Gory Guerrero

Salvador Guerrero Quesada
Data
Ring name	Joe Morgan Gory Guerrero
birth	January 11, 1921 Ray, Arizona
death	April 18, 1990 El Paso , Texas
Trained by	Diablo Velasco Indio Mejía Gilberto Martínez Raúl Romero
debut	September 14, 1937

Gory Guerrero (born January 11, 1921 in Ray, Arizona , † April 18, 1990 ; actually Salvador Guerrero Quesada ) was one of the first professional wrestlers in Mexico . His late son Eddie Guerrero was one of the most famous WWE Superstars. His grandson Chavo Guerrero is still an active Lucha underground superstar.

Life

Salvador Guerrero Quesada was born on January 11, 1921 in Ray, Arizona , a city that no longer exists and is known only as a ghost town. Like many Mexican immigrants, Gory Guerrero's parents were migrant workers. Gory went to school in America until he was 9 years old. After his mother died of pneumonia, his father decided to move the family back to Mexico. Because he had such a good command of English, he worked as a translator in Guadalajara . When he was only 16 years old, his father was killed in a hit and run car accident. As the eldest son, Salvador had to raise his brother and four sisters alone.

Beginnings

Always passionate about sports, he decided to join a fitness center to learn boxing . However, he did not immediately notice that it was not boxing but Lucha Libre that was being taught there. His coaches were two local Luchadors, Diablo Velasco and El Indio Mejia . In his first match on September 14, 1937, Gory Guerrero lost to a man named El Rojo at the Nilo Arena in Guadalajara. His wages at the time were only 15 centavos . He took advantage of his American background and worked across Mexico under the name Joe Morgan . Since he no longer liked the name, he wanted to work under his own name, but he believed that Salvador was not memorable enough. After he had earned a reputation for leading very bloody matches, he called himself Gory (English for "bloody", "murderous") Guerrero .

Since he was a bodybuilder , he was also formidable in appearance. He also had a very aggressive wrestling style that made him one of the biggest heels in the business. A lot of anger had built up inside him from his difficult life. He then let it run free in the ring, which earned him the nickname "El Ave de las Tempestades" (Thunder Bird) among the fans.

In 1943 he was signed by the EMLL (Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre), which was the Mexican equivalent of today's WWE . Salvador Lutteroth , the man behind the EMLL, controlled all of Mexican wrestling. In his first year at EMLL, Gory Guerrero was voted “Rookie of the Year”, although he had been a professional wrestler for several years. His first belt, the National Welterweight Title, he won two years later, although he was not a welterweight at all. The mistake was soon noticed and he had to give up the title pretty quickly. A few months later, Gory Guerrero won the National Middleweight Title, which he held for almost a year. From then on, he won a number of world titles, including the NWA World Middleweight and World Light Heavyweight Championships.

In 1954 he even got a shot against the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, the legendary Lou Thesz . He didn't win, but the match was still a huge success. Mexican wrestlers barely got a chance at the biggest title in the business. In this case, the match alone was a sign of the NWA commission's respect. Gory Guerrero was a star because he was such an incredible heel. Most people hated him, but he took advantage of it and caused a lot of commotion.

The feud with Cavernario Galindo gave his career another boost. Their matches were true bloodbaths, which was totally new at the time. After a particularly brutal fight, Gory Guerrero even had to be taken to the hospital for major blood loss. The bouts against Galindo were so successful they mimicked other promoters and made their wrestlers bleed as well. In the late 1940s, Gory Guerrero teamed up with the one and only El Santo . From now on they were only referred to as “La Pareja Atomica” (Atomic Pair). The two were a perfect match. Gory was a technical master wrestler and Santo was a showman and brawler. They were so popular and successful together that they had never lost any of their matches. Santo was also one of the first wrestlers to wear a mask. Everyone in Mexico knew him and he became a legend too. Gory Guerrero always took pride in his technical prowess and invented at least two of the most famous wrestling moves - the camel clutch and a back-to-back backbreaker duty grip, which he called the "Gory Special". Santo liked the Camel Clutch so much that he asked Gory Guerrero if he could use it too. So this move became his finisher for the rest of his career. Gory kept the "Gory Special" to himself. One of his most successful feuds was against Enrique Llanes . At dinner he met Enrique's sister Herlinda, whom he married in 1947. The two had six children. The oldest of the children was Maria. Salvador Jr. was born a year later. The third child was Armando. Followed by Hector and Linda. The youngest child was Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes, better known by his ring name Eddie Guerrero .

Gory Guerrero was the NWA World Light Heavyweight Champion for more than three years, this title was one of the most prestigious titles in the Lucha Libre at the time. In 1966 he left the EMLL, simply took the belt with him and settled in El Paso. He worked all over America and even fought a few fights for Vince McMahon Sr. in the old World Wide Wrestling Federation . As he got older, he only focused more on his job as a coach and promoter. He held the position as a promoter along with Dory Funk Sr. made. Even after Dory's death, he continued training his sons Salvador Jr. (also called Chavo) and Hector, but also stars like El Santo and Buddy Rogers Jr. Gory Guerrero died on April 18, 1990 at the age of 69.

title

• National Welterweight Title (EMLL, Mexico)
• National Middleweight Title (EMLL, Mexico)
• NWA World Middleweight Championship
• NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship