Top 5 Times Rey Mysterio Proved Age is Just a Number

Has your mind ever been blown when you discover how old somebody is? 

Well, prepare yourselves becuase today is WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio’s birthday. 

Wait, let us be more specific. 

Today is Rey Mysterio’s 49th birthday!

RELATED: Rey Mysterio Reveals Past Struggles With Painkiller Addiction

That’s not a misprint – the WWE Hall of Famer, the former WWE Champion, the Greatest Mask of All-Time – Rey Mysterio, is celebrating his 49th birthday. We won’t judge you if your jaw is on the floor – after all, Mysterio still flies around the ring with the same reckless abandon for his (and his opponent’s) safety he had when he was a teenager. While Mysterio’s in-ring style has been tweaked and perfected over the years, he still busts out consistently breathtaking and unbelievable feats of athleticism every time he competes. 

Rey Mysterio is the poster boy for longevity – and excitement – for the WWE Universe, and today, we’re looking at the top five times Mysterio proved that age is just a number. Other Superstars, take note: This is how you build a legacy!

Is there any greater example of a man’s longevity than competing against his own son on the Grandest Stage of Them All?

The rivalry between Rey and his son Dominik is well-documented, and at WrestleMania 39, the tensions boiled over in the form of a classic one-on-one encounter. Rey Mysterio, then 48 years old, and Dominik, only 25 years old at the time, put on a show for the WWE Universe that saw the elder Mysterio collect a decisive victory over his brash flesh and blood. The match was chaotic, dramatic, and involved many members of the Mysterio family – it was the pinnacle of their storied rivalry and the best example of family members tearing it up in the ring since the days of Bret and Owen Hart clashing on multiple occasions!

Unless you were a hardcore pro wrestling fan with extensive access to tapes of early-90s Mexican wrestling, you likely had no idea who Rey Mysterio was in 1996 when he made his WCW debut against Dean Malenko in a pay-per-view match for the Cruiserweight Championship. 

However, if you watched this match, you not only knew who Rey Mysterio was – you were enamored by what he represented for the future of wrestling.

At age 22, Rey Mysterio burst onto the American wrestling scene with an unheralded classic performance against Dean Malenko. In an instant, Rey Mysterio captivated a new audience with never-before-seen moves and a lucha libre-inspired style that consistently blew away expectations. The Rey Mysterio era had officially arrived for American audiences, and although Mysterio didn’t win the championship on that fateful night, it would mark the first of countless times he made everyone’s jaw drop!

The sports world was shocked when, after winning a boxing match on pay-per-view, Logan Paul challenged Rey Mysterio for a United States Championship match at Crown Jewel 2023! (Suitably, Mysterio’s acceptance was considerably less shocking.)

But in arguably his most incredible performance in a wrestling ring, Rey Mysterio proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that age truly is just a number by wrestling Logan Paul in an absolutely iconic match. Although he lost the U.S. Title in dramatic fashion, he went blow-to-blow with Paul every step of the way. While Logan Paul is considered by many to be the most capable and talented “rookie” in WWE history, Mysterio had no problem turning back the clock and standing toe-to-toe on a global stage.

If Rey Mysterio represents the present, Logan Paul is the future – and during one unforgettable match, the two sides of history aligned. 

For most professional wrestlers – especially ones with such high-flying tendencies – the question of retirement comes into play when suffering injuries in your 40s. In 2015, Rey Mysterio wrestled what many considered his final WWE match, a loss against a returning Bad News Barrett on a memorable episode of Monday Night Raw. Sadly, injuries had been piling up for Mysterio, as multiple knee surgeries had limited him in and out of the ring in the preceding years.

During his hiatus from WWE, Rey Mysterio was still active on the independent scene in the United States and Mexico. Still, many experts believed he was on a retirement tour, giving his fans one last chance to see him perform. 

At Royal Rumble 2018, Rey Mysterio shocked the world again by making an unscheduled appearance in the Royal Rumble match, setting the WWE Universe up for many more years of memories! At age 43, after battling countless injuries, Mysterio still felt he had something to offer the WWE Universe – he wasn’t wrong. 

Austin Theory has made himself a household name in WWE thanks to his uncanny in-ring acumen and confidence (though some call it arrogance) not seen by the WWE Universe in quite some time. After soundly defeating John Cena at WrestleMania and successfully defending the United States Championship, Theory enjoyed a lengthy 257-day reign with the title.

When it was announced Rey Mysterio would be challenging Austin Theory for the title on a seemingly random edition of SmackDown in August, the WWE Universe rightfully assumed Mysterio would be added to the laundry list of Superstars who attempted – and failed – to take the championship from the red-hot Austin Theory.

Of course, Rey Mysterio proved the world wrong that evening.

At age 48, the Greatest Mask of All-Time showed why he’s not only a living legend but a man still capable of hanging with the youngest Superstars in the locker room. Mysterio took Theory to school that night, ending the youngster’s title reign in what many in the WWE Universe took as the upset of the summer. 

Of course, long-time fans knew better. In their minds, it wasn’t an upset at all – after all, Rey Mysterio has made a career out of proving age is just a number. 

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