Rey Mysterio

This article is about the American professional wrestler. For his uncle, see Rey Misterio. For his cousin, see El Hijo de Rey Misterio.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Gutiérrez and the second or maternal family name is Rubio.
Rey MysterioMysterio in 2018
Birth nameÓscar Gutiérrez Rubio[1]BornDecember 11, 1974 (age 49)[2]
Chula Vista, California, U.S.[3]Spouse(s)Angie Gutiérrez ​(m. 1996)​Children2, including DominikRelativesRey Misterio (uncle)

• El Hijo de Rey Misterio (cousin)Professional wrestling careerRing name(s)Colibri[4]
• La Lagartija Verde
• El Nino[5]
• Rey Misterio II[5]
• Rey Misterio Jr.[6]
• Rey Mysterio[7]
• Rey Mysterio Jr.[8]

Billed height5 ft 6 in (168 cm)[7]Billed weight175 lb (79 kg)[7]Billed fromSan Diego, California[7]Trained byRey Misterio[4]DebutApril 30, 1989[9]Rey Mysterio's voice

Rey Mysterio discusses working with Eddie Guerrero in the early part of his career
Recorded January 14, 2018
Óscar Gutiérrez Rubio (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand.
The nephew of Rey Misterio, Mysterio began wrestling on the independent circuit in 1989 at the age of 14 before signing with Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in 1992. After brief stints with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), the World Wrestling Association (WWA), and Wrestle Association R, Mysterio signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1996.
In WCW, Mysterio helped popularize lucha libre in the United States, which led to the rise of cruiserweight wrestling divisions, winning the WCW Cruiserweight Championship five times; the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times; and the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship once. He also lost his mask in a Lucha de Apuestas against Kevin Nash, working unmasked until 2002.
Following the closure of WCW in 2001, he wrestled for promotions including Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), the World Wrestling Council, and the X Wrestling Federation before joining World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002, where he began to use a mask during his matches. He stayed with WWE until 2015, winning the WWE Cruiserweight title (the old WCW Cruiserweight Championship) three times. During his tenure, he won the WWE Championship once; the World Heavyweight Championship twice; the WWE Intercontinental Championship twice, and the WWE Tag Team Championship four times, as well as winning the 2006 Royal Rumble.
Mysterio departed WWE in 2015, going on to appear with promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Lucha Underground, and AAA. He returned to WWE in 2018, where he was joined by his son Dominik.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest cruiserweight wrestlers of all time, Mysterio is an inductee of the AAA Hall of Fame, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, and WWE Hall of Fame.[10][11]

Early life

Óscar Gutiérrez was born on December 11, 1974, in Chula Vista, California, a suburb of San Diego.[3][11]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1989–1992)

Gutiérrez made his debut in Mexico on April 30, 1989, when he was 14 years old. He was trained by his uncle Rey Misterio and wrestled early on in Mexico where he learned the Lucha Libre high flying style that has been his trademark. He had ring names such as "La Lagartija Verde (The Green Lizard)" and "Colibrí (Humming bird)" before his uncle gave him the name of Rey Misterio Jr. In 1991, Mysterio was awarded "Most Improved Wrestler" in Mexico while wrestling as Colibrí.

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (1992–1996)

In Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), Mysterio feuded with Juventud Guerrera. Mysterio's uncle Misterio Sr. also took on Guerrera in a tag match: Misterio Sr. and Mysterio Jr. facing Guerrera and his father Fuerza Guerrera.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995–1996)

Mysterio signed with Paul Heyman's Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 1995.[12] He debuted in September 16, 1995 at Gangstas Paradise, defeating Psicosis, who was also making his ECW debut.[12][13] A feud between the two began, which included a two out of three falls match at South Philly Jam and a Mexican Death match at November to Remember 1995.[12] Mysterio also had a series of matches with ECW-newcomer Juventud Guerrera during early 1996. He wrestled his final bout for ECW at Big Ass Extreme Bash in March 1996.[12]

World Championship Wrestling (1996–2001)

Cruiserweight division (1996–1998)

Mysterio made his World Championship Wrestling (WCW) debut on June 16, 1996, at The Great American Bash, challenging Dean Malenko for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in a losing effort. At Bash at the Beach on July 7, he defeated Psicosis in a #1 contender's match to earn another opportunity at the Cruiserweight title.[14] The next night, on the July 8 episode of WCW Monday Nitro, he defeated Malenko to win his first Cruiserweight Championship.[15] He reigned as champion for three months, which included title defenses against the likes of Ultimate Dragon at Hog Wild on August 10,[16] Malenko,[17] and Super Caló at Fall Brawl on September 15[18] before he lost the title to Malenko at Halloween Havoc on October 27.[19] Mysterio challenged Ultimate Dragon for the J-Crown Championship in a losing effort at World War 3 on November 24.[20]
In early 1997, he began a feud with Prince Iaukea over the WCW World Television Championship, culminating in a title match against Iaukea at SuperBrawl VII on February 23, which he lost after Lord Steven Regal attacked him.[21] Mysterio also lost a title rematch at Uncensored on March 16.[22] He defeated Ultimate Dragon at Spring Stampede on April 6,[23] and Yuji Yasuraoka at Slamboree on May 18.[24] Mysterio began a feud with the New World Order (nWo), which culminated when he lost a Mexican Death match to nWo member Konnan at Road Wild on August 9.[25] Mysterio was then involved in a feud with his real-life friend and Cruiserweight Champion Eddie Guerrero, whom he defeated in a Title vs. Mask match at Halloween Havoc on October 26 to win the Cruiserweight Championship for the second time.[26] On the November 10 episode of Nitro, he lost the title back to Guerrero, as well as in a rematch at World War 3 on November 23.[27] On the January 15, 1998, episode of WCW Thunder, Mysterio defeated Juventud to win his third Cruiserweight Championship, but lost it nine days later to Chris Jericho at Souled Out.[26][28] After the match, Jericho continued the beating by using a toolbox he found at ringside. This storyline was used to cover Mysterio's need for a knee operation that kept him out of the ring for six months. At Bash at the Beach on July 12, Mysterio returned and defeated Jericho for his fourth Cruiserweight championship.[29] The next night, however, the result was overturned and the belt returned to Jericho due to Dean Malenko interfering.[29]
Later that year, Eddie Guerrero formed a Mexican stable known as the Latino World Order (LWO) (a spin off of New World Order) that included nearly every luchador in the promotion. Mysterio continually refused to join and feuded with Guerrero and the LWO members, including winning a match against longtime rival and LWO member Psicosis in a match at Road Wild on August 8.[30] He was forced to join the group after losing a match to Eddie Guerrero. Mysterio's on-and-off tag team partner Billy Kidman joined him during the feud with LWO, wrestling against the LWO despite Mysterio being a part of the group. Mysterio faced Kidman for the Cruiserweight Championship at Starrcade on December 27, but was unsuccessful in a triangle match also involving Juventud.[31] On January 17, 1999, at Souled Out, Mysterio failed to win the title from Kidman in a fatal four-way match that also included Psicosis and Juventud.[32]

Giant Killer; unmasking (1998–1999)

Mysterio unmasked in 1999
After the two factions of nWo reformed, they demanded that the LWO disband. Mysterio refused to take off his LWO colors and was attacked by the nWo as a result. This led to a match at SuperBrawl IX on February 21, where Mysterio and tag partner Konnan lost a "Hair vs. Mask match" against Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, forcing Mysterio to remove his mask.[33] After the match, he phoned his uncle to tell him the news. Mysterio has publicly expressed his disappointment over being unmasked:

I was strongly against it! I don't think WCW understood what the mask meant to me, to my fans and to my family. It was a very bad move on their behalf. The fans wanted Rey Mysterio with the mask and losing it hurt me a lot. It was also frustrating that it didn't come as the climax to a feud with another masked wrestler, but in a throwaway match. The same thing happened to Juventud and Psicosis and psychologically wise it was a bad move by Eric Bischoff. I think the fans understand that I was in a position where I had no option. I either had to lose my mask or lose my job.[34]

Mysterio later became a "giant killer" by defeating large opponents such as Kevin Nash,[35] Bam Bam Bigelow, and Scott Norton.[36] At Uncensored on March 14, he lost to Nash after Lex Luger interfered and helped Nash win.[37] The next night, on the March 15 episode of Nitro, he defeated Billy Kidman to win his fifth Cruiserweight Championship.[26] On the March 22 episode of Nitro, Mysterio got his first shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against champion Ric Flair when the names of (allegedly) nearly everyone in the company were put into a hat and a lottery was held. El Dandy was the lottery winner, but he was injured, and Mysterio took the shot instead. The match ended with a disqualification win for Flair, even though Arn Anderson's interference on Flair's behalf should have theoretically disqualified Flair.[38] The following week, Mysterio and Kidman defeated Flair's Four Horsemen stablemates Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship,[39] making Mysterio a double champion. Mysterio successfully defended his Cruiserweight Championship against his tag team partner Kidman at Spring Stampede on April 11[40] before losing the title on the April 19 episode of Nitro to Psicosis in a fatal four-way match that also involved Juventud Guerrera and Blitzkrieg.[41] On the following episode of Nitro, he defeated Psicosis to win his fifth Cruiserweight Championship.[26] At Slamboree on May 9, Mysterio and Kidman lost the World Tag Team titles to Raven and Perry Saturn in a triangle match, also involving former champions Benoit and Malenko.[42]

No Limit Soldiers; Filthy Animals (1999–2001)

Main articles: No Limit Soldiers and Filthy Animals
In mid-1999, Mysterio and Konnan joined Master P's No Limit Soldiers and feuded with The West Texas Rednecks. At The Great American Bash on June 13, they defeated Rednecks members Curt Hennig and Bobby Duncum Jr.,[43] and at Bash at the Beach on July 11, defeated the Rednecks in a four-on-four elimination tag team match.[44] After Master P's departure from WCW, Mysterio formed a stable with Eddie Guerrero and Billy Kidman known as the Filthy Animals, turning heel for the first and only time in his career.[45] The Filthy Animals soon began a feud with the Dead Pool, and defeated them in a six-man tag team match at Road Wild on August 14[46] and at Fall Brawl on September 12.[47] On the August 19 episode of Thunder, Mysterio lost the cruiserweight title to Lenny Lane.[48]
On the October 18, 1999 episode of Nitro, Mysterio and Konnan defeated Harlem Heat to win the World Tag Team Championship.[39] Mysterio, however, was injured during the match and was sidelined as a result, Kidman substituted for Mysterio and teamed with Konnan during their title defense against Harlem Heat and the First Family, in which the Filthy Animals went on to lose the title back to Harlem Heat. Mysterio returned in early 2000 and remained a steady performer, eventually joining the New Blood faction in early 2000 opposing the Millionaire's Club.[49] On the August 14 episode of Nitro, Mysterio and Juventud defeated The Great Muta and Vampiro to win the World Tag Team Championship.[50] They were stripped of the title after Ernest Miller pinned Disco Inferno with the stipulation that if he pinned Disco, Mysterio and Guerrera would be stripped of the title. The Filthy Animals then feuded with The Natural Born Thrillers in the fall of the year. At Fall Brawl on September 17, the Filthy Animals fought the Thrillers to a "no contest" in an elimination tag team match.[51] Mysterio reformed his tag team with Kidman and the two challenged for the World Tag Team Championship in a triangle match at Halloween Havoc on October 29, facing the champions Natural Born Thrillers and The Boogie Knights in a losing effort.[52]
At Millennium Final on November 16, Mysterio and Kidman lost to KroniK,[53] but avenged their loss at Mayhem ten days later, defeating KroniK and Alex Wright in a handicap match.[54] At Starrcade on December 17, The Filthy Animals lost to The Harris Brothers and Jeff Jarrett in a Bunkhouse Brawl.[55] After this, the Filthy Animals starting feuding with Team Canada, to whom they lost in a Penalty Box match at Sin on January 14, 2001.[56] At SuperBrawl Revenge on February 19, Mysterio unsuccessfully challenged Chavo Guerrero Jr. for the Cruiserweight Championship.[57] Kidman and Mysterio participated in a cruiserweight tag team tournament for the newly created WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship and advanced to the final round where they ended up losing to Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo.[58] On the final episode of Nitro on March 26, they defeated Skipper and Romeo in a rematch to win the Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles before WCW was sold to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).[59]

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2001)

After WCW closed down, Mysterio started wrestling independently in Mexico. He made his first ever Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre appearance, debuting in an eight-man tag team match. Mysterio wrestled a total of 10 matches in CMLL before returning to the United States.

Independent circuit and Puerto Rico (2002)

Upon his return to the US, he worked in IWA Mid-South, the Xcitement Wrestling Federation and the Heartland Wrestling Association, with the likes of Eddie Guerrero and CM Punk. Mysterio traveled to Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling Council and wrestled Eddie Colon for the WWC World Junior Heavyweight Championship in early 2002.

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2002–2015)

Championship reigns (2002–2004)

In June 2002, Mysterio signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and promos that hyped his debut began airing. The "Jr." was dropped from his name and was billed simply as Rey Mysterio.
Mysterio, with his mask, made his WWE debut on the July 25, 2002, episode of SmackDown! as a face, defeating Chavo Guerrero.[60] He eventually began a feud with Kurt Angle, culminating in a match at SummerSlam on August 25, which Angle won after forcing Mysterio to submit to the ankle lock.[61] He later formed a tag team with Edge; the two participated in a tournament for the newly created and SmackDown!-exclusive WWE Tag Team Championship. They lost to Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in the finals of the tournament at No Mercy on October 20;[62] the match was voted Match of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. They won the titles when defeated Angle and Benoit in a two out of three falls match on the November 7 episode of SmackDown!,[63] but lost it to Los Guerreros in a Triple Threat Elimination match at Survivor Series on November 17.[64]
Mysterio signing autographs in 2004
At WrestleMania XIX, he faced the cruiserweight Champion Matt Hardy for the title, but lost after Shannon Moore interfered.[65] On the June 5 episode of SmackDown!, he defeated Hardy to win the title.[66][67] After losing the championship to Tajiri on September 25, he regained it on January 1, 2004.[68][69] After a successful title defense against Jamie Noble at the Royal Rumble on January 25,[70] Mysterio lost the title to Chavo Guerrero at No Way Out on February 15.[71] At WrestleMania XX on March 14, Mysterio took part in a Cruiserweight Open for the title, but Guerrero retained the title.[72] On the June 17 episode of SmackDown!, he defeated Chavo Classic to win the title for a third time.[73] He lost the title to Spike Dudley on the July 29 episode of SmackDown!.[74]

Teaming and feuding with Eddie Guerrero (2004–2005)

After an unsuccessful attempt at regaining the Cruiserweight Championship, Mysterio formed a tag team with Rob Van Dam, and went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from Kenzo Suzuki and René Duprée on the December 9 episode of SmackDown!.[75] They successfully defended the titles against the former champions at Armageddon on December 12,[76] before losing the titles to the Basham Brothers on the January 13, 2005, episode of SmackDown! after Van Dam was injured.[77]
Mysterio during a WWE house show in 2005
Mysterio then teamed up with Eddie Guerrero to win the WWE Tag Team Championship back from the Bashams at No Way Out on February 20.[78] In a departure from traditional booking, the new champions did not defend their title at WrestleMania 21 on April 3, but instead had a match against each other which Mysterio won.[79] He once again defeated Guerrero at Judgment Day on May 22 by disqualification.[80] At ECW One Night Stand on June 12, Mysterio faced and defeated long-time rival Psicosis for the first time in nearly five years.[81]
The WrestleMania match was part of a storyline in which Guerrero turned on Mysterio and assaulted him after abandoning him during their match against MNM for the WWE Tag Team Championship. After a no disqualification match against Chavo, Eddie came out and slammed Mysterio on the steel steps, displaying Eddie's increasing frustration with being unable to defeat Mysterio. Guerrero and Mysterio continued to feud, with Guerrero threatening to reveal a secret he and Mysterio shared involving Mysterio's real life son Dominik, unless Mysterio deferred to Guerrero's authority.
Guerrero later revealed that he was Dominik's biological father. Guerrero said he knew Mysterio was having trouble starting his own family, so Guerrero left Dominik as a baby with Mysterio and his wife Angie to raise. Guerrero threatened to take custody of Dominik, drawing up custody papers and having his lawyer present them to Mysterio. At SummerSlam on August 21, Mysterio defeated Guerrero in a ladder match for the custody of Dominik.[82]
On November 13, 2005, Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[83] That same day at a WWE "Super Show" where SmackDown! and Raw were both taped, Mysterio gave an emotional speech about Guerrero, and in a show of respect removed his mask (though he put his head down, so his face could not be seen). Mysterio went on to defeat Shawn Michaels in an interbrand match later that night. After the match, Michaels and Mysterio hugged in the ring and Mysterio pointed up to the sky, crying, in memory of Guerrero.[84]