Rey Mysterio knows when it’ll be time to retire from WWE.
There’s little Rey Mysterio hasn’t accomplished in his storied wrestling career. Mysterio was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2023, but despite his career being largely behind him, the star isn’t ready to hang up his boots quite yet.
Speaking in a new interview on the Jaxxon Podcast, Rey Mysterio revealed that he still gets jitters when he performs in WWE, and says the moment that stops will be the moment he steps away from in-ring competition.
“Every night. Even when it’s non-televised, I still get that jittering feeling like, ‘Sh*t; I don’t want to f*ck up. I want to make sure everything comes out right.’ I always tell myself, the day I no longer feel that, that’s the time to tap out.” (h/t Fightful)
Rey Mysterio Nearly Retired From WWE In 2019
Speaking on a March edition of After The Bell, Rey Mysterio opened up about his plans to retire in 2019 following his feud with Samoa Joe. He revealed that his son Dominik Mysterio was the one who convinced him to continue his in-ring career prior to the two getting to work together on-screen.
“I mean at one point when I first came back [to WWE], I was actually feuding with Samoa Joe and I remember that’s when I really wanted to hang up the mask and retire. As weird as it sounds, Dominik convinced me not to and told me to stay. I just felt like I was falling behind with all this young talent opening up a path… but I stayed and I committed to putting in the work and it’s been incredible ever since.
“Yeah, I was really having doubts and I was like ‘Maybe it is time to step back and let this new generation come in and do their thing.’ But I think shortly after, I went to get some Stem Cells and I came back and I was ready to go.” (h/t Fightful)
Rey Mysterio signed a new WWE contract in late 2023.
Also in the interview, Rey Mysterio looked back on a match where he was “scared sh*tless.”