Interview: Kalisto on His Career, Rey Mysterio’s Advice, Vince’s Money in the Bank Idea for Him

A recent episode of The Steve Austin Show podcast had Kalisto as the guest and some of the topics discussed included the inspirations for his career in wrestling, important career advice he received from Rey Mysterio Jr., and a funny idea Vince McMahon had for him for a Money in the Bank match.

On the topic of who were his inspirations for starting a career in wrestling, Kalisto stated Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio were the biggest inspirations for him wanting to become a wrestler.

“Eddie not only made noise to the latin community. Like, he made noise everywhere. Same with Rey. Rey, his stature, and right now, he has given me so much advice. I was even talking to him about Eddie and how I wish I could have met him and pick his brain. [Eddie] taught [Rey] so much. And he was kind of like giving me advice and I’m still picking his brain, but Eddie and Rey, man, I think they set the world on fire and they made some noise, especially in the latin community because do you know what? That inspired me to actually follow my dream.”

On the topic of career advice he received from Rey Mysterio, Kalisto stated the most important advice was to keep grinding and to keep making noise during his matches.

“Right now, he’s telling me to keep grinding. No matter what, just keep trying to make some noise and try to make people turn their heads. Like, ‘whoa, this is new. This is entertaining. This is fun.’ Alright, well, that’s exactly what I’m doing with my team Lucha House Party with Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado. And right now, we’re having fun bringing matracas, noise makers, with the piñatas. We’re just having fun, but, hey, if you want action, we’ll give you action. I’m always telling Rey, ‘so hey, what do you think of my match?’ ‘Oh, you did good. You did real good. Just keep grinding. Just keep grinding. Just keep doing you. Just keep making noise.’ So that kind of meant a lot to me because, coming from him, man, that’s pretty cool. Like, he always telling me, like, ‘man, one day, we’ll do something. One day.’ And I’m like, ‘well, that’s pretty cool.'”

On the topic of a funny idea Vince McMahon had for him for a Money in the Bank match, Kalisto stated one of Vince’s idea for a Money in the Bank match was to replace the briefcase with a giant piñata containing championship belts inside.

“With the Lucha House Party, me and my friends, Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik, we go to the props truck. I was like, ‘let me see what’s here. Hey, do you see this, these noise makers, these matracas? Hey, let’s just take these out to the ring.’ That’s the good thing about 205 Live. You get to try things, throw them at the wall, and see what sticks. So that’s what we did and creative started to like that. And they saw us come out with a piñata and put our opponents’ face in the donkey. It was a donkey piñata and they started liking that.

So creative started to get on board with everything, especially Vince. Vince got on board with everything, ‘oh Lucha House Party, you guys do some amazing, crazy stuff, man.’ I’m like, ‘hey Vince, we just want to have fun, man. If you want action, you want some cool stuff, we’ll give you good stuff and there is stuff you haven’t seen yet.’ And Vince is like, ‘oh man, do you know that Money In The Bank briefcase?’ I was like, ‘yeah.’ ‘How about we put a big ass piñata there and we put the titles in there?’ And I was like, ‘oh, that is an awesome idea!’ But it’s everything in time and it’s all about throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks.”