Rey Mysterio: A made man
http://www.wwe.com/content/media/images/3883682/5782936
“I’ll never get my chest tatted up, and I’m not big on tattoos on the legs,” said the ink-laden Rey Mysterio. “I’m running out of space on my body; I’d like to get more but I haven’t figured out where I’ll put them or what I want to get.”
Mysterio may not be a fan of tattoos on his legs, but don’t tell that to his right calf.
“Well, I won’t get any more on my legs,” he laughed. “What I have on my left calf is two skeletons; when you put them together they form a heart and it says, ‘Love till Death.’ That represents me and my wife – till death do us part.”
Having the people he loves tattooed on his skin is a theme for the former World Champion’s body art.
“I’ve got a Kanji symbol on my shoulder; it’s for my son and means ‘strength and power.’ I have my son and daughter’s names, Dominik and Aalyah, written on the inside of the left and right biceps, too,” Rey explained.
The first tattoo he ever had done was a heart with tribal work and his wife’s name on it, drawn on his left triceps.
“On my left forearm, I’ve got a gothic cross with a tombstone in the center with the initials ‘E’ and ‘G’ for my friend, the late Eddie Guerrero.”
Fans of the high-flying Superstar aren’t surprised to see the numbers “619” descending his left forearm in black ink. Not only do the three digits represent Rey’s finisher, they pay respect to his upbringing. “It represents what I do and where I come from; it’s a big significance for me,” he said.
The most painful, Rey claimed, was the “MEXICAN” tattoo inscribed across his stomach. “That was the worst pain I’ve felt when it came to tattoos,” he admitted. “But that is to show my pride, my culture… and it’s very important to me. That’s who I am.”
Aside from glorifying his loved ones and his heritage, Rey also uses his ink to show how strong his convictions are toward his faith.
“The last tattoo I had done was my rosary,” he said, pointing to the ink-necklace that circles his neck. “I pray every night; I’m a believer and that’s the reason I have four words on my wrists – the right and left – that says, ‘Made Man,’ and then when I flip them over it reads, ‘By God.’ I believe God put me in this journey that I’m taking and all the success and triumph that I’ve had in this world has been because of Him,” Rey said.
“On my neck I’ve got a cross with my birth date, and I had some tribal work added,” he continued. “That cross was the same cross Tupac had on his back. In WCW, a few friends of mine decided to get it done together. It was to show how close we were.”
Lastly, there is the biggest tattoo on his body – his back piece.
“I get credit for that from a lot of people,” he said. “I haven’t seen it around or on pictures or in artwork; it comes from my years in this business.”
Rey realizes that wrestlers need to be treated for adjustments, get chiropractic work done and receive massage therapy because “eighty percent of the falls we take are on our backs,” he explained. “I thought it would be cool to design a tattoo on my spine showing how each vertebra should be aligned. Something I found cool is that when they filled it out on me, they said everything is pretty much as it should be. So it’s all pretty much in place.”
