Biography of Rey Mysterio

Familiar with the "lucha libre" style of fighting, Rey Mysterio came into prominence in the US in the late 1990s. Although he is much shorter than most of his counterparts, he has used his quick reflexes to overcome this shortcoming. He has achieved phenomenal success in the cruiserweight, tag team and heavyweight divisions.

Early Years
Born in Chula Vista, California, Rey took up wrestling at a young age. His uncle, a wrestler with the same name, trained him for professional wrestling. Under his guidance, Rey learnt the tricks of the trade and made his debut as a wrestler on April 30, 1989. He wrestled in a church in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. In the (ECW) Extreme Championship Wrestling, in 1995, Mysterio defeated Psicosis, another Mexican wrestler with whom he had a long feud over the years. This victory kick-started his career in the world of professional American wrestling. His popularity grew with the audiences of ECW.

Popularity
In 1996, Mysterio's reputation skyrocketed in the (WCW) World Championship Wrestling in the Cruiserweight category. His image as the "mystery man", which was used as a marketing gimmick went down very well with the audiences. At The Great American Bash in the WCW, he challenged Dean Malenko in the Cruiserweight division, and although he put up stiff resistance against his opponent, he lost to Malenko who cheated his way to retain his title. At the Bash at The Beach, he wrestled and won against his old foe Psycosis, to earn a shot at the Cruiserweight title. He defeated Dean Malenko on Monday Nitro to win his first Cruiserweight Championship. He defended his title for three months before losing it back to Malenko at Halloween Havoc in a keenly contested fight.

In 1997, he defeated his longtime friend Eddy Guerrero at Halloween Havoc to win his second Cruiserweight Championship, but lost the title back to Guerrero on November 10 at Nitro. On January 15, 1998 Mysterio tasted success for the third time when he defeated Juventud for his third Cruiserweight Crown, although nine days later he lost the title to Chris Jericho. Over the years Rey Mysterio fought several epic battles which led to innumerable victories. In 2002, Mysterio joined (WWE) World Wrestling Entertainment making his debut on SmackDown on July 25, 2002 against Chavo Guerrero, whom he managed to defeat. He formed a tag team partnership with Edge and stunned all by defeating Tajiri and Brock Lesnar in the quarterfinals, but lost to Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in a hard contested final at No Mercy.

In a triple-threat match on March 6, 2003 Mysterio put up stiff resistance against Jamie Noble and Tajiri, and defeated them with his aerial maneuvers. In the 2006 Royal Rumble match, he defeated Randy Orton and earned a shot at the World Heavyweight title in a triple-threat match. At WrestleMania 22, he defeated his opponents Randy Orton and Kurt Angle and won his first World Heavyweight title. Although he was labeled as an underdog, he didn't let the criticism deter his spirit. In 2008 he became the Intercontinental Champion by defeating John "Bredshaw" Laysfield.

Marriage
Rey Mysterio is married to Angelica, with whom he has two children - Dominik and Alayah. He has tattooed the names of his children on both his hands. On January 2009, he announced that his wife was expecting their third child.

Apart from his wrestling career, Rey Mysterio loves to spend time with his friends and family and is truly instrumental in influencing the young generation of wrestlers. Even today, Rey Mysterio continues to baffle audiences the world over with his signature maneuvers.