Credit: WWE.com
As part of celebrating National Hispanic Heritage month, we look at WWE’s five greatest Hispanic wrestling superstars; ranging from cruiserweights to heavyweights.
Professional wrestling is considered one of the biggest sports in Hispanic communities, especially in Mexico. The Hispanic community has produced a number of superstars within the WWE that have won various championships and honors within professional wrestling, but only a few of them have truly been able to be considered “great.”
While someone like Alberto Del Rio was able to win both the World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Championship two times each, he was limited in his main event exposure due to several backstage issues. If it wasn’t for the reasons behind his two departures from the WWE, Del Rio would have likely earned a spot within the list of the WWE’s greatest Hispanic superstars.
Winning a world heavyweight championship doesn’t necessarily mean that someone has accomplished great things in the WWE. Remember, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper never won a world championship. But he’s considered one of the best villains in professional wrestling history. There are a lot of things that go behind someone being considered a great star in the WWE.
Beyond championships is what they were able to do beyond wins and losses. We’re they entertaining in promos and backstage segments. Did they get the crowd interested in them for more than just what title they were pursuing? Not all Hispanic wrestlers have found success in the WWE. The original Sin Cara portrayed by Mistico wasn’t able to succeed both in the ring and with the crowd.
In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the following five Hispanic superstars were able to do some amazing things during their time in the WWE.
5. Chavo Guerrero
While he’s not likely going to be placed in the WWE Hall of Fame when he finally decides to hang the boots up, Chavo Guerrero has certainly left a mark in professional wrestling. After growing up in a very successful wrestling family, Chavo Guerrero held the WWE Cruiserweight Championship four times, a championship he also won a few times while in WCW. But he also won the WWE Tag Team Championship twice with his uncle, Eddie Guerrero.
But Chavo Guerrero could have been a much bigger star if it wasn’t for how the WWE didn’t make the best booking decisions. Having him lose his first heavyweight championship in less than 10 seconds to Kane didn’t help his status. Sure, neither was the fact that the title was the WWE’s version of the ECW Championship.
The WWE also attempted to make him turn from his Hispanic roots and become a middle-aged white man. Thankfully, this gimmick was killed off quickly. And then there’s the storyline where he not only lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Hornswoggle, but he also jobbed to him with various cartoon-like sketches.
Guerrero was a great talent who was definitely willing to do what he was asked to do. It’s certainly worth putting him on this list.
4. Carlito
When the WWE brought up Carlito Carribbean Cool in an October 2004 episode of SmackDown, they obviously saw something special in him. The officials must have because they had him defeat John Cena for the United States Championship on his very first night on television. Granted, this wasn’t the same Cena who was unstoppable for most of the past decade. But it was a big win for the Caribbean superstar.
From the very well respected Colon family, Carlito quickly climbed in popularity within the WWE Universe. In addition to winning the United States Championship, he also held the Intercontinental Championship during his run as a singles competitor. He had a number of great matches with the likes of Randy Orton, Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels.
The problem was they never seemed to give him that little extra push to make Carlito a main event contender. Instead, they placed him into a team with his brother Primo. While the Colons won both the WWE and World Tag Team Championships simultaneously, it felt like he was limited by the creative direction.
It’s a shame that his run in the WWE ended in 2010 because he certainly was cool to watch. Carlito had that charisma that was unmatched, which should have led him to a world championship in WWE.
3. Tito Santana
During the 1980s, the Intercontinental Championship meant a lot more in terms of prestige in the WWE Universe. This was a time when it was essentially considered the second world heavyweight championship before a time when the WWE roster was split between two different shows.
One of the best Intercontinental Champions during that era was Tito Santana. He had two reigns with the championship that started with a win over Don Muraco in 1983 and a reign that lasted more than 200 days. He would go to war with Greg Valentine that included a memorable steel cage match that Santana won in July 1985.
Santana was a great technical wrestler who threw in flares of lucha libre that was so popular in his part of Texas where he grew up. But the WWE might have made the wrong decision in booking him as “El Matador.” They also didn’t seem to give him that main event push that other great Intercontinental Champions had – i.e. “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
Santana could have been a great champion that would have been a great role model for the Hispanic community. It’s only a shame he just didn’t finish his career with at least one world championship in his lengthy, successful career as a mid-card talent.
2. Rey Mysterio
Since the late 1990s during the heat of the Monday Night Wars, Rey Mysterio was viewed as a superhero among young professional wrestling fans. He had a lot of success in the WCW and WWE that included a total of eight Cruiserweight Championships between both major wrestling promotions.
But he was also known as a bit of a giant killer during his wrestling career. Despite losing his mask to Kevin Nash at WCW SuperBrawl IX in 1999, he gained an upset victory the very next night over Nash. A few weeks later, he defeated Bam Bam Bigelow. But when he came back to the WWE, he was usually kept as the face of the Cruiserweight division with some feuds against top names like Kurt Angle.
Mysterio probably would have never been elevated to a world championship if it wasn’t for the passing of Eddie Guerrero. His passing allowed him to become more popular while the WWE properly booked him as the ultimate underdog at WrestleMania XXII, defeating both Angle and Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Through more than a decade in the WWE, he held three world championships, the Intercontinental Championship twice and he won the WWE Tag Team Championship with four separate tag partners. But beyond the WWE, he’s probably one of the most decorated Hispanic professional wrestlers of all-time.
1. Eddie Guerrero
When Eddie Guerrero got the shocking pinfall over Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship at No Way Out in 2004, it seemed like a bit of a surprise. Sure, Lesnar was planning to leave the WWE for a shot at playing in the National Football League. Many fans might have worried that Eddie Guerrero was going to end up a transitional champion.
But it was the start of him becoming a certified main event championship contender. It felt right considering how hard he worked in the ring and how over he was with the crowd. Guerrero had a long career in ECW, WCW and WWE. He had several championship wins in the WWE that included the European Championship twice, the Intercontinental Championship twice and one run with the United States Championship.
But being a WWE Champion was his greatest achievement for someone who was able to show he could be an entertaining heel with the way he took shortcuts to win. But he also knew how to be a vicious heel in a feud with Rey Mysterio; although we didn’t need the whole custody battle over Rey’s son Dominick.
It looked as if the WWE was going to push Guerrero for another championship run before he suddenly passed away from heart failure. While fans feel there was a lot left unaccomplished, Guerrero was able to do everything one would have expected and more. He was known for saying “Viva la raza,” which means long live the people. Guerrero was certainly a man who best represented the Hispanic community in professional wrestling.
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