Original subtitles

Wrestling is everything.

To be a wrestling fanatic and to be a wrestler and still doing it.

A dream come true, teaming up with his own son at WrestleMania. When

everybody said I was too small, I'm still here.

It's tradition.

In Lucha Libre Wrestling, that once the mask is removed, that is the ultimate

insult. It's a tradition that my uncle gave to me.

It's part of my life. It's not coming off. This is staying on forever.

I mean forever.

The mask has always turned me into a superhero.

That mask is his life. It's been part of his tradition. It transforms me.

Ray Mysterio is one of a kind, a style of lucha libre that you have never seen

before.

From one side of the ring to another, it's a high gravity.

Ray changed the game, breaking down doors.

He broke the blueprint of what a wrestler should look like.

All odds are stacked up against him, and he beats him. Eddie and Ray were like

brothers. They were family. His family's everything to him.

For him, it was the worst day of his life because his best friend passed

It was a hard time.

The ultimate underdog overcoming the Goliath.

Every time I put on the mat, that's what made me.

My parents, they were both from Guadalajara. They met in Tijuana.

My parents had to make it across the border illegally at the time. My mom was

pregnant and then had to wait for me to be born after Gutierrez.

With my parents having me born in San Diego, California, was automatically

to immigrate the rest of my family. Mom, dad, three brothers, my brothers and I.

Paul went to school in San Diego, you know, gave us a better education.

It is categorized as the American dream.

I remember as a kid when we would spend time in Tijuana.

Being in Tijuana for me was the ultimate because that was the time I got to

spend with my uncle, Ray Mysterio.

As a family, we would go and watch my uncle wrestle and support him. This

street would be packed with cars on Fridays because everyone would park down

here and they would just walk to the auditorium. It was my introduction to

world of wrestling.

Lucha Libre.

Rey Mysterio debuta un 6 de enero de 1975,

bajo una máscara que no traía nada de lo que se conoce hoy, porque yo tenía

prohibido ser luchador por parte de mi familia.

¿Por qué Rey Mysterio? Porque debuté el 6 de enero, que es el Día de los Santos

Reyes de México.

Rey estoy ching, español, y Mysterio, que a la vez esconderme de que mi

no supiera que yo estaba involucrado en la lucha de líderes profesionales.

He enjoyed being at home in Tijuana, being a

cop, being a wrestler at nighttime.

At the time, my uncle didn't have kids.

I was like his adopted child.

And for me, he was always like my second father.

Really cool memories for me. We would play wrestle.

And, you know, this is five, six years old. I felt like I was already getting

the spirit of becoming a wrestler without even realizing it.

We moved from San Diego back to Tijuana because it just made it much easier for

my father to go to work. My journey really began at 5 .30 in the morning

day, Monday through Friday.

I would sleep already with my clothes on that I was going to take to school the

next morning. We crossed the border into the U .S. School started at 7 .45 for

me. I got out at 2 .45. Then I would have to go to my part -time job, which

at Godfather's Pizza. Once I got out of work...

make it across to Mexico, and then I would have to get ready to go to

school, which normally would start between seven and eight.

Because I was Ray Mysterio's nephew, I got the opportunity to be able to train

with the rest of the kids. I was eight years old. The youngest kid after me was

15, 16 years old, always being the smallest and being the underdog that was

going to just harden me up to be able to face whatever was coming for me.

I want to say the last time I was here was probably 2002, so 20 years ago.

We'd go on from 7 p .m. till 10, 30, 11.

You know, sometimes we would just keep it open until we got tired.

This is our stomping ground, you know. We had every time in the world to come

here and just create ideas, have a good time, kick it with the homies.

I used to box in the Navy. I was a bodybuilder and I was really big.

Ray Mysterio Sr.

He said, I'll train you.

So when I get to that class, that's where I meet Ray Mysterio Jr.

That's his nephew, and he's the smallest guy there, probably like 5 '3", 13

years old, really long hair, really skinny.

We clicked immediately. I loved him. He was like a little brother to me, and

immediately I liked Ray.

It wouldn't take it easy on him, that's for damn sure. Does this guy have what

it takes to be a wrestler?

There were many times that my uncle was head of the class and we would go

through a routine. I wouldn't do it correct or I would get it wrong, whether

was a chop or a punch.

He would tell me, this is how it's done.

Edges, I mean, 9, 10 years old, you know, taking a chop from a 25 -year -old

man. Edges, like I felt it. It hurt.

A lot of times I would cry, get out of the ring and say I've had enough. This

it. I'm done with it.

I would go to that little corner over there and I would just tear up, cry.

You know, that was like my hiding spot.

I would kind of look at the corner of my eye, see if my uncle was going to come

over. But that toughened me up because he never came.

So after almost seven years of training, I remember telling my uncle, I'm ready.

I'm ready to go out there and have a match. Keep in mind, I was 14 years old.

that was an issue right off the bat.

You had to be 18 to have a wrestling license, or you have to get a letter

your parents.

They never really saw the passion that I had for this.

I actually thought that I was going to be Ray Mysterio Jr. right off the bat.

My first wrestling name was the Green Lizard.

My first opportunity was outside a church in a parking lot in Tijuana.

I won that match, by the way. Then after that, the name Colibri pops into my

uncle's head. From that day on, I was named Colibri, and that means the

hummingbird.

You could have mistaken me for a kid sitting in the front row at the age of

I was that skinny. I was that small.

It was pretty clear from the start that Ray was special, that Ray was different.

The creativity that he had in aerial art, if you will.

Kind of a little bit of a prodigy.

But, you know, there was nobody his size really wrestling.

I knew my size was an issue.

I remember numerous times trying to have promoters look me. Man, you're too

skinny, kid. You gotta eat more. You gotta drink beer.

Subconsciously, I was struggling with it. There was only one passion, just

the opportunity to wrestle.

That's all I ever wanted to do.

This is where it all began for me. This is where I crawled for the first time,

where I got up and walked, and where I ran for the first time.

And after I ran, I ran straight out of here and never came back until now

because I was ready to make it big.

A lot of memories here.

A lot of incredible memories.

Yeah.

This is my neck of the woods, man. This is where I was pretty much raised.

Like, my surroundings were so close.

Where I would go to wrestling school was five minutes over here, the auditorium.

It's right over there.

This is where things began for me, you know, as a little kid, wanting to be a

wrestler like my uncle.

When you look at the history, of Lucha Libre in

Mexico. There was a tradition of the masks and the outfits.

There was a famous mask wrestler named El Santo who

wore a silver mask.

El Santo was also a movie star that acted in movies wearing his mask.

To this day, one of the biggest stars ever in Mexico.

What really stands out within Lucha Libre, besides their high -flying

is the mask. The mask is what makes Lucha Libre.

How important the mask is, it's kind of like the heritage. It's your lineage.

Kind of like a religion in many ways.

Breaking into this industry in the late 80s, early 90s, was very tough.

A lot of promoters didn't want to book me because I looked too fragile.

Ray's story from the start has been the ultimate underdog.

Everyone has had challenges that they think are impossible.

That's the story that Rey Mysterio tells every time he's in the ring.

So you start right from the bottom and you work your way up slowly.

What I had to do is compensate for my lack of size and create something

Being innovative, being different.

This was a high -flying pace wrestling.

He's doing things that other guys aren't doing.

The uniqueness, the grace with which he did it. And I'm thinking to myself,

what's he going to look like? What's he going to be like in a couple years?

I would have to convince people to use him because of his height.

And I was like, it's not a basketball game. Just look at what he can do.

And so what I did is everywhere I went, I would say, I want you to see this guy.

I would even bring him to bars in Hollywood.

We had to be over 21 years old to go in. And he was like.

16 years old, he'd go in there and the bartender would be like, hey, what are

you doing? And I'd go, hey, he's a little person. He's very sensitive.

Don't bring up his height.

They would tell me, Ray, put the mask on and don't take it off for nothing,

right? I would sneak into the back of the bars, and that's how I made most of

living throughout the ages of 14 and 17.

After the match, the bartender would be there asking for his autograph, and I

was like, I was right.

Without a doubt, the mask was a lifesaver for me. It just hid my

So now I was starting to get booked.

I was building my name up, going up to the first match, when your name is

actually on the flyer. It took me a good three years to make it to the second

match.

Here in Tijuana at the auditorium.

This holds a particularly special spot in my heart because this is where

Ray Mysterio Jr. was born.

17 years old. One night we had a tag match.

They make our announcement.

And then all of a sudden, my uncle comes out. He has a mic.

He's talking to the crowd. We're saying we've all known him as Colibri.

What is this? What are you doing?

He's like, wow, it came out of nowhere. As he's taking off my Colibri mask, he's

putting on the Rey Mysterio Jr. mask without showing my face.

It hits you in a

different way, and only another masked wrestler would understand.

Carrying such a name and a legacy, knowing how special it is when you carry

the Mysterio name, a true blessing.

And that's how Rey Mysterio was born.

I knew there was a world of wrestling outside of Lucha Libre, which was the

It was hard enough for me to make it in Mexico because of my size and my weight.

WWE was completely out of the question. It never crossed my mind.

I was 17 years old, and one of my friends told me, hey, do you want to go

this gym? The first day I went to this gym, I saw him.

And there's a connection immediately.

I was 15.

She was 17.

So obviously I had this attraction for older women.

When I saw him and I say hi to him, he was like super nice with me. My friend

invited me to a wrestling show.

And I'm like, oh, not really. I don't want to go.

The wrestling part didn't really click with her.

She thought it was for a lower class.

That day I went to the auditorium and he was walking in front of me. So I

screamed to him, hey.

And he was like, hey. And he come to me and say hi to me.

The last thing I was thinking of is if she was dating someone, which eventually

she was. Her boyfriend was in med school, you know, and Angie was in high

getting ready to go to college.

After two months, I was dating Ray.

My boyfriend, he was in Mexico City, and I promised Ray I was going to end it

with him, and that happened. So, only one boyfriend.

I remember running into her mom several times at the beginning when we were just

friends. I felt like she was a mean lady.

I'm sure that if I had a daughter that was 17 and a 15 -year -old kid that

probably looked like 12 was coming around, I would...

push him away, and she had to rewrite this.

Working

at

Godfather's Pizza, going to school, wrestling on weekends, in love with my

girlfriend, the grind just doesn't stop.

Pooner!

Conan, at the time, was a huge megastar in Mexico.

I would watch him Sundays on TV. He was the Hulk Hogan of Mexico.

He kind of gives me the scoop on what's going on, that a lot of guys are

starting a new company by the name of Triple A, based out of Mexico City.

I was like, whoa, that's cool.

He's like, no, I'm telling you because I want you to come over here. This is

your big break.

I was like, hey, man, how much money are you making in school? He goes, none.

I go, how much are you making at that pizza place folding boxes?

And I go, well, I think you could probably make five times that wrestling.

I told him, dude, my parents aren't going to let me go over there. I'm in

school. I was 17 years old, and my parents were never really up to date

wrestling progress and don't really understand it. I go, I'll talk to your

parents. And he goes, yeah, but I also got a girlfriend.

And I actually told him, if she loves you, she'll wait for you.

In other words, there was nothing he was going to tell me that was going to stop

me from reaching New Mexico. That's how much I believed in him.

And so I came and I talked with his parents.

And they let him go, you know.

Six of us stayed in a hotel.

We're there close to a month waiting for this to kick off.

We were very worried.

We were worried about him.

Triple A. It was a lie.

It was a lie.

We ran out of money.

And we kind of all gather up in a circle. Okay, how much do you have? How

do you have? Okay.

And we can't stay in a hotel anymore.

I remember

every

Sunday using the phone and talking to Angie and just bawling out.

Oh, my gosh. We cry every single time. At that time, they were living in a gym.

I was tired. I was anxious.

I was just ready to go back home. I was ready to hang up the mask and say, I'm

done. Nothing's going to happen here.

My wrestling gear comes from a very special place in Osaka, Japan.

And he goes by the name of Masahiro Hayashi.

I asked you, how are you?

What time is it?

You're crazy.

My first tour in Japan, he just popped up one day with an outfit, you know,

for me. He said, please, try it on.

And if you wrestle with it, I made two masks.

The one you wrestle in, can you please give to me after you wrestle? And I made

an extra one so you can take with you. And ever since then, we've been...

Best of friends.

It would be cool for us to pay a tribute to both Eddie and Art Bar Love Machine.

One outfit, USA flag.

The other outfit, Mexican flag.

Representing both countries.

I like it.

I will be there. Awesome. So right now you go to sleep and rest up, and then

tomorrow, work again.

Mushy mushy.

Mushy mushy.

In Mexico City, I know he slept at a gym, you know, not having a lot of

not having a lot to eat is hard, but it was almost back then, it was just kind

of like paying your dues.

I tell him,

Stay over there. I'll try to send you money.

She was very optimistic, and she kept my spirit up. I quit med school because I

tried to help him with his career.

I make like 500 pesos, less than $50.

So I grab money for my gas, and I send him the rest of my money every single

week.

That was a big, big relief for me until eventually AAA kicked off and our first

show happened.

And that happens in the city of Veracruz.

AAA, the first show that we had, was sold out. A full house.

We actually did really good, but

Peña was very picky.

The owner and founder, his name was Antonio Peña, and he goes, his punches

looked really bad.

We're going to have to put him with the minis.

The minis, when they were little, they were already like grizzled men.

Forget that. These bitter guys are just going to beat him up and run him out of

the business.

Conan pulled me aside and said, bro, if you don't learn how to hit, he's going

to put you with the minis. And I remember practicing punching a wall,

where I could stop the punch. I went to Antonio Pena and I go, look, just put

him on the main roster.

Trust me.

They were still rough with him because it was a different mentality. That's

how it was back then. They gave me so many ass whoopings, and I took. I was

always the smallest guy in the ring. Why wouldn't they test me?

Live from the L .A. Sports Arena, it's finally here, the wrestling style that

sweeping the world.

The first time I ever saw Rey Mysterio would have been at the AAA Worlds

pay -per -view that was broadcast here in the States.

In America, we all grew up with Superfly Jimmy Snuka doing a dive off the top of

a cage, and that was the most sensational thing we had ever seen.

a look at Lucha Libre, it was mind -blowing.

An entirely new set of American eyeballs were able to watch you.

And Ray Mysterio Jr. has come up with some moves that we have literally never

seen.

I would imagine that Paul Heyman or

other American wrestling promoters would have been watching this new style of

wrestling. The buzz about Rey Mysterio was so strong,

I knew...

This is someone I have to keep my eye on.

In the 1990s, ECW was the disruptor in the professional wrestling

industry.

ECW couldn't afford Madison Square Garden. Where did we play a dilapidated

hall literally on the wrong side of the train tracks in South Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania?

There is nowhere like film.

You know how the Philly fans are, that they boo Santa Claus? They were just

wild.

So I was speaking to Conan, who was the biggest superstar

in all of Mexico in the 1990s. Conan was also a magnificent power broker behind

the scenes.

He asked me, he goes, those two guys that are working for you in AAA, Rey

Mysterio and Psychosis, I keep hearing a lot of good things about them. And I

go, well, with all due respect, it's going to be very hard to follow those

guys. They're kind of revolutionizing the sport.

This man has revolutionized aerial wrestling. He is the best.

And he says, all right, send them to me.

Conan was always my front man.

He was always the one that was opening up doors for me.

It was crazy to even walk out there for the first time and hear the fans go,

Lucha, lucha, lucha.

I remember asking Mr. Paul Heyman, is it okay if we use a table and

a chair?

He said, Ray, use whatever you want.

There's your canvas. You're an artist.

Paint the masterpiece.

I called Conan during their match, and I said, I love you, I love them, I'll

take them next weekend, the weekend after that, and any other weekend that

can give me.

Without a doubt, we became proud for you.

Somersault Blitz!

Hey, uh, Pauly, could we dive off of a car?

Yeah. Which car? Any car. Pick a car.

That's your canvas.

Without Conan, Lucha Libre would have been stuck in Mexico. In Mexico, you got

an extreme type of wrestling. It's called Lucha Libre.

Shortly after we were starting to feel very comfortable in ECW, Conan gets an

opportunity to have a tryout match in WCW.

And this new door opens up, and it's Conan going into WCW.

He was the guy that brought me to Mexico. He was the guy that took me to

Now to hook me up to get a tryout in WCW.

We get married in 1996.

And I waited for him four years.

It was a big wedding, probably 300 people. The best day of my life.

She went to my first match, and she's been by my side ever since.

I truly have a lot to be thankful for.

Eric Bischoff was in charge of WCW, and in an effort to compete with WWE, he

programmed WCW at the same time as Monday Night Raw.

I realized that the only way that I was going to be successful was to find a way

to be different than the competition.

What I wanted to do was create a cruiserweight division, a smaller

division. The professional wrestling industry has always showcased larger

-life talent.

You had the Scott Steiners, the Rick Steiners, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Dusty

Rhodes. You had all the big -time superstars.

Conan. became instrumental in helping us identify the right talent that was

coming out of Lucha Libre at the time. From Tijuana, Mexico, Ray Mysterio! Ray

was even smaller than the average cruiserweight.

When he first got there, everybody was making fun of him. Oh, are we having a

minis division?

You know, does this guy have a driver's license?

I went to Ray and I go, bro, I don't want to put no pressure on you. But you

know what? You're representing Mexico. You're representing AAA.

You're representing little guys. You're representing Lucha Libre. You just go

out there and kill it.

The same guys that were making fun of him, they were like, oh my God, like

couldn't believe what they were seeing.

He was inventing moves that had never been seen before.

You know, I just was looking, going, well, hold on. You know, what's going on

out there? One of the finest cruiserweight matches ever.

Ray took advantage of a small size with having crazy athletic ability.

That night, things shifted from, what the hell is he doing here? And where is

going to fit into? Oh, my goodness.

How am I going to follow that?

Truly one of the greatest matches we've had this year on pay -per -view.

When he came back in, they gave him a standing ovation in his debut match.

The wrestlers, unbelievable, they all just went.

That's a very special moment that stands out in my career.

I remember when Ray was this young, impressionable, joyful kid.

He goes, I just had a son.

When Dominic was born, I had signed with WCW, so I was excited.

I was going to pass down my love for the world of wrestling.

And he tattoos Dominic's name on the inside of his arm.

Loved being in the ring.

Had no qualms about whatever he was asked to do. And enjoyed every second of

And never had an ego.

I remember I was part of the creative process. We're going to have this

brawl. Put it together.

So WCW created a villainous group.

And some of the wrestlers were there to try to stop them. One of which.

with Ray Mysterio.

He says to me, he says, Nash, he says, do you think you can throw me through

that window?

And I'm like, there's glass in the window.

And like a lawn dart throws him into the side of a trailer.

People looked at it and they went, wow, like Ray did such a good job on the cell

job. Ray goes, bonk!

And the whole place, all of us in the back went, oh, God, he killed Ray.

I don't know what I was thinking, but at the time it seemed cool, and I did it.

Tough as nails.

Fine.

This is the first place where I was able to meet Eddie.

Eddie Guerrero, for the first time, I met him here.

Eddie Guerrero!

I was a fan. I was just a kid.

12 years old.

Who would have thought back then that we were going to meet down the road and we

were going to share a ring together, become brothers.

And it's amazing how life just manifests in a special way.

The Guerreros are a super important family in Mexican wrestling lore. Head

the Guerrero clan was a gentleman by the name of Gory Guerrero. And Gory spawned

some really talented wrestlers.

And he was a megastar.

Just an incredible talent.

You're not going to find a better pro wrestler than Eddie Guerrero.

The Latino heritage is a bond between me and Ray.

It's a tremendous bond.

I remember when I met Ray in Tijuana.

Conan introduced us.

I just remember this kid that always had a smile on his face.

Can't help but like him.

Eddie and Ray were like brothers.

They were family.

Rey and Eddie could have a match blindfolded, and it would be excellent.

To this day, Rey Mysterio versus Eddie Guerrero at Halloween Havoc 1997

is easily in my top five ever.

Two of the greatest wrestlers ever. Two Latinos going out there and just having

an incredible match, including one of the greatest moves that had never been

seen or done before.

He does a springboard backflip. In midair, he ends up hooking Eddie's head

bringing him back for a DDT. And I've watched it probably 150 times. In many

cases, unmasking is devastating.

If Eddie gets that victory, Ray gets unmasked. It'd be very difficult to do

because the mask is part of his body suit that he has on here. There was a

to unmask Ray then.

Ray didn't want to do it and told Eric Bischoff as much. I remember thinking,

I'm not going to show up. I just won't show up.

I get a call from Eric that, Ray, if you don't show up for Sunday's paper,

you're in breach of contract.

You don't want to know what's going to happen after that. I was particularly

supportive of the idea of Ray losing the mask.

What I didn't appreciate was what losing that mask meant to Ray personally.

The heritage that the mask represents in Lucha Libre, those are all things that

were incredibly important to Ray that I didn't relate to.

It was a big deal for him to lose his mask. He didn't want to lose it.

There was a lot of politicking going on. I said, yeah, I don't mind doing the

favor tonight, you know, and taking care of Ray. If anything, I've always wanted

to take care of Ray. He's like my little brother.

Day of the show, maybe a match or two before our match, the direction gets

changed.

Ultimately, when it became obvious to me what an issue it was for Ray, we had to

relent and revisit the topic at a later date.

I end up winning the Cruiserweight title. And then who would have ever

that that was going to be match of the year?

I was determined. I really believed that Rey could

be a bigger star to us. Without the mask, we need to see Rey's face.

You know something? It's not going to happen. I'm not going to lose the mask.

The match is Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.

versus Conan and Rey Mysterio, a team that couldn't exemplify Lucha more.

If we win, we take Ms.

Elizabeth's hair so they would shave her bald. If I lose, I would take my mask

off and... He was super bummed out. You know, he didn't want to do it.

But, you know, you had a job to do and you didn't want to get sued.

Up on the top!

When we had lost.

The mask does have to come off.

And I was untying the mask from behind.

Ray Jr., a man of his word, is going to take the mask off.

Pulling the mask off slowly and then showing my face.

Crazy moment.

Crazy. Crazy.

Undescribable. As a spectator, you're watching and you're waiting for that

to come off. And then it comes off and it's, who the hell is that guy?

Let's leave it to Beaver. Our first look at the face.

In Mexico, the mask symbolizes their identity. And to lose a mask is losing

identity. Removing the mask is not just, okay, we're going to start wrestling

under a different name. It's shedding an entire lore that you've built.

He's a handsome young man there. I truly felt like I had let my fans down, my

family down.

My heritage down.

My uncle, for all the hard work that he had put in, was heartbroken.

I was super pissed and I thought it was bull.

You know, I was like, this is... I'm still kind of hot about it, but I just

thought it was like, Ray deserved better than this.

Whenever someone asks me, in hindsight, would you do that same thing again?

No, I would have probably done it differently.

Or perhaps not at all.

But at that time, operating with the data, the information, the context of

moment, yeah, we'd do it again.

For the first time since I started wrestling, I'm wrestling without a mask.

at his face. Look at his determination.

He is in the ring, ready to go.

After losing my mask.

The following night, I have a one -on -one against Kevin Nash.

I feel like I'm naked.

It was just weird.

The

direction

for Rey Mysterio goes a different way. You see a real -life David

and Goliath. The thing with Rey is he was so fast and so quick.

That it made sense, it was believable, it worked.

And the group grew off that place.

Him working with Kevin Nash, 6 '10", made no sense to me at all when it was

booked, but then when I saw it, okay, Ray Mysterio can beat Kevin Nash.

The giant killer is born.

That happened for a couple years.

There is life.

There is a future after losing a match.

Here I am on WCW television.

How can that happen?

You see, it was just a matter of time before I, Vince McMahon, bought

my competition.

When WWE purchased WCW, there were no plans for Ray. Ray had a very lucrative

career. contract with wcw and it was more advantageous for ray to sit out

there wasn't a lot of interest in ray and wwe at that time same thing i've

for years that vince wasn't big on smaller talent when i sat down with them

said we're just gonna let your contract run out and i felt like i was a way of

them telling me yes we want to work but not now meaning maybe never He was

still getting a faith check every week and a healthy one at that.

So I said, spend time with your family. So that's kind of where we left it.

I was pregnant at the time with my daughter, Aaliyah. So he was, like,

worried because he knows Vince McMahon doesn't like, like, short guys.

At that time, he was like, he got, like, hate me.

But... Please be honest.

One second.

I

had

a super bad time when I was pregnant with Aaliyah. He makes me cry a lot.

My wife's pregnancy obviously had me a little bit stressed. The fact that I

didn't know what the future was going to look like, being at home, when you're

constantly on the move, it just put me on the edge.

I only want to sleep and eat.

He called me fat so that it hurts me.

That's when I really turned to a big douchebag and became really,

really bad husband and father with my wife.

I tried to be patient, but he was, like, super hard with me.

But the day of my C -section, When the doctor pulled my baby out, he was crying

next to me. I'm sorry.

I don't know why I feel this. And everything changed.

That moment when she was born, I felt so bad for how I was acting.

And then, sure enough, WWE reaches out, and JR says he wants to sit down and

talk business.

Vince always had this vision of this.

Mighty Mouse character, the constant underdog.

Here I come to save the day.

That means that Mighty Mouse is on the way.

From the old cartoon series years and years ago, we wanted an overachieving,

diminutive superhero that could do things that other guys just didn't do.

And Mighty Mouse proves again.

I said, I want to hire you as long as we can do some sort of sensible

negotiation.

I remember sitting down and Angie and I were at home watching SmackDown. All of

a sudden, you just saw a bunch of images like, you couldn't catch what it was.

And it said Rey Mysterio was coming. And it excited me because not only this is

amazing, Rey Mysterio is on his way, but that looks like the mask.

Please tell me the mask is back.

One amigo, two amigos, three amigos.

Not in a million years did I ever think that, you know, this would be happening.

We're going to WrestleMania, tagging with my dad. You see that first kick

coming?

He's a walking cheat code, man. He's giving me so much advice.

I can be a little bit hard on him, but I've learned

how to eat back and just... Let him enjoy the moment.

They're not better than us.

That's for damn sure.

Thank you.

Viva la raza.

I left WCW not wearing a mask, thinking that I'm going to come into WWE

without a mask.

My train of thought was lucha libre. You lose your mask, you don't come back to

the ring under the same name with the mask that you love.

It's not that we were so smart to put the mask back on. It was just a refusal

for us to be stupid enough to keep the mask off.

You just want to be part of WWE, the power that comes with it.

And that pushes you out into the world.

It's tremendous.

He is the sensational.

Oh, yeah.

The high flying Ray Mysterio.

This one, that Mighty Mouse roll, Phil.

Look at this.

Top rope.

Ray far exceeded.

the cartoon version of Vince's vision for him.

There's only one Ray Mysterio.

We knew we had to do something very special on Ray Mysterio's first night.

It's Ray Mysterio!

He's scaling the cage!

Mysterio! What the hell is Mysterio doing?

The moment that people were going to remember was Ray Mysterio scaling the

and diving off the top. Look at Ray!

Look at Mysterio! Oh, my God, a crossbody!

I kind of hovered. He floated for a second, and maybe that's just my memory

looking at it differently, but the way he flies is just different.

He's Spider -Man, but we don't need CGI.

We don't need ropes.

We don't need any of that. Just let Rey be Rey.

Rey is known for the Hurricane Rana.

Frog Splash.

The West Coast Pop.

The West Coast Pop.

The 619.

The 619.

Everybody had their own signature move and a name right behind it. Fans

you with that name or that move or that number.

When Ray was first doing the move, we just tied in the area code from San

and came up with a legendary move, which is now named the 619.

Picture a human replicating.

A helicopter blade.

You know as he's winding up for that move or as soon as you fall on that

that place is going to come unglued.

You can't help but like him when

you meet him. And I've yet for anyone within our industry to say anything bad

about him.

That is unheard of.

And part of that is because he's not the biggest guy in the world. And I think

that makes him much more relatable.

Ray Mysterio came to

WWE, but he didn't come with Conan.

And Eddie Guerrero kind of took Conan's place as the father figure.

Two of the greatest Latino wrestlers.

A mentor.

a confidant, a brother.

We've got new tag team champions, the Mysterio Guerrero.

And Eddie was a very complex, albeit talented as hell, individual.

Sometimes Eddie was his own worst enemy.

I knew that he had demons.

With Eddie, you know, it was a difficult time.

I wouldn't even want to touch the subject.

Eddie had alcohol issues. Eddie had drug issues. It ruined his marriage at one

point, and he was lucky to get his family back.

Eddie was fired for his demons and his drug issues and showing up to work in no

condition to work.

But Eddie also got a second chance and made the most of it.

The connection with Eddie was always at a thousand.

Every time we would see each other, hey, you okay? Do you need anything? No, I'm

okay. Okay, love you.

Super close.

They are like super, super close friends, but Ray loves Eddie like his

brother.

They had each other's backs.

They understood the culture from which they both came, and they had a great

respect for each other as men.

We had done a show in San Diego, and he came over to the house, and Eddie didn't

drink, so we didn't drink either.

Angie went to bed.

Eddie and I stepped out to the backyard.

turned the jacuzzi up, and we were just chopping it up, just talking about life,

about parenting, relationships, wrestling, and we touched every subject

night. Dad, can I ask you a question?

Sure, baby.

What was the big secret Uncle Eddie had?

The custody story.

Well, Eddie wrote a book, and in Eddie's book, Eddie spoke about his

separation with his wife, Vicki.

And while Eddie was separated, Eddie had a child with another woman.

Not a lot of people knew that until the book came out.

Interesting.

Meantime, you've got Ray Mysterio.

And you're seeing cute little Dominic. Ray Mysterio!

Oh, my God! Did it for his son!

And just thinking, hmm, what if...

When Eddie was separated, he had an affair with Angie, Ray's wife.

And they had a child.

But Ray never knew.

And Ray thought it was his child.

And just Ray's Dominic is his own.

I threw it at Eddie first.

And then I took it to Ray.

Hey, Ray.

This should look kind of familiar to you. This is your son Dominic's daycare.

Good looking kid.

Kind of a chip off the old block, wouldn't you say, Ray?

The first person that approached me was my dad. You know, he's like, hey, got

some news for you.

I mean, he's seven years old.

He just knew that it was cameras, wrestling, and he loved it. They're

pay you and you're not going to go to school.

I said, that's a lot of candy and toys.

You know, let's do it.

You want some candy? I got some candy for you. Hey, you want some candy?

Which as I'm doing, I'm going, this is so wrong.

Yeah,

is it good?

You like bedtime stories? I love bedtime stories, Uncle Eddie. Well, Uncle Eddie

promises to tell you a bedtime story you'll

never, ever forget.

You think I should tell everybody our little secret?

It got a bit grimy and dark.

I will tell Dominic the truth!

And, like, Eddie really poured his heart into this character.

Ray and I, we explained to him it was going to be like a movie. Yeah, yeah,

I know. He always knew it was like a show.

Dominic! Dominic!

Ray is not your father!

Some of the teachers were concerned about my home life.

They were genuinely like, I would get pulled aside, and they're like, hey, are

you okay? Like, is everything okay in our home?

I'm your father, Dominic.

I'm your papi.

His friends laugh about what they tell him. Yes, it's probably Eddie, your dad,

because he's super tall like you, and your dad is super short.

Is it true, Dad?

Is it really?

As far as I was concerned, I got to miss school to go hang out with my dad, so

for me it was all fun and games.

I'm your puppy!

I'm your daddy!

Perhaps together for the last time as a family. One of the more salacious

stories that we told.

Now you're with the Children and Family Services, right?

His real dad tells the truth, not lies.

At one point I wanted to put Dominic on a pole or hanging over the ring and

whoever gets him gets custody.

That was a joke.

But it was discussed. It actually truly was discussed.

I'm going to climb this ladder for Dominic

Guerrero.

It's WWE, right? You got to have a ladder match.

And a ladder match for the custody of Dominic. And you have to put the custody

papers in a briefcase above the ring.

Crawled me back into the corner yelling. And as soon as that hand comes up, you

know, there's my dad.

And that's Angie Ray Mysterio's wife in tears.

I remember they asked me, do you think you can cry?

I'm like, seriously?

When I saw the camera in front of me, I want to cry.

Her hands on her little boy and her husband. I asked him if he was

at one point. Did you ever think Eddie was your real dad?

And he started laughing and he goes, I don't think so, but maybe.

This should be among the worst storylines that WWE has ever done.

But they put it in the hands.

of Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. And what we got was one of the most beloved,

memorable matches of the era.

Saturday night, I take a red -eye to Minneapolis.

I get in roughly about 5 .30 a .m.

So I took a cab to the arena.

One of the truck drivers pulls up and he goes, did you hear what happened?

I said, no, what happened? Not thinking nothing of it.

My phone rings and he can talk.

He was crying, crying, he can talk.

A shocking find at a downtown Minneapolis hotel.

The body of world wrestling entertainment star Eddie Guerrero.

I remember like it was yesterday when he calls me that morning.

He was crying, crying.

He can talk, and finally he tell me, Eddie passed away.

For him, it was the worst day of his life because his best friend passed

I got my ass straight to the hotel, and right when the coroner came in, Somebody

asked Dr. Rios if we can say bye to Eddie.

They let us in the room, and we saw Eddie there.

And we were...

Yeah.

I try not to think about that moment. I always go back to the time we were in

the jacuzzi and just shooting, you know, like... Two friends.

Two brothers.

Eddie had been through so much and had overcome so much. Eddie was doing great.

Eddie was just so out of the blue. Just so out of the blue.

I remember that day giving Ray a hug and telling him that I loved him.

And it was a very long day and a lot of crying, a lot of

tears that day.

I love you.

We contemplated, do we have a show?

Do we cancel the show?

We decided to do a tribute.

Ray, obviously, very upset. And Ray, I think, needed help getting through

it, whether I think he knew it or not.

My mother had given me a cross.

The cross was meant to be given to someone to have a better death, for them

be in peace.

You know, I gave to Eddie Guerrero.

I left it in Eddie's cap.

I want to dedicate

this Royal Rumble to my brother, to mi hermano,

Eduardo Guerrero.

2006, to me, was one of the greatest years for any individual superstar

in the history of wrestling. And it begins for Rey Mysterio in January at

Royal Rumble. Paying homage to Eddie tonight in a low rider.

Eddie's presence was there. Felt so good, so alive.

30 superstars are involved in this match.

Rey Mysterio enters at number two.

And in order to win, you've got to run through 29 other guys. And if you win,

you have the opportunity to main event WrestleMania.

You hear that Eddie chant going again? The ring continuing to fill up.

Approaching record time.

He sets a record that night of the longest time in history spent in the

Rumble.

But the fact that it came on the heels of the death of Eddie Guerrero.

Made it much more important for Rey.

The odds that were stacked up against me, it was very special.

Rey Mysterio is going to WrestleMania!

Rey Mysterio, tremenda entrada, tremenda noche, WrestleMania!

The emotion from Rey that night when he won was unlike anything I'd ever

experienced before.

I had chills at ringside. The biggest underdog in the history of WWE.

Ladies and gentlemen, dreams do come true!

You know, the late, great Eddie Guerrero is looking down upon Ray, and he's so

proud. I remember standing in the turnbuckle and just looking up and just

feeling that presence.

I remember it was first row, and it was, like, sad but happy.

He just missed his best friend.

For the very first time, a Spanish math wrestler with my size and my weight.

becoming world champion.

I've done it.

It was

the high point of Ray's career.

I think that when Ray hit that top spot, that the audience accepted

him and kept him there.

kind of almost in legendary status from that point going forward.

I realized that my

dad had a different job from everyone else's parents.

When I started going into kindergarten, I would just get, like, bombarded with

all these questions about his moves and what he does and does he wear the mask

at home. This is completely different from everyone else's parents.

I have seven godfathers.

Six of them are wrestlers.

It was definitely hard to not have him around all the time.

He would miss birthdays, him leaving every week.

My mom would let me go with her to drop him off at the airport, and I was in the

back window, like, crying.

When he finally would come home, he would go in his room and just pass out,

sleep for hours.

But then the next day, it was like normal. And it was just routine. He'd

to school. He'd pick us up from school.

He's the best dad ever.

Genuinely just loves his family so wholeheartedly.

His family is everything to him.

The first time I ever saw my dad on TV.

Jeff Jarrett grabbed a guitar and just smashed him.

I kept asking my mom, I was like, is he okay? Is he okay?

I know when something happened to him. When he's hurt, he moves different.

Aliyah, she gets super upset.

Watching him is, it's always been a lot.

Albert's taking advantage of that prone knee.

His knee injury, he would land wrong or he would go to grab it. My mom goes,

he's not okay.

she would be able to tell right away.

You take out the knee of Ray Mysterio, you take out 90 % of his arsenal. The

worst injury that I've suffered 32 years has been my left knee. Over 10

surgeries, ACL tear, meniscus tears, MCL.

My left knee has taken all the damage over the years.

For us, when he gets hurt, we're like...

Because he is going to spend months with us.

It's not that we enjoy when he gets hurt. You know, if he's already hurt,

it's like six months to a year of having him home.

When he's going to get surgery, I always go with him.

I'm with him every single time, every single surgery.

has played into the injuries more than anything. The high -flyer style and just

the amount of abuse.

In 2008, I started seeing him, like, super slow. When he was at home,

he talks to me like, and I'm like, something is not good here.

I was abusing my pen medication.

It came to a point where...

It was numbing my whole body that I was moving through my matches without pain,

and that's what I thought was good about it. But no, it was destroying my

personal life.

Not just numb around the knee, but it was numb in the brain and a lot of dark

moments where I wasn't being a father. I wasn't doing what I was supposed

to be doing as the man of the house, and that hurts.

Like I was there, but I wasn't really there.

And I find his pills, and I throw away the pills.

And I tell him, if you love your family, you have

to go to rehab.

He talked with his boss, and they sent him to rehab for

28 days, the worst days of my life.

But at this time, The best time.

We all fight with our own personal demons, you know, whatever that case

be. You have to deal with it, and you have to pull through.

When he come back home after the 28 days, never take any pill again.

Never. Being sober.

Being sober, not having to take pen medications to ease down my pain.

I do wake up sometimes at 5 in the morning. I know my son keeps on telling

Dad, you want to make sure you can walk at the age of 70. I want to see you

walk. And my daughter the same way.

But in the meantime, I enjoy this way too much.

He shouldn't be doing that. He should be living in a beach somewhere, retired,

you know.

sipping Mai Tais with a couple dogs, you know, but he loves this, and I don't

think he's going to stop anytime soon.

I started connecting with stem cells in 2014.

I really saw a turnaround in my ability to compete.

2019 comes, more stem cells were injected into my body.

Ankle, both knees, one shoulder, both elbows, and both wrists.

And that's when I really started to feel change that it was like

rejuvenating myself.

2022 comes around, and now I'm starting to feel the wear and tear of my knee and

a little bit more ache.

He has severe degeneration of the cartilage. We're going to be injecting

cells directly into the joints to try and decrease inflammation and help

regeneration of the cartilages so he can keep doing what he does best.

I just finished getting another stem cell treatment once again, and I feel

great. I feel incredible.

To have the ability to perform like I've been performing, be able to live a life

pain -free, that has been due to stem cells. That has given me the longevity

and have helped me keep going the way I have.

That's what we're missing the most, like the interaction with the fans.

It'll be 100 ,000 screaming fans waiting to see their favorite superstars.

My favorite wrestler is Rey Mysterio.

I love Rey Mysterio. Rey Mysterio.

Dominic Mysterio.

Rey's wrestling with Dominic to beat The Miz and Logan Paul. It's going to be

epic. Are you guys ready for WrestleMania access?

Ladies and gentlemen, Ray and Dominic Mysterio.

Well, thank you for coming out, guys.

Thank you for having us. Yeah, thank you for the invite.

This is Dominic's first WrestleMania.

Tell me what this is like.

Seeing my face on buses, it's just been surreal, man. I'm very blessed to be

here.

Do we have any more questions?

I'm playing hooky today.

Ray, did you ever let Dominic come play hockey to watch your match?

Many times.

And this is what WrestleMania is all about, being able to connect with your

fans. They come from all around the world.

I come all the way from Mexico City to support my favorite luchador, Ray

Mysterio. He's a small guy.

I'm a big guy. I'm a small guy. So I really represent in a physical way with

Ray.

Get excited.

It's on the way.

2014, I was burnt out physically, mentally.

I had missed a lot of birthdays, a lot of anniversaries. I decided to

take some time off and reconnect with myself and my family.

I have been doing a couple shows here and there.

There's a lot of great memories stuck on this tunnel.

Super Muñeco.

We just lost him recently.

Solitario and El Santo, some of the best that ever come out of Tijuana, are

right here on this wall.

I got to do an event, and that's where I'd seen Perro Guayo Jr.

or El Hijo del Perro.

El Hijo del Perro Aguayo, who unfortunately had his last match here

We have a history that goes back to the beginning of AAA.

You know, we had very special moments.

We were going to be meeting in Tijuana.

Perrito Aguayo was real, real, real good friends with me and Ray. Ray was happy

to work with him.

Him coming back in Tijuana, where it all started, the people were waiting for

this. It was a packed house.

Everyone was so excited and so into it.

We went to the show, my kids, Dominic and Aaliyah, myself.

We are there.

We go out there, and we feel like we're having a banger that night.

He was going to end up in 619 position, but for some reason, he bumped and went

out to the floor.

I take off.

Bounce off the back rope and swing for the 619.

Thank God my legs didn't connect with his head or his face.

He kind of went over his head because he was louched over.

He's for a long time hanging on the rope. And you can realize that something

wrong. Something's bad.

I remember Conan being...

ringside, you know, and kind of pulled his arm.

You know, I was trying to wake him up, and he wasn't responding.

He had to put him like on a piece of board and take him out there.

I drove in the ambulance with him. We went to the hospital, which was very,

close.

Me and Ray went to the hospital crossing the street from the Auditorio de

Tijuana. We spent a couple hours there.

And finally the doctor came out, and he said, you know what?

I'm sorry, but nothing we can do. He passed away.

Ray is recharged at the hospital's wall.

And all of a sudden, he said, he fell to the ground.

I remember getting home that night. I was holding so much

inside. I took off my gear and I jumped in the shower and

bawling my eyes off, you know.

I needed to be alone and I needed to let all that frustration out.

all that sadness that was happening.

Rest in peace, Garrito.

Ray felt, like, guilty, but he knows it wasn't his fault.

For respect, he went to the funeral without his mask, like a human being,

like a wrestler.

One of the hardest things for me to do was to face Errol's family.

It was just very heartbreaking.

I needed to get that weight off my chest, give them my condolences, and

they said, do not feel guilty.

This is in God's hands.

They understand completely.

That meant the world to me.

It was hard for him to come back from.

I don't know how he managed to get back in the ring.

Work was work, so he had to go out there and do what he had to do.

I don't know how that's not traumatizing for him. I'm sure it is in many ways,

but like I said, he had to go do what he had to do.

A lot of times the Royal Rumble will allow talent that had been gone for a

an opportunity to come back.

619 from Ray Mysterio! Looks as great as he ever looked at any point in his

career. It was incredible.

Double 619!

Nobody had to be convinced that we wanted Ray Mysterio back.

You have to be an idiot.

If you know Ray Mysterio, you can't help but love the guy.

One of the most popular guys in the entire locker room.

I knew that my heart wanted to be with WWE, as well as, you know, my son was

training to break into this world of sports entertainment.

I think people were expecting it at first. They would always ask me, hey,

you going to wrestle? Are you going to wrestle? I always wanted to try it.

Became a teenager, started fading away and getting into, you know, football,

soccer. But as I got older, it really started to catch my attention a little

more. I'm like, Dominic, your death starts.

training when he was six years old. You're 18, 19 years old, and you tell me

you want to be a wrestler?

There was never any insistence from my end to push Dominic on continuing with

the legacy.

It was going on to 19 at the time. It was shocking.

But there was a feeling inside that made me say, wow, yes, at least he's

going to try it.

We started his training.

With Conan and another of his godfathers, you know, we put him to

testing the waters to see how much potential he had.

And he did show some potential.

I think it's awesome that, like, you know, he's following in my dad's

For me, it's very satisfying, all that.

It was just for one match at the time, and it just kind of went on from there.

First ever father

and son tag team champion.

I was blown away.

Having the opportunity to make history, you know, that doesn't come very often

in life.

Tag team champions.

I get...

I get chills.

I get chills because, man,

as a father, that makes me proud.

I love him to death and the fact that he's still doing it.

You know, I couldn't be more proud of him because I know he's doing this for

It was a special delivery.

Hayashi flew from Osaka.

Oh, my God.

I love it.

Hayashi goes out of his way to make the best costumes ever.

It can be nerve -wracking, anxiety buildup.

What's about to happen?

Exactly.

Happy mania. Oh, you too.

Come in and break the count however you can. I got you. I'm excited that my son

gets to have his first WrestleMania moment.

Yeah, squat down on the way. Just let it push you.

And on top of that, he gets to come out like his old man used to.

Being able to pop up together.

Who's that jumping out the sky?

You know what's crazy, Dom?

At the age of 14, I wrestled in front of 100 people outside of a church.

To think now that I'm 47, look at the amount of people that are going to be

tonight.

Not in a million years did I ever think that this would be happening.

I'm making history, and I love it. This is the moment we've been waiting for.

WrestleMania time.

This is my nerve, and these are predominant.

a dream come true teaming up with his own at

WrestleMania.

I love you. I'm so proud of my family to

see my son and my husband working together like partners.

It was like a shock for me. I'm like, what?

It was super fun and super incredible for me.

It was all of us, like closest friends, closest family, not either

once in a lifetime.

All the stars aligned correctly.

Only thing we missed was...

beating Logan Paul in the Miz. But that's okay.

Father and son WrestleMania moments within the history book just never

it would happen.

And it didn't.

He's revolutionized his industry in ways people can't imagine.

He brought the Lucha Libre style.

I don't know how many people can say they started when they were eight years

old. and been doing this 30 something years you know at the top of their game

to me he will always be you know a mount rushmore he has all four heads but

different masks i have no idea where i would be without wrestling major pieces

probably no one has a bigger heart three generations of mysterious incredibly

beautiful thing greatest little man in the history of wrestling

He opened up the door for Hispanics. He opened up the door for smaller guys.

He broke the blueprint of what a wrestler should look like.

Ray represents so many different things, being a great father and a great family

man and a great athlete, and very proud of the culture of Mexico. He's a first

ballot Hall of Famer.

He's a huge inspiration.

If you work your butt off, you can get to that point.

Dreams do come true!

He's a huge inspiration for kids in Mexico.

So much of the identity of Oscar Gutierrez is Rey Mysterio.

That mask is everything to him, but it's a way of life.

Rey Mysterio will go down as the face of Lucha Libre.

Throughout this journey from day one, I've never really had this

desire to become larger than life

or to make a certain amount of money or travel the

world. There was only one passion, just give me the opportunity to step in the

ring and to show my talent.

That's all I ever wanted to do.

The greatest mask of all time.

Angie, Aaliyah, I love you both.

One day, when I'm no longer here, you'll be representing the material legacy

to the fullest.

I love you, son.

Viva mi raza!