AEW: Everything you need to know about Sammy Guevara

On Oct. 2, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) will debut its weekly episodic wrestling program and will feature Sammy Guevara.

While the name of the first AEW show has yet to be announced, we do know what the 1st match on the program is going to be. ‘The American Nightmare’ Cody Rhodes will go one-on-one with the leader of ‘The New Panda Order’ Sammy Guevara.

Cody as we know, is an established name who has wrestled for the WWE and New Japan Pro Wrestling. His opponent across the ring is someone you may not be familiar with. Few people may not see his opening match foe as a threat to open AEW’s signature program with a win over a well known wrestling commodity.

However, you may want to dig into the background of Sammy Guevara before you pass judgement.

Sammy Guevara recently turned 26-years old and has been on the wrestling scene for 7 years. Guevara was trained at Booker T’s Reality Of Wrestling school in Houston, Texas. A native of Houston, Guevara has plied his trade in numerous promotions. He made a couple of appearances in the prestigious National Wrestling Alliance in just his first year of wrestling.

Guevara would build his reputation on his incredible athleticism. A 630 splash and shooting star presses are norms in his arsenal. On top this, his magnetic charisma and his fascination with pandas are what make Sammy Guevara known in the wrestling industry.

His talent is unquestioned in the professional wrestling business. He has come up through the ranks in his own way. Sammy has been a true student of the game, being fascinated by Shawn Michaels as an 11-year old kid and adopting parts of HBK’s move-set in his performances. Guevara has also been known to drive 30 hours to compete in a wrestling ring. That’s passion folks.

Among his early accomplishments included a WWE dark match in just his 3rd year of pro wrestling. Teaming with AAA star Laredo Kid in 2015, they would go on to lose to Los Matadores. As he continued to progress in the ring, Guevara would branch out on social media to make a larger name for himself and grow his brand. Sammy would launch his own YouTube channel which has now reached 25,000 subscribers worldwide.

Along the way, Sammy would wrestle for the Inspire Wrestling Promotion, he is the only two-time Inspire Pro Junior Crown Champion in the company’s history and also defeated rising NXT talent Keith Lee to win the IPW Pure Prestige Championship. He also competed in Los Angeles for Maverick Pro Wrestling and defeated Joey Ryan to win the WC Slideshow Title.

Guevara in 2017 and 2018 wrestled for IMPACT in the 2017 Super-X Cup. Other major independent promotions he has competed under are as follows. WrestleCircus, Dramatic Dream Team (DDT), The AAA Promotion in Mexico and Pro Wrestling Guerilla.

He is a two-time Battle Of Los Angeles tournament competitor. In his first BOLA go round, he defeated fellow AEW star Joey Janela before ultimately losing to current PWG Champion and G1 Climax participant Jeff Cobb in the quarterfinals.

While he lost in the first round of his second Battle Of Los Angeles, Sammy Guevara later main evented a PWG show and challenged WALTER for the PWG Championship. While he took a loss to the current NXT U.K. Champion, It was clear that Sammy was making a name for himself on the independent scene. Guevara would also go on to appear on Season 4 of Lucha Underground and net himself the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship in August of 2018.  Bigger things would happen to be in the cards for ‘The Best Ever’.

While gaining valuable experience on a Worldwide scale, Sammy Guevara has exploited his talents everywhere he went. Making him a valuable commodity for anyone who chose to take a chance on him. Wrestling against the likes of Taiji Ishimori, Petey Williams, Darby Allin, Robbie Eagles, Zach Sabre Jr. and Sami Callahan, Guevara would garner match of the night accolades nearly every given night he stepped in the ring. His high flying, aerial prowess would prove to open up some very notable eyes in the wrestling industry.

All Elite Wrestling emerged at the beginning of 2019. When the first pay-per-view offering ‘Double or Nothing’ was announced, There was a ticket announcement party launched in Las Vegas. Executive Vice President and Guevara’s opponent on Oct. 2,  Cody would take the podium. He was there to announce one of AEW’s newest signees. Out emerged Sammy Guevara. He would make his way to the podium, with his signature cocky strut and flashing tremendous arrogance.

Guevara would grab the microphone and refer to himself as AEW’s true superstar. This turned many heads on this night in Las Vegas. Some of the fans in attendance on this night had no clue who he was. Sammy would proudly peacock that soon, everyone would understand that he was “The Best Ever.”

Guevara has made a few appearances on ‘Being The Elite’, the YouTube series chronicling The Young Bucks and AEW behind the scenes through vignettes and real life happenings. In turn, Guevara has had many of AEW’s top stars in previous episodes on his own YouTube channel. The vidoes have helped many wrestling fans become familiar with the AEW roster. Angles are being advanced as well leading up to ‘All Out’ and their television debut.

Sammy Guevara opened AEW Double Or Nothing on the ‘Buy In’ portion of the show. While he would fall victim to Kip Sabian in the first singles match in All Elite Wrestling history, Guevara would turn many heads with his wrestling ability and brash persona. He would appear in a six man tag match at ‘Fight For The Fallen’. Teaming with Shawn Spears and MJF, they would defeat Darby Allin, Joey Janela and Jimmy Havoc to open the card.

I look for the first match on AEW television to begin in an appropriate way. With a contrast in styles that will create an excellent bout. Cody and his throwback, 80’s style of pro wrestling on one end. Sammy Guevara and his ability to wow crowds with his new-age, video game-esque repertoire on the other.

For those thinking that Cody is going to walk away with a squash victory on the opening AEW show over Sammy Guevara are likely to be disappointed.  Cody has tremendous pedigree and is looking to show a global audience who he has become outside of the WWE. Yet, due to Guevara and his pension for pulling off shocking victories, that will be what makes this battle appointment viewing television.