Kemo
06-03-2017, 02:13 PM
Back in 2015, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio decided to leave the WWE while sitting out-of-action to nurse a wrist injury. After some back-and-forth over contract disputes, as the WWE tried to extend Mysterio’s contract without his approval, he was finally free to walk away in February of that year when his contract expired. Since then, the Mexican star has been working the indie scene in addition to doing some extensive work with Lucha Underground.
Recently, Mysterio did an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard to talk about a number of wrestling topics, including his professional life after leaving WWE. Here are the highlights:
Working with Lucha Underground and his thoughts on today’s Cruiserweights:
“Lucha Underground is the pioneer in the cruiserweight division. Years ago, Konnan mentioned to me, ‘Wrestling has to change. Wrestling cannot always be a world for the giants,’ and he was right. Wrestling has changed. That change is because of Lucha Underground. That is not boxing anyone in. Cruiserweight is a form of giving life to those that still want to break into this business. There have been more opportunities given to that cruiserweight division, and that’s been helped by a lot of companies, including Ring of Honor and TNA.”
Almost signing with Impact Wrestling:
“I was actually in conversations a while back with Impact about doing some shows. To be honest with you, it’s not that I don’t want to go work for them, it’s just like I didn’t have it in my game plan. I also didn’t have Lucha Underground in my game plan before it was created. If the circumstances were right, I wouldn’t mind going. I’m not interested in signing a contractual deal, but I would love to do some shows. People want to see diversity in their opponents and fans want to see their dream matches. If people want to see a match-up, let’s make it happen.”
Not being let back into the building by security after he had a tryout with WCW:
“People still tell me I have a babyface, and I was 21 at the time, so I looked like a 12-year-old back then. I recall explaining to the security guards, ‘No, no, it’s OK, I wrestle,’ and they looked at me and laughed. So I continued to say that I was a wrestler, and they finally asked me for a credential. I didn’t have any credentials, this was a tryout. Finally, security was cool enough to find out who I was and let me back in the building, but that happened several times after that, too. I learned my lesson after the fourth time, and I started carrying a WCW badge everywhere with me.”
Recently, Mysterio did an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard to talk about a number of wrestling topics, including his professional life after leaving WWE. Here are the highlights:
Working with Lucha Underground and his thoughts on today’s Cruiserweights:
“Lucha Underground is the pioneer in the cruiserweight division. Years ago, Konnan mentioned to me, ‘Wrestling has to change. Wrestling cannot always be a world for the giants,’ and he was right. Wrestling has changed. That change is because of Lucha Underground. That is not boxing anyone in. Cruiserweight is a form of giving life to those that still want to break into this business. There have been more opportunities given to that cruiserweight division, and that’s been helped by a lot of companies, including Ring of Honor and TNA.”
Almost signing with Impact Wrestling:
“I was actually in conversations a while back with Impact about doing some shows. To be honest with you, it’s not that I don’t want to go work for them, it’s just like I didn’t have it in my game plan. I also didn’t have Lucha Underground in my game plan before it was created. If the circumstances were right, I wouldn’t mind going. I’m not interested in signing a contractual deal, but I would love to do some shows. People want to see diversity in their opponents and fans want to see their dream matches. If people want to see a match-up, let’s make it happen.”
Not being let back into the building by security after he had a tryout with WCW:
“People still tell me I have a babyface, and I was 21 at the time, so I looked like a 12-year-old back then. I recall explaining to the security guards, ‘No, no, it’s OK, I wrestle,’ and they looked at me and laughed. So I continued to say that I was a wrestler, and they finally asked me for a credential. I didn’t have any credentials, this was a tryout. Finally, security was cool enough to find out who I was and let me back in the building, but that happened several times after that, too. I learned my lesson after the fourth time, and I started carrying a WCW badge everywhere with me.”