There aren’t as many names as revered in professional wrestling as Guerrero, and that’s certainly not a fact lost on third-generation star Shaul Guerrero. The daughter of Eddie and Vickie, cousin of Chavo, and granddaughter of the legendary Gory Guerrero has been vocal about honouring her families legacy at every opportunity both inside and outside of the squared circled.
However, despite both the personal and professional reasons that utilizing her legendary last name would be beneficial, instead, Guerrero was rebranded as Raquel Diaz while under the NXT and FCW banners. While changing a wrestler’s name is nothing new in WWE or any promotion for that matter, this particular instance was certainly a curious one when considering the circumstances.
“Honestly, when I was there, I was under the impression that I would be wrestling under Guerrero,” she replied when I asked about her nom de guerre as part of our upcoming interview. “Because I mean, let’s be real. That’s what got me the opportunity. But, I was told I had to earn my last name. And so I was like, holy shit!'”
Admittedly, her last point was one that left me a little bewildered. “Seriously, how did you feel about that?” I asked her.
Guerrero paused before answering. “Honestly, it’s like a layered – there’s a lot of layers to how I was feeling, because I was like, you know, I’m in WWE! I was like, ‘you know what, just shut up and do whatever they want. Do whatever they want, you know what I mean?”
I nodded in affirmation.
“And then,” she continued, “there was also a part of me that understood that’s a very old school mentality. Where it’s ‘you’ve got to earn the name, you’ve got to earn the name.’ I grew up with that mentality, whether it was doing my chores, my grades in school, or now wrestling, so yeah, I guess I always was understanding of that. And then, on a personal note, me taking it personally, I was like, I already earned the name Guerrero when I went through all that shit with my dad and our family. I was like, I am a motherfucking Guerrero!”
She laughed.
“But honestly,” she continued, “I, strictly speaking in wrestling, like I understood.” Again, Guerrero paused to collect her thoughts. “But I feel like – I don’t know, now I’m so excited to not necessarily be tied to anything. I’m going to go into wrestling doing what I want. I’m going under my name, I’m going to be like – if I shit the bed, I shit the bed, and I’m gonna go down, I’m gonna go down swinging, but whether it’s a good match, or whether it’s a great match, I’m going to be giving you guys everything I have. I’m going to be paying homage to my dad and my mom all the time and my entire family.”
“So people can say whether I’ve earned my last name or not, but I have to go in there knowing I’m a Guerrero, because that’s the energy you have to bring.”
Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used.
