Brian Fritz of Sporting News recently spoke with Rey Mysterio to promote his match against Myzteziz at the TripleMania PPV this Sunday night. The following are some interview highlights:
On the 1994 joint AAA and WCW “When Worlds Collide” event:
“That was the first time I believe that the fans saw lucha libre,” Mysterio said. “That was a one-time thing and nothing big ever happened after it but the introduction of the life of Eddie Guerrero into ECW and then WCW and then WWE. Then along came the rest of the luchadores — Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis, Konnan, Villanos, La Parka — including myself. That was an eye-opener for the American audience and now throughout the years everything has evolved incredibly.”
On working with Eddie Guerrero:
“For the fans to be able to enjoy a lucha libre match between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio, I think, I don’t want to be flattering myself but that’s probably some of the best lucha libre matches that I had throughout my career and we were able to demonstrate it to the fans around the world.”
On the famous lawn dart segment in which Kevin Nash of the NWO threw Mysterio head first into a production trailer:
“Such a memorable moment, something that spontaneously came up in my mind,” Mysterio said. “I thought, let me just jump on top of the rail out of a trailer and dive on you. Pick me up, press me and throw me against the trailer. When you’re young, you’re fearless and you can do so many things. Then years later you think, I can’t believe I did that. It’s just one of those moments that really stuck in people’s minds.
“The launching of the nWo and what comes out it — that time Rey was launched into the trailer like a human lawn dart. I’m happy and I’m blessed to have been part of that whole initiation of the new era of this industry.”
On his WWE departure:
“WWE, they agreed on my departure. At first, it felt kind of like you have to make up time for your injury status that you’ve had throughout the past. But when the meeting came down, I really expressed my feeling towards them as far as me wanting to sit back and be a family man and not consistently beat up my body like I had been for years. They were very understanding about it. No hard feelings from both sides. We ended in a very amicable way. I started enjoying my life at home.”
How are his knees holding up?:
“My right knee is perfectly fine, knock on wood. My left knee was the one that’s always been giving me issues,” he said. “Now with the time that I’ve had off I’ve been able to focus more on rehabilitation and strengthening up my quads so my knees wouldn’t hurt as much. They feel great. They feel really good right now. Now that I’m at home and I can enjoy sleeping at eating right, you can tell. You can see a huge difference.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
