AEW: Sammy Guevara is finally coming into his own as a character

Perhaps the biggest benefit to AEW Champ Chris Jericho forming The Inner Circle has been that’s it’s helped shape Sammy Guevara as a character.

I’m just going to cut straight to the chase: I’m a sports entertainment guy. Love or hate the term and it’s meaning (focus on character work in wrestling), I grew up on sports entertainment and that’s what I’m a bigger fan of. As much as I love in-ring wrestling and regardless if we are talking about AEW or WWE, I always gravitated more towards character over in-ring stuff.

I’m more likely to be invested in a, say, Fandango over a technical wizard like Zack Sabre Jr. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but in a world where everyone and their mother is a great wrestler, I need a great character to latch onto. To keep me invested and make me care about you, you need to be either a great character and a great wrestler, or at least a great character. When I saw him for the first time at the AEW Double or Nothing Ticket Announcement Party, I struggled to see the latter in Sammy Guevara. 

I’ll admit, as that was my first sight of Sammy Guevara, I was ignorant to his past prior to signing with AEW. Hell, in many ways, I’m still ignorant to that past and knowing much about him being the fact he came out to the podium with a green belt called the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. The promo he cut onstage was not a good selling point to me.

In my eyes, I saw a guy who looked like a 12-year old kid claiming to be one of “the best damn wrestlers in the world,” but that title wasn’t enough to sell me on him. The way he sold himself on the mic with a generic, somewhat monotone promo was not convincing enough. I didn’t see much of a character to answer the questions I had for what to me was a totally new talent.

What’s his deal? His motivations? What does he want out of AEW? Is he just cocky or confident? Is there more to his character than that? Is there a character at all beyond “I’m a great wrestler?”

I can’t help but feel like the head honchos at AEW felt the same. They understood he was a tremendous in-ring talent (something I discovered myself upon seeing his match against Kip Sabian at Double or Nothing), but his character could use some work. So what do you do for a guy who still needs to find his footing as a character?

Why, you pair him with one of the greatest characters to ever lace up a pair of boots, of course!

Enter Chris Jericho.

The best thing that AEW could have done for Sammy Guevara is book him into the AEW World Champion’s Inner Circle stable. The rest of the characters currently in the stable (MJF, Santana and Ortiz) already have established characters and judging from the phenomenal promos they’ve been known to cut, they understand those characters and how to get fans invested in those characters. Hell, even Jake Hager has a character. Even if it’s just brooding, imposing security guard, it works and it’s more than I could say for Guevara on his first night.

Now, the former AAA star is not only getting some good exposure from being paired with main eventers, but by watching firsthand how a pro like Jericho works on the mic and in character, the experience works as a learning lesson for the young 26-year old.

Whatever lessons he’s learned under Jericho’s wing already seems to be working as now, I have a clearer grasp of the character Guevara has been going for since they started working together frequently, both in and out of the ring.

I also see potential for that character to evolve once he eventually does come into his own and breaks away from The Inner Circle one day. Right now, Sammy Guevara is in good hands and has gone through a wealth of character development that I’m excite to see continue developing over time. Seeing him express this evolving character in promos and even in the ring makes me even more excited to see his matches.