Los Gringos Locos

Los Gringos Locos (intended to mean The Crazy Americans in English) were a lucha libre stable in Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). The stable was originally a tag team consisting of Eddie Guerrero and Art Barr.Template:Professional wrestling sidebar

Gimmick

Los Gringos Locos was intended to be the Mexican version of the Four Horsemen alliance in American promotion World Championship Wrestling.<ref name=slambio/> Because Barr was American and Guerrero was Mexican-American, they were able to draw heat from Mexican crowds as they acted more and more American.<ref name=life99>Guerrero, Eddie. Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story, p. 99.</ref> The team wore red, white, and blue wrestling attire.<ref name=life96>Guerrero, Eddie. Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story, p. 96.</ref>

History

La Pareja del Terror

The stable began as the tag team La Pareja del Terror (The Pair of Terror) made up of Eddy Guerrero and the "Love Machine" Art Barr.<ref name=slambio>Template:Cite web</ref>

At first the two men did not get along behind the scenes, but they decided to team up for business reasons.<ref name=life94>Guerrero, Eddie. Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story, p. 94.</ref> Guerrero, however, was teaming with El Hijo del Santo at the time.<ref name=life94/> Guerrero's brother Mando came up with the idea of Guerrero turning on Santo and aligning himself with Barr as villains.<ref name=life94/> Barr and Guerrero met with AAA's owner Antonio Peña, who gave them the green light on the storyline.<ref name=life94/> The duo was originally known as the American Machine and then La Pareja del Terror, but their name was changed to Los Gringos Locos after the announcers said "Those gringos are loco," in regards to the team.<ref name=life94/> Los Gringos feuded primarily with El Hijo del Santo and Octagón.<ref name=slambio/> On November 5, 1993, Santo and Octagón defeated them to become the inaugural IWC/AAA World Tag Team Champions.<ref name=Titles>Template:Cite book</ref> Barr and Guerrero, however, defeated them for the championship in July.<ref name=Titles/> Meanwhile, as they continued to team together, Guerrero and Barr began to become good friends.<ref name=life96/>

Becoming a stable

As Los Gringos Locos became more popular in Mexico, AAA's owner Antonio Peña and top star Konnan decided to turn the team into an alliance of several wrestlers.<ref name=life99/> Backstage, both Guerrero and Barr were against the idea of expanding the team, but agreed to it if they could have a say in who was allowed to join the stable.<ref name=life99/> Konnan was the first to join the team, and at the suggestion of Guerrero and Barr, Black Cat was the second.<ref name=life99/> The stable continued to grow to include Madonna's Boyfriend (Louie Spicolli), Chicano Power, El Misterioso<ref name=life99/> and King Lion.

The team continued to feud with El Hijo del Santo and Octagón, but the rivalry ended in a Hair vs. Mask match at the first lucha pay-per-view in America, When Worlds Collide, which they lost.<ref name=slambio/> Barr convinced Antonio Peña that he be included in the match, which was originally supposed to be Guerrero against Santo.<ref name=life101>Guerrero, Eddie. Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story, p. 101.</ref> Barr and Guerrero both received $7,500 for their part in the match.<ref name=life101/>

In the United States, Paul Heyman, the promoter of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), began negotiating with Barr and Guerrero in hopes of bringing the team into his promotion.<ref name=ecw45>Williams, Scott E. Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of ECW, p. 45–46.</ref> At the time, rumors circulated that Heyman planned to have Barr and Guerrero feud with The Public Enemy.<ref>Guerrero, Eddie. Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story, p. 107.</ref> The duo were looking to work outside of Mexico as the Peso had been devalued, which had caused a dramatic decrease in their pay.<ref name=ecw45/> On November 23, 1994, Art Barr died from a drug-related heart attack.<ref name=ecw45/> After his death, the team was forced to vacate the IWC/AAA World Tag Team Championship. The group eventually disbanded not long after. Guerrero took a brief hiatus from wrestling through the rest of 1994 until April 1995 where he appeared in ECW as a singles wrestler, defeating 2 Cold Scorpio to win the ECW TV Title in his debut match for the promotion. Guerrero also started using the Frog Splash in tribute to Art Barr. Guerrero would then go on and have worldwide success in WCW and WWE until his death in 2005.<ref name=Titles/>

In addition to Barr's death in 1994 and Guerrero's death in 2005, Louie Spicolli (1971-1998), King Lion (1968-2002) and Black Cat (1954-2006) have all died. Leaving Konnan as the only surviving member of Los Gringos Locos.

Members

*	Founding member(s)

AAA

Members	Joined	Left
Eddie Guerrero	July 23, 1993 *	November 23, 1994
Art Barr	July 23, 1993 *	November 23, 1994
Konnan	1993	November 23, 1994
Black Cat	1993	November 23, 1994
Madonna's Boyfriend	1993	November 23, 1994
Chicano Power	1993	November 23, 1994
El Misterioso	1993	November 23, 1994
King Lion	1993	November 23, 1994

Championships and accomplishments

• Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
  • AAA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - Guerrero and Barr<ref name=Titles/>
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked Guerrero and Barr #18 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" in 2003
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Feud of the Year (1994) Los Gringos Locos vs. AAA
  • Tag Team of the Year (1994) Guerrero and Barr

References

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:Professional wrestling profiles