Rey Mystero interview

[Guest Trivia247]

Thanks to http://sixonenine.cjb.net for the following report:

 

PRO WRESTLING ILLUSTRATED

PWI 2003 Insiders' Poll

June 2003 Issue

Press Conference: Rey Misterio Jr.

 

Perhaps Rey Mysterio, Jr. should undergo a name change. After all, his name means "king of mystery," yet anyone who has followed wrestling over the past seven years and watched him fly from pillar to post and back again knows what the former WCW Cruiserweight kingpin is all about. If there's a turnbuckle to climb and fly off, he's the man for the job. If a 350-pound wrestler loves picking on cruiserweights, Mysterio is going to make him stop ... one huracanrana at a time. If there's a title that everyone says he's too small to win, that's the title he'll set his sights on, height and weight differential be damned.

 

Yeah, we know everything we need to know about Rey Mysterio, Jr.

 

Or do we? Mysterio is fearless in the ring, yet he's soft-spoken behind the microphone--and the more serious he is, the more timid he seems to get. (Remember how he pulled Tough Enough 3 competitor Jamie aside to tell her that he saw a lot of potential in her? His voice was barely audible.) And while we might be able to predict his actions based on past performances, Mysterio has never gone on the record to tell us why he acts the way that he does, why he wrestles with such absolute abandon, preferably agains men twice his size.

 

What's his motivation for continually going so hard and so fast? Why did he join WWE? Why did he put his mask back on? What drives him to pick out the biggest bully on the block and target him for a fued? How come the cruiserweight title no longer seems like a suitable goal for him?

 

The more we talked about him, the more we realized that Rey Mysterio Jr., the man we thought we knew everything about, is quite possibly more mysterious than ever.

 

PWI wanted to talk to this international man of mystery to figure out what's going on inside his head, so Editor-in-Chief Dave Lenker and Senior Writers Will Welsh and Dan Murphy met with Mysterio to discuss his first year in WWE, what it feels like to be wearing the mask again, and his status as one of the world's pre-eminent cruiserweight competitors.

 

DAVE LENKER: Hey, Rey thanks for agreeing to do this. We appreciate you taking the time.

 

REY MYSTERIO JR: Thanks for having me. Let me just start by saying it's hard to think that things could be going much better for me now. I'm with Smackdown - the brand that seems perfectly suited for me - and I'm getting my fair share of matches and TV time. Considering where I was one year ago. It's hard to complain.

 

DAN MURPHY: Considering that you were bouncing around Tijuana for a while, it must be pretty satisfying for you now. During that time out of the national spotlight, was it always your goal to make it to WWE?

 

MYSTERIO: WWE is the company that you want to work for. It's head and tails about every other promotion out there. So, of course my main goal was to make it here. Is there a reason it shouldn't have been?

 

MURPHY: Well, considering WWE's track record with the old light heavyweight division...

 

MYSTERIO: You thought I wasn't sure if WWE was the right plave for me. Is that what you're asking?

 

MURPHY: In a nutshell, yes.

 

MYSTERIO: Of course that's a concern. But just because you're not with WWE doesn't man that you don't keep up with the goings-on here. And I have to say that I was impressed.

 

MURPHY: Impressed with what?

 

MYSTERIO: Smackdown's talent roster is amazing, and the cruiserweight division is the best I've seen in a while. Someone convinced WWE to give the cruiserweights a real chance, and WWE got rewarded for it. Tajiri, Jamie Noble, Hurricane, Shannon Moore, Billy Kidman - those guys did a great job making the cruiserweight division a force in WWE. They put on exciting matches, and the Smackdown audience showed that they appreciated their matches. In my opinion, that probably made WWE's decisions in terms of my availability that easier to make.

 

WILL WELSH: But since you've been with WWE, it appears that you've attempted to distance yourself from the cruiserweights at times. Is that accurate?

 

MYSTERIO: No. I'm a cruiserweight wrestler. I will never be much heavier or any taller than I am today. Being a cruiserweight defines me as a wrestler.

 

WELSH: Then why the decision to target Kurt Angle when you arrived?

 

MYSTERIO: Because I might be a cruiserweight wrestler, but that doesn't mean I only have cruiserweight goals.

 

LENKER: Could you expand on that?

 

MYSTERIO: What I mean is that just because my body fits the definition of what a cruiserweight wrestler is, that doesn't mean that I only have to pursue a cruiserweight career. Going after Angle let everyone know that. And even though I didn't beat him at Summerslam, my matches with him proved I'm more than capable of beating him, which makes it easier for me to jump the cruiserweight division to take on opponents that a cruiserweight wouldn't usually wrestle.

 

MURPHY: But why not just settle for the cruiserweight division? You could win the cruiserweight title pretty handily. I have no doubt of that.

 

MYSTERIO: Let me correct you on something. Those other cruiserweights in this division, they're some of the best that you'll ever see, and I have respect for every one of them. They can be every bit as good as I am, and some nights they might be even better.

 

MURPHY: Okay, I wasn't trying to belittle their abilities, but you still didn't answer my question, and, in actuality, you might've made my point even stronger. If these guys are this good, why not just settle for the cruiserweight title? Why go beyond what you already are comfortable with? Why wrestle the Angles of WWE?

 

MYSTERIO: Because if I retire today, I won't be known as one of the greatest wrestlers to ever live, Dan.

 

MURPHY: What do you mean?

 

MYSTERIO: Will, if I were to retire tomorrow, how would you begin the story of my career?

 

WELSH: I'd probably write, "Rey Mysterio Jr., one of the greatest cruiserweights ever..."

 

MYSTERIO: There, did you hear that? Will wouldn't write, "One of the greatest wrestlers ever," he'd write "One of the greatest cruiserweights ever." I don't want to be thought of as strictly a cruiserweight wrestler. I don't want to see that word in front of my job description for the rest of my life. I want to be known for being a wrestler, not just a cruiserweight.

 

LENKER: Is that why the cruiserweight title doesn't seem to interest you?

 

MYSTERIO: It does interest me. In WCW, I held the cruiserweight title five times - what more do I have to prove? Not to pat my self on the back, but I know that some people already call me the greatest cruiserweight champion ever. While that's an honor, because there have been some unbelieveably talented cruiserweight champions, I want more.

 

LENKER: But if you were offered a shot at the cruiserweight championship at the next pay-per-view, would you turn it down?

 

MYSTERIO: Dave, it's always hard - always hard - to turn down matches for championships, and for me to say that I'd turn down a match for the cruiserweight title, well, I'd probably be lying. Besides, nobody said you can't use the cruiserweight title to help propel you to bigger things.

 

WELSH: Okay, let's move on to another subject, one that I know that we're all interested in hearing about. What's it like wearing the mask again?

 

MYSTERIO: I guess I can compare it to walking into your mother's home while she has your favorite meal cooking. It lets you know that you're in a safe place. It's very much like that. After I lost my mask in WCW, I wasn't quite myself, because I was missing part of myself. Because you guys probably don't follow to close to Lucha Libre, I don't expect you to completely understand, but a Luchador's mask is his life. It's his face to the outside world, and when he loses that face, it's humiliating.

 

WELSH: I know that there are some athletes in other sports who say that they feel themselves transform into somebody else - an alter ego - as they put on their uniform. Do you expirience that same kind of transformation when you put the mask on?

 

MYSTERIO: I wouldn't say that I transform, because the mask, like I said, it's a part of me. Now, is it a part of my prematch preperations? Absolutely. When the mask goes on, it's time to do battle. It's time to wrestle. But if you're asking if it makes me more aggressive or bloodthirsty, so to speak, no.

 

MURPHY: Do you think wearing the mask gives you any special advantages?

 

MYSTERIO: I'd say so. First of all, my opponent loses any ability to read my facial expressions, and in a business where success is all about timing and about out-thinking your opponent, that's huge.

 

LENKER: Is that why you're wearing the contact lenses? Do they give you an advantage as well?

 

MYSTERIO: Like the saying goes, the eyes are the windows to the soul. If my opponent can't read my eyes, how can he know what I'm thinking?

 

MURPHY: So it's a way for Rey Mysterio to become even more mysterious?

 

MYSTERIO: Maybe

 

LENKER: Well, in recent months, WWE had seen a rather large influx of high-profile stars, and it's getting harder to get a main-event position. Considering that, what's next for you?

 

MYSTERIO: I'm not a fortune teller. Hopefully I'll continue that journey upward, because everyone konws I'm not satisfied. There's still a lot for Rey Mysterio to accomplish, and I won't let anything get in my way. That way, maybe when I retire, Will can write, "Rey Mysterio Jr., former WWE Champion and one of the greatest wrestlers to ever step into the squared circle, retired last month."

 

WELSH: I hope that I get the chance to write that one day, Rey.

 

MYSTERIO: And I hope I get a chance to read it.

[Guest Trivia247]

hmm no one got an opinion on his interview?

[Guest Lightning Flik]

You know, I now understand Rey's motivation to be more than a cruiserweight, facing guys like Big Show and Undertaker, and I agree with him.

 

...hopefully, he becomes a WWE Champion.

[Guest wildpegasus]

I've heard PWI's interviews and polls are not always legit. So, you have to take what's said with a grain of salt.