Konnan Talks Rey Mysterio's WWE Departure, WWE Not Releasing A Statement, Bill DeMott, Myztezyz

I recently spoke to Konnan, who will be a part of WaleMania next Thursday, March 26th at Taste Nightclub in Santa Clara, CA during WrestleMania week. In the second and final part of the interview below, Konnan discussed Rey Mysterio's WWE departure, WWE not issuing a statement on Rey, if he can see Rey going back to WWE, Bill DeMott, his favorite match and time in the business and more.

Click here for part one of the interview, where Konnan talks about working for Lucha Underground, his brief WWE run, WWE holding a grudge, TNA's problems, Triple H not getting behind Alberto Del Rio and more.

WaleMania is Thursday, March 26th at Taste Nightclub in Santa Clara, CA. Tickets start at $15, while VIP tickets are $60 and include a special meet and greet with Rey Mysterio and friends as well as Don Julio Tequila. There will be a fan Q&A with Mysterio and the panel where fans can ask any and all questions. There will be a major after party featuring Rey and other wrestling luminaries after the live in-person MLW Radio session where Wale will perform songs from The Album About Nothing. The event begins at 6:30 and goes to the club's closing. You can pre-order Wale's "The Album About Nothing" at this link, and purchase tickets for WaleMania at WaleMania.com.

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It was clear Rey Mysterio wasn't happy at the end in WWE. How do you feel WWE handled his release? You had the "free Rey" MLW social media campaign going. Do you think that was a factor?

I don't know. They ignore everybody like they don't exist and don't sell anything, but you know they read everything. At the end of the day, I don't think they wanted any more problems with the Latins. The last time they came here there were a lot less people. They admitted Alberto Del Rio hurt them. I think they wanted to keep Rey off TV as long as possible. I thought he was going to finish up at WrestleMania, and he was going to do something with Bray Wyatt. They didn't want him to come off their TV hot, so they wanted to freeze him for three months. He's a legend, they could have froze him for three years. He is who he is. They should have gave him a good sendoff, he deserves it. He's a model guy, that doesn't give any problems. He's not political, he's not a squeaky wheel. He's a guy that kids love, hispanics love, everybody. I don't think they treated him right. Forget it, he's with us. That's their screw up. They had Mysterio, they had ADR. Good luck finding the next Latino superstar.

Do you think Rey was used well during his WWE run?

Originally Vince had to be convinced to give Rey the title, and then when he was convinced he said "Rey's going to lose the title on this date." When he did, Rey lost 90 percent of every match he was in. He booked him to fail to show everyone he was right. That's why his championship reign is nothing to speak about. I remember Khali beating him in a squash match in San Diego. Nobody came to see Khali, Rey's from here. Some of the things they do are dumb and ridiculous. They do a lot of smart stuff and cool stuff, but they do a lot of dumb stuff that makes you wonder how the same people that came up with those great ideas or push these great wrestlers come up with this. Historically that's how WWE has been. They like to rib and embarrass people. Could you imagine the director of Modern Family having heat with Ed O'Neil and makes him look like a jabroni on the show? You can't do that. They were calling Mickie James a fat pig and saying Gail Kim was unattractive and putting Vickie in pig slop. It's ridiculous. That's why almost everyone who leaves there has nothing good to say. But the smart mark thinks WWE is always right. A lot of the wrestlers won't say anything because they want to work there in the future because there's nowhere to go. But now it's opening up. There's a lot more options.

What are your feelings on what happened to Bill DeMott? Were you surprised?

I don't know the particulars, I haven't been following along, just what I hear on the podcast. When I was Bill he was very cool and respectful to Latinos and me. I considered him a very cool guy. I think WWE wanted him to be that way or else he wouldn't have been able to get away with that for as long as he did. I almost feel it would have been an edict from WWE. The way me, Rey Mysterio, Alberto Del Rio got into the business was a lot harder than the stuff these guys are going through. I have a lot of respect for their work, because wrestling's evolved, but a lot of them are crybabies and don't want to pay dues, a lot of them think everything should be handed to them. A lot of guys are sensitive, I couldn't imagine them in the military. I just think a lot of guys are pussies, but I think Bill did go overboard. Slapping guys with concussions, that's a definite no-no. I'd never do that and never would do that. I feel that if Bill acted that way, he was condoned by WWE.

You and Rey will be a part of WaleMania during WrestleMania week. Is this your first public appearance with Rey in the States since WCW?

It could be. We were in Puerto Rico together, but very few people saw it or knew about it. It's March 26 in San Jose at the Taste Nightclub. I'll be having drinks and blazing one as usual. We have a lot of friends in wrestling who can't give their names up. We won't even know who's there until they show up, that's the type of friends we roll with.

What are some of the hints of what fans can expect from Rey Mysterio in AAA?

He's the face of the company right now. We haven't really sat down to book anything with him yet because we just signed him last week. At the end of the day, Rey wants to prove to everybody, because people say he's injury prone. That's why Matt Sydal got hurt, because he's taking all the risks. When he was back in the ring, he was doing good, but the last thing people remember is that every year he gets hurt, and he does. He's really motivated to show people he can really go. He's really doing good, and you'll see very soon in AAA.

Were you surprised that WWE didn't release a statement about him leaving the company?

That was very weird. It just shows they have no class. They should have said thank you for all of the years he gave them, but they didn't. I think there was a part of me that thinks they didn't want negative new piling up like "Why did you let Rey go?" and things like that. That's the only thing I can think of. It's classless.

Could you ever see him going back to WWE?

I don't know what he would go back for. He was there and they didn't do anything with him? I'm not speaking for him, but what would you do with him later on. Unless you want to put him in the Hall of Fame. I'm not speaking for him, though.

What do you think about Rey possibly going to Lucha Underground?

The fact that the network is called El Rey and he's Rey Mysterio is pretty cool in itself, but I think it'd be a natural extension of what we're doing, because AAA is working closely with Lucha Underground. A lot of the guys are working both places and that's a very viable option for Rey.

Another top guy in AAA is Myztezyz, the former Sin Cara. Do you think that could be an option for him?
Yeah I think we'll see him in there also, yes.

How is he after leaving WWE? Does he look back at that time as wasted, or is he happy it happened?

I haven't really talked to him that much about it. I think he was very shocked. He was Triple H's first project and they pushed him as a big signing, but it's their fault. First of all they sent him to FCW like they did ADR, because he has to get deprogrammed. There's a huge style difference. He didn't know any English. Eddie did, Alberto did, Rey did. They put him in with guys who didn't know how to do lucha. If you get in there with someone who doesn't have a good base, you're not going to have a good match. It didn't help him any that he got busted for steroids and he got hurt. He never really talked that much about it. He's back in Mexico.

You've wrestled a lot of places for a long time, what is your favorite time in the business?

Definitely when I was getting into the business wrestling in Arena Mexico for AAA. In ECW, that was awesome. When I first got to WCW. At the end I hated it more than anything in my career. Now that I'm in Lucha Underground it's very fun again. A great locker room and people trying to push the bar. There's no backstage politics or favoritism. You're not going to get a spot by being a stooge and brown nosing. If you've got talent you can get your spot.

What's your favorite match that you've been in?

There's a couple, but the three off the top of my head are when I lost my mask in Arena Mexico to Pedro Aguayo, because we sold it out five weeks in a row. That's a 16,000 seat place. When I did my retirement match against Cien Caras, that's 50,000 people. And also when I went to the Sports Arena and I did a three way with Cien Caras and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. We had like 17,000 people there and 5,000 people outside. We had broke a record that had been there for like 25 years. Also my return to Mexico after like seven years. It was really crazy to see how people reacted when I came back.

Do you have anything that you'd like to plug?

Just listen to my podcast, MLW. It's on MLWRadio.com with myself and Court Bauer, who is a former WWE writer and MSL, who's our punching bag. We have interviews, we've had some really crazy shows. And come out to WaleMania on March 26th at Taste Nightclub in Santa Clara. Disco Inferno is going to be there, we're going to have a lot of surprises in the house, we're going to have a Q&A session. I keep it real, so anyone on the panel is going to get an honest answer. No politics here, nobody trying to get a job. Then we have the Wale after party. Wale is a really eclectic rapper and does things outside of the box, and he's going to be doing his album release party there. There's going to he a lot of hip-hop heads there. Wale is a big wrestling fan, he knows his s–t. We're going to do the podcast there, we invite everyone to come out.

Click here for part one of the interview, where Konnan talks about working for Lucha Underground, his brief WWE run, WWE holding a grudge, TNA's problems, Triple H not getting behind Alberto Del Rio and more.

WaleMania is Thursday, March 26th at Taste Nightclub in Santa Clara, CA. Tickets start at $15, while VIP tickets are $60 and include a special meet and greet with Rey Mysterio and friends as well as Don Julio Tequila. There will be a fan Q&A with Mysterio and the panel where fans can ask any and all questions. There will be a major after party featuring Rey and other wrestling luminaries after the live in-person MLW Radio session where Wale will perform songs from "The Album About Nothing". You can purchase tickets for WaleMania at WaleMania.com.