Mysterio's Push: Should it Have Gone to Chavo?

[DethMetal]

Most of you remember back in late 2005-2006 when Rey Mysterio received a push shortly after Eddie Guerrero's death. He was supposed honor the Guerrero name by carrying it into immortality, or something. This resulted in Rey getting a reign as World Champion, and doing many things to honor Eddie, such as coming out to the ring in low riders, and wearing Eddie Guerrero shirts and wristbands. My question is, should this push have belonged to Chavo Guerrero?

Many see Chavo Guerrero as underrated, and if he were ever going to become a World Champion, now would have been the time to pull the plug. I think it would've made a lot more sense than giving the push to Rey Mysterio. Right after Eddie's death, Chavo gave up the "Kerwin White" gimmick and went back to his heritage and family name, while Rey and Eddie just came off of a feud that took a good chunk of a year. I personally don't think this storyline should have been done in hindsight, but if anyone was going to carry on the Guerrero name, shouldn't it have been his newphew; a member of the family? Maybe? Perhaps?

 

[Jerichoholic8894]

A true wrestling fan would say obviously, but a casual wwe fan wouldn't enjoy Chavo. Mainly because his mic skills lack, which I really don't make to be a big deal but casual fans would lose intrest fast.

And I also agree, this should have never happened for anyone, but Rey really didn't ever deserve a push to a World Title IMO, He just isn't all that if ya ask me.

 

[suleman09]

i think pushing Rey instead of Chavo was a spit in Chavo's face, like saying, "Yea i know he was your uncle and you ARE a guerrero, but Rey is better than you so we are going to let him honor YOUR uncle"

It was pathetic that they did that to him. The push should have gone to Chavo, besides some people might take this bad but i dont care because its my honest opinion.

i think the ONLY reason they pushed rey was because Eddie passed away, not even because of his talent. Think about it. He has had only 3 reigns as champion.

1st. Wrestlemania 22: Obviously a push to honor Eddie in some way.
2nd. Fatal-4-Way 2010: which he barely even held for a month
3rd. Raw 2011 when CM Punk left the WWE with the title. They only put it on him for like 1 hour. And that was just because they didnt want to put it on The Miz again and also it got Cena heat for beating Rey.

 

[AndThat'sTheBottomLine]

I definitely agree it should have gone to Chavo. Why Rey? Because he was the believable underdog that people will cheer for? I think that was the main reason why. They didn't even TRY to see if it would work with Chavo they just assumed it wouldn't and went with Rey. I think he could've drawn sympathy from the crowd and feuded with a heel Rey and then have a championship reign in Eddie's honor. That would've been the right thing to do in my opinion.

 

[JAK]

As horrible as it sounds I'm pretty sure the ability to maximise merchandise sales may have played a big part in pushing Rey Mysterio over Chavo. Chavo has never had the merch sales power that Rey has, you can regularly see countless kids with Rey Mysterio masks in the audience alone.

Chavo may have been the person that should have been given the push, but the WWE is a business first and Rey is far more marketable to a casual audience.

Finally I think it may have benefited Chavo not to be pushed, the Rey world heavyweight title reign was awful, he was treated like a jobber on TV. Having said that though Chavo soon had his own jobber hell as Hornswoggle's bitch!

 

[HitmanRicks]

The more I look at it, the more I see that Rey didn't deserve the World Title run. Though to be honest, Chavo wouldn't have deserved it either. I wouldn't have minded them both getting pushes for a while, maybe even main-eventing a few shows and getting title shots, but never winning the big belts. Maybe IC and US Title runs, or maybe even teaming up and dominating the tag division.

My biggest gripe with Rey's push is his Rumble win. WWE will have you think that Rey's win was the most inspirational moment in history. That Rey spent the longest time in the ring fighting for Eddie's memory. However, if you watch the match, when the ring starts filling up, Rey sits in the corner for 40 minutes, getting punched and choked. Watch Ric Flair's Rumble win in '92. Watch Benoit's win in '04. Watch Shawn Michaels win in '95. Those three spend the majority of the match on their feet, trading blows or trying to eliminate someone even when the focus isn't on them. I mean, Eddie's corpse did more in the '06 Rumble than Rey did. Rey rode a dead man's coattails all the way to the top, and Chavo could have done the same and been just as unworthy.

 

[PEP3]

Whether or not Chavo "should have" received the push in place of Rey is inconsequential. I think people are confusing the company's reasons for doing the "in memory of" angle altogether. As was mentioned, WWE might have played up the angle as a sentimental one, but the reality is they made that decision for financial reasons.

WWE chose Rey because he had just worked a major angle with Eddie, building his heat and credibility as a title contender. He was also the single more marketable performer for the WWE's ever-growing Latin fanbase.

At the time of his untimely passing, Eddie was huge with Latino audiences, and WWE didn't want to lose that -- because of the money that demographic brings to the table. Chavo was nowhere near as established with or of interest to Latins, much less the mainstream, everyday viewer, but Rey certainly was! Thusly, he didn't just get a push "in memory of" Eddie; he outright replaced him in the company's marketing schematic.

The real frustration of this question is to think it implies some think either Rey or Chavo wouldn't deserve a push without Eddie's death. Both men are fine performers, both talented in the ring and capable of carrying a feud. Still, Chavo languished in his Uncle's shadows -- even after his death -- and Rey wouldn't get a shot at the top without his friend passing away.

I would almost guarantee neither Rey or Chavo were overly comfortable with the situation. But the WWE was still making money hand over fist, so I can further guarantee they didn't give a damn!

 

[SinCityBlitz]

Chavo was never as over as Rey. After Eddie's death Chavo got the sympathy cheers. I don't think the push would have lasted long if it went to Chavo.

They did the right thing in pushing Rey. It got him over enough to be the champ. Business wise it just made sense.

 

[LeviCook]

Rey Mysterio is more marketable. It's as simple as that. It would make more sense for the push to go to Chavo but Rey was a million times more over with the fans. He is also younger which could have played a part. Most people couldn't take Chavo seriously at that main event level. Although Chavo being pushed would have been more realistic i'm glad they didn't. Mysterio is great worker regardless of some of the criticism he gets. Chavo wouldn't have been able to remain at that level even if he had received the push.

 

[HBsam31]

It would have made sense to give Chavo the push, but like others have said, Rey just got out of the angle with Eddie and he was definitely more main event ready. I was always a huge fan of Chavo, but I never seen him as a World Champion. I also agree with a poster that said the WWE wanted to keep the Latino audience after Eddie's passing and Rey was the best person to attract that audience. I was always a fan of both, but if only one of them were going to get a push then I think Rey was the right person for it.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

Would it make more sense to push Drew McIntyre over David Otunga? Yes. Would it be better to give tag teams more time over Heath Slater getting Veteran Squashed every week? Yup. Everyday the WWE makes decisions, and everyday Internet marks, like ourselves question those decisions.

The fact is Chavo didn't get the push, nor should he have. Rey is, was and always will be one of the single most marketable talents coming out of Mexico. Rey has taken everything that the E has thrown at him and he has made it work. At te time of Eddie's death, Chavo was Kerwin what's his name, and was doing nothing with it. The difference between main event guys and non main event guys is that te true stars take shit and turn it to gold. Austin did it, Rock did it, and yeah Rey did it. Prior to this push in question, Rey was wrestling ladder matches with Eddie for custody of his child. But the BS of the angle was turned into greatness.

 

[The Brain]

No, I don’t think Chavo should have gotten the push. He is simply not believable as a main event star. People had a hard enough time buying into Mysterio as champion and he was much better than Chavo. Six years later and people still criticize Mysterio’s first reign as a sympathy reign even though he has gone on to win more world titles as an occasional main eventer. Imagine the criticism Chavo would have received. Let’s say Heath Slater and CM Punk were cousins and Punk suddenly died. Do you see Slater as world champion? Chavo never really made it past what Slater is now except when he was feuding with Mysterio. I think the feud with Mysterio was enough of a push for him.

 

[dman1373]

chavo wasn't that good of a worker.
He was not over.
He had limited mic skills.
He didn't have a unique look.
He hadn't ever beaten anyone to make it seem as if he could win the big one.

He is the definition of mid card, hes just been liven off of his familys name.

While rey, has a unique look,
is a really good worker,
had beaten many top stars,
and was way way over,

 

[Eyebrows]

chavo wasn't that good of a worker.
He was not over.
He had limited mic skills.
He didn't have a unique look.
He hadn't ever beaten anyone to make it seem as if he could win the big one.

He is the definition of mid card, hes just been liven off of his familys name.

While rey, has a unique look,
is a really good worker,
had beaten many top stars,
and was way way over,

I always thought Chavo was a good, solid worker, I think it's unfair to say that he wasn't that good of a worker. While it's true that Mysterio was more marketable and much more over, him beating many top stars seems to come after Eddie's death which is 20/20 hindsight really. I don't remember him defeating as many top names prior to that, except from Eddie himself, without it being constantly referred to as an upset. And I wouldn't say Rey's mic skills were the best either. Even with the awful Kerwin White gimmick, Chavo wouldn't have been the first guy to have been saddled with a bad gimmick and then go on to find success.

 

[Defekt]

Chavo was languishing with a shitty gimmick and only a hair above a jobber at that point. It wouldn't have made sense to give a guy who wasn't over such a huge push.

Rey was an underdog because of his size, and he'd never held the world title, but he was still one of the company's biggest stars.

Chavo going from Sunday Night Heat to winning the Royal Rumble and beating Angle and Orton at Wrestlemania in a period of a few months would not have gone over well.

 

[mrpops]

Rey mysterio is a charity case. Simple as that.

Rey also tarnished that wrestlemania for me because even though i know wrestlings fake, i truly believed rey would not win. Kurt Angle and Randy Orton are 10 times better and one of them shouldve won. Rey isnt a believable champion. So when he won, i was in shocked and angry. I turned off my TV, called it the worst wrestlemania ive ever seen, wanted my money back etc.

If Chavo was in his place i wouldve believed he would win because hes a bigger dude and was basically an eddie clone.

 

[rge2010]

Giving Chavo the push would ahve been patronising. Oh your uncle died, lets give you something you clearly dont deserve.

Mysterio deserved a push anyway. He was way over with the crowd and had just come out of a really good fued with Eddie. Rey was one of the faces of Smackdown during that point! Chavo was pretty much hanging off Eddies name.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

In a perfect world the push would have gone to Chavo, but again people would just be moaning about his push to World Champ, saying it only happened because of Eddie's death.

Mysterio was a better option from the business side of things. He was already incredibly over with the WWE fans, was much higher up the card than Chavo ever was, and had much more merchandise potential than Chavo. Plus, he had the whole gimmick of the "Underdog" due to his size, which made people root for him more. I can perfectly see why he was the pick.

However, i didn't like the fact they pushed anyone. It was nice to see Rey and Chavo paying tribute to Eddie through their use of his moves, the lowrider being used in entrances and the E.G armbands, but the fact Rey would never have got to be Champion if Eddie had lived annoys me a little.

Fair enough giving Rey and Chavo a little push, to Cruiserweight or IC title level, and I do think they should have been a tag-team, is fine but to World Title level? No, I don't think its believable and it must have been annoying for other wrestlers to see Mysterio get the Heavyweight belt at his size and weight just because his friend had passed.

 

[dman1373]

I always thought Chavo was a good, solid worker, I think it's unfair to say that he wasn't that good of a worker. While it's true that Mysterio was more marketable and much more over, him beating many top stars seems to come after Eddie's death which is 20/20 hindsight really. I don't remember him defeating as many top names prior to that, except from Eddie himself, without it being constantly referred to as an upset. And I wouldn't say Rey's mic skills were the best either. Even with the awful Kerwin White gimmick, Chavo wouldn't have been the first guy to have been saddled with a bad gimmick and then go on to find success.

yeah chavo was a solid worker, but he wasn't anything special. I dont remember any of his matches, ever. But how would being a decent worker with, no unique look, no unique personallity, and someone that cant work the mic lead to a push.

 

[IT Factor]

WWE were looking to give the title to an Eddie proxy. Who better than Chavo Guerrero to carry on the family name? I realize some fans never seen anything special in Chavo. You still cannot deny that Chavo is a great performer. He's not on the level of Eddie, but, few are. Eddie Guerrero helped open the door for cruiserweights to cross over into heavyweight divisions. I think Chavo was the better choice for honoring Eddie's memory if WWE were hellbent on doing something to honor him.

There was alot of history with Rey & Eddie, no doubt. Which is probably why they ultimately went with him instead of Chavo. From a talent standpoint, I'd say Chavo is equal or better in ways than Rey. It was what it was. WWE clearly had no intention of giving Chavo an opportunity to advance and he was doomed to fail. Chavo was believeable enough to become a champion in my view. He was good enough on the mic to verbalize his points and still get his storyline over. Was he a promo master? No. I do think WWE should've attempted a Chavo push. While he did win a few matches after Eddie's passing, I don't feel he was given a real shot to advance. If he was good enough to test other talents, he was good enough to be champion.