The Spanish God
Sammy Guevara (born July 28, 1993) is an American professional wrestler currently under contract with All Elite Wrestling, where he's a three-time AEW TNT Champion, and also competes for Lucha Libre AAA, where he's one half of the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship (Campeonato Mundial en Parejas Mixto de AAA) with his real-life wife Tay Melo (formerly Tay Conti in the ring).
Guevara made his debut in 2010 for Booker T's Reality of Wrestling. Since then, he has competed for National Wrestling Alliance, Impact Wrestling (where he participated in the Super X Cup tournament), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and MLW prior to joining AEW.
He's best known for being part of the Inner Circle and later the Jericho Appreciation Society, both led by Chris Jericho, and was awarded with a five-star match by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for his match against Cody Rhodes in the AEW Dynamite Beach Break 2022 special episode.
Spanish God's Panda Tropes:
- A Day in the Limelight: He runs a vlog channel on YouTube
, which over time became a vehicle for backstage skits and scripted segments similar to Being the Elite. - Abhorrent Admirer: To Brandi. He made out with a DRAWING of her, while she looked on in disgust.
- Animal Motifs: Pandas. In the independent circuit and early AEW days, he wears a panda headgear as part of his entrance.
- Arch-Enemy:
- As a Heel: Darby Allin, Matt Hardy.
- As a Face: MJF, Miro, Scorpio Sky.
- Attention Whore: Really loves the attention, to the point of livestreaming his own fights.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Most of the times, he'll be comic relief. But be warned, he can be very vicious when fighting in the ring, and he became the first man to overcome Miro in 1-on-1 competition.
- Bullying a Dragon: In MLW, he taunted Rush with his own signature taunt. El Toro Blanco was understandably not amused.
- Casanova Wannabe: Hits on any woman with a pulse in a mile radius and thinks of himself as a great ladies man. This is not the case at all.
- Catchphrase: "Be mad!", especially directed to haters in response for the Spotlight-Stealing Squad treatment of his relationship with Tay Conti (who changed her ring name to Tay Melo after their real-life marriage).
- Defeating the Undefeatable: Was the first wrestler in AEW to defeat the TNT Champion Miro.
- Elite Four: One of AEW's four rising stars whom the fans collectively call "The Four Pillars", alongside with MJF, Jungle Boy and Darby Allin. Unfortunately in 2022, fans are considering changing him with Wheeler Yuta due to his recent angle with Tay Conti being lukewarm, and Yuta receiving critical acclaim.
- Everything is Big in Texas: A Cuban-American from Houston, Texas.
- Face–Heel Turn: Turned Heel again when he, wearing the mask of Fuego del Sol, interfered in the Hair vs. Hair match between Ortiz and Chris Jericho in the Road Rager 2022 special episode of AEW Dynamite, costing Ortiz the match and revealing himself as a new member of the Jericho Appreciation Society.
- False Friend: Sammy and MJF can't stand each other, but due to an alliance benefiting both of them, the two pretend to be incredibly close friends while MJF helps Sammy cheat in the Four Pillars Tournament.
- Finishing Move: A modified 630 senton and an Argentine backbreaker/knee lift combo called the "Go To Hell".
- Foil: To MJF. Both young wrestlers who were initially known for their brash and arrogant personalities and their spoiled attitude. But while Max is proudly and unabashedly loyal only to himself, Sammy's primary redeeming quality has always been his loyalty to his friends (which contributed to his eventual Heel–Face Turn). And while Max is a horribly lonely guy who's forced to buy the loyalty of everyone on his side, Sammy is usually portrayed as a genuinely likable and charismatic guy with numerous real and lasting friendships. The storyline about Max's betrayal of the Inner Circle, which featured Sammy temporarily leaving the group after Max attempted to usurp his position as Chris Jericho's protege, particularly played up the contrast between them.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: He once tried to sing along to "Judas" as Jericho made his entrance. It didn't go well, but you couldn't fault his enthusiasm. To quote the announcers, "Thank god he can wrestle."
- Insistent Terminology: Chris Jericho insists he is "THE Spanish God", rather than "A Spanish God" as he is often announced in his match introductions.
- Jobber: Oddly, despite being the AAA Cruiserweight Champion at the time, he rarely ever won matches in MLW.
- Maniac Tongue: Oh boy! He really gets his tongue out frequently, especially as a Heel.
- Official Couple: With Tay Conti since the start of 2022, also a Battle Couple when competing together in mixed tag team matches. Outside the ring, they married in August 2022, after which she became Tay Melo in the ring.
- Oh, Crap!: During one of his Talking with Signs promos on Matt Hardy, he had this reaction when he looked down at his signs and realized the last two he was holding actually said "CONSIDER HIM..." and "DELETED".Sammy: Oh no no no no no no. Oh no no no no no! Oh- <Matt smashes him in the back with a steel chair>
- Power Stable: In MLW, he was briefly part of Promociones Dorado. He was fired after losing too many times, though notably he was let off rather easily as Salina did it over a phone call rather than a beat down.
- In AEW, he was part of the Inner Circle, and now is in the Jericho Appreciation Society. Curiously enough, Jericho is the leader of both factions.
- Red Baron: "The Best Ever", "The Spanish God".
- Running Gag: The Inner Circle's feud with The Elite subjected him to repeated pursuits by things faster than he is. At least three times he was chased by motorized carts and during the Stadium Stampede match he was pursued by Hangman Page on a horse and by Kenny Omega and Matt Hardy on a cart. The gag returned at All Out 2022 courtesy of Ruby Soho and former stablemate Ortiz.
- Spoiled Brat: His initial gimmick as a Heel could best be described as "the Inner Circle's obnoxious, rich-boy son".
- Talking with Signs: He has a thing for showing up on camera with a stack of large paper signs which he shows off and throws away one by one to cut sardonically silent promos. Subverted when he came out to deliver a Backhanded Apology to Matt Hardy for busting him open with a chair, only for Matt to get at his signs without him realising it and rewrite them to insult Sammy instead, with the last two declaring that Sammy was about to be "DELETED!" right before Matt jumps him and beats him up.
- True Companions: As well as being part of the Inner Circle, he's best buds with Fuego Del Sol.
- Undying Loyalty: A defining trait of Sammy, whether face or heel, is his perpetual loyalty to Chris Jericho. No matter how much tension there is between them, and even when Sammy walked out on Jericho, he always returns to his side.
- When Sammy first walked out and left the Inner Circle in February 2021, he returned to the group a month later, revealing that it was part of an elaborate plot to expose MJF's intent on taking over the faction.
- He left the Inner Circle permanently in February 2022, fed up with the infighting that was occuring within the group. He returned to Jericho's side in June when he joined the Jericho Appreciation Society.
- The best example of this is on the 8/16/23 episode of Dynamite, when after the rest of the Jericho Appreciation Society walked out on him the week prior, Don Callis turned on Jericho by having him brutally assaulted by Will Osperay and Konosuke Takeshita...only for Sammy to come his friend's rescue.
- Subverted at Grand Slam 2023 however, where after losing to Jericho, Sammy hits him with a low blow after the match and aligns with Don Callis...then it became Double Subverted on the 12/27/23 episode of Dynamite, where Sammy (after a two-month absence), turned on Callis for disparaging his family and reconciled with Jericho, who came to his rescue when The Don Callis Family assaulted him.
- Villainous Friendship: Parodied and subverted with MJF during the Four Pillars Tournament. After striking a deal with MJF that he'll help Sammy cheat his way through the tournament in exchange for Sammy throwing the fight in Double or Nothing 2023, the two constantly act as if they're best friends with each other. However, it's made apparent how the friendship isn't genuine. Eventually during their tag-team match against Darby Allin and "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry, the friendship falls apart completely due to MJF refusing to allow Sammy to pin their opponents, resulting in Sammy attacking MJF and ending the partnership.
- Villain Respect: After his alliance with MJF comes to an end, Sammy lets Darby Allin know that he respects him and Jack Perry, and that he'll accept either of the two becoming the AEW World Champion over MJF.
- Worthy Opponent: Cody Rhodes, especially in the latter's final match in AEW, where the American Nightmare gained the respect of the Spanish God.
- Would Hit a Girl: Although not on his own volition, he superkicked his own girlfriend Tay when Frankie Kazarian avoided it during their mixed tag team match against Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page and Paige VanZant in Double or Nothing 2022. Needless to say, he got shocked.
