Do you think you know Rey Mysterio, both behind
and in front of the mask? Rey Mysterio, once known as Colibri, Rey
Misterio Jr and even La Lagartija Verde, has been inspiring millions
beyond millions for well over 20 years. Growing up, Rey has always been
involved with the wrestling scene having a well-known uncle, Rey
Misterio, in the Mexican Wrestling scene. Rey was inspired by his uncle
which influenced him to become one of the best luchadors in recent
history. His awe-inspiring moves, hard work and complete
devotion/dedication towards the wrestling industry has landed Rey a
successful career for many years.
Rey Mysterio began his official wrestling training at the tender age
of 8 with his uncle, Rey Misterio in his gym. Rey Mysterio wrestled
among men twice his age, perhaps even tripled. He was never given
special treatment for being the owners nephew, and even then, had to
work harder than the rest. His creativity and ability to learn sparked
his passion for the industry. At the young age of 14, Rey Mysterio made
his debut in the wrestling ring at a church in Mexico. His payment? A
soda and a sandwich. Mysterio did not debut as ‘Rey Misterio Jr,’ as in
order to receive this name, his uncle had to believe he was ready to
hold it. Rey instead debuted as La Lagartija Verde, aka the Green
Lizard. At this time, Rey was battling wrestling and going to school in
the United States, crossing the border daily since he was living in
Mexico.
Rey Mysterio was given the opportunity for something great when he
was senior in high school. His friend and well-known superstar Konnan
shared an adventure with Rey, discussing Asistencia Asesoría y
Administración or AAA for short, a wrestling promotion in Mexico which
was just starting out. Joining the promotion required Rey to move to
Mexico City, Mexico, far from where he was currently living. With the
help of Konnan, Rey persuaded his parents to allow him to pursue his
dream in Mexico City and drop out of school to go. The bargain with his
parents? If nothing happened within one year, he had to come back.
Luckily, something did happen, which sparked the rest of his career.
Rey’s time in AAA was very good to him. He found himself winning and
earning many titles including the AAA Welterweight Title and AAA Light
Heavyweight Title. In AAA, Rey began his career-long feuds with Juventud
Guerrera and Psychosis. Rey found himself working various wrestling
matches, heading to ECW, the land of the extreme as well as the World
Wrestling Association [WWA] where Mysterio found himself as champion on
various occasions.
Mysterio received his “big” American Career break when he was signed
to a contract with World Championship Wrestling, known as WCW. Mysterio
made his debut at WCW’s 1996 PPV, The Great American Bash taking on
CruiserWeight Champion Dean Malenko for the title. While Rey was not
successful that night or the night after on Monday Night Nitro, he did
become a WCW CruiserWeight Champion only two weeks after his debut,
defeating Dean Malenko in the ring.
~~~~~~~~~~currently skipping to his WWE career. Will upload more about WCW and the in-between Indie Matches soon~~~~~~~~
Finally, in June 2002, Mysterio was signed to a contract with one of
wrestling’s largest promotions, World Wrestling Entertainment, simply
known as WWE. Mysterio’s debut was hyped up immensely, and he soon made
his debut on Thursday Night SmackDown on July 25, 2002. Mysterio
defeated long time friend and rival Chavo Guerrero, and even made a huge
impact that night flying off a steel cage to help Edge and John Cena.
Mysterio found himself to dominate the CruiserWeight division, and
started a feud with Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle. Promo after promo,
match after match, Mysterio and Angle eventually had a killer match,
opening up Summer Slam 2002. Mysterio soon found himself teaming up with
WWE Superstar Edge and even captured the WWE Tag Titles with him for a
few weeks. While the tag team of Edge and Rey did not last long, as they
soon lost the titles a few weeks later, they worked together well.
Fast forward to 2003 and Rey Mysterio is going after the
CruiserWeight Title. Mysterio found himself as the number 1 contender
during WrestleMania XIX and even faced CruiserWeight Champion Matt Hardy
for the title in his first WrestleMania match! While Rey did lose the
match and did not find himself as champion that night, Mysterio won his
first WWE CruiserWeight Title from Matt Hardy in June that year.
Mysterio won in front of his family in his home state of California.
Mysterio vs Hardy was the only time a CruiserWeight Title Match has ever
main-evented the show. Making millions of 619ers proud, Rey brought his
son Dominik in the ring to celebrate the victory as his face filled up
with joy.
Mysterio held the title until September where he dropped the title to
Tajiri, a CruiserWeight that Rey has battled various times. Mysterio,
however, was still in the title picture, winning the CruiserWeight title
back from Tajiri at the very beginning of 2004 on January 1. Mysterio
had many successful title defenses, but eventually dropped the title to
the man he defeated in his WWE Debut, Chavo Guerrero. Fortunately, Rey
would have a rematch at WrestleMania XX in a CruiserWeight Open for the
title. Rey was the last one eliminated however, but never gave up
earning that title. Mysterio went after the title, taking on Chavo
Classic, where he eventually captured it in June 2004. He eventually
dropped it to Spike Dudley, and continued to battle for the title.
However, the 2004 reign was Rey’s last title reign as a CruiserWeight
Champion. He eventually began to move onto bigger and better things.
Mysterio found himself in a tag team with friend Rob Van Dam, and the
two became tag team champions together. The two held the titles for a
month until they had to drop the championships due to Van Dam being
injured. However, Mysterio would team up with long time friend and
rival, Eddie Guerrero. The two became Tag Team Champions, marking Rey’s
sixth WWE title reign, and his third Tag Title reign…all titles won
within three years of his debut. Mysterio’s career was set on the fast
track, and boy, was he enjoying it.
Mysterio and Eddie would go on to stay tag champions until Eddie
eventually turned on Rey after realizing Rey has always defeated him.
They dropped the titles to rising tag team, MNM. Mysterio and Eddie
Guerrero went on to have an amazing feud which even brought Rey’s family
into the mix. Guerrero claimed that Mysterio and his wife Angie could
not have children, and that Dominik, Rey’s legitimate son was actually
Eddie’s. This would build up to an outstanding Ladder Match amongst the
two at Summer Slam, with the winner earning the custody of Dominik.
Guerrero and Mysterio lasted for quite a while and finally ended when
Guerrero scored a win over Rey Mysterio in a steel cage. Unfortunately,
Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel in November 2005. This deeply
affected the WWE Universe, Rey Mysterio, and Eddie’s family. Rey and
Eddie were the best of friends, and Rey was deeply saddened by the lost
of his friend. Mysterio began to pay homage to his deceased friend by
sporting “EG” armbands when he wrestled and constantly pointed and
smiled towards the sky, symbolizing that Eddie is looking down upon us
in Heaven.
With Eddie’s passing, Rey Mysterio found himself becoming friends
with former WWE Superstar, Dave Batista. Both deeply affected by Eddie’s
passing, they formed a tag team to take on Kane and the Big Show. Prior
to their match, Mysterio and Batista won the Tag Team Titles from MNM,
one of Rey’s former tag team rivals. Mysterio and Batista would not hold
on to the those titles for long however, and eventually dropped them to
MNM in a few weeks.
2006 was beginning, and Rey Mysterio was scheduled to participate in
one of WWE’s most anticpiated PPVs, the Royal Rumble. By now, Rey has
held 7 titles within the company, despite only being there for four
years now. Mysterio began the new year to an amazing start. He found
himself as entry #2 in the Royal Rumble, and laughed over his number,
saying Eddie was tricking him from Heaven. Rey Mysterio, however, would
outlast 29 other men, winning the Royal Rumble! Rey held onto everything
he could for over an hour and currently holds the record for the
longest time spent in the Royal Rumble. Mysterio defeated Triple H and
Randy Orton to earn the shot to go onto WrestleMania 22, WWE’s grandest
stage.
Mysterio found himself feuding with Randy Orton, which eventually
sparked a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania for the World Heavyweight
Championship. After Mysterio lost his WrestleMania title match to Randy
at No Way Out, Teddy Long, SmackDown! general manager announced that Rey
was added back to the title picture! Happy, Mysterio, Randy Orton, and
Champion Kurt Angle would spend the next few weeks building up their
match with promos and matches. Mysterio would go onto WrestleMania 22,
main-eventing the stage for the first time ever. Mysterio came out to a
live performance from POD, the band that sings his theme song when he
enters to the ring. Usually, Rey sports an outfit from a famous super
hero/comic book character, but this year, he decided to pay tribute to
his Mexican Heritage. Mysterio sported an Eagle head-dressing.Mysterio
soon captured the title, pinning Randy Orton! This marks Rey’s first
World Heavyweight Title reign and his eigth since entering the WWE.
Mysterio embarked on a feud with JBL which led up to Rey accepting an
open challenge to face anyone, anywhere. Mysterio and JBL constantly
battled with JBL hoping to capture the World Title from Rey. Rey was
succesful in his title matches and did not drop the belt until July
against Booker T. However, Mysterio dropped the belt because Chavo
Guerrero quickly turned on Rey, became jealous, which cost Rey his title
match. Booker T took advantage, and Rey was out of the title picture.
However, this would lead to an incredible feud with Chavo Guerrero and a
rude awakening.
Chavo and Rey constantly battled one another, and Eddie Guerrero’s
real life wife, Vickie Guerrero was in the middle. At first, she began
to side with Rey, saying none of this should happen but soon turned on
Rey, siding with her nephew Chavo. After a few months of battling, the
men went on to have an “I Quit” match. Unfourantely, Mysterio was forced
to say “I Quit” when his knee began to scream in pain. Guerrero
constantly attacked Mysterio’s knee, and sadly, Rey was forced to take
time away from the ring to have knee surgery. During the time away from
the ring from November 2006, Rey Mysterio had five knee surgeries and
was away for more than 6 months. Mysterio fought daily to get back into
that ring, and finally did at Summer Slam 2007 in August.
Vignettes were aired to announce the return of Mysterio at Summer
Slam 2007 against the man who injured him, Chavo Guerrero. Rey came
back, still in pain and showing the affects of the injury, but put on a
great show regardless. Mysterio defeated Chavo, and even had another “I
Quit” match. Mysterio attacked Chavo in the same way Chavo attacked
Mysterio during their “I Quit” match. Rey constantly went after Chavo’s
knee, and forced him to say I quit.
Finally, Mysterio earned the right to become the Number 1 contender
for the World Title once again. The Great Khali, who is taller than Rey
by a good two feet was the champion at the time, and Mysterio went on to
face him and included Rey’s former tag partner at one point, Batista.
Mysterio was unsucessful, however.
Mysterio went on to began a feud with WWE Superstar, Finlay. The men
constantly battled and brawled, and even had a grueling Stretcher Match
at Cyber Sunday. The rivalry soon ended when Finaly began to turn into a
face. Mysterio soon found himself going into the new year, 2008, as a
Number 1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title, being in the picture
again.
Mysterio won the opportunity to face former tag partner, Edge for the
World Title at the Royal Rumble. As hard as Rey tried to win the title,
he did not capture it. Sadly, Mysterio injured his bicep a month later
in Chile during a tag team match with the Big Red Monster, Kane.
Mysterio, however, was scheduled to take on Edge again at No Way Out.
Despise his lingering bicep injury, Mysterio went on to face Edge once
more for the World Title. Mysterio lost, which allowed The Big Show to
make his return, plummeting Mysterio down and “wrote” Mysterio off for a
little while to take time away from the ring. Mysterio was saved my
Floyd “Money” Mayweather, who knocked the Big Show out. Mysterio would
go onto have bicep surgeries, having over four in total. Mysterio’s
injury continued to get infected which caused him to be out for over six
months.
Surprisingly, Mysterio was drafted to Raw. During his whole WWE
career within the last six years, Mysterio only competed on one brand
and one brand only: SmackDown! Mysterio, stunned, came out when he was
announced and even though he still wasn’t ready for the ring, he
welcomed the WWE Universe to join him on Monday Night’s on his new home.
Mysterio participated in a short blink-of-the-eye feud with Santino
Marella, which found Rey victorious. Instead, Mysterio soon began a feud
with Kane in September which led to amazing matches with Rey teaming up
with Evan Bourne to take on Kane and Mike Knox, men he has feuded with.
Rey’s time on Raw lasted shortly, when he was soon drafted to
SmackDown! during the next draft.
Before Mysterio was drafted back to his original home, he began a
short feud with former rival, JBL for the Intercontinental Title. This
led up to a match at WrestleMania 25, where Mysterio performed as the
Joker from Batman. Mysterio captured the title in an astonishing 21
seconds, and has officially became the 21st Triple-Crowned Champion.
After the match, JBL announced his retirement, and was never seen on the
WWE Screen again. Mysterio was soon drafted back to SmackDown, bringing
the Intercontinental Title with him.
Mysterio finally began an amazing, incredible feud with former WCW
rival, Chris Jericho. The two battled back and forth for the title which
even saw Rey drop the title for a short amount of time. Mysterio and
Jericho showed that you don’t have to go after a World Title to put on
killer matches and brought prestige back to the title. Mysterio and
Jericho would compete against each other at Judgment Day 2009, Extreme
Rules 2009 and The Bash 2009. Mysterio successfully held onto the title
at Judgment Day, but dropped the title at Extreme Rules when Jericho
surprisingly unmasked Rey! Rey however, would cash in his rematch
clause, and tricked Jericho when Jericho attempted to unmask Rey once
more. Instead, Rey had two masks on, and pinned Jericho to win the title
back. After a long feud with rising superstar, Dolph Ziggler, and three
successful PPV title defenses, Mysterio finally dropped the title in
September 2009 to John Morrison.
After a month of out-of-ring action, Mysterio came back at Hell in a
Cell to team with friend Batista to take on Jericho and Big Show for the
tag titles. The two were unsuccessful, and Mysterio began a hunt for
the World Heavyweight Title once again. Mysterio was entered into a
Fatal Four Way match at Bragging Rights against Batista, CM Punk and the
Undertaker, who was the champion. Once the match ended, Batista turned
on his best friend which sparked a feud. Batista and Rey would fight for
the number one contender opportunity for the Undertaker’s title. Rey
and Taker’ would battle for the title from December 2009 to the Royal
Rumble, but Rey found himself unsuccessful in capturing the gold belt.
Mysterio went on to the Elimination Chamber which he sadly lost.
Instead, Mysterio found himself in a long feud with CM Punk. Arguably
one of the feud of the years, Mysterio’s family was dragged into the mix
when Punk creepily sang Happy Birthday to Rey’s daughter, Aalayah. Punk
and Rey would battle for months with Punk even attempting to get Rey to
join the Straight Edge Society, a stable Punk founded to ensure
sobriety in people’s lives. Mysterio got the last laugh in a match when
Punks hair was on the line versus Rey joining the Straight Edge Society.
Mysterio won, and even shaved Punk bald! The feud died down, and Rey
was onto the title picture once again.
Mysterio eventually qualified for a Fatal Four Way World Heavyweight
match at the Fatal Four Way PPV which featured Jack Swagger, the
champion and CM Punk as well as Kane. Mysterio defeated the champion,
Jack Swagger to become a World Heavyweight Champion for the second time
in his career! Sadly, Mysterio held the title for a short month and was
made to look weak saying that Swagger’s angle lock injured his ankle.
Rey successfully defeated Swagger at the next PPV, Money in the Bank to
retain the title…Until Kane, cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase
he won that night directly after Rey’s match. Rey lost, and Kane was the
new champion. Once again, a Kane vs. Rey Mysterio feud sparked.
Mysterio vs Kane would go on to Summer Slam, where Rey unsuccessfully
defeated Kane, and saw the return of the Undertaker. Instead, Mysterio
found himself in a feud with new WWE Superstar, Alberto del Rio.
Mysterio and Del Rio would go on to spark one of the best feuds to close
out 2010. Rey would go on to partake in a World HeavyWeight
Championship match at TLC: Tabbles, Ladders & Chairs, only to fall
to Edge, winning the title. Rey and Alberto would continue their feud
onto 2011 until Del Rio won the last match because of interference from
his ring announcer. Rey would move onto different opponents, beginning
things up with a young Cody Rhodes. After Rey Mysterio broke Cody
Rhodes’ nose with a 619, Cody wanted revenge and he needed it quick.
The men would battle on SmackDown as Rey competed in the Royal Rumble
and Elimination Chamber match, coming up short each time. Cody, however,
would continue to attack Rey which brought them to their WrestleMania
XXVII match which saw Rey Mysterio losing to Cody Rhodes on the large
stage. In the end, Rey would gain the last pinfall over Cody at Extreme
Rules in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Rey blew out green mist, much
like The Great Muta and Tajiri to pick up the win and ending the feud.
Post WrestleMania, Rey was drafted to Monday Night Raw. Rey was
being thrown into triple threat matches to become the number one
contender for the WWE Title, but losing everytine. After a short feud
with R-Truth, Rey picked things up with a former rival of his, CM Punk.
That rivalry ended shortly again, and after a failed attempt at being
Mr. Money in the Bank that year, Rey would go back to Raw competing in
more number one contender matches. After the WWE title was “vacated” as
CM Punk took the title out of the company, WWE was determined to find a
new champion so they started a tournament to see who will be crowned.
Rey Mysterio made it to the finals where he would face The Miz, another
finalist. In the end, Rey Mysterio won the WWE Championship and was the
NEW WWE Champion! What the best part is, Rey won the title on the 9th
anniversary of his WWE Debut. However, his dream as WWE Champion was
cut short when he agreed to face John Cena for the title that same night
and lost to Cena, holding the title for less than two hours.
Rey would go on to wrestle a tag-match at SummerSlam and finally got
another title shot against one of his former rivals – Alberto del Rio.
Rey Mysterio wrestled Del Rio in his hometown of San Diego, California
hoping to please the crowd with a brand new title around his waste.
However, Del Rio ended up beating Rey and kept the title. Alberto
celebrated his victory by beating up a defensless Rey Mysterio until
John Cena came to his aid. It was then announced on WWE.Com that Rey
Mysterio suffered an injury and needed surgery immediately. Rey had two
knee surgeries to close out 2011, with an estimation that he’ll be out
for at least 6 months.
Rey would continue to make appearances for WWE at non-wrestling
events, but was not able to return until mid 2012. July of 2012, Rey
made his long anticipated return on Raw, saving a defenseless Zack Ryder
from Rey’s good old rival – ALberto del RIo. Rey would then go on to
comepte on both SmackDown and Raw on a weekly basis. Rey Mysterio
defeated the Intercontinental Champion the Miz on Friday Night
Smackdown, which would throw him into the title picture. Rey went on to
challenge the Miz at SummerSlam, dressed up as Batman nonetheless, but
failed to capture his third IC Title reign. Later that week, WWE
announced that Rey suffered a concussion at the hands of the Miz and was
left off TV for a week. Rey came back to SmackDown, defeating his old
opponent Cody Rhodes. Since then, Rey Mysterio has found himself a new
companion to take on his opponents – Sin Cara. Rey and Sin Cara have
been teaming up quite a bit, perhaps we see future tag team champions?
