High-flying Rey Mysterio Talks About His Future, And Decorated Past

http://www.pjstar.com/blogs/thebuzz/x1101046849/High-flying-Rey-Mysterio-talks-about-his-future-and-decorated-past

Rey Mysterio has defied the odds his entire careers, but that's to be expected of someone who is well under 6 feet tall and weighs 175 pounds competing in the land of giants.

Injuries and age, though, could be catching up.

The 37-year-old sports entertainer, who has held multiple championships in World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling, is likely not competing in Peoria Saturday because of a concussion he suffered during his Summerslam match against The Miz.

"I did an impact test on Monday in Fresno, Calif., and the results were not too good," Mysterio said. "There will be an impact test later (Thursday) and first thing tomorrow and we're going on that. The WWE is strict on its (Wellness) policy right now."

This injury happened just as Mysterio was returning from a one-year hiatus while recovering from a knee injury. He's had seven knee surgeries, the most recent occurring in August 2011.

"The knee is where it needs to be at right now," Mysterio reassured.

Despite the bumps and bruises, the high-flying superstar who's known for his lucha libre style of wrestling, talked the Journal Star in this Q&A:

Q: You're 37 years old and seemingly have become of the most celebrated Mexican-American wrestling superstars of all-time. You've pretty much held all the major titles in WWE. What does Rey Mysterio have left to accomplish?
A: Well, you know, I get answered that question a lot. 'What do you need to accomplish, Rey?' I answer by saying the only thing I would love to do in my career that I haven't done will be at the end of my career when I thrown in the towel and become part of the (WWE) Hall of Fame.

Q: Is an in-ring retirement in sight yet?
A: No, not at all. After this surgery, it kind of set me back almost a year trying to get my knee back in shape and recovered. I have my limitations as far as what I can do in the ring, but I manage to be creative with my style. I think that is what keeps me still able to perform for my fans. As long as I keep doing that, I'm good to go.

Q: I read online that you made your debut as a 14-year-old. That seems awfully young to start wrestling. Why did you get involved at such a young age and what kind of concerns would you have for someone starting off that young today?
A: I go back to the late 80s, early 90s when I began. Back then in Mexico, lucha libre was very, very big. I had been training seven years already and was anxious to get into the ring. My uncle would run shows outside the city of Tijuana and local shows in (Los Angeles). When I talk about the small independent shows, you're talking a crowd of 100 to 150 people. I remember wrestling the first time in the parking lot of a church in front of 80 people. Having the opportunity to do that at a young age back then wasn't that common, but ... I had to take a test to see if I was prepared and qualified to get into the ring and get a waiver from my parents that said if something happened to me that (the company) was not responsible. Nowadays, there is much more training and preparation. I guess I had the help of my uncle; he was a professional wrestler and had his own wrestling school. It made things easier. I was happy to do that at such a young age.

Q: What did those early days in ECW mean for your career?
A: ECW was a whole different world for me and for the people I wrestled at the time. Psicosis and Juventud Guerrera and Konnan, these were cats I grew up with and started my career with. Once we were introduced to ECW, we were like this is something that is completely different, extreme. It's breaking boundaries. We were young. We were wild. We wanted to do anything creative to be on top of the world. We were just happy to be given an opportunity to perform at our best and at something completely new to us and jumping off ladders and breaking tables and having fans interact with your performance. It was a very, very exciting and cool moment in my life and stage in my professional wrestling.

Q: What made the WCW Cruiserweight division so special during the mid-to-late 1990s?
A: It was our style. Our style was probably, at that time, never seen before. It was never seen before on television. The fact we were able to go out there every night ... at the time it didn't (click) with me that we were competing for ratings. We were having fun. (The fans) were loving every moment of it.

Q: When the nWo first formed, there was a memorable moment when Kevin Nash "lawn darted" you into a truck. What are your recollections of that moment and what did it mean to your career?
A: It's funny because going back to that day, I do remember saying that I'm going to jump on this rail and it led to a mobile home trailer and when I see Kevin Nash coming I'll dive on him and do a cross body on him. When he caught me and shot me against the motor home, it was almost like in a lawn dart position. My body was straight and he (threw) me and I hit head first and stuck there for a second and then slid down. It's one of those things that it's very common to get thrown around but I guess not by superstars who were seven feet tall. It made a big impact in the fact that Kevin Nash was so big in stature and I was 5 foot, 4 (inches) and he did have his way with me. I remember that being brought up for so long (after ward).

Q: You've had so many memorable match-up's over the years. Do you prefer competing against superstars who have a similar style as you do like Juventud Guerrera or Psicosis or do you prefer going against those with contrasting styles like Big Show, Kevin Nash or Batista?
A: It's hard to say. I love both styles and I love going in the ring with the big boys. I'm the type of person that wants to give my fan base what they want to see and I would think there is a fine line and that 50 percent want to see Rey Mysterio take on the big guys. Then there is that other 50 percent that wants to see Rey Mysterio go 150 mph and do things in the ring never seen before. I try to mix and match.

Q: Will you be in Peoria Saturday?
A: As of right now, I'm just waiting and taking another impact test and finding out the results. Whether I'm there or not, there will be superstars there performing like John Cena, CM Punk, Big Show or Kofi Kingston. It’s going to be one hell of a show.

WWE RAW World Tour

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Carver Arena

WWE presents RAW World Tour at the Peoria Civic Center Arena. The main event will feature John Cena vs. The Big Show vs. CM Punk. "Wildcard" Raw General Manager AJ will be there.

The event will feature RAW Superstars in action including: Rey Mysterio, Tensai, Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston, R Truth, Zack Ryder and more.

Tickets are $17, $27, $37, $52 and $97 and are available at the Peoria Civic Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and online at Ticketmaster.com.

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