WWE superstar and lucha-libre legend Rey Mysterio recently joined The Bump for a discussion about all things pro-wrestling, which included the former world champion’s thoughts on his SmackDown debut back in 2002, and how grateful he is that 20 years later he’s still able to perform at a high level. Highlights from the interview are below.
Recalls Dean Malenko coming up with the idea for his debut entrance:
“Oh my god, that’s one of the best entrances I’ve ever had, and I believe in general, one of the best entrances that WWE has created. From my understanding, Dean Malenko had brought that up, and it was given to me. They wanted to do something special, coming into WWE, and I think this just put the icing on the cake.”
How he’s still able to perform at such a high level:
“The fact that that had done vignettes a month prior to me having my first match, and they would just show flashes of someone doing high-flying moves, but you couldn’t tell who it was, and every week we saw a little bit more until the day came. The advertisement was, ‘He’s coming, he’s coming,’ and sure enough, when he arrived, it was Rey Mysterio with an incredible entrance, you know, music, the whole package was just there, and all I had to do was deliver. I’m grateful that I was given the opportunity, and I’m grateful to god that I was able to deliver for 20 years.”
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)