Theres a grand tradition of boys in Mexico lying about their age to be trained as luchadors. scar Gutiérrez would have found this rather difficult, given that it was his own uncle that trained him: the legendary Rey Misterio. In this case though, the family connection was an advantage - Gutiérrez had been training since the age of eight years old, and playing around in the ring imitating his uncle since he was four. Gutiérrez made his wrestling debut as Colibrí for Benjamin Moras World Wrestling Association in Tijuana in April 1989, when he was only fourteen years old. In Mexico in those days, you needed a licence to perform in lucha libre, and in order to obtain that licence, you had to be over eighteen, or your parents had to sign a waiver. Gutiérrez parents signed the waiver but he still had to take an examination, part of which involved mat wrestling techniques, including demonstrations of fitness and conditioning and wrestling a match for the regulatory body, all of whom were legendary luchadors. So, no pressure then. To begin with, he wrestled in Tijuana for the WWA, under the names La Lagartija Verde and Colibrí. At sixteen, Gutiérrez was awarded Rookie Of The Year from the Mexican wrestling commission while wrestling as Colibrí. The following year, he won the Most Improved Wrestler award... this time under the name Rey Misterio Jr. The honour of representing Rey Misterio's persona was given to him in a surprise in-ring presentation from his famous uncle, along with the first mask to represent that brand new name. While still a minor, but a local star in Tijuana, Rey Misterio Jr joined new lucha libre promotion AAA in Mexico City and was instrumental in the companys first flush of huge success in the years between 1992 and 1995. Here he is in a lucha de apuestas máscara contra máscara match with the first man to take his uncles name: Misterioso, who at one point had worked under the name Rey Misterio II. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stpeZP_9PiY scar Gutiérrez was twenty when he left Mexico to work in Paul Heymans ECW, then to WCW as Rey Mysterio Jr, then to WWE as Rey Mysterio: he achieved all of the above while still a teenager.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
