Sammy Guevara is Our Friend, But An Ineffective Babyface

It feels like every year, there is a concerted effort on AEW’s end to test the waters on “Good Guy” Sammy Guevara; to ask us if we feel like cheering him for more than 5 months yet.

I’m going to explore why I don’t think that will happen long-term.

First, I want to acknowledge the perceptions and commonly held opinions around Guevara. The perceptions that you might think are the reasons I point to why this experiment won’t work.

He’s got the douchebag face that makes you want to rip his tongue out. He’s Chris Jericho‘s forever young boy and he hasn’t made it on his own.

He can’t cut promos. He can’t tell stories.

But there have been far more punchable faces who have had better mentors and been better storytellers inside and outside the ring. Many have heard the thunderous roar of forgiveness and re-approval. Guevara probably isn’t irreparably punchable. Rather, I think the reason for the fleeting cheers has to do with the way Guevara endears himself to us, the fans.

The “Real” Sammy Guevara

For this, I want to bring up two platforms: his vlog and the reality show “AEW All-Access.”

First, his vlog. From what I’ve seen, it’s a wrestling lifestyle vlog with quality editing. In it, he comes across as generally likable and transparent. He’s the annoying-prankster-vlogger-type to his close friends (his Vlog Crew). But he’s also very appreciative and personable with fans, which we see firsthand when he opens fan gifts and does meet-and-greets. Then, on All Access, we also see the side of him that very much cares how others feel. We see glimpses of it in how he apologizes to Eddie Kingston, opens up to Bryan Danielson, and navigates the TV wrestling life with his wife Tay.

In a candid moment following a match against Danielson, he also showed he can take a step back and express gratitude from the heart for the position he’s in today. Of course, there is a curated reality to vlogs and reality shows. But for all intents and purposes, without cheers and boos to build a show around, the Sammy Guevara we see on these two platforms is as close to the “real” Sammy Guevara as we’ll get. He endears himself to us by being an open book, or a friend.

“Bad Guy” Sammy Guevara

“Bad Guy” Sammy Guevara is also “Pro Wrestling” Sammy Guevara. Pro wrestling reality is a complex, separate reality unto itself, but it is reality nonetheless. In it, he’s aligned with Jericho. He doesn’t talk much when Jericho’s around. He has baby-brother vibes, even when he’s sharing the screen with a peer like Daniel Garcia or MJF. One minute he’s proposing to his then-girlfriend in an AEW ring, the next minute he’s French kissing Tay Melo every other week.

He debuted wearing a panda head, and he was announced as “The Best Ever.” From the start, there was the “douche” face. And the tongue. When you think about it, he has never really changed since AEW started. That is the Sammy Guevara that fans gravitate to and remember most.

Not the guy who vlogs about his cool pro wrestling job. Not the down-to-earth guy from “All-Access.” Not the guy who adores his wife Tay.

Not Good Guy Sammy Guevara, because that’s a guy who’s growing and maturing, and we’re proud of that guy.

We’re proud of him in the same way that we’re proud of our most obnoxious, high-school best friends: we get caught up with the victories and the growth, but we don’t dwell.

“Good Guy” Sammy Guevara

Dwelling — whether on the good or the bad — can sully an organic connection. I saw the worst instance of it for Sammy Guevara when he cut a rousing “good guy promo“ for his hometown fans in Texas, ahead of his first AEW World title bout on pay-per-view.

In it, he says things like: “You know, Austin, every time I’m here, I remember the old days… And I remember the struggles. I remember the good times, the bad times, the drama. But all of that brought me here, and made me who I am today. And I know, trust me, I know I’m not perfect. I’ve made a lot of mistakes… But sometimes… it takes a few wrong turns to get to the right place. And the right place is Las Vegas, May 28th. When I finally get to shut up all the naysayers that said I couldn’t do something because of this or because of that. I’ve heard that my entire life and I’ve never listened to it… I listen to my heart, and my heart says at ‘Double or Nothing,’ I’m gonna be the new AEW World Champion.”

The clichés, the lukewarm hometown crowd, the steaming pile of nothing said.

This promo is my snapshot of why Sammy Guevara does get cheered, but never too much, and never too long. He tells us he’s come a long way since pre-AEW, but he hasn’t changed much since the start of AEW. He’ll tell us to “be mad,” then perform a complicated 630 Splash just for fun. He keeps telling us things that don’t bear repeating. Things he’s better off showing than saying, but he’ll say them anyway.

He can’t help himself. Being annoying is in his system, and pissing you off is his love language.

And whether you give him shit back because you can’t stand the guy, or because you can’t stand Sammy Guevara; he’s going to be the same guy, who will see you the same way, either way.

In oversimplified terms, Sammy Guevara is our friend; an obnoxious, shit-stirring little shit friend. That’s why we don’t want to cheer him for too long, no matter what cool things he does or accomplishes. He’s a regular guy who unfortunately happens to be a pro wrestler; a regular guy who treats us, the fans, like his close friends, who rightfully find him annoying.

No matter how much you’ve grown, no matter how much time has passed, you don’t cease being that immature menace that you always were. Not to your friends. Your friends are ruthless. They never forget.

But if it’s any consolation, Sammy, they never forget.

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