Chavo Guerrero Jr. at Legends of Wrestling in Miami

By Jim Varsallone

jvarsallone@miamiherald.com

January 22, 2016 2:13 AM

Chavo Guerrero Jr. will be at the Legends of Wrestling spectacular, which is Saturday, Jan. 23 at the Miccosukee Gaming and Resort, 500 SW 177 Ave., Miami, 33194.

There are two events: a meet-n-greet and a wrestling show.

Both will feature Guerrero as well as Bill Goldberg, Kurt Angle, Big Poppa Pump Scott Steiner. Kevin Nash, Mick Foley, Ricky the Dragon Steamboat, Birdman Koko B. Ware, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Tyrus/Brodus Clay, Wes Brisco, The Nasty Boys (Knobbs and Sags), Jimmy Hart, and more.

Guerrero, 45, is busy these days in California. He is not only talent but also a key producer for “Lucha Underground,” a hybrid pro wrestling TV show which drop kicks-off season two on Wednesday, Jan. 27 on El Rey Network.

“It’s the best wrestling show on TV,” Guerrero proudly said. “It’s a hybrid, the cool of Latino culture, the low riders. It’s Hollywood, very pop culture, the masks. It’s lucha undertones in an America TV show. It’s unbelievable moves with the Hollywood theatrics.”

“Lucha Underground” is a weekly TV series. No touring or pay-per-views. The only focus is that week-to-week TV episode. That’s different from the usual wrestling TV product.

“Our goal is to get you to watch next week’s TV show,” Guerrero said. “After we’re done taping the shows, we take a break. It’s seasonal...When WWE ends it’s season with WrestleMania, the next season begins the next night on Raw.”

The “Lucha Underground” schedule allows Guerrero to work other events and projects, but he most enjoys working behind the scenes on “Lucha Undetground” with some top TV producers, directors and personnel, including Producer Mark Burnett of One Three Media/United Artists Media Group. Burnett is also responsible for “Survivor,” “The Apprentice,” “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?,” “Shark Tank,” and “The Voice.”

When Guerrero came on-board as talent for “Lucha Underground,” he featured 20-plus years of wrestling experience along with an additional 50 years of knowledge from his family’s legendary history in the business, dating to his grandfather, Gory, who debuted in 1937 in Mexico.

“As we started talking about it, they realized I had a lot more to offer,” he said. “I became involved in everything, the wardrobe, the ring set-up, the storylines, the entrances, the matches.”

The producers, directors and personnel knew TV, but pro wrestling on TV was foreign to them.

“They are exceptional people at what they do, and what they don’t know, they listen,” Guerrero said. “ I taught them about wrestling, and they taught me about TV. It’s like learning at the Harvard of TV.”

With a season under their belt, Guerrero can now turn his full attention to the in-rng talent, and that list includes Prince Puma, Mil Muertes, King Cuerno, Fenix, Pentagon Jr., Son of Havoc, Ivelisse, Blue Demon Jr., Johnny Mundo (John Morrison) and Rey Mysterio Jr.

“I think we have the best talent in the world, the best roster in the world,” Guerrero said.

Some of the best legends in the world will be at the Legends of Wrestling on Saturday, Jan. 23 in Miami. Guerrero joins a star-studded line-up for a meet-n-greet and a wrestling show.

“It’s great to meet the fans,” Guerrero said. “The appreciation they have for us, and we have for them, it’s awesome. They all have a story to tell, something to share.”

With the Guerrero family legacy, it reaches all generations, making for many stories. From Gory to Chavo Sr., Mando and Hector to Eddy and Chavo Jr. and Vickie. Chavo Jr. not only worked with his uncle Eddy in WWE but also with his dad, Chavo Classic.

“It was great, and it drove me crazy at the same time,” Guerrero said. “I learned what to do and what not to do. My dad’s time was the early 1980s, and it was the Wild West back then. There was no MMA, The wrestlers were the toughest guys. Judo Gene LeBell, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Harley Race, Billy Robinson, Dr. Death Steve Williams. They were the toughest guys around, tougher than boxers, hockey players, football players.”

Guerrero traveled the world, working the big time for WCW, WWE and TNA.

He came a long way from his debut in 1993 at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.

“As a kid, I used to run around there,” Guerrero said.

His father, Chavo Sr., main evented the Olympic Auditorium. Battles with Rowdy Roddy Piper drew big crowds. The venue elicits fond memories.

“I debuted in a six-man tag there. It was me, my uncle Mando and Bobby Bradley vs. Louie Spicolli and two other wrestlers,” Guerrero recalled. “I was scared to death. I really didn’t know what was going on. It was fast-paced, and you have to keep up, and I didn’t.”

It didn’t take too long for the youngest Guerrero to keep up. He adapted the Guerrero style. The base is lucha, blended with the American style, Hollywoodesque, the Japan strong style, and the European mat style.

“We were small guys in a big guys world,” he said. “Just to keep jobs, we had to learn it all -- singles, tag team, bad guy, good guy, and all styles of wrestling.”

It took five years for Guerrero to get it right.

“It’s an art form,” Guerrero said. “It’s like ballet, New York City ballet, Cirque du Soleil.”

Watching any Guerrero wrestle is an art form.

Living in El Paso, Texas as a youth, an opportunity for Guerrero’s dad changed their lives.

“My dad got a job wrestling for six months for Mike LeBell in Los Angeles in the early 1970s,” Guerrero said.

That six-month venture went so well that California became their permanent home state.

“We ended up moving there,” Guerrero said. “My mom didn’t like it at first, because family was in Texas, but she got used to it. So I grew up in the Huntington Beach area, and now I’m living in Orange County.”

And now working in Los Angeles on a weekly TV series [Lucha Underground] presents quite the opportunity.

“It’s already opening doors,” Guerrero said. “Producers are calling me to work on their [non-wrestling] TV shows. I am a member of SAG and filmed on a pilot [Snowfall] for FX with [Director/Producer/Writer] John Singleton [Boyz n The Hood].

“I was on the NBC TV show ‘Grimm.’ I co-starred and was a fight coordinator. I did my own stunts and did well, and from that, I became a member of Stunts Unlimited, the biggest stunt group in Hollywood.”

Guerrero, who is Tex-Mex on “Vigilante Diaries,” is forming his own production company, starting with reality type programming.

“I wouldn’t be able to do this, if I didn’t work in those [wrestling] places,” he said. “Watching Vince McMahon in WWE, working bookings in TNA for Dixie Carter; getting my first experience in the big leagues for Eric Bischoff. WCW was such a different mix. You had young guys like me, Billy Kidman, Alex Wright. Then you had Curt Hennig, John Nord. There was Eddy. Veteran guys like Dick Slater. It was a learning tree in WCW. There was more learning from people who ran shows like Col. Robert Parker, Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett. Then it became instinctive.“

@mexwarrior

Lucha Underground

The second season of “Lucha Underground” premieres 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, Jan. 27 on El Rey Network.

@LuchaElRey

Legends of Wrestling

Bell time for the LoW wrestling show -- which features six matches -- is 7:30 p.m.

The meet-n-greet begins at 4 p.m.

Tickets are on sale for each.

For details and pricing, click

http://thelegendsofwrestling.com/

- Pro Wrestling On The Web

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/fighting/