Chavo Guerrero Jr. on training Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White for The Iron Claw film, the possibility of a Guerrero family movie

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

CBS Sports interview with Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Host: Shakiel Mahjouri
Story available via CBSSports.com

Chavo Guerrero on how Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White took different approaches to wrestling in the Iron Claw film: “Coming from a dance background, from High School Musical and stuff, [Efron] really liked to walk through it all over and over again. Jeremy had a different approach. He had a cerebral approach where he would think about it, visualize it and be ready to go. I would look at him and he’d be kind of quiet. I asked, ‘Are you OK?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’m good. I’m ready.’ Every one of them surprised me every day in the ring. It wasn’t like pulling teeth. They didn’t come unprepared… When it was time to get into the ring, they were in the ring stretched and ready to go. It made my job a lot easier. They really wanted to learn. They really wanted to nail this.”

Chavo Guerrero’s principle philosophy about wrestling and choreography: “Car crashes and fights help tell the story, but the car crashes are not the story. It’s the same thing with wrestling. These moves help tell the story but the moves themselves are not the story. That’s what we’re doing in the ring. We’re storytelling. That’s what they’re doing in front of the camera or on a stage. They’re telling a story. What makes a good wrestler a great wrestler is what he does in between the moves. That is everything.”

On his family’s professional rivalry with the Von Erichs and desire to treat their story with respect: “To be able to help tell the story, coming from another Texas wrestling family who were rivals with the Von Erichs for years… It’s like I was making it about my own family. I even told the Von Erichs, ‘I promise I will help make this movie like I’m making it about my family.'”

Chavo Guerrero’s interest in a Guerrero Family movie: “With the success that I believe this movie will have, and telling the story of the Von Erich family, I think there is definitely an avenue to do a movie or documentary or series on the Guerrero family… I’ve been approached about it a lot.”