Chavo Guerrero Jr. knows all about having family in the pro wrestling business along with the generational pressure that comes with it, but he believes Dom Mysterio is bucking the convention.
Throughout his wrestling career, Chavo had carved out his own unique path, so much that it led to him working in Hollywood and becoming an intrical part of A24’s “The Iron Claw” set to release this Friday.
Much like he did with the critically-acclaimed GLOW on Netflix, Guerrero trained all the actors in the ring for the wrestling scenes in Iron Claw, as they tell the emotionally heavy story of The Von Erich family. It’s evident his teachings left an impression on the cast as in promotion for the film, particularly Jeremy Allen White, who plays the legendary Kerry Von Erich.
During the world premiere of the movie last month in Dallas, White mentioned how Chavo instilled into him that “the moments in between these moves” can be more important than the moves themselves. In an exclusive interview with SEScoops’ Dominic DeAngelo, Guerrero said how happy White’s comments made him.
“You know, I was very proud when I heard him say that and then the rest of the wrestlig community was as well. They’re like, ‘Wow, this guy gets it.’
“He really he understood that because that’s storytelling. That’s what he does in movies. It’s not the car crash. The car crash helps tell the story, but the car crash itself is not the story. The moves help tell the story, but the moves themselves are not story. And that’s I think it’s lost in today’s wrestling little bit because these guys are incredible athletes, and they’re doing great moves. But I just think sometimes the storytelling needs to be worked on a little bit as well. They could probably do less moves and tell a better story.”
Chavo adds that he has learned just as much from White and the rest of the cast as they learned from him, noting that he would have been a better wrestler if he somehow got involved in Hollywood first.
Dom Mysterio Is Ahead Of The Generational Game
During his analysis of the “little details” with Jeremy Allen White, Guerrero uses both Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio as examples to how they make the moves mean something in their storytelling. That prompted a discussion on Dom Mysterio who Chavo is extremely impressed with.
“He’s doing so great. He’s far above where he should be. You know, I said, he’s not supposed to be this good, but, you know, he had some trials growing up.
“If you remember, when he first started, fans were didn’t really like them that much. They were kind of like, ‘Hey, this kid is not ready, I don’t know if he’s gonna live up to the Mysterio name.’ Well, we all felt that. Every second/third generation [wrestler] felt the same thing because you sometimes get the door open, but every second or third generation actor has felt the same way or any performer.”
Iron Claw releases everywhere in theaters on Friday, December 22 and you can catch Chavo playing The Original Sheik in the film.
