Rey Mysterio dropped into the Sky Sports News studio in the UK yesterday to talk about many topics and promote Night of Champions at the end of the month. He was interviewed live by anchors Georgie Thompson & David Jones. Below is a copy of the full interview.

Georgie: Rey Mysterio is in town to promote the Night of Champions on Sky Box Office. It takes place on Sunday night, June 29th, early hours of the morning. So Rey is here, and before we get really stuck in to a good ol’ chat Rey, I’m gonna
have to ask you about the man in the mask. Where did it come from?

Rey: It’s very special, because, back almost five decades ago, this all began in Mexico City, and it’s been very famous ever since. There was a wrestler, a legend that passed away now, but under the name of El Santo (The Saint) and he carried that mask for many many years.

Georgie: Do your masks change, or do you just wear the same one?

Rey: Colours and patterns change but the design always stays the same. The falcons on the side, the cross and on the back I carry an (acid?) calendar. It represents my heritage. I’m Mexican so it’s to represent my heritage.

David: A lot of people, Rey, say that I should probably be doing my job wearing a mask, so, well I know how it feels.

Rey: I got one for you (a mask).

David: Really?

Rey: Yes I do.

David: Well I would love to have one.

(Rey laughs)

David: I would love to have one. Also, we have to point out Rey, we’ve had some wrestlers in here before, and we’ve met you before a couple of years ago, but you’re not the biggest of wrestlers are you? How tall are you?

Rey: Umm, 5”4, I’m 5”4.

David: FIVE foot FOUR inches!

Rey: And 175 pounds.

Georgie: How bored do you get, of people asking you that, because I get it the whole time?

(All laugh)

Georgie: I’m vertically challenged myself!

Rey: Back when I became a wrestler, it was always “You’re too small” “You’re too skinny” “You’re not gonna make it” and now it’s just, and now they don’t, I don’t know how I can get asked that question. But they understand what I do because I stand out.

Georgie: One of our e-mails says “How do you feel when you step into the ring with someone twice your size? Is there an intimidation factor?”

Rey: I think there’s always an intimidation factor when you step, especially in the ring with somebody that’s twice your twice your weight, double or even more than what you weigh and especially when his and just covers your whole head. You know,
it’s incredible. And this is The Great Khali, so it’s very intimidating.

David: How do you get round that then? Do you run through their legs?

Rey: You know that’s the first thing. It’s like chopping a tree. You know, go for their legs and they go down to their knees and after that they’re about my size. Then I can start kicking or punching them.

David: But being 5”4 you surely make up for it in other ways. I mean you’re still a big guy.

Rey: I try not to say this, but I think what really helps me out is my speed. And also my technique

Georgie: How much is wrestling to do with technique?

Rey: I think a lot, a lot of it, a big percentage. Especially, you know I’m second generation so I’ve been doing a lot of the things my family do.

Throughout the interview they are switching between shots of Rey, David and Georgie, and clips from royal rumble 2008 – Rey v Edge. Whilst talking, a shot of the 619 is shown

Rey: That was the famous 6 1 9!

David: We’ll try and show that again because that is something special. That is when you hold onto the ring and spin your legs all the way around

Rey: That’s correct. It took a lot of practice to get that down, but finally I got it, I got it down and I had to name it. 619 is the area code for San Diego California.

David: I need to explain this to Georgie as well. I was watching an episode of heroes which is on out television over here at the minute, and somebody has this superpower where when they see something, they can suddenly do it themselves. And
they were watching Rey do this move on the television, and then they did it when someone robbed their restaurant.

Rey: You know what was incredible, made it even better? It was a girl. It was a girl that did the 619.

David: Did they consult you about that?

Rey: No, not at all. Hey, I got no problem with that. It’s ok. Once they did it, a lot of people started to say “that’s Rey’s move, he stole it!”

Georgie: So we were talking about taking on bigger players in this wrestling game, the likes of the big show. What’s it like being on the receiving end of him, he’s like 500 pounds isn’t he?

Rey: And that’s the same experience I went through when I wrestled The Great Khali. He’s a wrestler that overweighs me, and he’s a lot bigger than me. But again there’s a lot of technique, a lot of acrobatics in my end and that’s how I get around, that’s how a match gets exciting, and you see that David and Goliath encounter.

David: Well let’s get into some more of these emails for you Rey because we’ve had absolutely hundreds. Danny from Hull, talking about the 619, he says “You’ve never messed it up, how long did it take you to perfect that?”

Rey: That’s a move that I’ve been doing for years, just not the way that I do it now. I’ve always swung around but nobody was there. Now, I put my opponent against the ropes, and then swing around. It took me a couple of weeks to break it down, and I think over the 8 years I’ve been doing it, I’ve probably slipped once or twice. And that was because either the ropes were too loose or my hands were too slippery. And I just went straight flying out of the ring.

Georgie: Another question in here from Daniel says “What big star in WWE would you most like to compete against that you haven’t already perhaps faced?”

Rey: I think I would really love to compete, and I have faced him, but it was just so fast, and it happened at a bad moment, but Shawn Michaels. Shawn Michaels against Rey Mysterio. I would really love to take that to another level.

David: Well John Wilson asks, and he’s a massive fan as well, “In next week’s draft lottery, would you like to see yourself change brands or stay with Smackdown?”

Rey: I think if I change brands, this would be my 7th year being part of Smackdown, if I jump over to raw, that would be a whole new start for Rey Mysterio, different competition. And if I stay on Smackdown, whoever comes over from raw to Smackdown, then I would have to face new competition so either/or, its gonna work good for Rey.

Georgie: We get this a lot when wrestlers come in and there’s email suggesting you may want to become a film star or something like that after a career in wrestling, but if you weren’t a wrestler, if you were to choose a professional sport, what would that be.

Rey: I always say that, if wrestling weren’t having been so good to me, I would’ve probably played American football. It’s just so big in the United States, for us that I probably would’ve stuck with that. That’s what I grew up playing too, besides wrestling and soccer

David: So who do you support when you’re watching soccer, because obviously you’re from America but there are those Mexican roots as well?

Rey: Its good because I grew up watching Chivas from Guadalajara and my son is Cruz Azul so every time they have a match against each other, it’s like me and my son are rivals. He wears his Cruz Azul jersey and I wear my Chivas jersey. Mines red and white and his is blue and red and white, so it’s kinda good. There’s a good rivalry there in the house, in the family.

David: So Sven Goran Eriksson is the new national team coach of Mexico, he was big over here in the Premier League, are you pleased about that?

Rey: Yes. Very pleased, very very pleased. I’m disappointed that Mexico didn’t make it to this Euro Cup for 2008

David: Then again, Mexico isn’t in Europe, so that rules that out (laughs)

David: Sarah from Cambridge is a 13 year old, she’s a big fan of yours as well Rey, she wants to know how she can improve her strength for wrestling, because she says a lot of girls her age are a lot stronger, she’s a bit weak at the moment, but she has been wrestling for 3 months.

Rey: And how old is she?

David: 13

Rey: Wow, she’s already wrestling for 13? I hope she’s going to a professional school because you know what we say in our business, is what we do on TV, a lot of children out there, kids, followers, fans, try to imitate what we do, and we always
tell them to not practice what we do at home because it’s very dangerous. We go under very strong supervision and we’ve been training for many many years. Me myself I’ve been wrestling for 19 years and I’ve been training since I was 8 but under a professional gym. And I hope she’s doing the same thing. And strength will come as you age. That’s just technique. It goes along with your technique, with how much and how hard you work out everyday. You know, running, cardiovascular workout, and as your body grows, you’re gonna grow into your own strength I would say.

Georgie: End on a really really important question because Kevin said he wants to know how much all your costumes cost?

Rey: That’s a good one, that’s a good one.

Georgie: Because you do have plenty of costumes in plenty of different colours don’t you.

Rey: Probably about 150-200 costumes and I pay anywhere from 500-700 dollars.

David: Wow, and a quick question, that’s coming in from everybody, when are you back because we know you’ve got an injury to your bicep

Rey: I will be back by mid July. And ready to go at 100%

David: That’s great news; we look forward to seeing you back in action. And if you do have me a mask that would be fantastic

Source: WrestlingNewsWorld