EOTR Feud Of The Week: Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio

By @Phranchize19 and @TrueGodImmortal

This week, True and I will present to you a rivalry that lasted off and on for almost 2 decades. Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio have been friends forever but they’ve had a rivalry like no other in the sport. Captivating the world with their Lucha Libre style of wrestling, they wrestled all over the world, with and against each other. Today, we wanted to take a look at their rivalry and what made it so special, along with their best matches, and the most underrated. Let's get into it.

Best Matches
Since these two have wrestled in countless organizations and countless times, picking just ONE match wouldn’t be right so True and I decided to pick the best matches from both WCW and WWE.

*WCW
Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio JR
Title vs Mask Match
Cruiserweight Championship 

Halloween Havoc

-This was a MOTY candidate in our eyes. These guys tore the house down. Chemistry was never an issue for these two men but it shined brighter than it ever had on this night. This match with back and forth and it could very well be the best Cruiserweight Title match of all time. It's easily one of the best matches in both of their careers and it's definitely their best contest in WCW.

*WWE
Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio 

Ladder Match
Summerslam 2005

-One of the best matches I’ve ever seen (Phranchize). These guys laid it all on the line for the custody of Rey’s son Dominic. There were some nasty spots but it didn’t matter. This match was simply fantastic from start to finish. For me (True), this match had a bit of a silly element to it based on the premise and reason it was happening, but the action takes your mind off of that. Eddie didn't win this match or their best WCW encounter, but he delivered in the ring every time.

Underrated Matches
A look at the most underrated matches from the two stars in both WCW and WWE. What makes this rivalry so storied and great is that they really feuded in two companies and have gems in both of them. Let's see what gets the nod for the most underrated.

*WCW
Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio JR.
Cruiserweight Championship 

World War III

-We were very tempted to put this match as their best WCW match. The action was just as good as their Halloween Havoc clash. Eddie was quite physical in this match and it was a welcome sight. In the end, Eddie avenges his Halloween Havoc defeat

*WWE
Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio 

Judgment Day 2005

-We REALLY wanted to put their Great American Bash match but Eddie’s turn was in full effect here. Eddie was more vicious than I’d ever seen him. Rey playing the gutsy babyface was perfect to aiding the heel turn for Eddie, and Rey picks up the victory by DQ. The ending wasn't ideal but the match itself was superb.

Winner Of The Feud
It's pretty simple to see who won this feud. Eddie got a lot of victories that didn't mean as much, but in their biggest contests and bouts, Rey walked away with the win. That can be stated for the Halloween Havoc match and for the Summerslam ladder match. Regardless, this feud was great in every promotion it took place, and even though Rey stands as the winner of the feud, Eddie delivered in every match and promo, carrying the feud from that standpoint. This is a classic rivalry.

-EOTR 

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Eyes on the Ring 1:51 AM  No comment

EOTR Match Of The Week: Shawn Michaels vs Hulk Hogan

By @TrueGodImmortal

With Summerslam getting closer and the road there now beginning officially, it's only right we kick the week off with a look at one of the most controversial matches of all time at the event today for our Match of The Week. Let's take a trip back to 2005 and revisit the infamous main event of Shawn Michaels vs Hulk Hogan.

The Story
The match initially began building when Hogan came back to WWE for his induction to the Hall of Fame. However, the true issues between these two seemed to be written in the stars dating back to the WWF vs WCW  war. At the time when WCW was king, Hogan and the NWO (HBK's best friends Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) were leading the charge and dismantling the WWF in ratings. The top star then? Shawn Michaels. Though the WWF would survive, at that time it was the two biggest names in the business during 1996 trying to lead their company to the promised. Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan. Now, fast forward 9 years later. Both Shawn and Hogan are on different paths in wrestling and neither man has the same form of power backstage to politic.... or at least it seemed like that was the case. So, with these two on more common ground, it was brought to them as a huge dream match. Hogan was far out of his prime, but if anyone could get a great match out of him, it would be HBK.

Hogan was no longer able to do a full time schedule, so when the match was seemingly planned to take place, they would lead up to it in an interesting way: with a tag team match. As the crowd at the Hall of Fame begged Hogan for one more match, HBK randomly popped up to be his tag partner for a one off tag match at Backlash 2005. Once the team won their match at the PPV, the plan was to go into the match with HBK and Hogan both as faces, hoping for one last dream match to see who is better and the best ever. They would attempt to set up something that would culminate in a great trilogy with HBK and Hogan trading victories over a three march series that would end with HBK likely coming out on top since he was the full time wrestler. This is where things take a turn for the worse.

The Heel Turn
So, Hogan, ever the backstage politician, decides to change the plans up. He doesn't want an epic face vs face showdown. He doesn't want to risk a mixed reaction or split crowd. He wants to face a heel HBK. The problem with that? Heel HBK would destroy Hogan on the mic every time, and it would be very risky for Hogan to try and keep up. Still, Hogan insisted and his politics began to show once again. So, one night during RAW as HBK and Hogan are teaming up, they run an angle where HBK turns on Hogan and as the weeks go by, HBK literally murders Hogan on the mic every single time he touched it. The Larry King parody to the rest of the promos showed a visibly frustrated HBK who knew what was to come, but he went down swinging and shooting. This caused friction as Hogan would say he was fine with the promos ahead of time then complain after the promos went live on air. Hogan was a hypocrite, as always. As the match inched nearly, their real life issues would end up spilling over into the actual contest.

The Match
This entire match is known for one reason: The overselling. HBK decided to totally play mind games with Hogan and oversell every move in a petty retaliation for Hogan using his political power to get a win he didn't deserve. HBK felt that he rightfully deserved the win and Hogan didn't. He was right. As a result, the match was actually good, but it's remembered negatively because HBK oversold and made it feel like a huge joke, which of course bothered some fans. I think it's actually a great way to get back at the ridiculous notions of Hogan, and we don't remember much about Hogan from that match, only the overselling from HBK. Sure, Hogan won the match, but HBK walked away feeling like the real victor when Hogan would end up away from the WWE for about a month after the match. It was the end of their feud, and though the trilogy didn't go down like they planned, this match is still extremely memorable for all the right and the wrong reasons.

-True

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Eyes on the Ring 4:51 AM  No comment