For me, the people who doubt me only fuel me to prove them wrong. I want to prove to them that I am better than they think I am and that I deserve to be on top and I deserve to be World Heavyweight Champion.
When anyone talks about lucha libre and that style of wrestling, the first person they think of is Mil Mascaras. The other man the true wrestling fan will think of is El Santo. These were the names that came to me when I was growing up.
I learn from each match that I have, especially when it's a different opponent.
My uncle inspired me, and it was because of him that I become a wrestler, but besides him, the one Superstar that really caught my attention growing up as a kid was 'Macho Man' Randy Savage.
I made good money at WWE and traveled the world and interacted with my fans, but I missed a lot of family time. That really hits me.
When you're in WWE, it's a part of that contract signing, that grind. You're on-call 24-7. That's why you become the star that you are.
My favorite place to read is next to the pond in my backyard.
That's really what drew me into wrestling. To see my own uncle put on the mask every Friday to go into the ring, and me putting on his masks to play wrestle with him. It was a whole different world when it came down to sports.
In Mexico, to become a pro wrestler, you have to have a wrestling license, and to get a license, you have to pass a wrestling test.
When I was 17, I got a call from Konnan. He told me that he was about to start up a new promotion called AAA. A lot of the popular wrestlers were going to come to work for him, and he wanted me to be one of them.
A lot of people have doubted me because of my size. They think someone like me doesn't deserve to be in the main event, but I think if they knew me, and knew what I've been through in my career, they would respect me.
Dark matches are usually off-camera. Sometimes you don't even wrestle in front of the crowd, you wrestle in front of the agents - but my first match with WCW was on a pay-per-view.
'Lucha Underground' is the evolution of wrestling. It's high-style, high-flying, fast-paced hybrid style wrestling, and we're actually paying homage to lucha libre for the first time.
As you get older, your body doesn't hold up as much.
I always kept the fans happy. They always saw a different Rey, whether it was a mask, a design, a color. I never gave them the same thing twice and always kept them on their feet. They were always excited to see what Rey was going to bring to the table.
It's all about the style and what you can bring to the table - how exciting you can be.
I would hope to end my career here if it came down to it and take other roles with 'Lucha Underground.' I see a lot of the style I was raised on here, and I think I can help out with the young upcoming talent and hope to be around here as long as it lasts.
I do recall at one point being part of WWE and other guys taking the risk of stepping away, and a lot of guys don't do it because of the fear that it's not going to be the same.
Being part of WWE is beautiful. You're on the biggest stage of them all. You're living well; you're making good money, and the only flipside to that is that you're on the grind, and you've got to be committed. You've got to make sure to understand what being on the grind is.
There is a lot of things out here that sometimes you don't realize because you're inside the circle, but once you're out, there's a lot of things that pop up, and you'd be surprised.
