Rey Mysterio reflects on near retirement and son's influence

"

Rey Mysterio is one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all-time. He’s also 51 years old with such a long history of knee injuries and extracted eyeballs that I don’t know how he still performs at a high level when he’s in the ring, like he did on Raw this week (June 8) against Intercontinental Champion Penta. In an interview on The Late Run with Ochocinco, Rey said the injuries sapped his passion for pro wrestling to the point where he almost retired from WWE circa 2020. However, it was his son Dominik’s interest in following in his footsteps that helped change his mind. “Not too long ago, maybe about five, six years [ago], I just wasn’t getting that same emotion when I would step into the ring. I think my body was burnt out mentally, physically. I told my wife, I remember sitting down with her and telling her, you know what, I don’t feel what I would always feel every time I would step into the ring, I think I’m gonna tap out. I just don’t feel it anymore. Shortly after, my son told me that he wanted to try and break into the business. And seeing him, or helping him get on board, kind of just inspired or ignited that fire once again, and it’s been going since. So yeah, it was one incident of me not wanting, and then him coming into the picture, and me reigniting myself.” “Me reigniting myself”? It figures this deadbeat dad would take all the credit for something special that Dirty Dom made happen. Are you glad that Rey Mysterio didn’t hang up his wrestling boots five or six years ago? Let me know how much longer you think he can realistically go in the comments below, Cagesiders.