What Do You Wanna Talk About? - Rey Mysterio

10:00Steph McMahon:I asked about a favorite mask I often wonder is there one that caused you the most trouble is there a mask that was your least favorite yes I love that

10:14Rey Mysterio:outfit very much again we were we were always coming up with like okay what can we do this here what can we do for this pay-per-view and WrestleMania 21 which was the first WrestleMania goes Hollywood yeah Eddie Eddie and I opened up that show. And the mask was cool. The outfit was cool. We did a version of my tattoos at the time. It was a chest piece and it had Mexican across the stomach. And in the back, he did the design of my spine tattoo with the rib cage on the back. And the mask was made out of like a latex material. This is the first time he had done something like that. but it kept unbuttoned from the bottom.

11:02Rey Mysterio:And if you see throughout the whole match, I'm fixing and fixing my mask and I'm strapping it back on. And it was just a pain. Like I think about that happening to me now at my age, I'd freak out. Back then, I don't know how I handled it, but it's like being in there with Eddie is like, you feel pressure, but at the same time, you know you have to put on your wrestling boots.

11:26Steph McMahon:Yeah.

11:27Rey Mysterio:So I was trying to lace up my boots and the mask at the same time and not letting Eddie down. Right. But for some reason, man, God is always on our side and he made it work perfectly well that night. Yeah, but that was one of the masks that I loved. I just struggled throughout that whole match trying to keep it on.

11:49Steph McMahon:It would slip and move. there's a specific i think it's uh greco roman knuckle lock fall back where you both bridge up in that match am i yes yeah okay yeah you don't see that that often it just came to my mind because i thought like oh i remember this where they both bridge up i think a double cover and then a double bridge or something yes like maybe monkey flip into it i feel like it's a deep cut on this but i thought like this is um speaking of eddie of course one of my favorite things we do here and the soul that exists in the warehouse is we always try to throw up some of the items that relate to the to the guest or to the situation and there's eddie's i love it it's right there it was locals yeah yeah i love it you know we dom and i when when uh he claimed that i was his father not

12:38Rey Mysterio:anymore i don't know why we did a tribute to eddie and love machine at our first wrestlemania together Yeah. In Texas.

12:46Steph McMahon:Yeah. And we just did a newer version.

12:50Rey Mysterio:So I wore the Mexican and he wore the American colors, but it was a tribute to Los Gringos Locos. Did you ever have a chance to see Art Bar wrestle?

13:01Steph McMahon:That's what I was going to ask you. I saw Art Bar wrestle, and it seems like, and this is probably not the best parallel, but there's wrestlers you hear about all the time, Dick Murdoch, Ray Stevens, Art Bar is one as well, that I feel like there's not enough. Right. In terms of you hear great things, but it didn't move to another, it's limited to a period of time or however it went. But speak to that, just because I've only ever heard amazing. And the tag run that I did see in these jackets is unreal.

13:33Rey Mysterio:Crazy enough, I was better friends at the time with Art Bar than with Eddie for some reason. some weird reason art and i just got along very well yeah um but his uh i sometimes think if it if it was because of the era that we were going through at that time no social media everything was word of mouth vhs yeah um um the uh observer that was your only point of reference to yeah who was up and coming so maybe that's why and because he left us way too soon yeah he never got to that peak where i think if he was still around when eddie made it to that peak that he would have

14:22Cody Rhodes:been right there next to him uh-huh yeah he was just so that good absolutely yeah wait coming in oh coming in that's on the house you knew somebody thank you so much well this is a first

14:35Steph McMahon:Salud. Typically, salud, thank you.

14:42Oh, wow.

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16:54be the junior but Dom is a massive fixture of WWE and the fans feel one way

17:01Steph McMahon:about Dom or however they may feel and Dom obviously in unique subject but I saw something that I was very touched to see and no matter what a relationship is of course I I didn't want to bother you because I I just was touched to see it I I was watching you watch him in Boston. And I don't know what else to say other than I was really grateful I got to see that. Because we talked about you and I had wrestling at WrestleMania before. Right. That's my first singles match on a pay-per-view at WWE at all. It happens to be at WrestleMania. That was in Atlanta, right? in Atlanta and happens to be against former world champion, all the things that make up Rey Mysterio.

17:54Steph McMahon:But there is a moment where when it was done, my dad had a Blackberry, and I just remember Blackberry's had the little ball, and obviously like old dude as well, there's that lack of understanding of technology. Once you get one thing down, it's like the one thing you know how to do. But I remember watching him watch us down the hall, and he just took a picture of us talking. And I very much knew that that was just for him. That was just to be there. So I just wanted to share that with you, that I got to watch you watch him. And it's really wild, and it has to be for you to see some of these were children, kids.

18:43Steph McMahon:This, you know, like I think you met Ashley, you know, Charlotte. I think you met Ashley. Like, again, you're talking about the Phantom, right? That's 12 years old for me. And those were the questions I'd ask after the WCW was so, those pay-per-views, Halloween Havoc, they were so fun because for the regular fan, we were rewarded with, you got to see these amazing matches. It's like nobody wanted to put the shift in. They had their main event scene, whatever it was. These amazing matches that everyone was cooking. Everyone. Raven is doing something crazy. You're doing something crazy. Eddie's doing something crazy.

19:24Steph McMahon:Not just the Cruiserweight. There were genuine character pieces that were happening. And then the NWO scene would take that, whatever it may be. But it's almost like the show built in a way that it worked for everyone. A casual fan, a hardcore fan. There was something special. but I remember how fondly on commentary they would speak about you and how quick it all happened. Because it was just a few times we saw you, and the next thing you know it was entrenched in you being the lead dog in the cruiserweight division. And the kind of trading back and forth that you have with a Dean, that you have with an Eddie, is so...

20:02Steph McMahon:I guess I'm asking more because obviously I was a massive fan of it and remember a great bit of it. But I ask more what it's like backstage when you're in a place like that, doing what you were doing. Because you guys were out there. You had time.

20:16Cody Rhodes:Yeah, yeah, we did. To work and tell stories, yeah.

20:19Rey Mysterio:And I remember your dad being part of that commentating team.

20:22Steph McMahon:Yeah.

20:24Rey Mysterio:And he would always speak wonders every time I was in the ring. And at the time, I didn't recall it. Yeah. Going back and watching stuff like that, I can hear him now and and oh wow like he never had always spoke very positive about my work and what I delivered and that was very he loved you oh I loved

20:49Steph McMahon:him to come back and he talked about you and because there was questions and you know Mike Denae was right there to fill out a lot of details that maybe you didn't know but he I think he fell in with the familia of it the the like all this guy's same with Eddie like I remember not knowing who Eddie was and he kind of set me down so I always felt like I had a heads up over all my friends I was sitting there like you don't know that right this is such and such from this family and they you know he he'd have that information but I think it's something that the psychology is there's another thing I want to ask you about being a lighter heavyweight in a company of giants right and how you not only survive but thrive the psychology of that was fun for him to be Part of on commentary yes the rooting for somebody and they they're you being one of the few who could find a way right?

21:38Rey Mysterio:Well, I was always very Open-minded and still to this day to listen yeah Whether he has more years on top of my experience or less years if there's a suggestion and Or an opinion on how the match should go in a certain direction I'm all about it And at that time, especially entering WCW, I was being guided the majority of the times on how to work this particular American style.

22:12Cody Rhodes:Yeah. Coming from everything being so fast, no count outs and just doing whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted.

22:21Rey Mysterio:So the first one to teach me that was Dean.

22:25Cody Rhodes:Oh, wow.

22:25Rey Mysterio:was just incredible at just putting pieces together. And I would tell him, I would love to do this. Where can we throw this in? And that's how I started learning how to kind of just put the puzzle together. But Dean was a very fundamental key on the uprising of my career in WCW with the very first match, thinking that now I know what a dark match is or a tryout match. Sure. Back then I didn't know what a tryout match. So what what it was? me going in to do my first wrestling show for WCW I'm thinking yeah, they're gonna probably throw me in before the pay-per-view starts and This was bash at the beach Washington on Baltimore.

23:20Rey Mysterio:I'm sorry and I'm thinking okay. Well I'm sure we're probably going to be the first match opening the show and then obviously they're going to lead into the pay-per-view no it was the first match on the pay-per-view and I literally started to panic in a good way so I was like oh shit I've never wrestled Dean before I studied him, tried to pick up a little bit on what he did but the connection was instant and I felt like I was very easy to adapt with whoever it was that I was stepping in the ring with. And that really gave me a lot of confidence to eventually wrestle a Regal. Later on in WWE, a Kurt Angle.

24:07Rey Mysterio:It was, I guess, the passion and the love that I have for this sport that just made me blend in with whatever style that was brought up to me at the time.

24:20Steph McMahon:Which is so cool. It's so funny you brought up Dean. There's a synergy here to, Dean one time was in the ring teaching all of us just a house show, pre-alive event, and he said something, because somebody was asking about calling spots. He said something I'll never forget. He says, you don't always have to call spots. Right. If I hook you like this and throw my arm here, I'm going to suplex you. He said something about the connection, the physical connection. If I've got you, you know where we're going. If I tuck you in like this, if there's three routes here, you know what those three routes are.

24:58And I always thought that's genius because really the idea of just counting on your person to be professional

25:06Steph McMahon:and have enough in the bank to know I could do this, I could do this, I could just reverse out of it, whatever it may be, instead of yelling it or speaking in carny or whatever it may be. And I thought, I don't think that's a thing that's taught, which is wild to me. Here you are going to this pay-per-view match, and that's somebody that, because when you have chemistry with somebody, you want to work them all the time. I won't say who, because this was just recent, but I just wrestled somebody on TV, where right away I thought, ooh. This is special. This is special. And, yep. And I wanted to let as many people know as I could.

25:40Steph McMahon:Right. We're not doing live events anymore, no, but still the nature of being in there with someone who gets me or feel we just have a we're clicking right um and you and dean absolutely it's yeah yeah it's crazy going back and just thinking about those moments

25:58Rey Mysterio:or those that first stage of being able to work with him it's like wow like we really created magic which I felt at the time I hadn't jumped to many opponents. Yeah. The only opponents that I really had a good connection was Psychosis, which was the number one. Juventud Guerrera. Yeah. Which was number two. Movie. And to me, another guy that I connected with was Heavy Metal. Yeah. Nego Ocaso's younger brother. You know, besides that, I would have good matches, decent matches with other wrestlers. But Mexico was so used to doing three versus three. two versus two single matches were only for a title a mask versus mask or a hair versus mask so you didn't get to see many of those uh single matches so you connected with pretty much whoever was in front of you uh of the three opponents but here uh going into wcw was the majority were single matches yeah and that was that's what really kind of opened up my confidence to be able to trust other wrestlers on a one-on-one sure and I feel

27:12Steph McMahon:like this there's a just from an observation standpoint because I watched so much of wrestling throughout the day and that's an era that I was we were all into it it's it's very fun to watch an incredibly young adult crowd right college college age whereas today it's so many young kids and families that Attitude era and Monday Night Wars peak that WCW run in W.O. Run is a lot of college age yep rowdy With a bit of ignorance and not a negative way, but they're just coming to have a good time, right? And it's very fun to see people that perhaps they had no idea were wrestling mm-hmm Absolutely take the crowd on a ride Dean power bombing a dude power bombing you may be coming off the ropes and getting the near fall that it's like they took the opportunity that was in front all of you took this opportunity because that era is obviously clearly talked about so much with what happened with the cruiserweights and what happened but that couldn't there's a chance that that doesn't happen if you don't have the right people there's a chance that they i don't where's i don't like this you know and instead instantly ultimo dragon you eddie like it's what a class yeah of people that's why i wondered what it's like or what it was like backstage for for that when you're in that company and is it a chip on the shoulder is it more of a confidence and having fun uh is it learning is it was it incredibly

28:45Rey Mysterio:pressure filled i i think from from my point of view i think because of what you just said of fans maybe going in to to see what the nwo was doing at the time um you know we slowly started capturing that audience to become like more and more focused not on what was happening with the nwo but what was happening that cruiserweight division all these guys are coming in with masks but from my point of view i think it was more of let's go out there and let's go have some fun let's go do what we love to do. I've always went out thinking I'm putting everything out there. Whatever it is they can let me do, I'm going to put it out there.

29:32Rey Mysterio:It was always very enjoyable. Obviously, you knew with who you can really let yourself go. Obviously, Eddie was one of them. Jericho was another dean. Overall, that whole division, Dragon, And we would go out there and just put on really good matches. The psychology wasn't quite there all the way yet, but we were all learning in the process. And I learned so much from all the guys that I just mentioned over the years on how to eventually start toning it down. But I think that happens to everyone. When you're on the rise, you're just willing to do and take whatever to go out there and entertain, right?

30:23Rey Mysterio:And that was my case back then. We talked about Dusty on commentary and how he talked about you.

30:32Steph McMahon:Dusty, how he explained some of the guys. Where's he from? What's his story? Get some information. There's always times when in conversations that my dad's brought up where I'm of the thought, I don't really want to talk about my dad. Or, oh man, here we are talking about Dream again. But one thing I thought, I was like, oh, I hope, I think classic wrestling booker, producer 101 sometimes is going, that's my guy. That's my girl. There's something about them. Like you saw something they did one night or two nights and whatever it may be, and that's my guy. That's what it was. It was, that's my guy.

31:11Steph McMahon:You know, a couple matches in with Dean, whatever. I mean, that's my guy and I wanted to bring this up because there's someone today that I was watching I can't believe I'm gonna say it because I don't have a great reaction like interaction with them There was a guy I was watching and I shared it with one other legend backstage the other day because I thought if my dad was still alive That'd be his guy and it was solo Sokoa. Oh, wow, and I couldn't figure it out I'm like he would just eat him up like that just something about exactly what you just said go out there and take what i have but also we're gonna have a good time right we're gonna have a good time like there's pressure you know when you get to those points when there's pressure and it's almost like that's all there is well this is just all pressure and then there's also we're gonna have a good time right this play you know mgm grand's losing their mind this is another you know uh monday night sellout or our wcw pay-per-view sellout We get it.

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33:23Steph McMahon:And it works with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for a live session based on over 1.7 million client reviews. Sign up and get 10 % off at BetterHelp.com slash Cody. That's BetterHelp.com slash Cody. Because we talked about it a little bit and you mentioned contemporaries in terms of Lucha Libre and doing the psychology of the differences. right now with WWE and AAA and this this partnership and everything that's going on do you feel I don't know do you feel there's a misconception about Lucha Libre or do you feel there's something that people don't know yet that they'll see with this I think that it could be

34:07Rey Mysterio:interpreted both ways you know they're they're probably waiting to see a little bit more yeah of the lucha style, but it was only an acquisition. And I think eventually when the time is right and everything lines up, there might be some interaction between talent. But I think overall, lucha libre is the same. The same it was 20, 30 years ago when we first came into WCW on the scene. You know, it hasn't changed. The mask still means the same. The only thing that I think we're trying to incorporate, which we have done over the years on the Mexican side, is taking away those two out of three falls, just doing that one fall, which now the fans are very adapted to.

34:59Rey Mysterio:But overall, I think the American fans want to see who's out there that we haven't seen yet that we would like to see. sure like give us uh something new a new parka a new uh uh silver king you know what's that next generation that's up and coming like at one point we left triple a to come over yeah who are those guys and i think we've seen a little bit of them yeah mr iguana you know psycho clown yeah who's a generational as well yeah you know um and it was funny because i was just remembering what you just said about solo another generational yeah wrestler grew up in it got a little bit of sense about do you think there's something about that that just pulls you in even more once you're in i think it

35:49Steph McMahon:pulls you in i think it makes you very responsible to the business you feel responsible to this fed me now it's got to keep feeding me or in solo's case feed my family now so as fun and silly as the job sometimes looks on paper it's it's business right and also having seen a dad or a mom go through it you get a sense of you get a really you get a college education on the industry before you ever have an elementary school I think that's why I always if you're a second or third generation I always think great, you know a lot go train with somebody completely different though Right, I can just teach you how to hold someone's wrists on an arm ringer Right, because you don't get that from dad or mom always, you know, a lot of that is the deeper Hey, this is why that worked and this is why that happened and and to combine the two is amazing But you feel a responsibility to it.

36:47Steph McMahon:Yeah I've told you about what happened with me and psycho clown, right? No. Oh, it's great. I psycho clowns such a class act. Yes. Gave me a mask. I got it on the bus. But if you don't know AAA or Lucha and you see that mask, you'd think I was a serial killer in my side gig. But he signed this mask. So I did Triple Mania a few years ago. And Triple Mania, you know, it's a little bit, I'd say, production, WWE's production is absurd, right? Right, right. So it feels like anytime you're wrestling anywhere else, you, you know, Maybe the productions of hair down are a little fast and loose a little different Right, just different different right just different.

37:29Steph McMahon:Yeah, he was shooting fire out of a guitar And I was in this like Astro crag like stage setting and I was just coming out and I was just doing American Nightmare stuff Right, it was pretty like I was really there just to kind of do the Jimmy Dugan. Hey guys, you know But he had called this great match and he was a just everything he was I couldn't ask for a better person to walk in the locker room be like, yeah, sure man. Thank you I will return this favor whenever, you know, but he's shooting fire out of his guitar and my head is here in this thing ready to come up and dude is just full fire and it is right by my head and I thought like the stage is made of wood.

38:09Steph McMahon:I thought like this is the most like triple A moment. Like it was such a cool entrance, but you would have never today.

38:19Cody Rhodes:Did he catch you a little bit? No, not at all, but I remember thinking like

38:22Steph McMahon:no one even told me yeah that brother is just gonna be fired yeah it was that is great it was honestly it was a great like that arena to arena mexico and all that it's just a good moment yeah i'm so glad to see him that was a triple a show right that's triple mania yeah wow yeah i want to ask because you mentioned who's next right in terms of and no spoilers or anything to that nature but i know um in terms of who who's on our current you know roster with pinta and and and ray and and is there someone who we don't know yet who you think's finding the way it seems like

39:02Rey Mysterio:there's a class so it's funny you mentioned penta and fenix yeah uh because they were at one point triple a all the way oh yeah as a matter of fact i had a chance to meet up with them for the first time in triple a back in mid 2000 uh 2014 15 uh when we were doing that whole lucha underground scene and very talented yeah i was eventually they're gonna they're gonna be in in wwe yeah And obviously they made it into WWE before the acquisition of AAA. So they have a huge future ahead of them here. But overall, I think, I know the son of Dr. Wagner is very good. Okay. I know Hijo del Viquingo is also incredible.

40:00Rey Mysterio:Yeah. He does some pretty amazing things. Yeah. But it's also like how, I remember when I was doing a lot of crazy stuff, and I don't know, maybe I'm outdated now by trying to give advice to talent like Hijo del Viquingo on trying not to do much and just make what you do seem logical. Yeah. But then I asked myself, am I just trying to hold them back? Or am I really, like, I am being honest with them. Yeah. I just I don't want him to get hurt. I want him to be safe and make a good career. Yeah, but or is Just simply the business changing to where it's at now. Yeah, what do you do?

40:47Steph McMahon:Well, no, I think I think There's something to be said for hey take what you do make it mean more Right where you can maybe do a little less from a longevity standpoint, but also I wonder what is Ray at Halloween Havoc thinking right because when you're not and I don't want to use I'm very selective about the word over because I feel like it's pretty misused in wrestling. But when you're not popular, just not even popular or not known, that's your opportunity to swing. Go for the fences. And the last thing I think you want to hear is don't. Don't. But there just comes a point where you do go, you know, I don't have to empty the pockets here.

41:32Steph McMahon:I'm going to leave a few. not because of laziness because of the longer story we're telling and that yeah and i feel like it's a discretionary thing on it's very tough to know when you're kevin owen said something once in a random documentary that i saw that i'll never forget he said kevin kevin said a lot of guys say they're old school but what they actually mean is they're lazy and i thought oof because you do meet a guy a lot of guys are like oh let's take the bumps limit the bumps yeah yeah some of them you're like for what yeah we're not even you're not working next week man like for what you know like um so i i i wonder and i mean you named guys that are all penta i i adore penta yeah yeah um and phoenix and and the kingo it's just and clown and there's so much to to come but i think i don't know if anyone will understand this but one of my favorite things about penta is a few times i worked him i have no clue what he's talking about but then i'll fully know what he's talking about because it's always the same it's like me you uh uh canadian uh you me and my brother that's the mexican card dude it's wild because i'd be like okay so canadian you you're right up you canadian me phoenix comes in head scissors like because it's always my brother yeah i dude i just i would get such a kick out of like i'd i'd hear him talking to someone when we weren't working i'd be like how do you have a clue what pennies like ah yeah me idea you know sometimes like in new japan is like idea my idea and you're because i remember one time i was uh i was with brandy overseas in japan she heard me talking to abushi yes and after she's like you can't talk to people like that and i said no no no that's that's how that everyone's

43:20Cody Rhodes:talking i'm not saying like i my idea it's how the broken it's how we work she thought it was yeah she thought i was like disrespecting him like no no no that's the same way but man when

43:30Steph McMahon:pinta every he talks to me i always just i'd hear him and he's such he's such a protector for his brother yes oh yeah brother he's a big brother oh my god my brother oh yeah they're so freaking

43:41Rey Mysterio:talented oh so incredible you know funny enough uh the same person that discovered me in psychosis is the same person that found Penta and Fenix. K-Dog? Conan, yeah. Yeah, it's crazy. Like, to see that full circle, like, okay, AAA beginning, career opens up, now we're here, doesn't get any bigger, and vice versa for them, like, it's the same.

44:09Steph McMahon:It's amazing. He's one of the ones, I always love when the legends come to TV. I love now that talent relations lets us know who's coming to TV. I think that's the nicest little thing. Sometimes I have to hide because there's a lot of, when you're second generation, there's a lot of dad, uncle, brother, sister, a lot of talk. Right, right. And we might be busy. Right. You know, so you don't ever, the legend, you never want to be like, okay. Yeah. Gotta pull it. Disrespective. Exactly. I would never. he's one of the ones that in the few interactions i've had a man-to-man sit-down moment with i walked away thinking like geez how smart how thank you you know like i remember i sat here with bruce one time and i remember all the stuff bruce was saying i was just

44:59Rey Mysterio:needing to hear it and i was like a little treasure oh my gosh and i was with conan we

45:04Steph McMahon:were in Mexico and we were in a he was driving me back to the hotel he was talking about listening to new music even if you don't like new music you should listen to new music because the kids are listening to new music and the last thing you want to do is present something as cool that's not cool and it was just the simplest of things yeah but to hear it from him and then also see what a track record look at all that in the 90s look at now it's still going just ear to the ground um because Because I think that's a big secret about the legend, the real legend types, is they're not relegated to an era.

45:40Steph McMahon:Right. Like if you were to ask probably your favorite wrestler, the biggest legend in your career, what he would think of wrestling today, I bet you they'd like it. Right. I know that from my perspective, when we were at the Netflix premiere, I was all emotional, because I kept thinking about all the guys who worked so that they could have an international appeal like that, so that they could be, so yeah, it's changed.

46:07Cody Rhodes:Yeah.

46:07Steph McMahon:Yeah, it's dangerous. Yeah, the psychology is different, but the game goes on, if that makes any sense. Yeah, yeah, it does. Conan, though. Mm-hmm, yeah. Genius. Yeah.

46:20Rey Mysterio:Yeah. Yeah, and he's always stayed on top of, like you said, what's the new song? you should listen to it like he's always been on top of just uh generational culture yeah you know overall just uh to stay uh you know at the same level of the game whatever that game is yeah yeah i always want to do the rolling clothesline but i always if you ever just see a random brother just rolled and do a clothesline because it was such a it was so simple so simple and a

46:52Steph McMahon:good old hey anyone can do it really if you can do a forward roll nobody does it nobody does Does it? Yeah. Wow. Now, after this airs, I want to pull out a rolling clothesline. I don't beat you to it. Yeah, he does roll a new clothesline.

47:07Cody Rhodes:Big news. WWE and sports fans, the world's number one sports fan festival, Fanatics Fest, is making its return to New York City. Fanatics is bringing you closer to the leagues, teams, superstars, and athletes you love across four action-packed days in July. Meet your favorite WWE superstars. Get your hands on exclusive merch, catch live podcasts, and interact with the biggest names in sports.

47:30Steph McMahon:Tickets are on sale now, and fans of the podcast can use code CODY10 at checkout for 10 % discount. Head to FanaticsFest.com to get your tickets today. Oh, man. That's crazy. I waited this long, and I feel like this room is quite aware of what I'm going to tell you. I feel you're aware of, because we've talked about WrestleMania, you and I, before. I don't know if we've ever had it discussed to me. Like, I don't know if I've ever been able to relate to you my perspective on that. WrestleMania.

48:07Steph McMahon:The whole process is unique because, man, we're talking about him again. Dean Malenko. Standing in the ring at TV. You're on the other side of the ring holding court. You know, one of the most beloved guys in all locker rooms. Thank you. Like, the Snoop Dogg of wrestling. just loved everywhere, you. And he comes over to me and goes, hey, Rey has a choice for WrestleMania, and he wants to wrestle you. And, you know, it's presented in a pretty formal way. And I'm doing Dashing Cody Rhodes at the time. I got on SmackDown, so I got away from Teddy and Randy. I'm really just doing my own thing. Michael Hayes is always the way Michael Hayes is with me.

48:48Steph McMahon:Half takes me under his wing. Half also is like, no, he's not mine. You know, like I'm half in. So he's all excited about it. He's writing the show But I came up to you. I was like, hey, I that's amazing and you said yeah I think we should have good Matt. It was just simple as I could have good matches I was like, okay, well, I'm gonna write something and I'll call you and you're like, yeah, call me anytime Okay, so then for the next five days, I think I texted you and Just nothing ghosted and I thought oh well, maybe it was just like not meant to be, but no matter what, I'll have something. I'll write something out.

49:28Steph McMahon:So I start writing out the angle a little bit of how we could get into it. And some random what I'd call ancillary ideas. We could do this with the mass. We could do that. I'm writing it out. Another full week goes by. Ghost. Without getting anything. Nothing, nothing. And I'm thinking, okay, well, things do change. This was also incredibly, like, at this point, I am self-aware enough to know it was a really nice moment by the ring if things change they change can't get married to anything in wrestling I can't but then I think it's the BOK Center is or it was called the BOK Center But I walk in and I haven't spoke to you and I have the sheet I sent you which was a full gridded out WrestleMania program right in like a laminate folder that you present in high school like as a presentation i have it in my backpack i have three of them and uh i walk in and you're standing right by uh the door to vince's office and you're right there and you just said hey i'm gonna go in there and and and talk with him you want to come with me and i just got to the building so i'm like yeah so i like put my bags in and um and we walk in and you legit it It just happened so fast, I'll never forget it.

50:46Steph McMahon:You just started right away. You go, hey, just so you know, I would like to wrestle Cody at WrestleMania, and we're interested in that. And the next thing you know, he looks over at me. He's almost not irritated with you, but irritated with me being in the room. And he goes, well, you got any ideas? Yeah. Pulled it out of my backpack. Yes. Handed it to him. And then he said the same thing you said. he goes okay we'll do it it'll be a great match great matches and wow and I remember like I had nothing going on nothing like little bones here and there but it had been a minute right this like it had been a minute and I knew getting involved with you and Dean and the story I knew we had a good story and then we had my dad come to sacramento uh to hold your hand right i remember which is like he he wasn't even turning heel just being a dad yeah like he just held you that extra second where i sucker punched you in the back and i remember randy telling me that day he's like just believe your heat believe it you know throw him in the barricade get yours believe it it was Great advice because that's still how Randy works today, you know, it's his but I Had never so I'd never wrestled at a WrestleMania In a singles match.

52:17Steph McMahon:I had never wrestled a pay-per-view in a singles match. So were you just doing like? Triple threat the year before yeah Randy okay battle royal the year before that I'd been in the main events pay-per-views as a tag this was 2000 where 2008 2008-ish go wrestlemania in atlanta ms cena wrestlemania okay yeah you were at captain america yes i remember the outfit in america yes in america yeah but ray like i could say everything and and obviously mean it about who i i think you are in the in the lucha libre zeitgeist and how important and the your contributions to the industry are i was a fan so i i i know what you did know what you continue to do but you changed my life like that's i don't get anywhere dude like i had nothing coming my way i lost teddy and randy i wasn't the one who was supposed to go you know and you know what that's like like it wasn't it

53:27Cody Rhodes:wasn't a knock on me I just wasn't the one who was supposed to write there's always one that advances and then other you have to figure out right the route

53:34Steph McMahon:yeah and I I got to experience things at a different level and play ball at a higher level and I would have never gotten out of the blocks you know I don't know who that would have been I would have never I would have never I I would have never had anything. So I'm sure there's someone in your career who had a moment with you where maybe you felt the same. But for me, it is legitimately a core moment. Nothing happens without me walking into that building and you being like, you want to go in? And the next thing, the rest was history for me. And of course, there's a myriad of highs and lows, but I would have never had a high, right?

54:22Rey Mysterio:everything so I I have to thank you there's well that's that that makes me feel a huge side of satisfaction to be able to to be that person that maybe opened up that first door Yeah, and you know We all have someone that is our first one to me I've always said that it's I've had incredible opponents over the years that thanks to to them like I have outshined and and Been put on the map but I truly don't believe that I would be here if I wouldn't have been given the opportunity to even go to Mexico for the first time, which to me was Conan. Conan opened the doors, and wherever he went, he brought me along with him.

55:25Rey Mysterio:ECW, WCW, so the only thing was WWE because it was already purchased, but overall, he's the one that kind of saw something in me that I would have never discovered. Yeah. And that just helped me mold into the person that I am now. But I feel truly blessed and honored to have been that person for you. You have no idea. I've heard you tell this story. I'll tell it to anyone who listens 300 times a day. And I've never heard it in the fashion of how you said it right now and how impactful it was at the time. So I feel truly honored to have been that person like from the bottom of my heart.

56:15Cody Rhodes:Changed my life. And because you mentioned Conan being the one to open doors for you, cheers to Conan. Cheers to Conan. Cheers to Conan. And cheers to that door. Oh my gosh. Yeah, for both of us.

56:27Rey Mysterio:Wow, that's great. And time does fly, huh? Yeah. Like, that was 2008? Oh, yeah. At least 2008? Yeah. So when you came in with Randy and Teddy, that was...

56:44Steph McMahon:Randy, Teddy, yeah, 2008, 2009. Nine. So maybe it was 2010. Maybe it was 11. Man, it was 2011. Wow. Yeah, yeah, 2011. I was off, yeah. 2011. 2011, yeah.

56:56Cody Rhodes:Hmm. Yeah.

56:57Rey Mysterio:And going back to that moment of your dad snapping the picture and like me, like seeing Dom's growth right now and being around and not just seeing it from like an office standpoint, but being part of talent still. it's it's so crazy and surreal to like I now understand and can imagine how your dad felt watching you oh man because we have the sense of pride and joy and like we accomplished something yeah in some way or form that is paying off oh yeah And I'm sure your dad is so freaking happy just on all the success and the accomplishments that you conquered. So I'll tip my mask off to you for that.

57:58Steph McMahon:Man.

57:59Rey Mysterio:You got to feel proud.

58:03Steph McMahon:I don't know how much we're allowed to talk about Dom.

58:07Rey Mysterio:We can talk. He is my son officially.

58:12Cody Rhodes:He is my bloodline.

58:17Steph McMahon:It's funny. Again, I think I might have told him this story, and I tell others this story about, hey, your dad opening up the door for me. But also what's funny is there's such a generational gap. When you're older in terms of, I thought, oh, I'm cool like Dom. I'm like, cool. Then you realize, oh, Dom's like a kid. He's cool. you're not cool like you're like you're trying to be like hey dom what's up cool kids you know like uh it's he's cool uh but uh i always none of this would ever i don't think this is remotely applicable but i always thought hey man if he was ever in trouble i got that guy yeah like i don't even know him i don't know dom but for i know ray and uh well enough to know any issue with dom um like i'd have his back at any any juncture and and just uh for sure i i he needs to know that you

59:13Rey Mysterio:have his back only because it's through me oh yeah no no no he hasn't done that thing yet where

59:20Steph McMahon:it's like hey man like you know what i'm saying that's that's the that's the that's a hundred percent uh i think sometimes uh paul hayman mr hayman yeah will will bring me in for a powwow on occasion right and i can never tell i'm like i wonder if he's i wonder what's going on here he's so unpredictable yeah he's very unpredictable is it uh something i did is it something he wants to teach me or is it just that at 14 years old he snuck into my dad's production meeting as a photographer and my dad allowed him to stay in the meeting and ever since then he's had this claim that it was a core moment and change things and open the door for him and i thought like i I don't know which one it is still.

1:00:03Steph McMahon:I'll take the equity from someone else, but at a certain point you wanna build your own and whatever it may be. All right, this next question is part of a segment we call Game Plan, fueled by game day men's health, because let's be honest, showing up at your best takes work. So let me ask you, what is your game plan for staying sharp? Could be physical, could be mental, could be family stuff. Whatever it is, how do you stay in the zone and keep pushing even when life's stacked against you? I think I

1:00:39Rey Mysterio:Have to contribute that to Every morning when I wake up that cold plunge is waiting outside my room.

1:00:46Steph McMahon:Mm-hmm.

1:00:47Rey Mysterio:I jump in there It's at 39 degrees and I stay there for about three minutes If I feel froggy, I might stay there a little bit longer. Yeah, but and sometimes when that three-minute mark hits, I'm out of there.

1:01:00Steph McMahon:Yeah.

1:01:00Rey Mysterio:And that's how I start my day. I believe that's what keeps me sharp and on my toes and ready to kick my day off.

1:01:07Steph McMahon:That's exactly why Game Day is out here, helping guys optimize their energy, their focus, and longevity. You don't have to slow down. You just need the right game plan. Check out gamedaymenshealth.com slash Cody to learn more. Here's something I want to ask. We mentioned the Snoop Dogg thing. I don't know if that's a great parallel, but Snoop is wonderful. Yes. He's also beloved. Yes. You've had big gold. You've had WWE championships. You're Hall of Fame. There isn't an accolade. You've won the Royal Rumble. All these top guy, top girl accolades in the industry, you have accomplished those. So to a lot of people, the whole thing is, I want to get this.

1:01:51Steph McMahon:I want to have this. If I can get this, I'll be good. if I can get this you've had a many of them yeah but most people I find that have had those moments their reputations they're not negative reputations but there are minefields there are enemies there are certain people who aren't a fan of such-and-such you you've got to be the most beloved guy in the history of all locker rooms. And my question is, because I struggle in this regards, what is the, I don't think there's a secret, but is there a recipe for that in terms of how you've maintained a love and an awareness and transparency and a realness with, a realness more than anything with the locker rooms you've been in?

1:02:45Wow.

1:02:47Steph McMahon:Yeah. Because I mean certain guys get to a point where they're wearing that ring and they're not one of the boys Right, but you I mean you're you've never not been one of the boys right right I remember when Edge broke his neck and we would go overseas and he went on that tour even though he just went on it just to give the fans his Presence it couldn't work and you printed the shirts out with the spine on the back Yeah, and we all took the photo. I'll never forget it. It was over you you you maintained the camaraderie and brotherhood in the locker room and I just what's the the

1:03:22Rey Mysterio:secret or what has worked for you this is the only thing that I've ever done and I've ever loved doing and the only thing that I know how to do and I've always held it very dear and close to my heart and I do it with passion with love I spend my energy I devote myself to this sport it's given me everything it's it's given me the opportunity to meet my wife to have my children to live the way I live truly blessed overall not only in sport in life in general and it's given me so many opportunities and and just a lot of things that i would never thought that i would have in life and throughout that journey it kind of opens up your your heart and your mind and and you start realizing a lot of things that you didn't realize when you were younger when you were just kind of going through the flow.

1:04:35Rey Mysterio:I've always respected all my peers, younger or older than me. And I think I've always... I've treated everyone the way I've been wanting to be treated. And that, I think that comes from home. The way your parents raised you. Because I see now the same with my kids. Like how they are treated and how people express themselves about my kids. So I think in that sense, there's a foundation to all of this. and it starts from home then eventually builds into whatever you want to build it from whatever traits you pick up from home and carry those with you. But overall, I'm grateful to be where I'm at.

1:05:27Rey Mysterio:I'm grateful with the life in general, blessed 1 ,000 % and enjoy from day one training to this day, everything I have done and I've I've had people to share it with yeah and I like doing that and I and I like the camaraderie I like to connect uh I can be very uh I can isolate myself a lot when I'm not around this sport yeah and I think there's a few people that can see that my wife my daughter and maybe my son every now and then but when I'm here I get suffocated with and I love it.

1:06:13Steph McMahon:It's very, I like that outlook a great deal, you know. You have that there to come in and plug fully in here. Yes. Oh, my. This is a, I wanted to ask this earlier, only because it's quite a detour from that answer, but it's something that always, I thought, I wonder how he feels about that. This famous NWO backstage attack, I told you this was a hard detour. Yeah, yeah. This famous detour, you know, this famous NWO backstage attack that I watched as a kid and completely captured the imagination of the audience. What's real, what's not, suspension of disbelief. But you get lawn darted by Kevin Nash against the trailer.

1:06:54Steph McMahon:That's probably the most violent moment throughout the whole thing. And I mean lawn darted. You're thrown at a parallel to the ground into a trailer.

1:07:03Rey Mysterio:I do remember coming out of the trailer.

1:07:05Steph McMahon:Yeah.

1:07:06Rey Mysterio:Jumping on the rail and thinking, I'm going to take Kevin Nash down with this crossbody. and of course that didn't happen you tried though uh but you you think about that and you're like that was uh a moment that was kind of stamped for that era it's crazy which is crazy all the things you do and then that's a piece of it you know right are you ready to hold wwe history in

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1:08:34Rey Mysterio:Were you passionate about wrestling from the moment you found out what it was? From the jump, yeah. From the jump right away?

1:08:41Steph McMahon:Well, so I knew, because my dad was, I wasn't seeing him actively wrestle, but I knew he was a wrestler. I'd seen the belts. I mean, this was like really early. I'd seen some of the different wrestlers around the house. The first time I went to a show where I was allowed to go sit down in the crowd without him, I had Doug Dillinger printed me a pass at UTC Chattanooga. I went out, Brad Armstrong hit a arm drag on somebody and the place lost their mind. How old were you? Seven. Okay. Yeah, and that was the first time. I lost interest in the backstage of it. I became, I think because I was living in the backstage of it already.

1:09:23Steph McMahon:Right. That I became just interested in, I want to see what's out here. Sting, this is the early 90s WCW before Hogan comes in and before the Monday Night Wars really pick up. But that era of WCW was... And you were already watching glances of it on TV? So I was already, a lot of VHS. I had a lot of VHS in the house. A lot of Titan video. I didn't have access to, there wasn't, I didn't even know USA the channel at the time existed. So it was mainly WCW, Saturday night. You're watching short squash matches the good promos and then a little bit of B roll from something bigger Or a call to action for the pay-per-view but that early 90s WCW was was was it for me and then Blockbuster and Hollywood video those are the spots where I started seeing SummerSlam 92 and and The WWE and there was such vast differences in terms of the productions, you know What about Dustin like when did you find out so Dustin is same in that Brad Armstrong slot Dustin?

1:10:25Steph McMahon:I remember seeing him at the Omni as the natural and hearing all the women go crazy for him and just seeing how good he was, him and stunning Steve and the stuff they were doing. And even as a kid, you knew they were the young guys on the show. You knew they were the young guys, and they were almost presented for you in that stage of WCW. But I don't give Dustin enough credit. But Dustin's one, like, I'm due for a lot of moments where I need to tell Dustin how important he is. Right. How valuable he is. Yeah. A lot of time could be spent on a therapist couch about me just learning to express a gratitude for my older brother that I just don't know how to do.

1:11:13Cody Rhodes:Right. I'm terrible at it. I'm the same way.

1:11:17Rey Mysterio:I'm the youngest out of four. Right? Oh, yeah. We don't know how to express sometimes.

1:11:21Cody Rhodes:And that's the one that we're good at telling other people but not them direct it's almost like please you heard me say it Right.

1:11:27Steph McMahon:Yeah, you don't take it. You don't need to hear it. Yeah, but yeah, Dustin Dustin was amazing Also, you know, I don't know if you felt this with anyone in your family But Dustin was fundamentally just so much better than I was fundamentally trained better cleaner knew how to do an inside-out bump just like things that I was so wanting and you take just takes time right takes time you don't want your older brother to like see you take time you want to just be there right um but yeah he's so so you say that was the age of

1:12:02Rey Mysterio:seven what what age was it when you started training like uh started training training

1:12:09Cody Rhodes:14 14 dusty and then you started wrestling so seven seven years later so i was classic

1:12:16Steph McMahon:like South Park episode style of I got into amateur wrestling. Okay. Not aware that there's a big difference. Right. And then I like fell in love with it, which thank gosh. Yeah. Because once you realize like there's no steel chairs and masks and stuff, then it has its own culture. But I got really into wrestling. I did it mainly because no one in my family had done it. Dusty and Dustin hadn't been folk style wrestlers. So I thought I'll have a thing. Something different. I'll have a little leg up. Yeah. 14 I started training because he had his indie promotion or when he would do shows I'd get in the ring run the ropes wasn't supposed to take bumps but he taught me how to take a bump I only ever got in the ring with my dad twice and during training he just told me to charge him he picked me up for a body slam he slammed me and then he told me that stiff very and then he told me to charge him again with my arm hook like this and he hip tossed me very stiff and it wasn't just to see just to see yeah hey how hard this is like that was all he wasn't going to give me more than those two bumps yeah i think he thought see it's not all that yeah it's not all that great because that body slam was now that i think he tossed me into the mat i went through the same yeah same training regimen with my uncle, but I was about seven, eight years old when I started training.

1:13:39Rey Mysterio:So I was just trying to parallel what age you started watching and then started training, then eventually started wrestling. Yeah, I was like the kid in an amateur class, like eight years old and and the youngest kid after me was probably 16 17 so i was i was just invited to be part of the class because my uncle was one of the teachers but every time my uncle had a chance to get his hands on me he had to right but they said they had to no they didn't

1:14:16Cody Rhodes:in hindsight i'm like did you really i'm glad they did yeah but i also i'm glad yeah yeah yeah i'm

1:14:20Steph McMahon:I'm glad he did. So when I was officially training in the summers, I was 15 and the rule was I wasn't supposed to have matches. But what would happen is my dad would pop his head in, we had one ring that Jody Hamilton sold him. And we had one ring, he'd say, all right guys, I'm gonna go in the office for a little bit. And it's almost like he knew. And then it's the moment the door shuts, Scotty Riggs and Big Ron stud, not Big John, they'd start just back me up in the corner, chop me, shoot me across the ring, do full pinning combinations. and then like all of a sudden he'd pop his head back in the door hey guys how's it going and we're just in the ring like sweating profusely like all right but it was i i'm positive he knew what i was doing but that was my first little taste and i was addicted i didn't want to high school be damned at

1:15:05Cody Rhodes:that point it's like what are we doing here you know like right now that you're telling me that i

1:15:10Rey Mysterio:so i right before i got cleared from my injury i went up to the to the pc in orlando yeah my daughter has been asking me that I want to go in the ring this Aliyah Aliyah okay I want to jump in the ring I just want to see what it feels like like I'll do it when you graduate yeah so she graduated in June from UCSD human biology and she was okay I'm graduated when you take me when you take me I said I'm I'm actually gonna head up to the BC so I'll book our flights and you can go up there with me so angie ali and myself flew up she went in there on a wednesday with me and i was like there's no way like this is your first time stepping in the ring she had a connection with just positioning yeah hitting the ropes yeah um like that is scary crazy so she genuinely the connection she wasn't sidebar training no she she just went in there with me to oh wow feel what it was like to feel the mat to feel the ropes she was a natural and i i'm afraid that she might be if she decides to yeah take that path so later on that day we went to tj and natty school yes and she did a little bit there too and when we finished and the day was over she goes i really enjoyed it like this is really fun oh yeah i was like okay okay okay yeah so kind of goes the

1:16:49Cody Rhodes:opposite way you think it's gonna be like oh it's too stiff that's what i thought yeah i thought

1:16:53Rey Mysterio:i don't think i don't think she's gonna like it because the ropes are stiff the bumps are hard so i said okay the next step would be let's see if you can go through a full week of training yeah And if you can do that and you like it afterwards, then maybe it's something you might want to think about. Yeah. Yeah. So. We're approaching the full week coming up, right? So, yes. I'm actually trying to get her out there pretty soon so she can just feel what it's like to train every day. Good luck. Wake up.

1:17:25Steph McMahon:Yeah. Work out all day.

1:17:27Rey Mysterio:Yep. Sleep. Yeah. Back. Same thing. Dude. Yeah. That's insane. Like, I've thought about that. and it scares me, but it also excites me.

1:17:38Cody Rhodes:Did you have any clue?

1:17:40Steph McMahon:Like, did you, or was it kind of out of nowhere? Hey, I'm ready to take, go.

1:17:43Rey Mysterio:She had been telling me this for about a year and a half, two years. Okay. Like, dad, I want to go in the ring. I'm like, I don't know. And then I kept pushing it back. Wait until you graduate. When you graduate, I'll take you. And as soon as she graduated, she goes, okay, graduated. Here's my diploma. Take me. When you take me. Oh, man.

1:18:02Cody Rhodes:PC, let's go. Yeah. That's so exciting. It is.

1:18:06Steph McMahon:It is. It's another one that I'm ready to defend. Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited for that. That's beautiful. We were talking about TJ and Natty's school and being a natural. So I will say there's a funny, I wrestled my first technical match at OVW. Okay. But that's 20 years old, and I'm talking about 15 wrestling these matches at school. and I remember I had my first match in St. Therese in this church. There's literally maybe 20 people. I love it. It was one of OVWs. First match? Yeah, that was my first match.

1:18:43Cody Rhodes:In a church? In a church. My first match was outside a church. Yeah. Parking lot. There's something about, you know.

1:18:49Steph McMahon:I love it. So I had this first match and it was better than most first matches should be. And Miz basically held a talent meeting in the locker room. Like, this is ridiculous. He's had training. Why are we acting like he's not at training? He's doing full-blown. He's hitting the ropes. He went on this whole bit, and he wasn't wrong. Is this pre-Miz or? This is pre him becoming the Miz. Okay. He was legit. He was always the Miz, if that makes sense. I can't believe it. This guy's not getting in the ring on drills that he should be doing. He was, like, kind of hot about it. I'm sorry, man. Because that's what the old-time guys had told you, like, you know, don't always show your cards there.

1:19:27Steph McMahon:You're going there. You're learning from them. Train day one. And that's how I went. but I had all that experience with the power plant guys and all that. Yeah, but Miz threw a whole fit about it. He still does. I know he had had a match before.

1:19:39Rey Mysterio:Have you talked about that?

1:19:40Steph McMahon:All the time, yeah.

1:19:41Cody Rhodes:Miz is always like, it was like, because I did a springboard. I'm going to give him shit now. Yeah, yeah.

1:19:46Steph McMahon:I will give him shit. Bro, I did a springboard, and I remember he was like, hold up. Because he had been trying to do a springboard. Because that's a hard, like once you figure it out, you figure it out. But at first it's a fear of, oh my gosh. Yeah.

1:19:59Rey Mysterio:I know you got it down even like jumping, jumping and hitting your finish. A little jump jump?

1:20:08Cody Rhodes:Yeah. I think I'm pretty cool when I do the jump jump. I used to do that all the time. Like I can't. I would love to do that. Dude. Again, I can't. I can't.

1:20:15Steph McMahon:I like my little jump jump, but then I'll see Javon do it and I'm like, never mind. Oh, yeah. He has some crazy leaps. Because it's like double height, no hand. Because you know you got it when there's the no hand, when it's bounce, bounce. Yes. Good night. But still, I'm just going straight back in. Javon is like this aerial, you know.

1:20:33Cody Rhodes:Crazy. He has a domination on the ropes. It's beautiful to watch. He's a fun one. Yes, yes he is.

1:20:39Steph McMahon:Gosh, yeah, no, there's that. What was I just going to ask you about? I completely spaced on it.

1:20:45Cody Rhodes:I know you were talking about The Miz and then we.

1:20:47Steph McMahon:Oh, this is it. I was talking about this in the car on the way last night. We're coming back from the garden. And I was talking about how you used to, I only know it as a Mexican backbreaker. okay you used to so if it was a head scissors i'd be like this yeah and you'd always kind of imply to me that i gave you a good head scissors i don't know if it's like a doctor talking to a patient like hey good job buddy you know what i'm saying good yeah but you'd always be like hey get me to my feet but then you'd have me switch yes for when we go to this mexican backbreaker yes but i never understood how you got there so we'd go here and then all of a sudden you'd be here oh for the like Like a torture act.

1:21:25Steph McMahon:Yes, in a torture act position. And then you'd have me drop to my knees and I'd bump it off. Yes. And never once have I been able to replicate it or talk about it or have anyone understand what you just said. Oh, you just switch your hands. So I'd switch my hands and you'd stack up there. Whoa, knees down. It was like this little hope spot. Yes. But it's the only,

1:21:44Cody Rhodes:there's a trading card of it. So you never did that with anybody else? No, no. And you just told me,

1:21:48Steph McMahon:just move your hands here.

1:21:49Rey Mysterio:Well, that'd get you back on track with that. Yeah, bro, that was a whole, yeah. Yeah, that was so fun for me to do too. It's so easy too. uh yeah just hopping up there and and obviously you doing the carrying uh and i just had a

1:22:01Cody Rhodes:position myself that's it that was the first time i learned the art of even though i wasn't truly one but the art of a base okay like which to me i think is very hard oh my gosh i'm i'm good at

1:22:12Rey Mysterio:coming up with stuff and and like having somebody carry me to do things but i've always said that being a heel is 10 times harder than being a baby face yeah because you have to base you have to carry you have to be in the right spot you have to position yourself or adjust if you need to

1:22:32Steph McMahon:yeah um and that's that's part of the deep deep waters of a match too legs locked in you're not falling you're not dropping them in the moment they're supposed to look their coolest yeah yeah i never like keep everything yeah consistent right yeah everything and that's their moment. Yeah. And I feel like once I started doing TripleMania and the things, you start to see specific guys who have made a career or are incredible at being a bass. Yeah. Doesn't mean they don't do great stuff too, but their ability to post and be there for somebody, none of it happens without them. Right, right. But that was one of the first times I tell people on certain moves now, I'm like, wide legs, strong legs.

1:23:16Steph McMahon:Yeah. Because I just need them to know, I'm a little heavier than you might think. So who knows when this happens? We might be a little tired. And I learned that from being in there with you. Right. Because we've had, I think I was looking at a sheet earlier.

1:23:28Cody Rhodes:I think we've been in the ring 70-something times together. I think the good thing about me is that I'm not as heavy.

1:23:34Rey Mysterio:Oh, my gosh. But still, like having to maneuver me around is still breathtaking.

1:23:42Cody Rhodes:Buddy, I mean, it's a classic night off situation. It's a classic night off.

1:23:46Rey Mysterio:I mean, I go back and I watch the Halloween Havoc 97, and the two moves that I see back-to-back that I'm like, okay, I know that I'm not that heavy, but the 619 into the head scissors, rotating all the way into the ring and then back over the top rope. Oh, yeah, yeah. And then the front flip into the catch and then into the Rana. like that that's I I was just rotating my body he was catching me and controlling me and tucking me in and making sure that I didn't hit my head yeah so yeah basing is really hard and probably the

1:24:27Steph McMahon:secret to it all breathing you know in a way that you know like that I always tell people like strong legs deep breath yeah yeah cuz that if you didn't get anything before that's one of those where you just fall over it sounded good backstage yeah you know yeah oh man very very true 10 times would you

1:24:46Rey Mysterio:prefer to be heel or baby face like what because you've done both so what do you feel more comfortable

1:24:51Steph McMahon:doing i feel right now i like the challenge of being a baby face because it seems almost impossible some nights because it's such a kind of it's easier to be cooler it's sometimes easier like i really admire logan paul's situation right he could fall flat on his face and it's no big deal right nothing lost he can be mad at that crowd he's i think sometimes there's some elements of being a heel that are a lot of fun whereas this baby face especially like a white meat style where you're really trying to be more, how Cena would put it, virtuous, trying to make the right choices. That's not always the most appealing thing by modern entertainment standards.

1:25:37Steph McMahon:But then when you look at our audience and our ticket-buying audiences, such young kids and families and such, there's room for it. There's a pocket for it. And there's different types of babyfaces in L.A. Night, a Jey Uso. And then I like the challenge of it. But that's because it's hard. Right. And I think if if we ever transition or if a heel was to come back up that that might be something I Could even need in my life and don't realize it just from the sheer Let's go out there and have some fun. Right. Right. Let's go out there I feel like there's a lot of pressure and a challenge on the baby face spot Whereas sometimes in my experience at least being a heel is a little bit.

1:26:17Steph McMahon:Let's go Let's just go have some fun. Like, you know, yeah, nothing needs to happen until we're ready for it to happen Yeah, that's gonna we'll get it when we get it, you know, just your you can dictate that pace a little bit more to

1:26:30Cody Rhodes:Who knows though it changes here change all the time

1:26:33Rey Mysterio:I've had a learning lesson last night with John and Sheamus and myself. Yeah, John had a good Talk with us after our match and and like very You feel like obviously you can't feel like you know everything but you never stop learning right which i think that's what always keeps me so um on my toes and always willing to learn and accept and and uh know how to adapt yeah yeah that's that's the one thing about the sport that you always you if you think you know it all you're completely wrong because there's always new stuff that you've learned or even not new stuff stuff stuff that has been around you just haven't applied it to your work and that was a very good learning

1:27:27Steph McMahon:experience last night well I feel because we were watching the match in the locker room I feel your open-mindedness and always wanting to learn and challenge even with everything that you've done the character Rey Mysterio is timeless and and how many people can say that it's it's wild just watching last night you know here's a west coast pop and here's the you know the the speed and quickness and then that here's a little what I'd say a little bit of English that you've thrown into something yeah a little bit of color yes you've given something that wasn't that just that mm-hmm it's very timeless congrats thanks that's thank that's being open minded because i guess at a certain point i mean you're wearing the hall of fame ring at a certain point when when you want to stop learning well that's i thought that was going to be like my last

1:28:24Rey Mysterio:accomplishment being able to get there one day yeah when it was presented to me two years ago i was like well damn what what am i what am i shooting for now like what is the goal i guess the goal is to try to be timeless and and still enjoy what I do but at the same time know when it's time to tap hmm well this would be because you brought

1:28:51Steph McMahon:it up and like what's what is it right in terms of I wonder and if I put it on the spot or it's not something that that you you know or I've thought of yet But goal-minded people typically have another mountain they want to climb. Right. And then we've laid them out. You're not just a Hall of Famer. You're an active Hall of Famer. Yeah. You currently wrestle actively, which is wild. Do you know what that next mountain is? What you'd like to do next? I mean, not really. I pretty much have seen more than I could imagine

1:29:35Rey Mysterio:with the growth of Dom and his evolution here in the sport and how he's grown and how he's become his individual self and the place that he's carrying and taking the name to, Yeah, which I always deep down inside thought that he would be bigger and better than me in a different way And I guess this is the way Which is also funny that my wife said that if he ever wrestled that she always saw him as a bad guy and Here is he's the number one. Here is the bad guy that my wife Obviously spent way more time with him than I did I was always on the road, so I guess she saw a side of him that I am now seeing.

1:30:30Rey Mysterio:Obviously, I didn't know. But overall, I think it might be fun to help with the acquisition with AAA and be involved as much as I can with that, and kind of start learning on how to work on the production and the side or how I can invest my time to eventually help AAA grow. Yeah. You know, knowing that that was my house, my very first house or my home from day one. And from there, it all started. Everything flourished from AAA. But I'm still enjoying the moment. Like this is being able to be in there with Dom and with John in his farewell, his last match. In the garden. In the garden, you know.

1:31:23Funny enough, I was talking to Joe commentating that the last time Dom and I wrestled together there was with John and

1:31:34Rey Mysterio:Dark main event against Roman and the Usos Wow, so that holds a Very special place in my heart and now last night, which was completely the opposite You know, it's like I have very fond memories of being at the garden with both

1:31:52Steph McMahon:my son and and John I hope enough people are capturing what you're doing as a family because a lot of times there's such a big separation mm-hmm between you know dad Manning and Eli and Peyton you know there's yeah there's a big it's almost mythical you know I remember watching his dad and then in this case they're they're a little more on top of each other there's a crossover still and And I just hope that we as a company are covering all of that because it's a truly, you know, one wrestling royal family thinks they've got it and then the next thing you know, you've got your son shooting to heights as you anticipated and hoped for.

1:32:40Steph McMahon:And your daughter is talking about getting into it and just the idea of the legacy going on. It's insane. And none of it's forced. none of the passion exists yeah the the the love for it exists in its own way yeah individually to them that that's just uh i have all the respect in the world for people who aren't in these wrestling families because it's kind of fun how'd you discover it what were you right but it does seem like this is a time when there's a lot of a lot of second third and fourth generations all around, which seems like it's in good hands. Yeah. You know?

1:33:18Cody Rhodes:Yeah, you're right.

1:33:20Rey Mysterio:Yeah, and I get this question asked a lot. Like, did you ever insist on Don to follow in your footsteps? I mean, he loved it as a kid. Yeah. And then eventually, like every other kid, grew out of it and then wanted to play football and do this and do that. And it's not until he got older, 19 years old, that he had nowhere else to go or what to do. And he said well, I want to see if I can make it in wrestling I don't even think he knew you know what he wanted to do exactly but It was there He learned he captured it. He focused and That's the the end result right now.

1:34:01Cody Rhodes:What do you think of the neck tat?

1:34:06Cody Rhodes:Hmm I think as an expert in neck tat I

1:34:12Rey Mysterio:I think he overheard me say that I was going to get a neck tattoo. He jumped right to it, so that way he could say, Oh, my dad copied me. I mean, he got a real one. Oh, my deadbeat dad.

1:34:24Cody Rhodes:He's trying to copy you.

1:34:26Rey Mysterio:No, I love the fact that he's paying homage to my uncle, the person that I fell in love with the sport because of him. You know, I grew up watching him, grew up around him. my life has always been wrestling because of my uncle and that was the very first mask that he designed and wore yeah so um it's it's i mean it's special it has meaning to it which is what a tattoo

1:34:52Steph McMahon:should have right i mean now mine feels less yeah no like that yeah i like that you're totally right and now it has and it has meaning so i feel the meaning comes later with mine you know what i'm Which I yes, but it's good. It's there. I will that into existence

1:35:14Steph McMahon:Wheatley my friends the American dream team we like to say that's our squad me and Wheatley has been a wonderful and continues to be a wonderful partner I ask people all the time who is your Dream team and sometimes I qualify it with such going into a zombie apocalypse, going into Survivor Series, war games, something like that. But also, it can be anything. It can be animals. It can be spirits. It can be fictional characters. It's who is riding with you to the big show.

1:35:45Rey Mysterio:Is there an amount? A number? No. No. It could just be in general. Okay. Well, I definitely need to bring both my dogs or that were my dogs which would be callie and ellie okay because uh i need that companion uh were callie and ellie the huskies uh no so that that my huskies yeah sad story the guy that was taking care of him just ended up passing away while he was taking care of him and in an accident, random. And the wife, when I tried to get him back, she just would not give him back. Terrible. Yeah, very terrible, yes. Well, Callie and Ellie, who were they? Callie and Ellie are the dogs that we had when we were in San Diego.

1:36:39Now they've been to their respective owners now.

1:36:43Rey Mysterio:My daughter has Ellie, and then Callie obviously now is with my deadbeat son. Okay, but they're on your dream team. That is part of my dream team. Okay, we're getting them back. When those dogs see me, love. Oh, yeah. Love just some more. Dad energy. Yes, yes. The alpha, yeah. I definitely need my right-hand wingman, which would be K-Dog. Conan, yes. Yeah. He's been there through everything, thick and thin. So definitely would need him. And who else would I bring on board?

1:37:15Cody Rhodes:I mean. I mean, two dogs and K-Dog is not a bad. I mean, that's three dogs. Yeah, three dogs. That's three dogs. Isn't it beautiful?

1:37:25Rey Mysterio:I just keep that. That would be my dream team right there. Yeah, three dogs. I think I'm having a hard time with this one. I have so many people in my mind that who do I throw on board? But I think I'm just going to keep my dogs. K-Dog, Cali Dog, and Ellie Dog. Keep it simple. Yeah. Dogs only. Why not? They don't give you trouble?

1:37:50Cody Rhodes:No. They just, they listen? I mean, the track record of success is there. Right? K-Dog has been with you. Yeah, from day one. Yeah. I love that dream team. Isn't that crazy?

1:38:00Steph McMahon:Yeah.

1:38:00Cody Rhodes:The dogs. The dogs. The dogs. Who? Dog dream team.

1:38:05Steph McMahon:We're going to run this for you. This is the Wheatley American Vodka jingle commercial, and I'll ask you to replace a word at the end. And again, thank you for being so generous with your time and being such a wonderful guest. This is our last little game. I'm going to hand it over to you. Wheatley.

1:38:39Steph McMahon:All right, so Wheatley. so good I drink it neatly. If you could replace the word neatly, what would you put there? Wheatly so good I drink it.

1:38:49Rey Mysterio:Wheatly so good I drink it. Is maskly a word? Maskly?

1:38:57Steph McMahon:Yes, it is. I would go in maskly. Wheatly so good I drink it maskly. Yeah.

1:39:02Rey Mysterio:Wheatly so good I drink it maskly.

1:39:05Cody Rhodes:Done.

1:39:06Rey Mysterio:Yeah.

1:39:07Cody Rhodes:I like the way that sounds.

1:39:08Steph McMahon:Actually, that might not be our best answer.

1:39:11Cody Rhodes:Thank you so much. Oh, yeah.

1:39:15Rey Mysterio:That was so much fun. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much.