It was 15 years ago today that “Latino Heat” Eddie Guerrero pinned Brock Lesnar at No Way Out in 2004 to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, marking a remarkable comeback story and the first World title of his career.
While one of WWE’s most beloved stars in the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression Eras, the shocking upset of “The Beast” was one of the biggest moments in WWE history. In the closing moments of the match, Guerrero amazingly landed his Three Amigos – three consecutive German Suplexes – on the much larger Lesnar but failed in his follow up to land his patented Frog Splash. For many fans, it seemed to signal the end of Eddie’s championship opportunities in the match. Lesnar recovered first delivering an F-5 that many assumed would end the match. But Lesnar’s F-5 knocked out the ref, and the match continued.
With the ref out, Lesnar grew frustrated and headed out of the ring and brought his title belt into the ring, with the intent to use it as a weapon on the fallen Guerrero. But a run-in from Bill Goldberg, followed by a spear, took out Lesnar before any damage could be done. Guerrero and the ref finally came around and went for the pin, but Lesnar kicked out at two. The ref once again dropped down, still in pain. With the ref out once again, Guerrero then picked up the title belt for his own use. But Lesnar came too and caught Eddie with a kick to the stomach then immediately hoisted him up for a second and final F-5. But Guerrero countered the move, instead DDTing Lesnar into the title on the canvas, then quickly went top rope to deliver a Frog Splash on the fallen champion. The ref groggily pulled himself over to make the count, and in three seconds, Eddie Guerrero was the WWE World Champion.
It capped an amazing second run for Eddie in the WWE, after his first run was marred with controversy. Following a stellar career in Mexico, ECW, and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Guerrero jumped ship from WCW to WWE in January of 2000, alongside Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Perry Saturn, to form the Radicalz. The former 2x WCW Cruiserweight Champion, WCW US Champion and 2x ECW World Television Champion was expected to explode into a major player with the WWE, and he soon began adding more gold upon his arrival. He became a 2x WWE European Champion and WWE Intercontinental Champion, but by the end of 2001, his substance abuse had taken its toll on his career and the man himself. Following an arrest for drunk driving in November of 2001, he was released from the WWE.
Instead of spiraling further into his demons, Guerrero saw his release as a wake-up call. He went to rehab to clean himself up and found strength in his faith, becoming a Born Again Christian. He beat his addictions and found work on the independent circuit to get back into proper ring shape. He worked all over the world, returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling for the first time since 1998, as well as working for new upstart indie promotions like Ring of Honor, IWA Mid South, ICW New York and International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) in the US, International Wrestling Association (IWA) in Puerto Rico, and Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) in the UK. He even briefly held the IWA Mid South Heavyweight Championship, defeating a young star named CM Punk.
In April of 2002, he was a new man with a new lease on life and WWE welcomed him back with open arms. He immediately began to feud with his old ECW running mate Rob Van Dam, winning the Intercontinental Championship for his second time at Backlash. That summer, he formed Los Guerreros with his nephew, Chavo Guerrero Jr., and alongside Kurt Angle, Edge, Chris Benoit, and Rey Mysterio Jr., they became part of the SmackDown Six, the men credited with saving SmackDown from cancellation – and in a way, helping the WWE survive the departures of the Attitude Era’s main event stars like The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Eddie would go on to win three WWE World Tag Team titles with Chavo, and add a WWE United States Championship during his second run, but nothing could top that moment on February 15, 2004, when a groggy Brian Hebner counted the 1-2-3 and raised Eddie Guerrero’s hand as the NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
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