According to Chavo, Eddie began to have doubts if Lesnar would truly put him over at No Way Out, which is why Eddie went into the title match with a different mindset.

“Eddie came to fight,” Chavo recalled. “He was ready to die with honor [laughs]. He was like, ‘You never know what’s gonna happen out there.'”

The match ended up going as planned, but Chavo says Eddie was always prepared for situations where opponents began “shooting” by channeling his inner Black Tiger. Eddie portrayed the character of Black Tiger II in Japan in the early 1990s, a persona that he would tap into at various points of his career. Chavo believes the near-shoot style wrestling in Japan toughed up Eddie to the point where he was already ready to strike back at wrestlers who got too physical.

“Eddie always held onto that Black Tiger character,” Chavo said. “Even when we weren’t tagging anymore, and he had a match against a big and strong guy, he’d be like, ‘I’ve got to get into that Black Tiger mode.’ I’d hype him as well, ‘Come on, let’s go!’ And then he’d go into the ring [with that mindset]. He’d have that stone face, he’d be locked in.”