If you happen to read my past couple of posts, you know that I've been talking about Alberto Del Rio's win at the Royal Rumble. As much as he does deserve the attention, this is another wrestler I would like to talk about that also has ties to lucha libre. He is Rey Mysterio.
You can say that I've watched wrestling in two phases, one when I was younger (mainly watching just to watch it) and the other time is currently now (knowing more about the sport now). When I started watching it more intensively, if that is the right word to use, I started to watch Rey Mysterio's matches for some reason. It might have been because he was wearing a mask or because he was performing moves I had never seen before in the squared circle. But whatever the reason, he started to become one of my favorites in the business.
But today, he and John Cena, are starting to get a bad reputation. No, it's not because they are bad guys in the ring, but because they have been the so-called posters boys of the PG era. Rey Mysterio has always had his back against the wall. Whether because he is undersized at 5'6" or he is older than some of the guys on the roster, he is always been considered the ultimate underdog. But I think because of this, this is the reason why so many kids like him. Sure you can say the colorful masks that he wears might appeal to them, but because he is good role model to them. When all odds are against you, he has found some way to climb the mountain again and again. Perhaps his biggest climb occurred when he won the Royal Rumble and went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 22.
But the one thing I would really like to touch on is the lucha libre influence he has brought to the WWE. I remember watching his first match against Chavo Guerrero on Smackdown, and remember saying 'who is this guy.' He was jumping off the turnbuckles and the ropes that support the ring. He was also moving around the place like he had somewhere to go. Then the end of the match finally came....
Sorry about Michael Cole's Spanish on the video, it's pretty horrible lol. But the point I wanted to illustrate was the wrestling style of Rey Mysterio. Not only did he bring a new wrestling style to mainstream wrestling and influenced some of today's young stars (wrestlers like the high flyer Evan Bourne), but proved to everyone that you did not have to be big and muscular to make it in the wrestling business. You just have to heart...
Source of pic at top of page: wrestlingvalley.org
-Christopher J. Valverde
Follow me on Twitter: @xfactor7806
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