Exclusive Ring Rust Radio interview with ECW, WCW and WWE legend Rey Mysterio Jr. as he heads into AAA's Triplemania 23

The hosts of Ring Rust Radio – Donald Wood, Mike Chiari and Brandon Galvin – were recently able to speak with pro wrestling legend, Rey Mysterio Jr.! In this interview, they talk with Mysterio about his upcoming match with Myzteziz at AAA’s Triplemania 23, his legacy in the business, his storied career having worked for ECW, WCW and WWE and much more. You can listen to the interview on the YouTube link below or continue past it to read the entire interview here.

Donald Wood: The biggest news for wrestling fans is that you will be main-eventing AAA’s Triplemanía 23 against Myzteziz (formerly Sin Cara) in a dream match on Sunday, August 9th on PPV. For fans watching Triple A for the first time thanks to the English commentary, what can they expect from the show overall and from the main event between you and Myzteziz?

Rey Mysterio: Well that match between us is going to a legacy defining match.  There is a lot of animosity and egos that are going to come into play that night.  I have to point out that this match was made for the fans by the fans.  The fans were the number one critiques on who is better?  Rey Mysterio or Myzteziz.  At one point I left Mexico to continue my career globally and a new star came about.  He is known now as Myzteziz, but back then he was known as Mistico and then Sin Cara when he joined WWE.  I would have to say the fans in their eyes see a lot of similarities between us.  We even tagged at one point in the WWE and now here we are against each other thanks to the fans.

Mike Chiari: You and Myzteziz teamed together in WWE and it seemed as though there were always rumors about the two of you facing each other, and that match possibly happening at WrestleMania. How close did that match come to happening in WWE, and why do you think it never did?

Rey Mysterio: Due to the fact that I had already previous injuries on top of my knee benched me for quite some time.  When I came back we started teaming up and we were heading somewhere.  There wasn’t a concrete story line, but we were going out there and putting on one hell of a show for the fans.  We were barely at the stage of getting the fans acclimated with our style and who Myzteziz was.  His injuries came into play as well and then of course he was released.  Then of course later on my release with me not wanting to re-sign with the WWE so it didn’t happen and we parted ways.  We didn’t give the WWE the time to invest in both names and the product.  Now it is happening at last here in Triple A.

Brandon Galvin: You're often credited by fans as being one of the most influential luchadores in wrestling history, especially when it comes to your impact on pro wrestling in America. I know this was a long time ago, but do you recall getting that sense when you were first working ECW and WCW or do you look back now and feel that you were a pioneer of sorts?

Rey Mysterio: I think I look back now and feel blessed that I was a pioneer for that style.  I want to pause a second and mention the one person that opened the doors for us and that was Eddie Guerrero.  He was the first runner up with ECW and he was having great matches with Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit.  Then of course when Eddie signed with WCW, Pauly talked to Konnan and brought him in, then Konnan brought us in:  Psychosis, Juventud, Parka, and myself.  We kind of replaced Eddie’s style and gave the fans a treat of lucha libre.  Now I go back and think that, “wow, we really opened the eyes of the American audience to what lucha libre is, that it’s not just a style, it’s part of our culture.

Donald Wood: There were plenty of rumors surrounding why and how you departed WWE, including that the company flew you into Buffalo for a special meeting and extended your deal without your approval. Can you address the validity of these reports and why you decided it was time to leave WWE earlier this year?

Rey Mysterio: The initial meeting in Buffalo went well.  Both parties, they agreed to continue to move forward on the Rey Mysterio brand.  There was no rumors, no animosity, no bad feelings between us.  I feel like resigning with the company due to the fact that I had a large amount of injuries on my body.  That was the number one reason why I was on the bench so long.  So when it came around to resigning, they were ok with me wanting to depart and do my own thing.  There was no hard feelings and we departed in an amicable way.  It was my time to think for myself and act upon myself and that was the best thing I had done for myself in years.  I have had time to rest and my body feels a thousand times better.  I’m calling my own shots and doing things I have never been able to do in my career.  I never had the freedom to do them but now I do.

Donald Wood: Would you ever be open to returning to WWE later in your career?

Rey Mysterio: Yes of course.  I think that’s what every wrestler would want, there’s nothing better than dictating your own future and not over working your body.  You can’t keep running on fumes constantly when you are older.  You don’t see the same Rey Mysterio you see when I was 25 years old.  I think it’s good to understand from both ends that I can’t deliver the way I used to when I first signed with the WWE.  To make sure talent last, you have to take care of it.

Mike Chiari: Lucha Underground is a promotion that's picked up a ton of steam over the past year, and it's a company that many fans have naturally linked you to since it has a good working relationship AAA. If and when the second season of Lucha Underground is green lighted, what are the odds we'll see you working with them? What's your level of interest there?

Rey Mysterio: I’m a big fan of their product and I watch it on occasion.  They are doing a wonderful job and I think it’s great that they give an opportunity to the future talent of AAA.  I sit down and think if we had that type of promotion going on when Triple was filled with Psychosis, Juventud, Parka, Pentagon, Konnan, then lucha libre would have been introduced years ago to the United States.  Unfortunately it didn’t happen but I think everything has its time to be exposed and now it has happened for Lucha Underground.  I think if the time is right and I am interested I don’t see why not.  If the opportunity came to come back to the WWE with a 50/50 terms base I would do that as well.  It’s good to know you have options and when the options come I will be the first to jump on it as long as it favors both parties involved.

Brandon Galvin: There's been so many exciting chapters so far in your career, but mine was when you made your debut in WWE and were working with the likes of Kurt Angle, Edge and Eddie Guerrero among others. Was that a special time for you from an in-ring perspective and is there a point in time where you feel like you were having your best matches?

Rey Mysterio: I definitely think that was probably a good phase that I was living.  I had so many great opponents and team mates around me that we were able to perform at a very high level.  I had Eddie, Edge, Kurt Angle, and Triple H was there doing his thing too and the Rock was still around too.  The roster in general for WWE, SmackDown, and Raw was so stacked,  it was definitely the funniest stage in my career and the most memorable stage for giving the best matches I had in me.

Donald Wood: One interesting note is that you worked for Paul Heyman in ECW, Eric Bischoff in WCW and Vince McMahon in WWE, so you’ve seen all different kinds of leadership types. Using your unique perspective, what are some of the differences between the three men and who did you enjoy working for the most?

Rey Mysterio: They all are very different and we left out Antonio Pena, the creator of AAA.  God rest his soul.  He was the first one to see what was behind Rey Mysterio and gave me the opportunity to be nationally known.  With all four of those bosses I have had, they are all very different.  Geniuses were Pena, Pauly, and Vince.  Marketing wise and character wise, they were just on top of their game and I think the fact that it was their company and obligation to take wrestling to another level and they have.  They all did at their time and I feel blessed to have worked with all three of them.  One is no longer around, I don’t know where Eric is, and Pena rest in peace.  I feel honor to have been a part of all four major companies at points in my career.

Mike Chiari: You're obviously one of the most accomplished and popular Superstars in WWE history, but unfortunately one of your last matches in WWE was the 2014 Royal Rumble and you were actually booed as the 30th entrant since fans so badly wanted to see Daniel Bryan. Do you feel like you were unfairly put in a no-win situation? Are there any hard feelings about the way that played out?

Rey Mysterio: No hard feelings at all.  One thing I have learned through the years is I have never been political about certain things and I take things lightly through my whole life.  At the moment, I couldn’t believe or understand what was going on.  After the match I was able to sit down and digest what was going on, and sure enough it was the fact that the fans weren’t given what they wanted.  At one point I remember talking to Konnan about it, thinking if they would of let me walk down to the ring, then when the fans were booing, let me go back into gorilla and give my spot to Daniel Bryan to be number 30.

Brandon Galvin: You've been a massively popular fan favorite throughout your WWE career, but was there ever a time that you wanted to turn heel and see how it would be to play a villain?

Rey Mysterio: I think that actually happened some sort of way after I lost my mask and the Filthy Animals were created.  That was the first time I was able to experiment what it felt like working without the mask.  In a way, it was not being a complete baby face, but somewhere in-between.  A cocky Rey Mysterio, a new stage in his career, no mask, so I was able to play with the fans a little more and interact with the fans in a different way.  I really enjoyed that phase of my life even though I thought working without my mask would have been a heart breaker.