You Let Me Down, But Chavo Never Once Did

Chavo Guerrero v. Gino Hernandez NWA Houston 5/22/81

We don't typically do obituary posts, but Chavo Guerrero is a Segunda Caida favorite and a guy with a bunch of under the radar classics. This is a 2/3 falls Jr. title match courtesy of the invaluable NWA Classics service. The match is reffed by Lou Thez, but is worked differently then most Thez reffed matches. Match starts with Gino beating the everloving shit out of a fan, it was hard for any match to live up to the violence of that fan beatdown. We get some Thez approved mat work in the first fall including some very cool stretching by Chavo, he wasn't fancy like a Negro Navarro or Johnny Saint, but his maestro chops were more about making simpler things look really painful. Match breaks down into a hell of a back and forth fight in the third fall with both guys exchanging big shots. Chavo has really great looking punches as does Gino, and both guys are amazing at selling punches, both guys would make weak shots look strong, and they make the strong shots look devastating. Chavo gets the belt with an OG Guerrero cheat to win tight pull, only to have Gino smash him with a belt leading to the crowd going apeshit as Thez clears the ring. Great match, and an awesome example of what Chavo could do as a triumphant babyface, this is how I imagine his Olympic wars with Roddy Piper must have looked like.