Original subtitles

And making his way to the ring from San Diego, California,

weighing in at 170 pounds, Rey Mysterio.

>> Rey Mysterio, in an impassioned and emotional speech, dedicated

a victory in the Royal Rumble Matchup to his late friend, Eddie Guerrero.

>> God had plans for

us, and those plans were to eventually conquer the wrestling world together.

>> Was it gonna be a night where 20,000 people left the arena disappointed,

heartbroken?

>> Mysterio take

one marker.

[MUSIC]

[INAUDIBLE] Steamer's beef.

>> What I respect most about Rey Mysterio,

he's always had a positive attitude in this business.

That kid fights through anything.

He doesn't let nothing get him down, and

it shows him everything that he's accomplished.

You can't help but like him.

He's just one of those people that I don't think has any enemies.

I think we all love him.

>> [INAUDIBLE] his opponent across the ring, Rey Mysterio.

>> [APPLAUSE] >> I tend to say that I am the king in

the ring every time I step in there, I dominate.

There is definitely a mystery behind the name.

I would love to use it more with the English translation, King Mystery.

I think it's dope [LAUGH].

The first time I saw Lucha Libre,

keep in mind that I grew up around the sport.

It was very normal for me to see a pair of boots, to see a mask,

tights laid out after my uncle's matches on Fridays.

My favorite times as a kid was when I got to spend the night at my uncle's house,

Rey Mysterio Sr., we would play wrestle,

that's where I learned my first wrestling moves, doing backflips.

He would go down on his knees and I would run, jump on top of his shoulders,

and then he'd push me off my butt and I'd do a backflip and land.

Every Friday night, I would get together with my parents, my brothers, and

we'd go down and support my uncle at the auditorium de tijuana, California.

And we'd watch my uncle wrestle

every Friday night in front of 6,000 people live.

>> Representing Mexico from Mexico City, Mexico, Rey Mysterio.

>> In the world of Lucha Libre, you have the technicos,

which are the good guys, and you have the rudos, which are the bad guys.

Growing up, watching my uncle perform, I loved the attention that he got.

I loved the ovation that he would get from the fans.

That was part of being the good guy, the technico.

>> And these are the rudos, as they call them, the bad guys.

>> Eddie's character was, He had the flip mode switch.

He can be a technico or he can be a rudo.

>> And can Eddy Guerrero get up as well?

Look at that.

>> To be able to dominate both worlds, that's a gift, that's a talent.

Truth be told, I'm one of those that can't do that.

I don't think I can play a bad guy.

But Eddie, he just had that griminess that

brought the worst out of him when he needed to.

>> How can you beat something?

How can you beat someone?

It's already lost everything.

>> What Eddie Guerrero means to this business was a superstar

who was addicted to the business.

>> Okay, fly, please, in three.

>> And that was good and bad in so many different ways.

[INAUDIBLE] >> I

think a lot of people connected with Eddie, he was an entertainer at his core.

His in ring style was awesome, it was charismatic, it was physical.

But nobody ever had a problem work with him because it was like working with

a feather.

And then at the same time, he had these demons because he had a lot of flaws.

We all do, but sometimes this business,

being on the road in any business can get the better of you sometimes.

>> By the grace of God, I'm a recovering drug addict and

alcoholic that works every day to stay sober.

That works every day to walk in the path of God.

I'm proud of who I am.

And I'm a wrestler that tries to please

the audience because that's how much I love it.

>> The first time I got to see Eddie was in Tijuana.

He was wrestling with my uncle, they were teaming up.

I had to have been maybe 13 years old.

Eddie was already traveling, establishing his name as a Guerrero.

If you asked me back then, man, would you love to work Eddie?

I would have said yes.

But if you would have asked me one day you guys are gonna have match of the year.

I would say you're joking, right?

And that's what happened in Halloween Havoc97.

Pretty much WCW was what you were told to do, you had to do.

>> Rey Mysterio Jr. takes the long walk to the ring.

Truly, of all the great matches this young man has had throughout his career,

this his most important.

>> So the rumor was that I was supposed to lose my mask that night and

I didn't want a part of it.

They were trying to take off every Lutador's mask one by one, and

I was on the list.

The drama builds up to a phone call at home, me talking to Eric Bischoff.

And he apparently found out that I wasn't gonna show up to the pay per view.

And he said, no, you're gonna show up.

You're gonna do what you're told and if you don't do it,

you're in breach of contract.

I was put in that tough position where I had to be there.

There was a lot of politicking going on backstage, and they finally,

came back to me and talked to me about it.

Match or two before us going up,

they came up and they said,

roles are switched, Rey, Eddie.

What?

>> And here we go.

>> Watch this.

>> Rey Mysterio Jr. on the apron.

>> And Eddie that quickly could take the advantage.

>> I remember trying to talk to Eddie, he just raged.

Listen to me, listen to me, just open your ears out there, okay?

I was wearing a phantom outfit that night.

It was a long sleeve, almost like a turtleneck that came with the mask.

I had never worn something like that.

So when Eddie said open your ears, I was like, Jesus, this is gonna be hard.

[NOISE] >> And

that certainly has changed the complexion of this matchup.

>> I went based off his lead because Eddie, best talent, best talent ever.

Because he knew what to give the fans at the right time.

>> You're gonna walk away from this match saying, we saw something here, guys.

>> One of the biggest moves that I've created, pull up,

springboard, reverse, backflip DDT, happened right there.

>> DDT out of nowhere. >> He got it turned around.

Got it turned around right there.

>> Well, you're right, out of nowhere, he dropped him.

>> That was one for the highlight reel of the year right there, guys.

>> He is from the middle turnbuckle.

>> [INAUDIBLE] One, two, three.

>> Yes [SOUND] yes.

>> New champion.

>> Wow, new champion.

What a fight.

What a battle.

>> That was a match that I look back and I just say,

didn't have to change nothing in that match.

[INAUDIBLE] Tears coming out of my eyes.

I get chills.

Yes, that's how great Eddie was.

>> Last question, how will people remember Rey Mysterio?

>> I think people are gonna remember him as a giant killer.

All the odds are stacked up

against him, and he beats him,

and with a smile on his face.

In my life, I look up to him.

I have respect for him for that.

He's an influence, an inspiration.

>> That's good.

[NOISE]

>> Eddie called me [FOREIGN], and

I would call him the same, [FOREIGN], but that actually came from him.

He would call me [FOREIGN] out of just love and how spiritual he was.

That was his nickname for me.

We had wrestled against each other in the past, but we had never teamed up.

This was complete magic together, and that's a great way to kick off 2005,

eventually becoming Tag Team Champions.

And then, like every marriage, eventually, you're gonna bump heads.

Eddie, at the time, he wanted to be the bad guy, [FOREIGN].

He knew exactly what he was doing.

[MUSIC]

From my understanding, the story behind the custody of Dominik

was put together by Bruce Prichard and Eddie Guerrero.

When Eddie approached me with the story, they lay it out,

where Eddie had some issues before Dominik was born.

He wasn't in the right state of mind to have Dominik.

But you guys have always been very close.

So he spoke to you and said, Rey, would you look out for

Dominik like if he was your kid?

I'm like, this sounds really good.

Now the hard part was convincing Dominik.

>> I remember the first person coming up to me was my dad.

We had already gone out.

We were out traveling with him.

He asked me, he's like, hey, how would you feel about doing some stuff with us?

And I didn't give it much thought.

I was like, no, probably not, because I didn't like being in front of cameras.

And then he mentioned that there was gonna be some money involved.

And as an eight-year-old kid, I was like, money equals toys.

So I said, sure, why not?

And the rest is history.

>> You like bedtime stories?

>> I love bedtime stories, Uncle Eddie.

>> Well, Uncle Eddie promises to tell you a bedtime

story you'll never ever forget [LAUGH].

>> I remember very vividly the scene where I was filming with Eddie in the park.

We did maybe five or six takes.

And after every take he'd ask me, are you okay?

And then he would hand me a Twizzler.

I believe I was in third grade at the time.

Everyone would ask me, so who really is your dad?

Is it Eddie?

Is it Rey?

And I'd be like, well, it's Rey.

That was always a question every time I got back.

Still to this day, people are like, so who really is your dad?

>> Eddie Guerrero versus Rey Mysterio for

the custody of Dominik.

>> You're on.

Just like I will beat you in a court of law,

just like I'll beat you inside this ring, I've already won, Holmes.

Dominik comes home with me tonight.

And after SummerSlam, it's gonna be forever.

>> When you caught Eddie motivated,

there's nobody that could stop him, no one.

Again, he had that little switch in his body and

in his brain that once it clicked on, tunnel vision focused,

fully focused, and the fans were listening to everything he had to say.

>> I'm gonna climb this ladder for

Dominik Guerrero, who is going

to be the best Guerrero of us all.

[NOISE] >> That ladder match at SummerSlam,

it was the closing of that chapter.

I was sad because I knew that was gonna be the ending of me working with Eddie,

and we were gonna part ways and

we were both gonna have a different direction after that.

[MUSIC]

>> Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in the history of the WWE,

the custody of a child will be determined in a match.

>> We were very focused and determined to give the fans a great payoff for

the four months of that roller coaster ride that they witnessed.

>> There are looks on faces that you see backstage when they understand how big

of a moment it is for them, when they understand that this is a moment in time

that they can attach their careers to.

>> We go out there and we deliver like we always like to deliver.

>> Eddie Guerrero with a cheap shot, a knee to the gut,

typical Guerrero fashion to start off this matchup.

Eddie Guerrero climbing the ladder, Eddie going for the briefcase.

Mysterio using a springboard from the top rope to take Guerrero out, and

the elation in the face of Dominic.

>> It was pretty scary just because I'd seen some of the Hardys have

ladder matches with Edge and Christian and the Dudleys, so

I knew what the ladder match was about.

And I just wanted everything to To come out okay, and my dad and

Eddie to come out safe.

>> From the top rope, out of the neck of Eddie Guerrero.

>> I just remember being, really nervous because I had this one cue, but

I wasn't told what the cue was.

I was just told that I was gonna get nudged, and then that was a cue.

So I was just watching the whole match, excited, waiting for my cue.

And then, when it was my cue, I had to go up there and

shake that ladder as hard as I could, which wasn't very hard but.

>> Ray is climbing up, he looked back at Dominic,

seemed to give him almost a thumbs up, as he climbs toward the top of the ladder.

>> He's got it, Cole.

>> Goes out the briefcase.

>> I remember falling.

The ladder tipped over, and I fell from the hook, and

I landed on top of the ladder, then on the mat.

>> Look at this.

>> What the hell have I done?

My God, my God, my God. >> And Rey Mysterio falls as well.

>> It was a pretty rough landing, at the time you don't feel none of that.

Your adrenaline is going.

You're just focused on the task.

At the end of day, it worked out, beautifully.

>> Guerrero's gonna climb to the top of that ladder.

>> Again, Guerrero's gonna just.

Eddie's hurt, though, having a tough time.

That's Eddie's wife.

>> That's his wife.

That's Vicki.

Yeah, Eddie's wife.

Vicki is in the ring.

>> Wait, what?

Eddie.

[NOISE] >> Yeah.

What's that?

Vicki, Vicki.

>> My God. >> Vicki doing the right thing.

Ray is almost there.

>> No, no, no. >> Guerrero's got the ladder again.

Mysterio near the briefcase.

Vicki pulling her husband leg.

>> My God.

>> Come on, Rey.

Yes, yes, Rey Mysterio has his son back.

[MUSIC]

[MUSIC]

>> We were at a SmackDown taping, the last time, I had a chance to see Eddie.

This was, prior to a big tour that we were getting ready to do.

I was getting ready to leave the arena, and

Eddie was living in Phoenix at the time, and I was gonna connect on

the same flight that he was on from Phoenix to Minneapolis.

So, I actually told him I would see you on the flight.

I ended up changing my flight, and I took a red eye.

As soon as I arrived, one of the truck drivers for the crew, greets me and.

And it's helping my bags.

He's, Ray, did you hear about Eddie?

I said, no, no, what happened?

He just passed.

And I was,

no way.

I leave my bags right away.

And they told me that he was just a couple blocks the hotel.

So I hustled my ass over to the hotel, and

got there, and I made my way up right away.

Our doctor, Dr. Rios, was there, and

we were standing outside his room in the hallway, in shock.

Dr. Rios, talked to the forensics and said,

the guys would really love to see him one time before you take him.

And they said, yeah, sure, no problem.

[MUSIC]

I remember, walking into his room.

He was laid out on the floor next to his bed.

I remember kneeling down and bawling, crying.

I cried just, didn't wanna believe it.

Chavo was broken.

We were all broken, we were all broken.

We had lost, a fine soul, one of the best

friends you could ever have, yeah.

We're gonna miss you, Eddie.

You're a big inspiration to everybody.

As a fan, as a person, as a human being.

You had a good presence.

You had such a great presence.

I love you.

>> And what we're going to do right now,

we are going to do what we do to honor one of our fallen comrades.

Right now, we will ring the bell, 10 times.

Please stand it.

[SOUND]

>> [APPLAUSE]

>> Thank you very much.

>> [APPLAUSE] >> All

of us were having a very hard time coping with Eddie's passing.

Nothing easy to deal with.

But the one thing that always kept our spirit up, was what would Eddie do?

What would he have liked?

He didn't wanna see you down.

He wanted to see you up.

And, hey, the show goes on.

No matter what, the show goes on.

[MUSIC]

The fans, saw Eddie through me.

[MUSIC]

They were the ones that, put this together.

They were the ones that, connected Eddie with me.

[NOISE] >> Eventually,

when I would run into my fans and Eddie's fans,

they would give me their condolences, and

they would, in some way or form,

feel peace that I was keeping Eddie's name alive.

>> [APPLAUSE]

[NOISE]

[MUSIC]

[MUSIC]

Without further ado, we'd like to kick things off with a SmackDown Superstar who,

pound for pound,

may be one of the greatest athletes in the history of sports entertainment.

Ladies and gentlemen, from San Diego, California, Rey Mysterio.

>> [APPLAUSE]

>> Y'all know he's watching us, right?

>> [APPLAUSE] >> I wanna dedicate this Royal Rumble

to my brother [FOREIGN] Eduardo Guerrero

because I know that he would love for

me to make it to the top, and I'm gonna do it for him.

Eddie, [FOREIGN]

Royal Rumble [FOREIGN].

[NOISE] >> Being part of the Rumble,

it's the way to kick off a year inside the wrestling world.

[NOISE] >> I

think the coolest thing about the Rumble is when all the superstars are inside

the ring just going crazy and wrecking havoc on each other.

People going over the top rope and

I think that's the best part about the Royal Rumble.

And the surprises, you never know who's gonna come out.

>> The ten-time world champion.

And now the question is,

who will Triple H face off with in the first 90 seconds of the Rumble matchup?

If you're one or two, you're screwed.

>> It was such an incredible vibe.

If I can go back to that day, if they ask me, what would you change?

I would change nothing, absolutely nothing.

>> Paying homage to Eddie tonight.

In a lowrider, here comes Mysterio.

>> Coming out with the lowrider, Eddie's image front,

hitting the switches, bouncing up and down.

I would come out with Eddie on those Impalas sometimes and

we would just have a blast, we had such a good time.

[MUSIC]

>> I didn't even know until I walked by it backstage that the lowrider

was gonna be a part of the show.

For Rey to reenact it that night, it was almost like time stood still.

>> For some reason, we had the family over to watch the Royal Rumble and

it seemed a little off because that usually doesn't happen.

And my dad came out at number two.

So I remember we were all really excited, but we weren't as excited when we

saw it was Triple H at number one because we were like, well, then that might be it.

>> Rey Mysterio's gotta survive for 60 minutes.

Right now he just needs to concentrate on surviving Triple H.

[MUSIC]

>> I'm probably one of the guys that they would

love to see win, but I'm not a favorite.

[MUSIC]

And I have 28 guys following me, so

it's not looking too good for me right out the get go.

>> Psychosis, standing tall here.

Psychosis, face first goes Mysterio.

>> Whatever the focus is on in the Royal Rumble match,

you know you got a job to do.

And you know that you're in there for a reason.

And it's not just to take up a spot.

>> [APPLAUSE] >> Cuz there's well over 30 superstars

that would love to be in one Royal Rumble match.

[SOUND] >> Davey Boy styling and profiling.

[SOUND] Look at the strength of the Big Show.

>> When you're standing behind the curtain and you know that you're the next number,

and you know that crowd is chanting five, four, three, two, one.

[SOUND] >> You know what, the best thing about

Coach being in this match, we don't have to deal with him on commentary tonight.

>> I'm in it for the long haul.

I'm thinking Shawn Michaels, 60 minutes plus, let's go.

>> My, Coach has been eliminated.

He comes enough safe.

>> That's how my Royal Rumble match went.

And I believe that I did get into double digits as far as seconds are concerned.

So I feel good about that.

[SOUND] >> Shawn Michaels is fresh.

Shawn Michaels has twice won the Royal Rumble.

>> Superstars, think for months before,

how can I have that one moment in the match?

That's all you want.

>> Eliminated.

>> Look out.

>> And Shawn [INAUDIBLE] and

The Heartbreak Kid making a beeline for the McMahons.

>> There's a lot of times throughout the match that

I had to lay low and take cover, don't get too greedy,

because out of that, mistakes happen.

>> My, he did it.

>> Yes, he did.

>> Mysterio hangs out again.

>> A close call.

>> I've never experienced a night where an entire arena of people or

stadium wanted one person to win a match more than Rey Mysterio.

>> 16,000 strong here at the American Airlines Arena,

chanting the name of Eddie Guerrero, tying to will Rey Mysterio on.

>> Triple H and Rey have been in this Royal Rumble for 56 minutes, Michael.

>> Approaching record time.

>> And then he also had the doubts because the other beautiful part of this business

is sometimes you don't get what you want.

Was it gonna be a night where 20,000 people left the arena disappointed?

>> Triple H from Raw Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton from SmackDown.

And now the pressure begins to mount.

The pressure begins to build.

One of these three men is going to WrestleMania.

And Mysterio, counter, what a counter by Mysterio.

>> I remember hitting the double

619 on Randy and on Triple H.

>> He hit scissors. >> No.

>> Here we go.

>> No, you gotta be kidding me,

look at this 619 connected. >> They're 619,

come on, Randy. >> And the place is going crazy.

[NOISE]

>> Normally,

I follow up with the frog splash in Eddie's honor, but there was no one,

two, three counts here. They had to go over the top rope, so

I had to be creative. And after the double 619,

I ended up taking out Triple H with one of my Rey Mysterio signature moves,

Tijeras. >> And the reality is this Royal Rumble

matchup has been going for one hour and Rey and Triple H

have been in it from the beginning. >> [CROSSTALK]

>> Triple H eliminated.

>> My God! >> We're down to Mysterio and Randy.

>> The Game is gone.

>> Come on, Randy.

>> The Game is gone.

>> Triple H, [FOREIGN] goes out, Rey Mysterio technicon stays in.

>> Triple H is a genius and he knows what is needed in any situation,

Situation to allow the storyline to continue,

to allow the audience to buy into whatever it is

that is called for at that particular moment.

>> Come on now. >> After more than an hour, the game.

>> Come on.

>> Is eliminated and he shows his frustration.

>> I remember Triple H dragging him out, throwing him against the steps.

>> Mysterio has not been eliminated, but

Triple H may have put the nail where belong in his mind.

>> And then throwing him into Randy and

I thought that was it.

>> There's another person that I love to create magic with, is Randy Orton.

>> Rey Mysterio is helpless.

>> Randy Orton.

>> Rey Mysterio is helpless too.

>> Randy Orton, methodical here now.

>> And this is a damn shade that Triple H had to every mysterious hope this way.

>> Ray hanging on for dear life here.

>> [CROSSTALK] >> That moment when I end

up tossing Randy out to the floor, his expression,

his mannerisms, the way he moved, just it told you

the story of he had everything to win, but he didn't.

[MUSIC]

>> The whole house exploded, which I thought was the coolest because I've never

seen my family do something like that.

Now, looking at it, I realized how big of a moment that really was.

>> It was such a great

moment that I had to

let Eddie know.

[MUSIC]

Not just one person, it was two.

Couldn't see

the other one,

but he knew he

was there.

[MUSIC]

>> I didn't think I was gonna get that emotional.

And a lot of memories all of a sudden just zoom through your brain and

you're thinking of so many moments.

And that's when I start crying because I know I'm not gonna see him anymore.

And I thought I had figured that out already but

no, it hits you again, and

it hits you like if it was day one of him not being here.

Man, we cried, we cried and again.

But, man, hey,

I miss you, bro.

I love you.

[MUSIC]