Article: Radio Interview
Conducted By: Dan Lovranski & Jeff Marek
Date: 24th Dec 2000
Credit to: Live Audio Wrestling
Jeff Marek: Our featured guest is one of the most talented yet under-rated and under-used wrestlers in all of North America. It's a pleasure to welcome to the program for the first time the WCW Cruiserweight Champion, Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Chavo, how are you doing tonight?
Chavo Guerrero: Good guys. Thanks for having me on the show, I appreciate it.
Jeff: How did you feel about the pay-per-view tonight?
Chavo: Actually, overall, I didn't think it was too bad; it was pretty good. Everybody worked their butts off and I did commentary in that first match and those guys were just kicking butt; it was hard for me to say anything because I just wanted to say "Wow!" all the time.
Dan Lovranski: Yeah, that match was totally astounding... unbelievable.
Chavo: Great ladder match. It's nice to see guys working their butts off doing a match like that.
Jeff: Yeah, I just hope that it means something on Nitro this week, you know what I mean?
Chavo: That's another story, we'll see about that. [Laughing]
Jeff: So where's that going? I'm guessing it's going to turn into a three-way dance with the 2-Count grabbing the envelope?
Chavo: I believe something like that. I think it's either a three-way or those two may be wrestling each other; I'm not too sure to tell you the truth.
Jeff: What was going through your mind, Chavo, while you were watching that bout from ringside? Obviously it's a tough one to call because you want to take yourself out of the character of Chavo Guerrero Jr. and become the fan again I'm sure and just pop for these guys.
Chavo: That was a tough match to call. That's why I let Mark Madden, Tony Schiavone, and Scott Hudson sort of do it because they're so good at doing their jobs and I just tried to fill in where I could. I just wanted to be in there with them; that was a great match.
Dan: Does that match take place tomorrow night on Nitro?
Chavo: I'm not sure to tell you the truth; I really don't know. Tomorrow there's also Thunder and I don't know when I'm going to be wrestling whomever I'm going to be wrestling; I don't know if it's going to be on the pay-per-view or tomorrow night... I really don't know.
Jeff: From a lot of emails and a lot of phone calls that we've gotten from people that listen to our program is "It's good to see Chavo Guerrero Jr. not only on TV right now but on TV with an angle." How happy are you with what's going on with you and WCW?
Chavo: I'm very happy to, as you said, be on with an angle. For so long there has been such a disarray and I've been promised so much stuff and they say "We're going to do this with you" and "We're going to do that with you" and then a new person comes in and they tell you "I'm going to do this with you" and "I'm going to do that with you" and then somebody else comes in and it's just so frustrating for me to be sitting in the ranks saying "Guys, come on! If you don't see that I'm talented, you're blind."
Jeff: That's true. That kind of leads into our next question, Chavo. Were you surprised that you didn't have a match today?
Chavo: I was prepared to have a match. When I walked in and found that I didn't have a match, I was a little disappointed but when I found that I was on the show three or four different times I said "Hey, that's fine with me." I'll be able to wake up tomorrow morning, get out of bed, work out no aches and pains, that's all great.
Dan: Now let's talk about some of the different angles they've put you in, in WCW. The one that I think brought a lot of attention to you was the one you did with your Uncle Eddie and the whole Pepe thing, which was a very interesting angle. How did you feel about that whole angle with Eddie?
Chavo: You know, that just came about as a joke really. I was trying to become a crazy guy and we were at Eddie's house and his daughters came out riding this little pepe horse and I said "God, I should come out riding this on Monday" and as a joke, I did it. The next Thunder there were Pepe signs and people had Pepe horses and I didn't bring him out the next week so everyone was like "Where's Pepe? Where's Pepe?" so I started bringing him out and before I knew it, he stuck with me.
Jeff: The weirdest things get over, eh?
Chavo: Yeah that horse thing was more over than I was.
Jeff: WCW did more with that horse than they did with guys like Dandy or the Villano's.
Chavo: Right. Talented guys that they just lost the ball on. They couldn't speak too much English but their performance in the ring was great.
Jeff: That's something interesting that you touch on. I don't agree with this and a lot of people I've talked to don't agree with this but the reason WCW kept a lot of the Luchadors down was because they couldn't do a promo, they weren't white, they didn't have a traditional North American wrestling look. Do you think that matters as much as the brass in the big companies think?
Chavo: Yes and no. Doing promos and doing interviews is a big part of our business now. To have someone go out and just wrestle and not be able to do that part of the business is a problem because your hands are tied. You can go out and have great matches but a lot of the times that mic will get you over.
Jeff: At the same time, look at the guy that WCW did create over the last five years, Goldberg. He never did a promo to get him over. It was just his look and they just fed him a hundred guys.
Chavo: Goldberg is a phenom; it's kind of hard to explain. He comes out there just so explosive; just watching this guy in the ring is different from anything you've seen. He goes out there and just destroys guys. You've seen it done before but with the speed and velocity that this guy does it with... it's pretty impressive to watch. The wrestlers in the back are basically watching a thirty second squash match and still popping on it, you know something is being done right. It's not like the Ultimate Warrior coming out and shaking the ropes and in thirty seconds it's over. Well, sure it's thirty seconds but when he tackles the opponent he cuts them right off. I've been on the other end of that tackle and it's not as hard as it looks but it's definitely there.
Jeff: Chavo, do you still watch and learn now and if so, who are the guys you look to for inspiration?
Chavo: I definitely look at my Uncle Eddie - he's the man. Chris Benoit is another one that I really mark out for - he's the greatest not only as a person but in the ring, he looks so strong and convincing and I love being in the ring with him.
Jeff: You can't see through anything.
Chavo: Yeah, he's great. Chris Jericho, I still like him a lot, he's a friend of mine. Anytime I was in the ring with any of those guys such as Dean, Chris Jericho, or Chris Benoit, I'd have to elevate myself and being just a youngster in the business compared to those guys, it really clears the dust off of you. I still like watching those guys a lot.
Dan: Now, Chavo, it's funny that all four of those guys that you mentioned are no longer with WCW. Was it really tough for you to see people like Eddie Guerrero, Jericho, Benoit, and Malenko leave the promotion?
Chavo: Absolutely. They were my cliques basically, if there was a clique. I rode with them, I trained with them, and I always rode with Eddie and trained with Eddie and when he was gone, it hurt. It was Benoit or Jericho or Dean or Dean and Perry or whatever but when they all left, it kind of left me on my own because I didn't really have anybody to ride with and travel with, which was kind of hard. Then I hooked up with Hugh Morrus a lot and that helped out; I've become very good friends with Hugh. Whether we're in bars at night, we're up the next day in the gym, travelling, eating right, and travelling hard. It's great to be with someone that you can travel with.