The legacy of a masked icon! Rey Mysterio is Hall of Fame bound!

Last night on Smackdown, WWE announced the headliner for this year's Hall Of Fame class, and the man headlining it is none other than the living legend himself, Rey Mysterio! The 48-year-old icon is still an active roster member, but with these recent announcements, I found it fitting to look back on his illustrious career after holding 24 championships in WWE and WCW. Rey started wrestling at 14, after training with his uncle, the legendary luchador Rey Misterio Sr. Rey wrestled all over Mexico in the early 1990s until 1995, when he got a call from Paul Heyman and ECW, While there, Rey had a fantastic feud with Psicosis where he and Psicosis had a heart-stopping best 2 out of 3 falls match and a death match, later on, Rey would start a feud with Juventud Gurrera and have several iconic matches with him until Rey left ECW in March of 1996.

In June of 1996, Rey made his WCW debut facing Dean Malenko in a losing effort, and Rey could not claim the cruiserweight championship. This loss would not break Rey Mysterio (a common trend in his career); the ultimate underdog would go on to Bash at the Beach, face an old rival in Psicosis and defeat him, earning another crack at Dean Malenko. The second time was the charm, and on July 8th, Rey Mysterio would capture his FIRST Championship, defeating Malenko for the cruiserweight championship. In his first title reign, Rey would have the title for three months and successfully defend it against various wrestlers until dropping it back to Dean Malenko. Rey would continue in WCW, having dazzling cruiserweight matchups, and in 1997, Rey received a WCW television title match which he would lose, but he would begin a feud with the red-hot NWO. The rivalry finished with Rey losing to Konnan in a Mexican death match, but even in defeat, Rey Mysterio shined. After a while, fans witnessed a career-defining feud and win when Rey Mysterio began a feud with his best friend, Eddie Guerrero. The rivalry captivated the fans, and at Halloween Havok, the feud ended with a Mask vs. title match. In an exciting match, Rey Mysterio defeated Eddie; most fans consider this the beginning of the rise of cruiserweights and the moment Rey Mysterio put himself on the map. Rey would eventually lose the championship in a rematch with Eddie. He would touch gold again in January of 1998 when he defeated long-time rival Juventud Gurrerrera to capture the title but would lose it to Chris Jericho 9 days later.

Later in 1998, Eddie Guerrero formed a faction called LWO (Latino World Order), and almost every luchador on the roster was a member. Still, Rey refused to join, sparking another feud between the pair. Eventually, a loss to Eddie would force Rey to join the LWO, and Rey would fail to capture the cruiserweight championship on two occasions. The LWO would feud with the NWO in a hair vs. mask match Rey and Konnan lost, and Rey was forced to unmask himself, which is frowned upon in lucha libre. The decision to have Rey unmask was a controversial choice by Eric Bishoff at the time. Looking back at it, I'm not too fond of it, the mask is the most important thing in Lucha Libre, and when they had Rey unmask in a meaningless match after being fed to top stars, it felt like a spit in the face of all Lucha Libre stars. Fortune for Rey, this wasn't a death sentence. After being unmasked, Rey became the "giant killer," defeating larger opponents and even picking up wins over Kevin Nash, Bam Bam Bigelow, and many others; Rey would carry this momentum and capture another cruiserweight championship and even received a world title shot but would lose via disqualification when Arn Anderson attacked Ric so he could retain his title. The screwjob led to Rey and his partner Billy Kidman getting a tag team championship opportunity where he and Kidman would WIN the championships!! This would be Rey's first time becoming a double champion, simultaneously holding the cruiserweight and tag team championships. Eventually, Rey would drop both titles and reclaim the cruiserweight title against Psicosis from 1999 to 2001. Rey would bounce around in feuds and factions like No Limit Soldiers and Filthy Animals. For the first and only time in his career, Rey Mysterio turned heel as a member of Filthy Animals along with his real-life friends Konnan and Eddie Guerrero. After losing his cruiserweight championship Konnan and Rey would defeat Harlem Heat to capture another tag championship reign. Rey would bounce around in feuds until March 26th; Rey and Billy Kidman won the cruiserweight tag team championships on the final episode and became the last champions due to WWE purchasing WCW.

After WCW closed down, Rey wrestled across the indy scene facing various talents until WWE signed Rey in June of 2002 after promos hyping up the debut. Rey Mysterio made his WWE debut on July 25th, 2002, on Smackdown, defeating Chavo Guerrero. The first feud we see Rey in was a high-profile feud with Kurt Angle, culminating with Rey losing to Kurt at Summerslam. A tag team of Edge and Rey Mysterio was formed after Smackdown got their brand-exclusive tag titles, but the duo fell short, losing to Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in the finals. Eventually, the rematch between these two happened in a best two out of three falls match that saw Edge and Rey win the titles, and Rey captured his first championship in WWE! The match was later voted match of the year and is one of my favorite tag matches of all time; it was dramatic, hard-hitting, and a masterclass on what tag team wrestling should be. The tag team would have a solid reign with fun defenses but lost the titles to Los Guerrero. Rey had his first cruiserweight title match in WWE when he faced Matt Hardy in a fantastic match. Rey came up short, losing to Matt, but the pair would have another match this time, and Rey would capture the gold on Smackdown. After winning the title, Rey would hold the title for a few months but begin playing hot potato with Tajiri losing it and winning it back against the Japanese star; after reclaiming his lost title, Rey would successfully defend it against Jamie Noble, he would, unfortunately, lose it to Chavo Guerrero. Rey would chase after Chavo and the title losing at Wrestlemania and failing to reclaim his title. Rey would win it back from Chavo on an episode of Smackdown. Still, unfortunately for Rey, he would drop it to Spike Dudley shortly after.

Rey would find massive success in the tag division once again when he formed a team with Rob Van Dam, but unfortunately for the pair, RVD was sidelined due to an injury, and after losing the titles, they weren't able to pick up where they left off. Rey would team up with long-time rival Eddie Guerrero, and at No Way Out, the pair would win the tag titles together! The champs did not defend their titles at Wrestlemania, and instead, fans got treated to Eddie vs. Rey at the grandest stage of them all, and after a showstopping match, Rey came out on top against his old friend. Eddie would rematch Rey at Judgment Day and again lost, but Rey won by disqualification this time. Finally, we saw where the story was going when Eddie turned on Rey and assaulted him mid-match, and the duo heartbreakingly lost the tag titles. Weeks would go by as Eddie would attack Rey and tease Rey with a "Dark secret," After weeks of wondering, Eddie revealed Rey's son Dominick was his son, citing how Rey and his wife couldn't get pregnant. Eddie gave Dom to them. This story ended at Summerslam when Eddie faced Rey in a ladder match for "The Custody of Dominic," which Rey won, sending the fans home happy. Tragedy struck on November 13th, 2005, when Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room; this loss devastated fans, the roster, and Eddie's family.

Rey was broken over losing his best friend, the man he called his brother, and during an Interbrand show honoring Eddie, we got Shawn Michaels vs. Rey Mysterio to honor the late great Eddie! After a tearjerking affair, the two men embraced in the ring and honored Eddie together. After eliminating Big Show in a survivor series match, WWE kicked off a feud with the two, and it showed off how resilient the underdog Mysterio was! Kane and Big Show repeatedly attacked Rey until Mysterio found an ally in the World Champion Batista. After winning the tag titles with Batista, WWE set up champions vs. champions match with Big Show and Kane vs. Rey and Batista, which Rey and Batista would lose. Unfortunately, Rey and Batista would lose the tag titles when Mark Henry attacked and injured Batista. Due to Batista's injury, the world title was vacated, and Rey attempted to win the title but was eliminated by Mark Henry. For fans, it felt like Rey would never win the big one; he'd get close and fail. It all changed at Royal Rumble; Rey emotionally dedicated the match to Eddie as he drew the number 2 entrance in the Royal Rumble, and magic happened that night! Rey Mysterio survived 29 other men, lasted 62 minutes, and WON the Royal Rumble with the world watching and fighting for his best friends; Rey shocked the world and punched his ticket to Wrestlemania. Unfortunately for Rey, the win came at a price. The underdog had a massive target on his back and was targeted by Randy Orton, and after weeks of taunting Rey over the death of Eddie, fans saw Randy get under the skin of Rey. Mysterio agreed to a match with no way out; if Rey lost, he would lose his Wrestlemania match. General Manager Teddy Long would announce he's adding Rey back into the Wrestlemania match, making it a triple threat match. At Wrestlemania, the unthinkable happened; Rey Mysterio pinned Randy Orton and won the World Heavyweight Championship and once again honoring his best friend, Eddie. Watching Rey win the world title still makes me cry. As a kid, you read comics about superheroes, but for me, Rey Mysterio was a real-life superhero, he made me believe anything is possible, and no matter hard you get hit, you need to get back up! For others, he was a symbol of hope because of his size; no matter how small, Rey was ALWAYS in the fight! Rey proved size is no limitation. For millions of children worldwide, Rey Mysterio was a real-life superhero.

The reign of Rey Mysterio was interesting; they kept the underdog persona going strong, having the world champ fight from behind and mount impressive comebacks. Rey would defeat Randy Orton and Kurt Angle quickly into his reign, but one of his first real feuds as a champion was JBL. JBL tortured Rey over a few weeks by forcing the smaller star to wrestle giants like Kane, Great Khali, and Mark Henry, Rey would lose 2 of them, and one ended in a "no contest." Still, despite all of JBL's hurdles, Rey managed to come out on top and retain over the nasty champion. The feud got so intense JBL promised if he lost to Rey, he would leave Smackdown, and in a brutal battle once again, Rey came out on top and sent JBL away. In other months, Rey retained the title over Sabu and Mark Henry in exciting matches, finally leading to a feud with King Booker. After weeks of trading verbal barbs and battles, Rey would lose the world title to King Booker due to Chavo Guerrero interfering. Chavo's shocking heel turn led to a personal war between Chavo and Rey because he felt like Rey was using his Uncle Eddie and the Guerrero family name to become a star. This ridiculously personal rivalry would boil over in an I Quit match on Smackdown, where we saw Chavo defeat Rey and force him off the TV while Rey got knee surgery. At Summerslam, Rey returned triumphantly, defeating Chavo and finally putting the horror behind him. After defeating Chavo for redemption, Rey would find himself a triple threat for the world title, which he would lose. After this, Rey would enter a short feud with Finley giving Rey some much-needed momentum to help build him back up to face Edge. Rey would be unable to defeat Edge for the title and, in the process, got injured. On draft day, Rey was drafted to Raw and found immediate success challenging for the world title occasionally but failed each time to capture gold.

At Wrestlemania 25, Rey would challenge an old rival in JBL for the intercontinental championship in 25 seconds! After winning, Rey would battle Chris Jericho for the title defeating him the first time, but he lost it the second time because Jericho pulled Rey's mask off and pinned him. This led to a final match between the men in a "title vs. mask" match, and once again, Rey came out on top, winning his championship back and saving his mask. Rey would successfully defeat Dolph to retain the title but would lose it to John Morrison quickly. Fans were treated to Rey teaming up with his best friend Batista in a losing effort to win the tag titles, but unfortunately, in a fatal four-way, Rey cost Batista the win, and the two friends had a falling out when Batista attacked him. The former friends immediately went to battle, where Batista would viciously attack Rey and when they met for a shot at the world title Rey came out as the winner, but a bitter Batista attacked Rey and ruined his shot at glory. Due to Batista interfering, the WWE set up a steel cage match to end the feud; after a grueling affair, Rey would defeat his former friend and receiver a proper world title shot which he would lose. The feud that happened after is iconic for Rey and his fans because we witnessed Rey vs. Cm Punk and his Straight Edge Society. In this feud, wrestling got an iconic moment when Cm Punk crashed Rey's daughter's birthday and sang a chilling and unsettling "happy birthday," ruining the young girl's day and making her cry. At Wrestlemania, we saw Punk vs. Mysterio in a heated matchup. Cm Punk added the stipulation that if Rey lost, he would have to join the Straight Edge Society, and at Wrestlemania, Rey came out on top, but unfortunately for Rey, his rival wasn't done. In the Rematch, Cm Punk defeated Rey and saved his hair since Rey said he would have to shave his head if Punk lost. This set up the ultimate payoff match, and for the final time at Over The Limit in a Hair vs. Mask match, Rey defeated Punk and shaved his rival bald!

Finally, in a fatal four-way, Rey captured his second world title, but right after he won, Kane cashed in his Money in the Bank case and got a title match. Kane cashed in on Rey winning, the exhausted hero was quickly defeated, and Rey lost his world title and could not win it back in the rematch. After this, Rey began helping the young talent by entering a feud with Alberto Del Rio, who was at the time a rising Mexican star. WWE felt Del Rio was their next great Mexican star; Rey would lose a match to Del Rio by submission, which led to the pair constantly fighting. When Team Smackdown faced Team Raw, Rey and Alberto fought despite being on the same team! This led to a Survivor Series matchup with Team Mysterio Vs. Team Del Rio and in a bitter matchup, Team Mysterio won, and to end the rivalry, Rey faced Del Rio in a best two out of three falls match, Del Rio would win (by count out), and Rey did everything he could to push Del Rio as the next Mexican star. The following job for Rey was to help put the young Cody Rhodes into the spotlight in a very exciting feud. For the Storyline, Rey accidentally broke Cody Rhodes's nose, ruining his "dashing" challenge, and turned the egotistical heel into an insane heel bent on destruction. Cody would get one of the biggest wins of his young career in this feud, defeating Rey at Wrestlemania! Mysterio would defeat Cody in the rematch to send the fans home happy, but Cody shined bright like a star the entire feud and often pushed the future Hall of Famer to his limit. Rey was drafted to Raw and immediately entered a feud with old rival CM Punk, where the pair would exchange wins, culminating when Punk defeated Rey. When CM Punk left the WWE with the WWE Championship, they had the title vacant, so Rey won the Tournament and was crowned WWE champion! He wanted to be a fighting champion, so he accepted John Cena's challenge, and later that night, he lost it to Cena. Nearing the end of his first run in WWE, Rey was in a tag team and was tasked to mentor the new Mexican star Sin Cara; after a few months, Rey felt the team was going nowhere, so he took some time away from WWE, and the team was ended. During his final few months, Rey would bounce around, facing many opponents and helping elevate younger stars until February 26th, 2015. WWE announced Rey's contract had expired, and his 13 years in the company ended.

After leaving WWE, fans saw Rey travel the world competing in many different promotions like AAA, Lucha Underground, and New Japan. Fans also got treated to seeing Rey appear in regional promotions! It was amazing to see because of the notoriety of Rey Mysterio; these small promotions got huge turnouts helping them grow and prosper. Even now, Rey is giving back to wrestling by giving others a chance to shine and help promotions grow. Mysterio would events return to the company, starting his second tenure in WWE; he returned at the Royal Rumble and got back into action facing an old rival in Randy Orton; Rey would face Randy in a Chairs match and won it, ending the feud with the vindictive viper. Rey started chasing the US title but would lose to champion Samoa Joe on several occasions; it felt like Joe was a mountain Rey couldn't overcome! That changed at the Money In The Bank Pay-Per-View when Rey pinned Samoa Joe. The title win was special because Rey became company history's twenty-first Grand slam champion. Unfortunately for Rey, he was injured after the win and had to return the title to Samoa Joe. Quickly into his return from injury, Rey and his son Dominick found themselves in the crosshairs of the Beast Incarnate Brock Lesner, Brock injured and attacked Dominick forcing Rey to call in an old friend, Cain Velazquez, who was also a former rival of Brock dating back to their UFC days. Brock defeats Cain and attacks him after the match, but Rey makes the save by attacking Brock with a chair; this sends Brock into a rage, leading to Brock leaving Smackdown and joining Raw to hunt for Rey. Finally, at Survivor Series, Brock Lesner defeated Rey in a match and left Rey and Dom defeated in the ring. Rey's feud with Seth Rollins was interesting, to say. After losing an "eye for an eye" match, Rey began teaming up with his son Dominick to battle Rollins and Murphy. The Mysterio family would spend a few months pursuing the tag team championships but would fail. Still, finally, the father-son team would defeat Dolph and Bobby for the Smackdown Tag Team Champions becoming the first EVER father-son tag champions. Things would quickly pickup because after Rey and Dom defeated The Usos in a controversial ending where fans saw Jimmy have his shoulder up, but the ref missed it. A rematch was called for, and Roman Reigns, the Universal champion, was furious over the events. In the rematch, Dom and Rey won, but it was by disqualification when Roman viciously assaulted Rey and Dom; Rey would come out and challenge Roman to a Hell In A Cell match. Roman never answered and was attacked by Rey wielding a kendo stick! Rey was overpowered, and Dominick joined in on the brawl but was power bombed onto the outside of the ring, injuring Dom. Mysterio was so upset he changed the Hell In A Cell match to Smackdown, which ended up being the first cell match on cable TV. Rey would be defeated by Roman in the brutal title match, unable to capture the universal title, and at Money In The Bank, Rey and Dom lost their titles to The Usos. In 2022 Rey and Dom began a feud with The Judgment Day because they kept trying to recruit Dom to join them, and each time he declined, leading to Judgment Day attacking The Mysterio family. A returning Edge would help turn the tides and help Rey and Dom defeat Priest and Finn in a tag team match. The feud would continue to Clash At The Castle, where Rey and Edge defeated Finn and Priest, but Dominick, after the match, hit Edge with a low blow and clotheslined his father. Rey was heartbroken when his Dom turned his back on his father; he asked to be moved to Smackdown to avoid his son.

The feud with Dominick is still ongoing, and WWE has begun using social media to promote this feud. Dom and Rhea attacked Rey during Thanksgiving because Rey wouldn't let them in the house, the pair would try again on Christmas, harassing Rey and his wife Angie, but the cops would be called, and Dom was arrested for trespassing. Dom's refusal to leave his father alone would frustrate fans worldwide when Dom attacked Rey backstage and cost him a spot in the Royal Rumble. Even now, he refuses to leave Rey alone, he gets announced as a Hall of Famer, and Dom takes any chance to mock and attack his father calling him a "deadbeat" and complaining Rey was never there for Dom. It has gotten so disgusting Santos Escobar has come to Rey's defense many times protecting the Lucha legend. This feud has been widely entertaining, and fans chomp at their fingers to see Rey kick his son's ungrateful ass. Dom has now challenged Rey to a Wrestlemania match but has refused; once Rey accepts the challenge and faces Dom at Wrestlemania, we will be treated to an exciting and emotional matchup!

Rey Mysterio has had a long, illustrious career winning many championships and having remarkable matches. He changed the game for every underdog and smaller wrestler, showing them size means nothing and that anyone can climb the ladder to the main event spot. So many people were inspired to become pro wrestlers because of Rey and his high-flying action. For children worldwide, Rey Mysterio was a hero who came to life! It was like he leaped out of the pages of a comic book and started entering the world. The fans and Rey always had a special bond! Each time he came out, he would embrace everyone, man, woman, and child. Rey is beloved by everyone. As a kid, I was always jealous of the kids who met Rey because he'd do the same thing, take off his extra mask, hand it to the young fan and press his forehead against the fan's forehead, and would embrace the fan with a special message. Only a few people have impacted the business, like Rey Mysterio, so to see him in the Hall of Fame will be a special moment, and he's getting what he deserves.