Pro Wrestling Chronicle

4.15.95 Eddie Guerrero vs Dean Malenko

So Malenko lost his TV Title to 2 Cold Scorpio. Scorpio then lost it to the debuting Eddie Guerrero. Now Malenko wants his belt back, so he’s going after Eddie. Malenko is the natural heel here, and Eddie got over huge in his first match, but Eddie retains some of that awesome heel charm that made him a huge star in Mexico. Oh, it doesn’t hurt that he’s got some heel to him in the ECW Arena either.

We start out with arm ringers and escapes. Nice crisp stuff. Eddie sets the tone early with some quick stuff on Malenko to let him know he’s not backing down. They run through an amazing move/counter move sequence that kinda tips you off to the fact they worked a bunch together over in New Japan.
Maybe the best strength of this feud was knowing when to turn it on and when to slow it down. They go to some submission stuff on the ground, with Guerrero grabbing an arm bar. It might be undervalued today, but no one was doing this in America at a high level in front of a more wrestling knowledgeable crowd. All that in the first 5 minutes.

Stupid ECW fans get totally into their own shit trying to get a fan thrown out. Eddie starts doing some of his mid range spots and modified Lucha stuff. He knew how to grab a (good) hold. Another strength to this is when Malenko takes over the transition between each man controlling is pretty seamless and very equal. They don’t over extend themselves. Malenko drop kicks the knee and that’s the focus of a great submission move. Then some striking offense. Eddie struggling to get out is great. Ten minutes in.

Malenko stuffs a comeback attempt and stays on Guerrero’s leg. I love that he varies his stuff. A lot of the submissions are different, and his kicks to the leg are limited for maximum effect. Malenko takes every inch on an STF. All this will hopefully lead up to the Texas Cloverleaf.

Guerrero comes back with a cradle suplex. He then power bombs Malenko, which I think was a bit much, and too fast, coming off the leg work. Crowd doesn’t react to it. He hits a beautiful tornado DDT for some near falls. Crowd liked that.

Eddie hits a top rope Frankenstiener, but the knee gives out and he can’t get the cover fast enough. Tries a surfboard and fails, so he transitions into something else before an STF of his own. Beautiful stuff. Crowd wants a bit more action, but their aren’t an cat calls. This is actually a lot more New Japan Super Juniors then Lucha Libre. A Great spot where they both go over the top rope and sell. Eddie tries to suplex Malenko in, but it gets blocked and Malenko suplexes Eddie to the floor. He sells the knee again, which I wish Styles would point out. Fans didn’t give this the credit it deserved.

Malenko misses a dive, Eddie hits one, and they both sell. Something I actually don’t like is the fact Malenko came out of that the aggressor. That made no sense. Crowd is dead, which is a bit unfair. They trade brainbusters. Eddie hits his Frog Splash, but can’t get the pin.

Finally Malenko tries for the Cloverleaf, but he can’t hold it. Eddie gets a flash pin nearfall off a Tiger driver he took. Eddie tries to walk the ropes into a ‘rana. Near fall. Eddie does the Gori Special into the fish out of water dueling pin attempts. That was awesome and I can remember seeing it for the first time between these two. Both men sell while the crowd gives them a standing ovation and an ECW chant. 25 minutes in.

Somehow 25 minutes became 30 minutes and the time limit expires. Who knows if they screwed up the time or magically clipped it. It was very good, not great, but they would get so much better. Anywhere from 3 ½ to 4 stars from me. Go out of your way to see at least one of their ECW matches, though I think the May match may be a better match.