Rey Mysterio Says He Likely Wouldn’t Have Been World Champion Without Eddie Guerrero’s Passing

Rey Mysterio reached the top of the mountain by winning the World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania 22. It’s been almost 20 years since then and Mysterio has now admitted he doubts he’d have become champion had Eddie Guerrero not passed away.

While speaking to the No Contest Wrestling podcast, Rey Mysterio admitted that he doesn’t think he would have won the world title if Eddie Guerrero hadn’t passed away. He talked about the strong connection he had with Eddie, even though they were rivals at the end. Their last match was at SummerSlam 2005 for the custody of Dominik, and looking back, Rey said he wishes Eddie had won that match and continued the story.

“I truly believe in my heart that that moment wouldn’t have happened if Eddie hadn’t passed, because the connection that Eddie and I had—even though we were feuding at the end. My last match against Eddie was SummerSlam for the custody of Dominik, which I wish Eddie would have beat me and he would have kept on it, looking back. But that connection that we had, you know, everything that we did together was so unique, so real, so organic.”

After Eddie Guerrero passed, Rey Mysterio believes it was Pat Patterson who told Vince McMahon that Rey should get the title. That led to Rey winning the Royal Rumble and then the World Championship. Mysterio said it all happened so fast and it felt unreal. His wife, along with a young Dominik and Aaliyah, were there, and lots of friends came to celebrate the big moment.

“When Eddie passed, I believe Pat Patterson was the one that mentioned to Vince at the time, ‘You got to put the title on him.’ And that took me to, obviously, winning the Royal Rumble and then moving on to winning the world title. But it happened so fast and it was so surreal—having my wife there, Dom and Aaliyah, you know, just very young. The excitement, there were a lot of friends, a lot of people that wanted to be there just to celebrate with me.”

When Rey Mysterio finally got back to his hotel room and relaxed, the excitement faded. It felt like everything was over. He enjoyed the fun and celebration, but once he was alone, it felt like it all disappeared. For Mysterio, it was like another day at work that went really well. The next morning, he was ready to keep moving forward and continue working hard.

“By the time I got to my room and unwound, it was like—it’s all gone. Like that’s it, it’s over. You enjoy the moments of exposure, or laughter, or just even talking about what happened that night, but once you get to your room it almost vanishes. Then you go back to reality—it’s like, all right, that was just another day at work. And that day at work went perfectly well. So, I’m ready to move on, wake up the next day, and keep grinding.”

In November 2005, the wrestling world tragically lost Eddie Guerrero but the spirit of Eddie and his legacy will forever live on in Rey Mysterio and his entire family and that’s all that matters in the end.

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