Chavo Guerrero Sr.

Salvador Guerrero III (January 7, 1949 – February 11, 2017), better known as Chavo Guerrero or Chavo Guerrero Sr., and also known during the 21st century as "Chavo Classic", was a professional wrestler. He was best known for his work in Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), American Wrestling Association (AWA) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and for being the father of third generation wrestler Chavo Guerrero Jr. He was the oldest son of Salvador "Gory" Guerrero, and part of the Guerrero wrestling family. He was the oldest WWE Cruiserweight Champion.

Early career

Earlier in his career, Guerrero feuded with Atsushi Onita in Japan over lighter-weight titles.

In the 1970s, Guerrero moved his family to California so he could compete in Los Angeles's NWA Hollywood Wrestling. He also feuded with Roddy Piper for the NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship. Guerrero held the title 15 times between 1975 and 1980.

He usually teamed with his brothers, Mando and Héctor wherever he wrestled. In the late 1980s, he teamed with his brother Mando to go after the AWA World Tag Team Championship held by Diamond Dallas Page's team of Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka).

World Wrestling Entertainment (2004)

In 2004, Guerrero began working for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), joining his son Chavo Jr. in a feud with the younger Chavo's uncle and the older Chavo's brother Eddie. While with WWE he competed as Chavo Classic and became the oldest WWE Cruiserweight Champion in history, defeating Chavo Jr. and Spike Dudley in a triple threat match. On the April 1 episode of Smackdown, Classic and Chavo Jr. lost to Spike Dudley and Rey Mysterio. In the April 22 episode of Smackdown, Classic and Chavo Jr defeated John Cena in a 2-on-1 handicap match. On the May 11 episode of Smackdown, Chavo Classic defeated Jacqueline thanks to outside help by Chavo Jr. On the June 3 episode of Smackdown, Chavo Classic retained the Cruiserweight Title against Funaki thanks to outside help from Chavo Jr. He eventually lost the title to Rey Mysterio less than a month later. On June 15, 2004, he was fired by WWE for no-showing multiple SmackDown! house shows.

On the November 15, 2010, "Old School" episode of Raw, Guerrero returned as Chavo Classic, driving Alberto Del Rio to the arena.

Lucha Underground (2016)

Chavo Classic first appeared on Lucha Underground talking with Rey Mysterio about the upcoming match of the latter against his son Chavo Guerrero Jr. in a Loser Leaves Lucha match. During the match, Classic, who was in the attendance, turned on Mysterio, helping his son win the match, but Dario Cueto ordered to restart the match, and Mysterio hit the 619 on Classic and defeated Chavo Guerrero, leaving Lucha Underground without the Guerreros.

Chavo is the son of Gory Guerrero and the older brother of Mando, Hector, and Eddie Guerrero. He grew up in El Paso, Texas, where he attended a segregated school.

He has two children, wrestler Chavo Jr. and daughter Victoria. and he is the brother in-law of Vickie Guerrero.

In July 2016, Guerrero and his son were named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit is litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.

On February 11, 2017, Guerrero died of liver cancer, at the age of 68.

In 1978 he co-starred with Henry Winkler in the movie The One and Only as a wrestler called Indian Joe.

He is the subject of the song "The Legend of Chavo Guerrero" by The Mountain Goats and is featured in its music video.

• Finishing moves
  • Gory Special – adopted from his father Gory Guerrero
  • Moonsault – adopted from his brother Mando Guerrero
• Signature moves
  • DDT
  • Dropkick
  • Multiple suplex variations
    • Belly to back
    • Delayed vertical
    • German
  • Short-arm clothesline
  • Sitout spinebuster
  • Somersault plancha
• Managers
  • Dark Journey
  • Baby Doll
  • Sir Oliver Humperdink
  • Chavo Guerrero Jr.

• All Japan Pro Wrestling
  • NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• National Wrestling Alliance
  • NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
• Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling
  • ACCW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
• Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (1 time) – with Hector Guerrero
• Eastern Wrestling Federation
  • EWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
• Empire Wrestling Federation
  • EWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Hollywood Heavyweight Wrestling
  • HHW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• International Wrestling Federation
  • IWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• NWA Hollywood Wrestling
  • NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (15 times)
  • NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (11 times) – with Raul Mata (2), John Tolos (1), Gory Guerrero (1), Butcher Vachon (1), Victor Rivera (1), The Canadian (1), Hector Guerrero (1), El Halcon (1), Black Gordman (1) and Al Madril (1)
  • NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times)¹
• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him # 130 out of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
• Southwest Championship Wrestling / Texas All-Star Wrestling
  • SCW Southwest Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • SCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Manny Fernandez
  • TASW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • TASW Texas Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Al Madril (1) and himself (1)³
  • Texas All-Star USA Heavyweight Championship (1 times)
• Vendetta Pro Wrestling
  • Vendetty Award—2014 Co-Special Guest star of the Year (w/ Chavo Guerrero Jr. & The Godfather)
• World Wrestling Association
  • WWA Trios Championship (1 time) – with Mando and Eddy Guerrero
• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1991–2007) (1 time)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Best Wrestling Maneuver (1986) Moonsault block

Notes

¹When Chavo Guerrero won this championship, it was still officially recognized and sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and was primarily defended in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, an NWA affiliated promotion in Mexico. After the promotion's withdrawal from the National Wrestling Alliance, they kept the title and continue to use the NWA initials. However, the NWA no longer recognizes or sanctions it.

³Defeats Al Madril to claim Madril's part of the championship, though he quickly surrenders the titles on the same day.