What were you doing when you were 15 years old? If you were spending your weekends spending time in a wrestling ring, you might be Rey Mysterio. The legendary Luchador got his start way back in 1989 and wrestled as Colibre - The Hummingbird. Under the watchful eye of his uncle and trainer, the original Rey Misterio, he would eventually earn la mascara de Rey Misterio and the rest is history.
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For over thirty years, Rey Mysterio has captivated fans all over the world. Thanks in large part to his work, Luche Libre is a global phenomenon. For some reason, however, Rey doesn’t always get his flowers - no matter how many wrestlers he inspired over the years. Thankfully, very recently, Rey did indeed get his flowers, getting inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
10 Dominik Mysterio
Sure in the storylines right now, The Most Dangerous Man In WWE, Dominik Mysterio has no love or respect for his old man. But in reality, Ex-Con Dom wouldn’t have gotten his start in the business if not for the influence of his father.
Perhaps one day he’ll come to his senses and earn the right to be the third Rey Mysterio. But for now, he’s doing some excellent work being one of the top heels on Raw, and there is a strong debate that he might be the hottest heel in the entire business right now.
9 Legado Del Fantasma
Formed in NXT in 2020, Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro, and now Zelina Vega have been the preeminent Latino faction in all of WWE - Legado Del Fantasma. For their entire run, LDF were heels until they showed their adoration and respect for the Legendary Luchador.
Santos Escobar himself has been front and center trying to help Rey deal with his rotten son. Right before Rey was inducted into the Hall Of Fame, Rey bestowed upon Fantasma the colors of the Latino World Order, reforming the WCW faction.
8 Swerve Strickland
If you’ve heard any interview with the real Swerve Strickland, then you know the military brat has a lot of ideas - A LOT of ideas about who he is and who he wants to be in wrestling. He discussed it on his podcast with Renee Paquette. He also spoke about it in an interview with The Cruz Show, earlier this year.
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He referenced a match the two had at an Aro Lucha show in 2018. “I just wrestled my hero. It’s like you grew up reading comic books, and you got to actually face your favorite comic book in real life. I took the 619; he’s doing the head scissors. I was like, I feel like I’ve been wrestling you for my whole life because I’ve been watching you for so long.”
7 Bayley
Even as she calls everyone who isn’t Damage CTRL an idiot, it’s clear that Bayley has a huge love in heart for professional wrestling and all of its quirks and eccentricities. She was once on the Fair Game with Kristine Leahy shortly after winning the SmackDown Women’s Title.
Among the topics discussed were her influences growing up and among those influences was The Legendary Luchador himself. As a fan, she went to Popeye’s Chicken in Oakland to meet him and then drove to San Francisco to then meet John Cena.
6 Ricochet
Throughout his early career, Rey-Rey was often referred to as “The Human Highlight Reel.” Ever since his genre-bending and defining match with Will Osprey, fans have started to realize that Ricochet is also a human highlight reel. If you didn’t know, Rey (Misterio) Mysterio translates to the king of mystery.
Even the old king has bowed down in homage to what Ricochet (whose Twitter handle is KingRicohet) has accomplished. In a 2020 interview, Rey proclaimed Ricochet the new Rey Mysterio. Humbled by the proclamation, Ricochet retorted, “there will never be another Rey Mysterio.”
5 Rey Fenix
From the king of mystery to the king of phoenixes, there is plenty of room in wrestling for all sorts of royalty and high-flyers. In AEW right now, they don’t get much more exciting than Rey Fenix. Born almost a full year after Mysterio started in the ring, one-half of The Lucha Brothers and a third of The Death Triangle undoubtedly idolized The Master Of The 619. The two even were part of Lucha Underground Season 3.
But the dream match never came to fruition. During an interview with Sportskeeda, the Luchador spoke highly of Rey-Rey and the mask. “Mysterio is one of my favorite luchadors. And of course, I want to be like him. So, of course, the first thing I take from him is the mask. The first time I put on my mask, it's incredible! (It's) almost like an explosion in your chest, and you feel like a superhero. That is how the people look at you, like a superhero.”
4 Cody Rhodes
Out of plenty of folks influenced by Rey Mysterio both on this list and elsewhere, Cody Rhodes has the unique distinction of growing up getting to know his hero and spending time with him backstage at WCW shows. While Dusty Kayfabed his own son, Cody tried to get a status update on his friend and hero after Kevin Nash used him for a javelin.
Years later, he got to work his best program as Dashing Cody Rhodes against Rey, which went all the way to WrestleMania 27. Years later, Cody was able to book Rey for All In and tried (but unsuccessfully) to sign Rey to AEW.
3 Kofi Kingston
For over 15 years now, Kofi Kingston has been an inspiration to millions of fans around the world. The Dreadlocked Dynamo has always cited three different superstars as his favorites - HBK, Ricky The Dragon Steamboat, and Rey Mysterio.
Rey was the guy who made Kofi realize that he could actually be a wrestler. So many folks would tell Kofi he’s too small. Meanwhile, at the same time, Rey Mysterio was on TV winning championships all over the world.
2 Rhea Ripley
Just like his prodigal son Dominik, Mami also grew up admiring the work of Rey Mysterio.
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While The Nightmare and The Eradicator Of The Judgment Day grew up idolizing The Miz’s ability to trash talk, it was Rey’s in-ring ability that Ripley admired. She had the posters and the costumes, she too cites Rey as one of the reasons she became a wrestler.
1 Lita
Lita has spoken about her travels to Mexico City where she would try, try, and try again to get trained. Once the Luchadors in Mexico City realized she was serious, she was off to the races learning how to wrestle.
But also learning how to fly in the ring. She would become one of, if not the only high-flying female of The Attitude Era. It all stemmed from hanging out at her then-boyfriend’s house, catching an episode of Nitro, and seeing real-life superhero - Rey Mysterio.
