Observer Flashback: Eddie Guerrero wins WWE Championship

20 years ago today Eddie Guerrero won the WWE Championship. 

He defeated Brock Lesnar for the belt at No Way Out 2004 in front of a sold-out crowd at the Cow Palace. 

Our own Dave Meltzer covered Guerrero's title win in the February 23, 2004 Wrestling Observer Newsletter, available in our archives for subscribers.  

Meltzer wrote:

A lot of history came together, as a member of one of pro wrestling’s most famous families broke a life long size barrier to international superstardom in what is country’s oldest major wrestling arena, and among the business’ all-time most historical buildings.

A few years ago, even though he was as talented as any wrestler in the business, Eddy Guerrero would have been just about the last person anyone would think would ever win a WWF heavyweight championship. 

Meltzer's article included a deep history of the Guerrero family as well. 

The Guerreros have a rich family history in wrestling, dating back some 67 or so years. Eddie’s father is generally considered one of the ten biggest stars in the history of Lucha Libre. He got his name from being one of the pioneers of bloody matches, and his heel tag team with El Santo, Los Parejas Atomicos (The Atomic Pair) is the most famous ever in that country. Eventually the two split-up and feuded. While Guerrero was Hispanic in descent, he was actually born in Kearney, AZ in 1921, and wrestled main events well into his 50s.

Click here to read the full edition of the February 23, 2004 Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 

Guerrero's win was also covered by our own Bryan Alvarez in the February 23, 2004 edition of the F4W newsletter. 

Alvarez wrote:

Despite being held down for much of his career by incompetent bookers (does the LWO angle in WCW ring a bell?) and battling his own personal demons (drug addiction really did almost end his life), he’s been a consistently great worker pretty much from day one, and when given the opportunity, has shown the ability to cut a great promo. 

In WCW, what held him back most was the fact that he was seen as a Mexican cruiserweight, which was death. In the last few years in WWE, his race hasn’t appeared to be much of an issue, because he was able to connect with the fans as "Latino Heat", and recently, the company noticed that he was one of their rare draws, usually in border towns and locales with heavily Hispanic populations. He was still held down, however, by his size.

Guerrero passed away on November 13, 2005, less than two years after winning the WWE title. Following his death, Meltzer covered his life and career extensively in the December 5, 2005 Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 

Meltzer wrote:

If there is a legacy that Eddy Guerrero will leave in pro wrestling from a historical basis, it is that of all the ten of thousands of wrestlers who started their careers in Mexico, on a world wide basis, at least to the non-Spanish speaking world, he ended up being the biggest star of all. And if anyone had ever told him that, he'd probably thank them, and likely never believe it.

Guerrero was voted into The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame Class of 2006. The full Hall of Fame edition of the newsletter that year is available here for subscribers. 

Meltzer wrote of his induction:

Guerrero, who passed away in November, doubled from 34% to 69% from last year's balloting, and would have gone higher, as several voters remarked to me they were not going to vote for him until 2007 because they didn't want his induction tinged with the idea it was a sympathy vote. He was named on 143 of the 207 ballots covering North America, with more than 80% support among active wrestlers and reporters, and strong support among retired wrestlers. The only category he didn't fare well in was historians.

Guerrero won several WON awards during his career as well, including Feud of the Year in 1994 (Los Gringos Locos vs. AAA), Tag Team of the Year in 1994 (w/Art Barr) Feud of the Year in 1995 (vs. Dean Malenko), Tag Team of the Year in 2002 (w/Chavo Guerrero), Most Charismatic from 2004-05, and Best on Interviews in 2005.