nothing to add. It is what you would think it would be.

DISC-2

- Eddie’s Mother Has A Heart Attack: From May 2004, many will remember this incident from a house show match in El Paso that was replayed on SmackDown. After the house show main-event, Eddie invites his wife, 2 daughters & mother into the ring. But then challenger JBL comes out & in the ensuing fracas, Mrs Guerrero has a heart attack… for storyline purposes. 9 minutes in length.

- Behind The Scenes YJ Stinger: Shows some footage of the making of a commercial. Just under 3 minutes in length.

- YJ Stinger Spot: The finished product of the commercial. Is 30 seconds in length & is shown in both English & Spanish.

- Behind The Scenes At Low-Rider Magazine: 2 minutes in length & pretty much what you would expect.

- Outside The Ropes: 3 minute Q & A segment hosted by Josh Matthews.

- Celebration: 2 minutes of backstage footage following his WWE Championship win at No Way Out 2004. Includes a “thank-you” phone call to wife Vicki.

- Gory Guerrero: A 2 minute look at Eddie’s father from the eyes of his wife, sons & others.

- Eddie vs The Monkey: A 3 minute story told mainly by Mondo of a mock match between a young Eddie & a toy monkey.

- Moonsault: Chavo Sr talking about himself performing the move & Eddie’s mishap when he tried it.

- Fighting For Honor: An interesting insight as to how some veteran Mexican wrestlers took their dislike of Gory out on a young Eddie.

- Injury: A 3 minute look at how Eddie badly injured his elbow basically on debut with the WWE.

- Los Guerreros: A 4 minute look at the uncle & nephew team, including some highlights of their WCW feud, their WWE tag-team title win in November 2002 & how the “Lie, Cheat & Steal” motto turned them face.

- WrestleMania 20: A 4 minute look at Eddie’s successful title defense against Kurt Angle, and then his congratulations of Chris Benoit in the ring later on that night.


MAIN - Matches

DISC-1

HECTOR, CHAVO & MONDO GUERRERO vs CACTUS JACK & THE RPM’s (AWA SuperClash 3. December-13, 1988): Eddie doesn’t wrestle or even make an appearance here. Interesting 6 man match which opened this AWA show. 7 minutes in length, it’s dominated by the Guerrero brothers & despite not exactly looking the part, they zip around the ring like cruiserweights. Their constant tagging is almost annoying, but it sure kept the pace of this bout up. The heels, including a very skinny Mick Foley hardly get a look in here. I’m unsure this match needed to be on this DVD, but it is very fun, if a little too short & one-sided. Match Rating…7

EDDIE GUERRERO & ‘LOVE MACHINE’ ART BARR vs OCTAGON & EL HIJO SANTO (AAA When Worlds Collide. November-6, 1994): This is a 2 out of 3 falls ‘Hair vs Mask’ match from one of the most famous ppv cards of the 1990’s. But the rules are weird in that both members of a team being pinned equals 1 fall. How the hell can 2 pinfalls be classified as 1 fall!?!?!? Eddie is terrific in this match & opens up tremendously. Barr is not far behind him & is the proverbial heat machine. They dominate the early going & pin both their opponents to get the first fall by the 4 minute mark! The heels continue to dominate in the 2nd fall, but Octagon scores 2 quick pinfalls literally out of nowhere to even the score at the 11 minute mark. The 3rd & final fall thankfully adds some time to the match & there is some sensational spots. However, it’s also a total mess in some respects. I understand that Lucha Libre has some different tagging rules, but I didn’t think you could just walk in whenever you wanted to, in full view of the referee!

The result is also just too unbelievable as each face beats 2 men despite being dominated to that point in time. While the match lasts 22 minutes on the DVD, it should be noted that an edit of some length is included. Terribly hard to rate, but too much confusion & unbelievability to rate too highly. Eddie is terrific though, showing his pace at the beginning, while highlighting his suplexes in his final showdown with Santo. Barr is also great with a variety of moves (dropkicks, frog splash & jumping tombstone piledriver) that definitely caught my eye. Don’t let the match rating suggest that this bout shouldn’t be on this DVD. It most definitely fits perfectly. Match Rating…7.5

EDDIE GUERRERO vs DEAN MALENKO (ECW. August-26, 1995): This is a conventional 2 out of 3 falls match & was both men’s last bout for ECW before they debuted for WCW. And don’t the crowd remind them with a few loud “Please Don’t Go” & Anti-Bischoff chants! The opening fall lasts 10 minutes & is predominantly a methodically based technical mat showcase. But there is enough variety to make it interesting. It’s hard to explain, but imagine the usual technical mat wrestling moves all with slightly different twists! The 2nd fall is only 3 minutes in length & ends with Malenko locking in the Clover-Leaf & evening up the match. The final fall is 6 minutes worth of high-impact moves. These 2 aren’t big guys, but they perform move after move as if they were 6-10 tall & weighed 300 pounds, looking for that decisive fall. And the moves (especially from Eddie) are delivered with tremendous flare. Then again, Malenko did drag out one of my favorite moves ever; The press-slam into a gut-buster/rib-breaker! The match ends fittingly in a draw after a double-pin.

Being picky, this could have been a little longer than 19 minutes & did have some pacing issues during it’s first half. But overall, it’s very intriguing to watch & performed sensationally. This DVD Extra also contains a little introduction from Eddie & Dean, an opening announcement from Joey Styles & an ending speech from both wrestlers. It also comes with the original commentary from Styles & an alternative commentary from Eddie & Dean, which is more a commentary on all things ECW than the match specifically. Match Rating…9

EDDIE GUERRERO vs CHRIS JERICHO (WCW fall Brawl. September-14, 1997): This is a ppv opener for the WCW Cruiserweight Title. Eddie looks absolutely ripped here & plays the submission specialist as he targets Jericho’s back with a variety of moves for most of this bout. Probably a little too methodically paced for an opener & the crowd did seem to have a little trouble initially getting into it. But fortunately, these 2 were given 17 minutes & had the time to pick up the pace & impact. Nothing super sensational, but very solid & with a good story told (one of WCW’s deficiencies at the time). There was also enough of everything to satisfy anyone here. Eddie wins the title with a counter to a superplex followed up by a frog splash. Match rating…8

EDDIE GUERRERO vs REY MYSTERIO Jr (WCW Halloween Havoc. October-26, 1997): This is a Mask vs Title match. As close to perfect as any fan could hope for. Top notch in so many ways; Heel to face interaction, pacing, psychology, mat-wrestling, aerial wrestling, intensity, excitement, entertainment & unpredictability. I could probably go on!!! In my opinion, one of the 10 best matches I have ever seen. If anything, at 14 minutes in length, it could have been 5 minutes longer. Then again, it could have been 2 hours longer for all I care!!!

This DVD Extra also contains a little introduction from Eddie & Rey, original commentary from Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan & Dusty Rhodes, and an alternative commentary from Eddie & Rey. It is actually the best of the 3 alternative commentaries on the DVD set, as Rey interestingly admits that he didn’t want to be there on the night due to backstage problems with Eric Bischoff. They also talk about Lucha Libre, Eddie’s voluntary unmasking in Mexico & some of the moves performed in this match. Match Rating…10

DISC-2

EDDIE GUERRERO vs CHAVO GUERRERO Jr (WCW Bash At The Beach. July-12, 1998): This is a hair vs hair match & is preceded by a quick non-bout between Chavo & Stevie-Ray. It was quite funny actually as Chavo was playing a crazy character who idolized his uncle, at the time. Begins purely as a comedy match & once more has me giggling, as Chavo works on Eddie’s a$$ with his teeth! It then actually takes quite some time for both men to get into the groove of a normal match. But they work really hard to do so (despite the dead crowd) & finally succeed. Unfortunately, it then all ends too soon at the 12 minute mark, as Chavo ends up shaving his own hair off. Hard to rate solely as a normal wrestling match, as it effectively advanced a storyline & was predominantly a comedy bout. To that effect, it achieved it’s purpose & was a decent bout to boot. Match Rating…7.5

EDDIE GUERRERO vs ROB VAN DAM (WWE Monday Night Raw. May-27, 2002): This was a Ladder Match for the InterContinental Title. Not the most perfect ladder match you will ever see, but a damn entertaining one! 18 minutes in length (excluding commercial time), this bout had some great back & forth action, and used RVD’s usual spots combined with some great Eddie moves, very well. Criticized in some circles, many forget this was a television match & was better than any fan can expect for free. It did have a couple of iffy moments, including RVD falling off the ladder while attempting a 5 star frog splash. But overall, this was very entertaining in my opinion….. Although, I am a sucker for ladder matches. RVD wins the title. This is the 3rd match on this DVD set that contains the original commentary by JR & King, plus an alternative commentary by Eddie & RVD. On the alternative, the 2 wrestlers speak generally about ladder matches, how Eddie was so nervous about the bout & why, and briefly on a few of the individual moves performed. Match Rating…8.5

LOS GUERREROS vs EDGE & REY MYSTERIO vs KURT ANGLE & CHRIS BENOIT (WWE Survivor Series. November-17, 2002): This is a Triple-Threat Elimination Match for the WWE Tag-Team Championships. I was initially worried that the triple-threat format of this match might not allow these 6 great athletes to show their best. However, the match was predominantly well paced & structured, with the exception of a few hiccups resulting from missed spots. The first 10 minutes was solid (excluding the botches), if not sensational. At that stage, the bout breaks down as all 6 men get involved & we see some terrific action. Benoit & Angle are eliminated at the 13 minute mark when Edge spears Benoit. This results in Los Guerreros isolating Edge, until the hot tag to Rey, who proceeds to clean house, until eventually tapping out to the Lasso from El Paso at the 19 minute mark. I initially rated this an 8 back in November 2002, but I was a young & inexperienced reviewer back then! This was very good. Match Rating…9

EDDIE GUERRERO vs CHRIS BENOIT (WWE Vengeance. July-27, 2003): This was the final match in a tournament to crown a new United States Champion. The first 10 minutes of this 22 minute bout was very methodical & had the dual purposes of establishing Eddie's 'Lie, Cheat & Steal' heel character, while showing how well these 2 know each other's style. It was storytelling at it's best, although it was probably a little too methodically paced for my liking. But when that timeframe included some great counters & reversals, while being excellently performed & very intense, who's going to complain? The pace picked up from there, as did the variety of moves. However, it all resulted in an overbooked finish which included a few ref bumps & a ho-hum Rhyno heel turn. Could have been better, but still very good. Match Rating...8

EDDIE GUERRERO vs BROCK LESNAR (WWE No Way Out. February-15, 2004): Eddie won this match to start his only ever WWE Championship reign. Superb & under-rated 30 minute match which was filled with sensational storytelling (the cocky taunting monster champ vs the fighting underdog). Lesnar was super impressive & really rose to the occasion, especially with his agility. While Eddie was his usual excellent self, as well as not showing any signs of discomfort against a much larger opponent. Some may not have liked the numerous submission moves used by each wrestler, but I thought they were definitely necessary, and did not slow the bout down too much. I was very much involved in the match from start to finish. Furthermore, the Goldberg interference was kept short & sweet, without affecting the outcome entirely. I also loved the terrific ending, where Eddie countered Brock's F-5 into a huge DDT & then followed it up with a frog splash. Match Rating...9


DESSERT

Easter Eggs & Conclusion

EASTER EGGS

(1) On Disc-1, highlight ‘ECW’ on page-1 of the ‘Extras’ & press “left” twice to see a 5 minute ECW highlights package of the Guerrero vs Malenko feud. Great stuff & a terrific promo leading up to their 2 out of 3 falls match included elsewhere on this DVD set.

(2) On Disc-1, highlight ‘AWA SuperClash 3’ on page-1 of the ‘Extras’ & press “left” twice to see an interview with Hector Guerrero concerning the debut of The GobbledyGooker! Less than 2 minutes worth.

(3) On Disc-2, highlight ‘WWE Survivor Series’ on page-1 of the ‘Extras’ & press “left” twice to see a 3 minute lead-up promo to the Triple-Threat Elimination Match at Survivor Series, which is shown elsewhere on this DVD set.

(4) On Disc-2, highlight ‘WWE No Way Out’ on page-1 of the ‘Extras’ & press “left” twice to see highlights of a battle royal to crown the #1 contender to Brock Lesnar’s WWE Championship. This includes an in-ring segment between Eddie & Brock.

(5) On Disc-2, highlight ‘Fighting For Honor’ on page-2 of the ‘Extras’ & press “left” twice to see Eddie talking about his first ever match. Way too short at less than a minute.

(6) On Disc-2, highlight ‘Injury’ on page-2 of the ‘Extras’ & press “left” twice to see Eddie talking about the tattoo on his forearm.


CONCLUSION

All in all, this is another fantastic DVD package produced by the WWE. I wouldn’t quite rank it up there with Benoit’s or the ECW DVD, but it’s not all that far behind. If you recall, the documentary portion of this DVD was initially made for US television & it only had an hour timeslot. Thus, when commercials were taken into account, it could only have a running time of approximately 45 minutes. The documentary is shown as is on this DVD set & because of that, it’s quality is not up to that of the Benoit & ECW DVDs.

It would have been better if the WWE added to the 43 minute original. It didn’t need much, possibly just 20 minutes concentrating more on specific times of his career. This is because the original documentary focused a lot on Eddie’s problems, which was presumably what was required by the network special at the time. It would have worked extremely well at the time & works ok here. But more on his career (at the expense of some of the extras) would have better suited this DVD set.

That’s almost the only gripe I have on the whole set. Some of the extras are a waste of space, but they don’t last long enough to matter. The opening match that doesn’t even include Eddie also could have been replaced. But other than that, the matches chosen are terrific & make this DVD a quality package. The tag-team match with Art Barr & the ECW bout against Dean Malenko are truly tremendous collector’s pieces, while I’m so glad that they didn’t leave off the classic bout against Rey. All other matches are well chosen & the inclusion of the Jericho & tag title bouts are minor master-strokes.

What’s great about the matches selected is that they showcase different stages of Eddie’s career & you can see his progression as time goes on. I suppose a match from Japan wouldn’t hurt, but you would have access to that if you own the Chris Benoit DVD. In conclusion, this 2 DVD set on Eddie Guerrero is very much recommended & is definitely in the best 5 WWE DVDs that I have seen thus far.


I can genuinely say that editions #148 & #149 of 'The Wrestling Menu' may very well be the most difficult columns I have ever had to write. I've already received many emails concerning Eddie Guerrero's passing. I have no problems receiving more. As per usual, I will reply to all feedback, but please be patient. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

Or alternately, if you are an LOPForums member, you may also leave feedback by clicking on the following link: http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=4889

As I stated at the top of this column, I will have a very special edition of 'The Wrestling Menu' this FRIDAY the 18th. I will take a look at the Raw & SmackDown tribute episodes, while also sharing some of my memories of the late & great Eddie Guerrero. Furthermore, I will involve all you readers (Eddie Guerrero fans) with a poll concerning Eddie. So look out for that column in 2 days time on LOP. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.











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