3. When He Fought In MMA He Wore A Lucha Mask
Del Rio fought in Mixed Martial Arts before he started in WWE. He had a respectable record of 9-5 with his fights taking place in Japan, Mexico, Honduras and Spain. What was especially interesting about his fights is that he wore a mask for them. It was an odd sight seeing a guy in a mask competing in MMA, but he did it to protect his Dos Caras Jr. gimmick in Mexican wrestling. His most famous fight was a 46 second loss to MMA legend Mirko Cro Cop at Pride Bushido 1 on October 5, 2003. Competing as Dos Caras Jr., he really looked out of his depth going against somebody as good as Mirko. The fight ended following a hard kick left footed kick to the head by Cro Crop. Del Rio was totally KO'd. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHG6LjtsxJM When WWE brought Del Rio to their company they had no intention of ever mentioning his MMA history (and they never did). It would have been cool if more fans knew about it because it might have made him seem more legit, but it was not something that WWE wanted to put over.