Rey Mysterio Recounts His First Backstage Encounter With Paul Heyman

Rey Mysterio has created an unforgettable legacy throughout his 33-year career in professional wrestling. In 1995, Mysterio was working with Lucha Libre AAA while also beginning to compete in the United States under the banner of Paul Heyman's Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). From the very beginning of their relationship, Mysterio felt like Heyman was a "great guy." "I remember walking up to Paul and asking him, 'Excuse me, Mr. Heyman, is it OK if we use a table? You know, we wanted to do this with the table' and, he's so funny, he's like, 'Great, you can use a table, you can use the car, you can use a chair, use whatever you want. Go out there and have a great time,'" Mysterio recalled to Fox News.

Mysterio says his excitement was palpable, "dipping into something new." "Sure enough, I took his advice, and every night we went out, and we fu**ing tried to perform better than the night before. And it was very exciting because ... We never had been a part of extreme wrestling."

Heyman and Mysterio would work with each other several times in the future, including in the current era of WWE. Though he has been off television ever since receiving an F-5 through the announce table at SummerSlam 2022, it has been reported in the past that Heyman is an invaluable asset to have for WWE backstage. Mysterio's career continues moving forward with his son, Dominik, by his side, with the duo recently enjoying a "WWE SmackDown" tag team title reign from May 16 to July 18, 2021.