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Chapter 1: What insights does Rey Mysterio share about his family and wrestling legacy?
Hello, it's the American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes. Welcome to the WWE Warehouse. Thanks to Ben Brown for letting this be the setting for the most look forward to conversation I have had in quite some time. This, what do you want to talk about, is a WWE and Fanatics original production. And we have an incredible guest and a lot of firsts with this guest.
This is the first time I am sitting across from somebody that I actually wrestled at a WrestleMania.
which is incredible, former world champion, WWE champion, tag team champions, every layer of tag teams for that, cruiserweight champion, a WWE Hall of Famer, got the ring on and everything, Royal Rumble winner, and often argued, particularly by me online, and I don't think it's really much of an argument anymore, I consider the greatest luchador of all time, even being bigger than the
unbelievable El Santo and everything that he ever did, and such an important person contributions-wise to pro wrestling, to myself, which hopefully we get into here in a second. Please welcome to What Do You Want to Talk About? the one and the only Rey Mysterio. Thank you. My man. Thank you for having me here. Thank you. I was waiting for the invitation for a while now.
I believe you in terms of I'm so glad it's happening. It should have happened sooner. No. Timing is always right, right? Right. Right. And of all the things that right out of the gate to say to Ray Mysterio and the things I'd want to say, I do probably need to lead with This outfit you're wearing is... My teddy bear outfit. It's like you skinned a wampa. This is phenomenal. Thank you.
You just could at any point when it's time to rest.
You remember when the Teletubbies were hot? Yes. And this is actually a Teletubby jumpsuit, which I love. I dig it.
It's comfy. And always, I feel maybe in a sense of just having grown up in wrestling, you also, starting at 14, your uncle, you're very much part of a wrestling family. One thing I always admire, and I'm sure I'm amongst many who admire this, is you have a sense of fashion in terms of the changing of the mask when in different settings. And I know my favorite, is the Hall of Fame.
And I think it was the only thing I said, because you were moving through and saying your pleasantries and goodbyes and hellos. Do you, and sorry if this is a regularly asked question, I'm very curious, do you have a favorite?
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Chapter 2: How did Rey Mysterio's upbringing influence his wrestling career?
Somewhat same built, you know. And he said, I have this outfit for you. And I made two masks. Just please, the mask that you're wrestling, I would love to keep it. I was like, I don't think it's going to fit me, man. He goes, no, please try it on. It fit me to a T, which is crazy.
That was the first time somebody has ever given me something without taking any measurements, just based on what he was seeing on TV at the time.
I feel, and you said he's from Osaka? From Osaka. Isn't it such a kind of having gone over there, Japanese culture, never asking for something without giving something. The first time somebody asked for an autograph in the lobby, there was a gift that came with it, like a small candy or something. That's such a beautiful... A culture. A culture. And then the idea is like, hey, wear it, please.
I just want it. Yeah. Like that, very much, I mean, of what we do in the live theater aspect of pro wrestling, also none of it is possible without the fan. Right. And their involvement in Japanese culture. Like they're wanting the gear and all their involvement is... Yes, very much.
I go back and think at that and tell myself that's been almost 30 years of connecting with him based out of one show that he went to go see and presented me a gift and we built this relationship that We have a connection, like a very deep connection that over the years he's made numerous of my WrestleMania outfits. Oh, yeah. And he's just an amazing human being, an incredible designer. Yeah.
And he's made stuff for other guys as well.
I was going to say, now that you've shouted him out, I'm sure, many times, do people try and steal him? They've asked him. He's inclusive to you?
Well, he... He's got it, right? He's working a lot, though. I think the connection that me and him had at the beginning kind of gave both of us the notoriety to start... connecting with other people, getting work from others, getting asks from other wrestlers. Boxers, I know he made gear for Canelo Alvarez, the boxer as well. So he's done a lot of stuff.
But you also grew together. This is you in the beginning. Yes. So this is pre-the World Championships, pre-the Hall of Fame, right? Pre-everything. He was there. I mean, he bet. He took a bet on Rey Mysterio. What a great bet to take. Incredible, incredible. I see you've got something special there. I have an American Mule always brought to us by our friends at Wheatley American Vodka.
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Chapter 3: What memorable moments does Rey Mysterio recall from his time in WCW?
And cheers to you. Thank you for having me here. Thank you. Made with Wheatley Vodka. American vodka. Well done, yes. And tastes delicious. It has a bunch of stuff in it, but you know what? I'm a big grapefruit guy.
Yeah.
I feel like it has a little bit of grapefruit to it.
Is there? I love it. I know we're going to put the ingredients up on the screen. Oh, you can't do that. No, you don't want to give away the secret?
No. The ingredients aren't going on the screen. This drink is special. It was based on the Halloween Havoc 97 against Eddie Guerrero. Yes. The Phantom outfit. Full suit. It has a little bit of a touch of Rey Mysterio-ish. So it's... One of a kind. One of a kind.
But if you want one, I can request it. You know someone. Oh, yeah. So the Phantom mask is, this is a period of time that I'm deeply entrenched in WCW. How old were you at that time? So, 96? 97. 12? 12. And this is the bodysuit as well, right?
Yes. First time.
He's ripping at all of it, right?
He's ripping here. Yep. But that was my very first outfit that I wore, again, Hayashi and his creation. Yeah. It was like a turtleneck with a mask.
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Chapter 4: How does Rey Mysterio view his relationship with his son Dominik in wrestling?
I feel like it's a deep cut on this, but I thought like, this is... Speaking of Eddie, of course, one of my favorite things we do here and the soul that exists in the warehouse is we always try to throw up some of the items that relate to the guest or to the situation. And there's Eddie's. I love it. It's right there.
Yeah. Yeah, I love it. You know, Dom and I, when when he claimed that I was his father. Not anymore, I don't know why. We did a tribute to Eddie and Love Machine at our first WrestleMania together in Texas. And we just did a newer version. So I wore the Mexican and he wore the American colors, but it was a tribute to Los Gringos Locos. Did you ever have a chance to see Art Bar wrestle?
That's what I was gonna ask you. I saw Art Bar wrestle. It seems like, and this is probably not the best parallel, but there's wrestlers you hear about all the time, Dick Murdock, Ray Stevens, Art Barr is one as well, that I feel like there's not enough. Right. In terms of you hear great things, but it didn't move to another, it's limited to a period of time or however it went.
But speak to that, just because I've only ever heard amazing. And the tag run that I did see in these jackets is unreal.
Right.
Crazy enough, I was better friends at the time with Art Barr than with Eddie for some reason, some weird reason. Art and I just got along very well. But I sometimes think if it was because of The era that we were going through at that time, no social media, everything was word of mouth, VHS, The Observer, that was your only point of reference to who was up and coming.
So maybe that's why and because he left us way too soon, he never got to that peak where I think if he was still around when Eddie made it to that peak, that he would have been right there next to yeah, he's so that good absolutely yeah, wait coming in.
Coming in. That's on the house, you knew somebody yes so much well, this is a first I typically salute, thank you. You like it I do I do that that's a good choice there. Oh my. All right, so I want to talk about motivation. Comes and goes, right? And habits. Habits show up even when you don't feel like it.
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Chapter 5: What challenges did Rey Mysterio face during his WrestleMania match?
You're doing something crazy. Eddie's doing something crazy. Not just the cruiserweight. There were genuine character pieces that were happening. And then the NWO scene would take that, whatever it may be. But it's almost like the show built in a way that it worked for everyone. A casual fan, a hardcore fan. There was something special. But I remember how fondly on commentary. Right.
they would speak about you and how quick it all happened. Because it was just a few times we saw you, and the next thing you know, it was entrenched in you being the lead dog in the cruiserweight division.
And the kind of trading back and forth that you have with a Dean, that you have with an Eddie, is so... I guess I'm asking more because obviously I was a massive fan of it and remember a great... bit of it, but I ask more what it's like backstage when you're in a place like that doing what you were doing. Because you guys were out there. You had time. Yeah. Yeah, we did. To work and tell stories.
Yeah. And I remember your dad being part of that commentating team. Yeah. And he would always speak wonders every time I was in the ring. And at the time I didn't recall it. Yeah going back and watching stuff like that. I can hear him now and and Wow, like he never had Always spoke very positive about my work and what I delivered and that was very he loved you Oh, I loved him too.
He come back and he talked about you and I
because there was questions and you know mike today was right there to fill out a lot of details that maybe you didn't know but he f i think he fell in with the familiar but uh... the they called them this guy's same with eddie and i remember not knowing who eddie was and you kind of set me down so i felt like i had a heads up over all my friends by sitting there like you don't know that right this is such and such from this family and they you know he he'd have that information but i think it's something that
The psychology is another thing I want to ask you about being a lighter heavyweight in a company of giants. Right. And how you not only survive but thrive. The psychology of that was fun for him to be part of on commentary. Yes. The rooting for somebody and you being one of the few who could find a way.
Right. Well, I was always very... open-minded and still to this day to listen. Whether he has more years on top of my experience or less years, if there's a suggestion or an opinion on how the match should go in a certain direction, I'm all about it. And at that time, especially entering WCW, I was being guided the majority of the times on how to work this out.
particular American style coming from everything being so fast. No count outs and just doing whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. So the first one to teach me that was Dean. Dean was just incredible at just putting pieces together and I would tell him I would love to do this. Where can we throw this in? And that's how I started learning how to kind of just put the puzzle together.
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Chapter 6: How does Rey Mysterio define the importance of his wrestling mask?
So you connected with pretty much whoever was in front of you of the three opponents. But here, going into WCW, the majority were single matches. And that's what... really kind of opened up my confidence to be able to trust other wrestlers on a one-on-one.
Sure. I feel like there's a... Just from an observation standpoint, because I watch so much of wrestling throughout the day, and that's an era that I was... We were all into it. It's... It's very fun to watch an incredibly young adult crowd, college age, whereas today it's so many young kids and families.
That Attitude Era, Monday Night Wars peak, that WCW run, NWO run, it's a lot of college age, rowdy. with a bit of ignorance and not a negative way, but they're just coming to have a good time. And it's very fun to see people that perhaps they had no idea were wrestling absolutely take the crowd on a ride.
Dean powerbombing a dude, powerbombing you maybe, coming off the ropes and getting the near fall that it's like they,
took the opportunity that was in front, all of you took this opportunity, because that era is obviously clearly talked about so much with what happened with the cruiserweights and what happened, but that couldn't, there's a chance that that doesn't happen if you don't have the right people.
There's a chance that, I don't, where's, I don't like this, you know, and instead, instantly, Ultimo Dragon, you, Eddie, like, it's, What a class of people. That's why I wondered what it's like or what it was like backstage for that when you're in that company. And is it a chip on the shoulder? Is it more of a confidence and having fun? Is it learning? Was it incredibly pressure-filled?
I think from my point of view, I think because of what you just said, of fans maybe going in to see what the NWO was doing at the time, we slowly started capturing that audience to become more and more focused, not on what was happening with the NWO, but what was happening in that cruiserweight division. All these guys that were coming in with masks.
But from my point of view, I think it was more of let's go out there and let's go have some fun. Let's go do what we love to do. I've always... went out thinking, I'm putting everything out there. Whatever it is they can let me do, I'm going to put it out there. It was always very enjoyable. Obviously, you knew with who you can really let yourself go. Obviously, Eddie was one of them.
Jericho was another. Dean. Overall, That whole division, Dragon, we would go out there and just put on really good matches. The psychology wasn't quite there all the way yet, but we were all learning in the process. And I learned so much from all the guys that I just mentioned over the years on how to eventually start toning it down, but I think that happens to everyone. When you're on the rise,
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Chapter 7: What advice does Rey Mysterio give about adapting to the wrestling industry?
I think it... pulls you in, I think it makes you very responsible to the business. You feel responsible to, this fed me, now it's gotta keep feeding me, or in Solo's case, feed my family now. So as fun and silly as the job sometimes looks on paper, it's business, right? And also having seen a dad or a mom go through it, you get a sense of, you get a college education
on the industry before you ever have an elementary school. That's why I always, if you're a second or third generation, I always think, great, you know a lot. Go train with somebody completely different, though, who can just teach you how to hold someone's wrist on an arm wringer. Because you don't get that from dad or mom always.
A lot of that is the deeper, hey, this is why that worked, and this is why that happened. And to combine the two is amazing, but you feel responsibility to it. I've told you about what happened with me and Psycho Clown, right? No. Oh, it's great. Psycho Clown's such a class act. Yes. Gave me a mask. I got it on the bus.
But if you don't know AAA or Lucha and you see that mask, you'd think I was a serial killer in my side gig. But he signed this mask. So I did Triple Mania.
Mm-hmm.
A few years ago. And TripleMania, you know, it's a little bit, I'd say, production, WWE's production is absurd, right? Right, right. So it feels like anytime you're wrestling anywhere else, you, you, you know, maybe the production's a hair down or a little fast and loose, a little different. Right, just different. Different, right? Just different. Yeah. He was shooting fire out of a guitar.
and I was in this like Astro Crag like stage setting and I was just coming out and I was just doing American Nightmare stuff. It was pretty like, I was really there just to kind of do the Jimmy Dugan, hey guys. But he had called this great match and he was just everything. I couldn't have asked for a better person to walk in the locker room and be like, yeah sure man, thank you.
I will return this favor. But he's shooting fire out of his guitar and my head is here in this thing ready to come up. And dude is just full fire and it is right by my head. And I thought the stage is made of wood. I thought this is the most triple A moment. It was such a cool entrance, but you would have never today. Did he catch you a little bit?
No, not at all, but I remember thinking, like, no one even told me that Brother's just going to be fired.
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Chapter 8: What future goals does Rey Mysterio have within wrestling and his legacy?
I adore Penta. Yeah, yeah. And Phoenix, and the Kingo, and Clown, and there's so much to come, but I think, I don't know if anyone will understand this, but one of my favorite things about Penta is the few times I worked him, I have no clue what he's talking about, but then I'll fully know what he's talking about, because it's always the same.
It's like, me, you, Canadian, you, me, and my brother, That's a Mexican card. Dude, it's wild. Because I'd be like, okay, so a Canadian you. You're right up. You Canadian me. Phoenix comes in, head scissors. Because it's always my brother. Dude, I just get such a kick out of like, I'd hear him talking to someone when we weren't working. I'd be like, how?
how do you have a clue what Penny's like, ah, yeah, me, idea? You know, sometimes like in New Japan, it's like idea, my idea, and you're, because I remember one time I was with Brandy overseas in Japan, and she heard me talking to Ibushi, and after she's like, you can't talk to people like that, and I said, no, no, no, that's how everyone's talking.
I'm not saying like, my idea, it's how the broken, it's how we work. She thought it was disrespectful. Yeah, she thought I was like disrespecting, I'm like, no, no, no, That's the same way, but man, when Penta, he talks to me, I always just, I'd hear him, and he's such a protector for his brother.
Yes, oh yeah.
My brother?
He's a big brother.
Oh my God, my brother? Yeah. Oh, they're so freaking talented.
Oh, incredible. You know, funny enough, the same person that discovered me in psychosis is the same person that found Penta and Fenix. K-Dawg? Conan, yeah. Yeah, it's crazy. To see that full circle, like, okay, AAA beginning, career opens up, now we're here, doesn't get any bigger, and vice versa for them. It's the same.
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