Some say this Lucha Libre star is among the most outstanding performers in professional wrestling today. He has been hailed as a young Rey Misterio and is a big part of the recent resurgence in Mexican professional wrestling. Why is he so important? The 24-year old star of CMLL has recently been gaining a lot of attention from WWE headquarters and may be making his way to the United States very soon.
WWE first began paying attention to Mistico last year when Mexico was in the middle of its biggest business period ever. Mistico was the main reason for this as his matches would draw over 10,000 people weekly to Arena Mexico. The buzz over his matches grew louder as people began to talk more and more about Mistico in the United States.
Though it is unknown whether a formal offer was made, WWE did see Mistico as a potentially big star in their "midget division." Unfortunately, the division was dropped just a few weeks after it began on "SmackDown!" Though Mistico is not considered a "midget wrestler" in Mexico (he stands at 5'6") WWE thought this type of division would showcase his skills in a meaningful fashion. After the division was rightfully scrapped, the talk to Mistico coming in went away.
Recently there have been rumblings of once again going after Mistico because of the realization that "SmackDown!" is among the most popular television shows among Hispanics in the United States. With the passing of Eddy Guerrerro and the injury to Rey Misterio, there has been no one to fill the void left by the two Hispanic legends.
To my recollection, this would be the first time WWE has ever gone after signing a Lucha Libre wrestler from Mexico. Stars such as Super Crazy, Misterio, and Guerrerro were already stars in the United States before they went to WWE. Mistico would also be the smallest wrestler on the current roster if signed standing at 5'6" and weighing in at 165Lbs.
Can Mistico be a star in WWE? Absolutely, anyone who has watched Mistico perform would agree. However, WWE needs to allow Mistico to be Mistico. They cannot force him to wrestle a "WWE" style match that would stifle his acrobatic skills. WWE does not know what to do with small wrestlers. Though the current Cruiserweight champion, Gregory Helms, has held the title for over a year, he has held the title while losing to Heavyweights like Matt Hardy, Batista, and Undertaker. There has been no effort to separate the Cruiserweight division and not make them crash test dummies for the bigger wrestlers.
I can see an automatic program with Rey Misterio but that needs to be held off as long as possible. Mistico needs to collect steam first, he needs to show the world that he is the best high-flyer in the world and then face-off against Rey Misterio. However, once that program has run its course, where does Mistico go with no strong Cruiserweight division.
If you have never seen Mistico wrestle, head over to YouTube right now and enjoy one of the greatest performers of this generation. Mistico is a very special athlete that would make a great addition to WWE, but only if used properly.
10 comments: on "Who Is This Mistico Guy?"
That's the sad part, IF the E uses him properly. Why couldn't a guy standing 5'6" and weighing 165lbs not be a star even without a cruiserweight division? He doesn't need any division with his ability. The WWE needs to drop weight class altogether. Screw World Heavyweight Champion, have a World Champion. There is a WWE Champion and heavyweight was dropped from that title around or maybe even before the roster split. Mistico could do a great deal in the E. If they put him in a program with anyone it would be over once people saw him perform. From Chavo to Benoit to Helms to Matt Hardy to Kennedy or MVP, the possibilities are endless no matter what size the wrestler is. If someone has true TRUE ability there shouldn't be anything holding them back. Now we just need to convince the E of that.
Here's a tribute vid from YouTube wich shows Mistico at his best!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uzNYHOAvRk
I think you have it all backwards DJB... a guy like mistico could take the cruiserweight division and make it more appealing and a title worth holding... the only reason the title gets such a bad rap is because of the way they book cruiserweight matches and if this guy can bring a big audience then why not have a CW match in the main event? if Vinne mac really tells the people what they like then if he told the people to like the cruiserweight division then they would... besides, kids these days keep getting smaller and smaller so they need guys they relate to and look up to
I think there's a real possibility of that Ben. They look and wrestle so similarly that fans might see him as such.
One way to relieve that might be to align the two....as a tag team, feuding with Kendrik and London. Then, split them and do the feud.
Tagging them might be the worst hing because then he'll always be known as Rey's little buddy.
I like Mistico.
Is he as good as Rey at that age? No. One thing I do like in his game that Rey has never had is a submission finisher.
He flys around looking for a Fujiwara. That I dig.
I catch some CMLL action on FSN here. Mexican wrsetling looks to staged. Mistico seems pretty good though. Agreed Ben, good finisher.
I wish the E would build the cruiserweight division up, it could be an excellent division, but I dont think the E will ever invest time into it. Vince IS a big man mark. And yes kids do get smaller, I'm not a big guy myself, but Vinny Mac as I said doesn't dig the smaller guys. TNA went the right direction with it, when the X title main evented a PPV and that was one of the better matches TNA has ever had, but Vince, not so open minded.
Maybe in a way Rey has put a negative stigma on masked wrestlers in america. Even though in Mexico that is wrestling, here it isn't, it's a novelty. So most anyone who brings a mask to WWE is going to be a Rey-Rey knock-off. Sad and maybe not true, but probably so.
DJB its completely true, I watch wrestling from time to time with total marks and when Ultimo Dragon came in they thought of him as such -- a Rey-Rey knock off. Btw does anyone know why they got rid of Ultimo? He has experience and credibility to bolster the cruiserweight division... if you had him, psychosis, juventud, and mistico together in the same division-- it would be HUGE!
Like the bastard or not, Eric Bischoff had THE cruiserweight division, and booked it solidly for a while. Although he took alot from Heyman he did allow them to be booked correctly. Souled Out 1998 featured an opening match(or maybe 2nd match) that was so damn good I still watch it. It was an 8-man luchador match. All the names escape me, but I do remember Psicosis, La Parka, Juventud, Silver King, Chavo Guerrero(I think) and maybe El Dandy. The other 2 escape me but I'll watch it again soon and make sure. But that match was non-stop in your face cruiserweight lucha libre at it's best in America. Now CW's are such an after thought people forget that it's a championship. Hopefully Chavo and Rey-Rey(I'd prefer Helms over Rey) can give that title some prestige. To make it an actually championship not just a piece of jewelry smaller guys get to wear for busting their asses.
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