Los Gringos Locos vs. El Hijo del Santo & Octagon

Eddie Guerrero is my grandmother’s favorite wrestler of all-time, which is saying quite a lot as she watched quite a lot of lucha libre/American wrestling over the years (I’m quite envious of the wrestlers my family got to see before I was born). I remember when Eddie first debuted in WCW under the Generic Babyface #1 character he was saddled with initially. I liked him well enough, but he didn’t stick out. She told me just to wait and see: “Eddie is very good. I like Eddie,” she would say. She was clearly right. His death (on this date six years ago) affected all wrestling fans around the world, perhaps my grandmother moreso than others. She barely watches any wrestling at all nowadays (as an energetic woman in her early 80s) and it stems from this simple fact: for her, as well as for all of us, it just isn’t the same without Eddie Guerrero.

This isn’t supposed to a somber article, quite to the contrary. This, like everything we feature in the “Great…” series, is a celebration of wrestling history. I couldn’t think of a better match (though there were many to consider) to showcase Eddie Guerrero than this one: from AAA’s When World Collide PPV in 1994, here is Los Gringos Locos (Art Barr and Eddie Guerrero) vs. El Hijo del Santo and Octagon; 2/3 falls, double hair vs. mask.

Also called La Pareja del Terror, Barr and Guerrero were quite possibly the most hated duo in lucha libre history. They played up the fact they were American to the Mexican crowd and how that made the two better than everyone there. Nationalism always works in wrestling. They did all the little things, from make swimming motions (as in those in the audience can only get to the great land of America by swimming across the Rio Grande River) to even mentioning Proposition 187, which without getting into politics was a gigantic immigration issue in California (the PPV took place in Los Angeles) in 1994.

It is obvious that Barr (“The American Love Machine”) taught Eddie quite a lot it terms of what it meant to be an heel. The crowd dislikes Eddie, but they hate Barr with a passion. Barr would die not long after this match and Eddie would dedicate the use of the frog splash (Barr’s finisher) for the rest of his career. The announcers Chris Cruise and Mike Tenay (before he was Impact-ized)  do a fantastic job at explaining everything to the PPV audience, so pay attention to what they say. Also note that Eddie and El Hijo del Santo had an issue due to Eddie saying that his father Gory was better than the legendary El Santo (who is, as you would think, the father of the man in this match).

I apologize for the quality of the videos. These were the only videos of the full match I could find (without the lame fast forward bit from WWE On Demand). Also, this is lucha libre so it might not be for everyone. I think you all will enjoy it, though.

And yes, the second for Los Gringos Locos is Louie Spicolli known here as Madonna’s Boyfriend.