Rey Mysterio Reflects On His 20th Anniversary, Looks Back On His Debut

Rey Mysterio has been with WWE for 20 years, and the legend says his remarkable journey has flown by.

On the July 25 episode of WWE RAW, Mysterio will celebrate the 20th anniversary of his debut, two decades to the day when he first appeared on SmackDown.

During an appearance on “Ariel Helwani Meets“, the veteran looked back on his debut.

“It felt like they went in the blink of an eye, man,” said Mysterio. “I mean, 2002 I kicked off my career with WWE. Before that, I had been going hard since ‘89, so I roughly about 32 years being in this business.”

As for his specific arrival on WWE TV, Mysterio recalled how he felt leading up to it, noting that it was special just to sign with the company in the first place.

“I remember everything leading into that day, which actually got me excited,” said Mysterio. “First you have to remember that WWE never had superstars with my size, my stature, so it was very hard to see a Rey Mysterio [in WWE.] If I can recall, the only one before me, probably Spike Dudley. Leading into me signing a contract with them, I just heard that Vince wasn’t gonna be about signing little guys. So once that was signed, I was like, ‘Yes, I’m in. Now I just gotta make my appearance.'”

Mysterio then noted that joining WWE was a significant accomplishment for him because he didn’t think it would be possible.

“The ultimate feeling, man,” said Mysterio. “It was a big achievement for me because I thought it was gonna be impossible to be part of that roster.”

Given the way that WWE hadn’t favored competitors of his size, Mysterio described how he believed the marketability of his mask, along with the trust in his skills and the advice of higher-ups like Paul Heyman, convinced Vince McMahon to take a chance on him.

“I think he had trust in what I could bring to the table, and the word of the people surrounding him, like the Bruce Prichards, the Heymans, that said, ‘There’s something special here,'” said Mysterio. “On top of that, I truly believe that the mask was marketable from the get-go, and he did it the right way because WCW never did it.”