Guest Column: Konnan

There are few people in pro wrestling who have more respect for Rey Mysterio than me. He's a close friend of mine, and it grinds my gears when I hear people talking about the limited time he supposedly has left in the business. So many people have said he is injury prone, even more so now that he's a little older, but let me tell you, Rey still has a great future in wrestling.

It's very unfair to say that he's injury prone when he's the guy who takes the most risks; all these smaller, high-flying guys are brought in to work that style, and it's only logical that they're going to be the ones suffering the most injuries.

Rey has always been, and will always be, a hero to the Mexican people, regardless of what happens in WWE. The fans aren't stupid; they know that Rey has always been pushed to the side to make room for company favorites such as John Cena. The people also know how hard it is to make it in that company, and to be considered such an integral part of its operations - not only because of his heritage, but also his size.
An example the readers of FSM will be able to relate to is the career of Chicharito at Manchester United. It was hard for him to make it, because there'd been no other Mexicans there to pave the way for him. The Latino people know how difficult it is to make it on a world stage, so when somebody like Rey or Chicharito does, it means a great deal.

Rey is a guy who has been wrestling since he was around 14 - it's in his blood. He's been an international superstar for a long time, and is considered a legend in WWE, as well as pro wrestling in general. WWE has finally come around to tapping into the Latin demographic, which is why we see characters such as Alberto Del Rio, Hunico, Camacho, Primo, Epico et cetera. I still see a bright future for Rey in there - he'll just have to tone down his style. To be honest, he doesn't need to do that same amount of high-flying now like he did before, because he's already a legend in the eyes of the fans. In my opinion, if he wants to, Rey could still have five to eight more impactful years to look forward to.

The guy has overcome a lot to be considered one of the biggest stars in the industry. One thing people have to understand is that WWE is a company owned by a dude who is not Latino. Out of all the writers they have under contract, none of them are Latino, or from many other minorities, for that matter. The promotion has no Latino people in positions of power, so they've never fully understood the Mexican market.

Say I owned a wrestling promotion, and the main demographic we were trying to appeal to was Japanese - you better believe I would find a writer who was from Japan. Long story short, I'd try to find people who could help the company click in with, and successfully aim towards, the Japanese market. That's been the problem with WWE when it comes to marketing towards the Latin demographic - that they are run by people who don't know the market. They really don't know how to target those Hispanic crowds, and give them what they want to see.

MEXICO CITY MIS-STEP
For example, when WWE ran in Mexico City last year, they gave no real build-up the mask versus mask match between both wrestlers under the guise of Sin Cara. But they also did something really stupid at the end of the show, too, and that was putting the team of Alberto Del Rio and Michael Cole against John Cena and Jim Ross in the main event. That was ludicrous, and shows WWE know nothing about promoting in Mexico. The secret is really simple; get some more Hispanics in there.

For his part, Sin Cara is somebody who doesn't really speak English, so he needs someone to translate everything for him. That's a problem, and one the guy needs help with. He needs the right people to work with him, and get the best of what he has to offer. That was the same problem I experienced in 1996 when I began helping bring all these Mexican wrestlers, like Rey, to WCW. We had to almost be de-programmed; we knew the lucha libre style, but we had to adapt and learn the American style of wrestling. WWE needs to have people in place who can get the best out of the Latino stars.

I think WWE made a few huge mistakes with Sin Cara right off the bat. It's easy to blame the Wellness Policy violation or the injury, but there are other issues. Alberto Del Rio went to FCW when he first entered the company, and was seasoned for over a year in preparation for his big debut on television. The reports I heard from his first few months in Florida were terrible, simply because he didn't know the American style. With Sin Cara, Triple-H - whom everyone says sees Cara as his own personal project - brought him straight into the ring, with no time to prepare. That was one problem, because there's such a huge difference between what happens inside the ring in Mexico, and what happens on WWE TV. The in-ring psychology is different, along with the selling and timing. Everything is completely alien, so it naturally takes a lot of time to re-program a wrestler's way of thinking.
Instead, WWE dropped him straight into the shark tank.

Another problem was that the company never really paired Sin Cara up with anybody who could make him look good performing that American style. They should have brought a couple of Mexicans over, even temporarily, to help him ease into a new environment. I experienced something similar when wrestling for WWE in the early '90s as Max Moon. Thankfully, Vince McMahon was smart enough to bring in guys who could work my style, and that helped me out a lot.

I've been in the same boat as Sin Cara has been, albeit during a different era. When you're 20 or 25-years-old, and you're suddenly thrust into this position of being the hottest thing in your home country, it's hard. It's good, for sure, but it can be difficult to juggle all the different pressures. With all these things going on, Sin Cara did become hard to deal with, and got a massive ego. He even went as far as charging people to take pictures with him, which is really frowned upon in Mexico. In today's world, that kind of stuff gets around, and he started hearing people boo him at the shows. In a strange twist of fate, his popularity back home was starting to dwindle around the time WWE picked him up.

From what I heard, he went into WWE with that same ego, and it caused a lot of heat to come down on him. I think it was especially bad for him because Rey Mysterio is somebody who is so incredibly humble, and this guy came marching in the door with a big head, without having done anything in America to back it up. I'm pretty sure the heat has cooled down somewhat, but it was only natural that people wouldn't like his attitude coming in.

If we're looking for ways to help Sin Cara settle into WWE, I can think of a few worse than teaming him up with Rey. It'd be a huge deal to the kids who watch the show. If you put them against one another initially, them possibly tag them together, you could strap a rocket to their asses, and sit back and watch them go!

Teaming with Rey would also give Sin Cara the chance to develop in a fresh environment, and give him he rub of working with a legend. Guys like Dean Malenko and Chris Jericho spent a lot of time helping Rey understand the different style, and it would make sense for Sin Cara to be given that same opportunity.

CHANGING EXPECTATIONS
Vince McMahon has always been a mark for really big guys, which is something I’m sure everybody is aware of just through watching the TV shows down the years. It’s always been something I’ve had trouble with. In WCW, Kevin Nash used to always tell me that when other guys look at Rey, they thought, ‘Hey, even I could kick his ass!’ I disagree with that, because it’s clear to me that when people look at Mysterio, they think he’s a bad dude for his size.

Wrestling probably needs to get over this attitude that bigger is better, because talent is really where it's at. As long as you’re talented, regardless of what size you are, people are gonna dig what you’re doing. You only need to look back at Bruce Lee for evidence of that; he wasn’t the biggest dog in the fight, but who was really more bad than Bruce Lee?

WWE often have this big, muscular blueprint, and it’s what they think you have to be as their champion. Rey has never, and will never, fit into that group, but just like Eddy Guerrero, he has been able to break out, and become the star that he is because he brings it in the ring.