About Me
Born in San Diego, California, Gutiérrez trained for professional wrestling with his Uncle, Rey Misterio, Sr.. He debuted as a wrestler in April 1989 at the age of 14 in a small church in Tijuana, Mexico. Technically, he was underage to receive a license, but as enforcement was generally low, he was able to get away with it. In Mexico, using the ring name Colibrà (Spanish for hummingbird), he began a feud with Psicosis (who had also been trained by Rey Misterio, Sr.). This feud lasted several years, continuing even after Gutiérrez's career moved to the U.S..When Gutiérrez turned 18, his Uncle revealed the relationship between the two and allowed him to use the ring name Rey Misterio, Jr.. In Asistencia AsesorÃa y Administración (AAA) he feuded with Juventud Guerrera including a tag match with Misterio, Jr and Sr. taking on Juventud and his father, Fuerza Guerrera.In 1995, Mysterio defeated Psicosis during their debut match on Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). This match was their first real impact in American professional wrestling - although they had previously been seen on the World Championship Wrestling-promoted When Worlds Collide pay-per-view. Mysterio, along with a number of other luchadores, became a featured attraction in ECW at this time. Mysterio later appeared at both One Night Stand reunion shows.Mysterio went on to gain fame in World Championship Wrestling in 1996, where he was the flagship of the new "Cruiserweight Revolution" in the United States. His last name was changed to 'Mysterio' to be further marketed as a 'Mystery man'. Mysterio had many famous matches with Ultimo Dragon, Dean Malenko, Psicosis, Eddie Guerrero, and Juventud Guerrera. In time, he would gain the WCW Cruiserweight title five times.Mysterio quickly made an impact in WCW with his first Cruiserweight title reign. However, at the October '97 Halloween Havoc, Mysterio won his second Cruiserweight Championship against real-life friend Eddie Guerrero in a "title vs. mask" bout. The match was so highly acclaimed for its utter fluency and technicality that it was voted Match of the Year. By now, Mysterio was clearly a staple of WCW's roster.After much feuding, the WCW Cruiserweight Champion was booked in a match against Chris Jericho. Mysterio would lose the title at WCW/nWo Souled Out on January 24, 1998. After the loss, Jericho continued the beating using a toolbox found at ringside. This would put Mysterio on the sidelines for several months before making a return six months later at Bash at the Beach 1998 to defeat Chris Jericho for the championship, however the next night the result was overturned due to the interferance of Dean Malenko and the belt returned to Jericho.In 1998, Eddie Guerrero formed a group known as the Latino World Order (a take off New World Order) that included nearly every luchador in the promotion. Although Mysterio was pressured to join, he continually refused. He was finally forced to join in losing a match to Guerrero. As the two factions of nWo reformed - nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac - they demanded the LWO's disbanding. Mysterio showed his loyalty in refusing and inevitably suffered the consequences.
