Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Sin Cara on asking for his WWE release, unmasking, Rey Mysterio influences

Episode Date: May 4, 2021

Cinta de Oro better known as Sin Cara and Hunico in WWE joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in El Paso, Texas. He talks about his 10-year WWE career, wrestling with and without a mask, replacing the original Sin Cara to become the second Sin Cara, why he asked for his release from WWE, being inspired by Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero, and much more!   If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.   For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com   Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up, y'all? It's Druski, and I've teamed up with Mountain Dew to produce a hilarious new basketball podcast called The Do Zone with Drusky. Learn the backstories of your favorite ballers and celebrities like Jamal Murray. Did you have like a favorite team? Was it the Raptors at the time or no? Was the Raptors even started around that time? Come on, bro. I ain't that old, Phil.

You're talking like I was 50. Taylor, Rokes, Agent Wilson, and many more. You won't want to miss this. Listen to the Doozone with Drusky on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Welcome back, my friends to another audio adventure. on Insight. I'm Chris Van Fleet. Thank you for coming back each and every episode. Can you believe this is episode number 201? Oh man, and the show is not even two years old yet. We officially turned two in June. So do the math. That means we're averaging like 110 episodes a year. And that is a

that is a lot of conversations. And I appreciate you being with us for each and every one of them. If I'm being honest, I didn't think that this conversation today was ever going to happen. But man, I am so pumped that Sincara, aka Sinta de Oro, is going to be on the show. Wikipedia, by the way, tells me that Sinta de Oro is Spanish for Golden Ribbon. I was not aware of that. But he has such an interesting story of growing up in El Paso, Texas, which is the same place where Eddie Guerrero grew up. He had a ton of success in Mexico, then spent. 10 years in the WWE with a few different characters with and without a mask.

And then he asked for his release in December 2019 right before COVID hit. So we get into everything that he's been up to since. And I got to tell you, Sinta is bursting with charisma. How could you not like this guy? Take a screenshot. Let us know that you're listening. Share this with a friend. Tag us on social media.

It's just our names. This is simple. I'm at Chris Van Vlead. He is at cinta da Oro. And I don't know if you saw this or not. I've been posting about it a lot frequently, but I have a new YouTube channel where I've been posting some clips

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Podcast platform. This review made me laugh and also smile. This is from Bri the Heretic, who says, finally! After being an Android user that was also an avid CVV listener, I hated that I couldn't leave a review. I made the switch to iPhone, and the first thing I did was download the Apple Podcast app to leave this five-star review. Great conversationalist with awesome guests.

Well, thank you kindly, sir. and I appreciate that the first thing that you did after downloading or after getting your iPhone was downloading the Apple Podcast app and leaving this review. So thank you. And my birthday's coming up soon, May 19th. So we'll keep reading one review on every single episode until we get to my birthday. We're closing in. We're closing on that goal of 2000 reviews. So if you're listening to this on your iPhone, on Apple Podcasts or on iTunes, and you haven't left a review yet, please just take like 27 seconds today to just, you know, just throw an emoji up there. It doesn't really matter, just anything, really.

Please. My guest today, you will know from his time in WWE, please welcome Sinta da Oro, aka Sincara. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Hey, man, thank you. It's my pleasure, man. I'm excited to talk to you. And I think you reach out to me a couple times.

And I'm sorry that I never got back to you. I was going through a lot of things in my head. I still wanted to keep myself, you know, and, you know, and the down low. But I think it's time for me to actually not talk about a lot of things that, you know, have done in my career. And I'm just excited for the future, brother. Well, look, there's no better time to do this interview than right now. So thank you for coming on.

I'm very curious. When you wear a mask, how do you pick out your mask? You know, I pick out a T-shirt every day, but how do you pick out which mask you're going to wear? Well, the idea of me is always like I try to always combine, like, my shirt with my mask or I go out to win an event. the things that i wear have to combine because that's i don't know if i don't know how they call that condition because i'm always like everything has to be in order oh like oCD yeah i guess yeah exactly and you have to have like that and i've always been like that everything that i've done i remember let me tell you a sorry and i just remember uh we were we were in making georgia i think one time

we had a show um he was i was traveling with el rio and we got to the locker room and i remember that i i got to the locker room and i put i took he left i don't know where he went And he had its bag there. He always had like a bunch of mess in his bag. I remember I put it. I put everything in order in the locker room. And then he comes back and he's like, where's my stuff? I'm like, it's right here.

He's like, I'm not going to find anything because everything that I had in my bag. I know how it is. But I've always been like that. Like everything has to be in order. And in my house I know where my mask I have, like the things that I have. Somebody grab something. I know who grabbed it. Like I've always had that bad.

So when I pick out a mask. It has to combine with things that I usually wear because in my head, I'm thinking, like, oh, it doesn't look good or it doesn't combine. But I like that. You know, I like to be able to always, you know, be in control in that sense. You know, it's a little embarrassing for me to admit this, but since I don't speak a lot of Spanish, I didn't know that Sincar actually meant something. I don't know that everybody who speaks English realizes that this actually, you know, means

it's faceless, right? Yeah, exactly. Sincada means phased. That's where the mask comes in like that in the world where they cover your, it covers everything, you know, the eyes, the mouth, everything. And now with the pandemic, it's funny because people that always say, how can you wrestle with a mask that covers your mouth? I'm like, how can you walk with a face-wise line and people complain about it now? Because they have to wear this, there was this little facelike on their face. Imagine me working with this thing for 10 years or more.

Yeah. Is it easier or that much more difficult to wrestle with? or without a mask. Well, a lot of the guys, a lot of the boys would always tell me, like, how can you wrestle with that thing on it? I feel like my face is going to explode it because it's everything's inside it. You don't get like, what is it called, culta phobic or whatever? I'm like, no, I'm already used to that.

And it's funny, like where I wear a mask like this, that I got to talk, I feel like I'm naked. It's funny. I don't know why, but I guess I used to always cover it in my face, my eyes, everything, but then it's harder for me to talk in that mask because I'm like something on my mouth. But no, I just got used to it and wearing it and it becomes part of you. It becomes a part of who you are. And for me, wearing a mask has always been, you know, my essence, who I am, my culture,

what I've done in my life. And when I don't have it, the time that I was wrestling for a couple of years as Unico, that was great. I enjoyed it a lot. It was fun. But I felt it was me. You know, I felt something was missing and it was a mask. And now that I, you know, wore the mask for many people, you know, I've got it was a mask.

years now again. It's just being fun to be able to go different places and wearing a mask and people not knowing who you really are because now I can have a regular life. Imagine some of the guys that are really well known. Like when they go out to me, when they go out to other places, it's hard for them to actually, you know, hide. Like if you see Orden in the street, you know, it's him. Even if you go up to me, he's not going to say no. He's like, no, I'm not around the Orden. Like, it's him, you know? And for me, in that sense, it's a lot easier. Obviously, I have to choose some of them. People may be very recognize me, but they're very, you know, very polite.

Nobody comes up to me or takes pictures of me or nothing. They just sometimes go up to me and I'm very like timid. Hey, can I ask you a question? And you this guy? I'm like, yeah. And I always say, yeah, that's me. It's, oh, thank you, man, and this and that. And then they're like, can't take a picture?

I'm like, well, I would take it, but my face is not going to be, you know, it's not going to sound the same as you might wear a mask, you know, in the picture. And they understand. Well, you see Ray Mysterio in photos sometimes doing something like this. Yeah, but I don't like, I don't like being like that. I don't like being like that, like that kind of like that. I think the mask always is something very for the people and when, especially when fans ask you for a picture, they actually want you with a mask.

And what I've done, it's a, what everywhere I go, everywhere I travel, I always keep a mask on and then either in my car or in my bag, in my backpack for that, for that, you know, for those moments, if people ask me and I'm able to do it. it, I'll do it. I don't, I don't have a problem with that. You said it, you know, feels like you wearing a mask. Did it feel like you when you were taking on this gimmick that had already been portrayed by somebody else when you were Sankara? Did you, what did you ask me, Quinn? Did it feel like you were being you when you were playing the character that already been played by somebody else? Yeah, because I changed a lot of things over the character. I wasn't

trying to wrestle like he was wrestling. I was doing my own thing. I was putting my, I was putting my my persona into this new chapter of sincara and it was it was crazy man when when i got the call to tell me hey you're gonna you want to be you want to continue sincara i was like i was like dreaming because i don't know you know the story about the the both of us in mexico i i debuted in november 21st of 1999 as mystical in mexico in ciudad huarez and then all of a sudden like a few years later, I never, I never did never register the name because I didn't know they had to register the name go through all that legal stuff. So then the company in Mexico, Concejo ended up registering the name in Istico and my my lifestyle they made it into a gimmick back in back in during

those times I was studying theology. I was you know doing missionary trips in Mexico. I used to get on the buses and preach I used to get on the streets and knock on doors and doing all kinds of stuff like that And so something that was my life, so they made it into this gimmick for this, for this guy, for for Nacho. And it was tough, you know, because when, when, when everything happened, it was, I think was 2005. In 2004, I became a world champion against psychosis against Nicho and Jua Jua Jua Jua Juarez. I took away the WDBA middleweight title. And then all of a sudden, this kid comes in and saying then Concejo starts announcing that, you know, there's amazing stars coming up and they say mystical.

So a lot of the boys thought that it was me. And they would come to quiet and they would tell me, hey, so you're going to go to Mexico City? I'm like, what are you talking about? And then all this happened. He became an amazing star in Mexico. It was just crazy. And then when he came down to WWE, I got hired first and I was listening in FCW.

And then a year later, he gets hired. And I'm like, man, like, what's going on? And then they do this big press conference in Mexico. and announcing him, you know, as Sincara, and then he comes to the States. And he didn't even go to the school. He went straight to television. So then he came down for a couple of times. I remember the doctor Tom Richard, which I love very much.

He's an awesome trainer, an awesome person. He told me, I remember I had a meeting with him. He was like, I understand if you don't want to work with him, you know, because I told him the story. He was like, no, I was telling him, like, I'm not, I have no brush on nobody. You know, I'm here to work. come to do the best that I can. And if I get to work with him, then so be it.

You know, I love wrestling. This is what this is where I'm here for. So let's do it. So he came down for a couple of times. We train out a couple of times and then he went off on the road. You know, as Sincara, then he got to suspended for, I don't know what he came out, what substance he came out positive for. And then there's when they actually put me in to be Sincada for in the beginning.

That was before I got the tattoo in my hand. I didn't have the wings or none like this. And I was portraying Sincada for a little bit. And then we ended up doing with you where he ended up, you know, staying with the name. I ended up becoming Unico for a while. So it was just, it was just a lot of craziness. But when I got the call and they told me that I was in shock, man.

I was like, man, like, like I couldn't believe it because, uh, during that time when they stole my name in Mexico, uh, El Santo asked me one time, you should fight for the name and do all this stuff. And I told him, this is what I told him. And he even wrote a story about it. I told me, you know what? I have the best lawyer. And my lawyer is God, if something belongs to me, one day, I'll get it.

And if not, it's not for me. And then when that happened, I was like, man, this is insane. Like, God works in mysterious ways, you know? I'm a man of faith. So for me, you know, when that happened, I was in shock. I couldn't believe it. But it was also a lot of happiness. So what I did with Cincara, I was just me.

I ended up changing a lot of the things in the outfit. If you remember, I had a cross in the middle of my pants. I ended up changing the design completely for what, you know, what what they had for him. And I just made it mind. I just made it mine. And I never lied to people. I never told him that it was him. I told people, it's me.

It's my time now. He didn't, he didn't, you know, cut out to be what they wanted out of him. Why not me now? And that's why I always had that mentality. But it was tough. Let me tell you why. Because imagine having this kid coming from Mexico trying to make a big star. And then especially during that time when Hunter was trying to show the boss that he could take over the company.

Right. I was for NXT. And then he, he hires Big Con, remember? And then she had to leave the company. I don't know why the reasons. And then this kid, then this is the biggest signing that he had from Mexico comes in and he doesn't do anything. So in the eyes, I think of Vince, it was harder for for Hunter to think like, oh, man, like I failed twice now, you know? And then the decision for the name of Sincara, of what I know, it was made by Vince to give me the name.

So I think I never got that opportunity or that supporter from Hunter because it wasn't his project anymore. And if I succeeded, then it was a bigger failure for him because he was the one that brought this kid from Mexico over to making him a big star. So do you feel like that affected a push that you might have had? Oh, yeah, big time, big time, big time. because I wasn't getting that, that, you know, inside support when they had those meetings, when they had, you know, trying to get people over in that sense, you know, it wasn't about, you know, about that anymore because, you know, I remember when, when, when Nacho was portraying Sincara, he would always get opportunities all the time, all the time, all the time, even if the match

wasn't good or something happened, or he said that he was heard that he couldn't wrestle that next week, he wasn't the pay-per-view, he was doing this, and that, and with me, it wasn't like that. You know, it was always like I would, I felt like I always always had to do more than, than usual to show them that I really, you know, that I belong there. And that was tough. That was tough because, you know, I was there every week. I never, I never fell, you know, whatever they asked me to do. I did it.

Even if I didn't improve, I did it because I love my job. I love wrestling. I love what I did. And I understood, you know, it was part of what we had to do. But then you became like a trend all the time, all the time. in Kisankara, every time I would go out, the people knew that I was going to lose. It didn't help the talent that I was working with

because I used to, I remember a few times where I go out, I wrestle some more Joe, people already knew that he was going to kick my butt. And it was just tough because I don't know if you know a little about my background. I was a high school wrestler. I wrestled in college, you know,

I'm not a, excuse the word, I'm not a wimp. Yeah. I can defend myself. And it was just tough to be able to, you know, see some of the guys, you know, I had that chance to succeed in, and me just being, you know, in the bag, just sitting down and watching all this guys coming up and getting that opportunity coming up. And then me just sitting down there and not doing anything. But with that said, 10 years in WWE, what are you most proud of during that time?

Well, I got to travel the world. I got to meet a lot of amazing people. And I think that's the memory is nobody can take him away. When I was in the ring, nobody could take away my talent. down there they could write whatever they wanted and the politics whatever and when you're in that ring it's just you and the people and that they can never take a that away from me and I think for me that was the main thing I got to to do amazing get to meet a lot of amazing people travel the world you know get to know a lot of people throughout you know my life and and everything that I that I accomplished but obviously took a lot of work too it took a lot of time because I was out of my house for many years and and like I missed a lot of things of my kids but I think the most things that I think the most things you know, that I'm most proud of is the memories that I made, the friends that I made and their relationship that I built throughout my career, you know? Obviously, I'm not a perfect person, but you talk to a lot of people, they're going to say,

like, I'm very loyal. I'm a loyal guy. If you're my friend, you're my friend for life. And if not, I can be, I can be like in that, like, like, if I don't like you, I don't like you. Simple as that. And if I get it back, I understand, you know? Is there a match for a storyline that you're particularly proud of?

well i got to work with andrade when he first came up and let me tell you why i'm very proud of being able to work with andrades because i met him when he was 14 years old wow i got to go to wrestle in gomez palacio that's where my dad's from also and that's where he from so i went over there i remember uh we were in a hotel room with a friend of mine at cobar de junior and then he comes in this kid comes in like little skinny kid like hey how's how you doing this and then he tells my friend, go out of the unit, he tells, hey, I'm going to, I think I'm going to go to Mexico CDC. If I make it, you know, I'm going to try it. I'm going to go next year when I, when I turn 15, I was like, what? So he left when he was a little kid, 50 year old kid, and then he became

this, you know, this legend over there, La Sombra. And then all of a sudden, like, he became this big star. I got to work with him in one tournament many years ago in Laena Mexico. The only time that I wrestled there many years ago, as incognito. And it was just, you know, it was great. And then we came to the company and he was done in NXT. And then when they called him up to do the tour, I got to work with him. We had ever worked before. And I got to work with him in his first tour in the in W.E.

And it was just fun because he was a, he was my friend, my friend. And also at the same time, we became enemies. You know, it was one of those big vibraries. And usually when you went with somebody that you know, you usually tend to hit a little harder because, because you have more contact and where you guys are doing together. And I just had, you know, amazing chemistry with him in the matches that we had.

And it was fun to be able to watch him, you know, grow as a wrestler and as a person. And now he became later on. And it was just fun to be able to, you know, help him in that sense to, you know, I guess, showing the ropes and the way because it was different from working down in Mexico. Yeah.

So at the end of 2019, you asked for your release, you were granted your release. What was the thought process going into this? What was the plan? after you got released well let me tell you first a little bit uh i i put out my release november 11th yeah of 2019 we're in vienna austria no middle of a wrestling tour or european tour and uh thought process wasn't because i wanted to it wasn't one thing that i decided one day and i'm leaving that's it you know that week or whatever

it took me a few years to actually you know uh digest everything and put everything in thought and and if I really wanted to take that decision. And it was tough because me being a young kid from El Paso from Juarez and having this amazing dream of working for the biggest company. And then when the time comes when you don't want to be there anymore, it's like, how did I get from there to here now? You know, in that thought process and in my heart, it was tough to realize that, you know,

that they didn't really care about me anymore, that I wasn't, you know, in that in that, in that, I guess, line up people that they really wanted to help to accomplish a lot of things in the company. And I remember thinking, like, in calling a few of my friends and praying and saying, is this a right decision for my life, my career, for what I want to do? And everybody pointed out to the same thing, you know, like, set up about the money. It's about being happy. It's about, you know, doing things in your life that you really, you know, are going to feel, you know, that you're achieving things in your life and I remember a story one time and it really rocked my heart because

I don't want to get emotional but I came in and I had a match and then my daughter, she was like that, how come you always lose? And that was tough man. I didn't know what to say to her. It was actually like, I didn't know what to say to her. I was like, oh, don't know what to say to her. I was like, oh, don't worry about it. It's just my job, baby. Like I get paid the same, right? something like that I didn't know what to say. Yeah. It was really tough to be able to tell your kids, you know, that it's the business that is not actually, you know, because of who you am.

If he was actually because of this, then it's different. But it's entertainment. I understand it. But it was tough. And then so when I took the decision, I was completely, completely done. I say, I don't want to be here anymore. Yeah. I'm done with this.

I'm done with the other politics. You know, it's not about telling anymore. It's not about, you know, having a great body, none like that, because they give a bunch of excuses. Oh, you got to get in shape. Look at Calisto. He's in shape. What is he done? Nothing.

Unfortunately, you know, so it's just a lot of things. And when I actually took the decision, I was, I was completely, completely just like done and say, okay, it's time for me to actually put out my feelings out there because I've always been a very private person in that sense. If you look at my social media, the things that I've put out there, I never talk about my personal life because it's tough. And I don't want people to know everything about me because that's my personal life. But then again, like in this in this role nowadays, it's tough because sometimes people start judging you for the things that you do or maybe, oh, he thinks he's better than this guy.

That's why he asked for these or he leaves or look at his ego or this is that. It's not about ego. They say your ego is not your am ego. So. That's a good T-shirt. I like that. Yeah. So imagine imagine that.

So it wasn't about that. It was just that I wasn't getting the opportunities that I thought I deserved. Obviously, people think differently, but I think I was there for a lot of years and I help a lot of the guys. And I had nothing against that. You know, I've always been a team player, whatever they asked me to do. But it was time for me to actually, you know, leave. And I wasn't, you know, I didn't wanted a whole pie, but I wanted a piece of the pie. Sure.

That's how I said, you know. And it was tough to be able to realize that nothing was going to happen. And when I threw the decision, I was happy with it. I was happy with it. And obviously, they didn't like it because I posted it on social media because I beat up Presbyllis in Mexico. But I had to because they were not listening to me. I went to talk to a lot of people. Everybody would throw the ball here and there

and nothing would never really happen. So for me, I'm just talking about me. You know, it was the best decision for me to be able to let him know how it felt. So what was the plan after that? I mean, obviously then you could do whatever you wanted and then a worldwide pandemic hits with COVID. Well, I already had a lot of dates set up.

You have to go to different places. They work here, work there. And then everything stopped like a week later after I got my release. And it was, it was just like, what am I going to do now? Like, this is my limit. This is what I do. I'm not getting a check anymore every week like I used to.

So I had to, you know, start thinking about other sources of income, you know. And I started working with a company here, a sort of company here in Opaso, promoting them. And then I started working with my brother at a construction company that we built together also. And then a lot of a few different things. And then, so I was just trying to do other things. But, you know, throughout this whole process of like, like you're saying, like, what was next for me? Yeah.

I thought that I could never survive outside WWV. That's the thought process when you're there. Like, am I going to be able to survive and I'm able to this and that? Because obviously, you know, having that security income, it's a blessing. But then again, like when that doesn't make you happy anymore, you're not enjoying it. Then all that doesn't mean anything. And for me, it didn't mean anything. And then when everything came about like the pandemic and then,

and seeing all these people that I love, you know, and I'd be here anymore because of COVID. It was tough, and I was putting a lot of things in perspective. And I realized that the material stuff didn't matter anymore. All this that we have back here, the mask, it doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't matter what matters is what's in the heart. And being healthy, and I'm healthy. My kids are healthy.

The people that I love are healthy. And that's the main thing for me right now. It's just on what's going to be. The United States Soccer Federation present the U.S. soccer podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Clevenberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Time's ticking. I think you can feel the intensity.

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a lot of things are opening up now, and a lot of promorers are starting to call and I just have to be patient, you know, for that opportunity. Where a car like I did before, before I got the opportunity to do my travel with the company, it took me 10 years, but I did it. You know, I ended up, you know, working for the biggest company for 10 years also. So I'm very happy about that.

And that's the main thing right now, trying to keep myself in that mood of, like, training and keep myself motivated. And right now I'm writing a couple books. So I'm excited about that also. This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Is there something interfering with your happiness or is preventing you from achieving your goals? BetterHelp will assess your needs and match you with your own licensed professional therapist. You can start communicating in under 48 hours.

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That's BetterHelphelp.com slash insight. Do you still get any sort of residual checks from WWE, video games, DVDs, anything like that? I got one this past month. I was like, what? I didn't know. I don't know. Like you. That's great.

Yeah, it's a blessing, you know, because obviously, you know, I portraying kind of for seven years and why not. I think we're very underpaid, to be honest, as performers and what we do. And if I can get a little bit, then why not, you know? Yeah, growing up in El Paso, living in El Paso now, how much did Eddie Guerrero influence you? Well, I think a lot, you know, a lot for a lot of us still to this day, people talk to talk about him here in El Paso wherever you go and people that mentioned wrestling always mentioned his name. So I remember me as mentioned this kid. I was eight years old. He was 18 years old when he debuted in Ciadal Juarez. And I remember there was a

in, in, in Joseon, Eddie's Hunter in Zed in Zaduarez. They has like a second level. And when you were in the second level, you could sit down and you could see like in these little areas where they had the locker rooms. And Eddie would stand, would come outside and watch the match and he would stand outside like this. And we would just be looking and try to say hi to him and he would be made to us and things like that. So I had a lot of fun memories of when he was this young kid and Chiaquoise trying to make it in the business.

And then all of a sudden, he left to Japan. He left to ECW, he left CWCW. And then he became this amazing star in WWE. And for us, he was an honor to be able to say that he was from El Paso, because I used to watch him as a little kid. Now he's making it in the big time. And before he passed away, I remember Hector Rincona, one of his best friends from high school, I told me, hey, you think you can give Eddie a video of me where I can do, you know, so maybe he can, you know, help me out to see if I can get a trial with a company or, well, I don't know how it works, you know, nowadays kids have social media. That's a great thing. Back in the day, you didn't have social media. So Hector told me, yeah, get it together and I'll give it to him. So I was trying to get it together. And then unfortunately, you know, a few months after that he passed away. So, so I never got an opportunity to really talk to him or meet him in person. We never had a.

conversation but the influences the influence that he left to for a lot of us are still here you know you can see it and have a i'm going to show you something it's really cool please yeah oh this is exciting this mask it's it's i don't know you know that that eddie was a black tiger in japan yeah this was a natural mask that eddie were in japan that's his mask that's his mask that's his mask yeah oh wow to uh to a friend of mine that uh work with him for a lot of years and he gave it to me as a president. He's like, hey, I want you to have it because I know you, you know, you love Eddie and you love what he had done in his career. So I have a lot of, a lot of, a few things of Eddie that I really,

you know, hold it to my heart. Wow. You know, to this day, he still influences a lot of, a lot of the people here in in La Frontera. To this day, they still talk about him. They want to do murals about him still. They want to do a lot of things, you know, to keep him alive. And it's, it's awesome to be able to, you know, realized that, you know, he was from here. He went to Jefferson High School. He wrested at Jose and Ariz Santos. I used to, you know, wait outside in the,

in the auditorium in Juarez, and I used to wait for the wrestlers to get in. And I would ask, hey, can I carry your back? So I would carry their backs into the locker and then get in, and then go out and watch the matches. That's that, you know, because I was in love with wrestling. And I got to, you know, meet a lot of the great stars. And I know a lot of those people,

and especially nowadays, like when I talk to a lot of the kids, they obviously admire the, the career that Eddie had. And for us, it's an honor to be able to say that he's from El Paso, Ciad Juarez. You know, a lot of masked wrestlers will obviously think about Ray Mysterio. So there's obviously a lot of comparisons between you and Ray. What does Ray mean to you and to your career? Ray has also a lot of influence in a lot of us.

And especially me, especially in the beginning of my career. Like, I probably have to find some pictures, but I remember that I used to watch a lot of the magazines, where Ray used to come out in his outfit, used to have like these arrows in his leggings. And I remember that I used to do something similar to that. And then he was the first one that actually like started changing the colors of the mask and the trans and all that stuff. So that's where I got the idea of me like doing different outfits.

When I remember Halloween Havoc with him and Eddie Guerrero, that was an amazing match. The outfit that Ray had the purple one, I did something similar, but in red when I, when I wrestled Nieto for the title for the, for the WAA world title into that Juarez. So it was in honor of a rainy stereo. So he had a lot of influence and a lot of us until to this day.

And then when I got to meet him for the first time in person, man, he's the nicest guy that you could ever meet in your life. That guy doesn't have nothing bad about him in his body and his bone and his soul nothing. He's just an amazing person. You know, when my son turned eight years old, I remember I told him, Hey, we're going to go to California. I was like, what do you want to go? Legoland?

This and then it's like, no, dad. Take me to Raymi Staddle. That's how you told me. I was like, how do you know he lives in California? I was like, oh, because I saw the video. Remember they had like a little documentary out of his home and things like. Yeah. And I was like, man, I was in shock.

I was like, all right. So then when I went to California, I called Ray. He's like, hey, man, you think. He said, yeah, come on over. So he sent me his address. We went over to his house. And he just treated my son like royalty, man. He gave him a $200.

Wow. He gave him like action figures. He gave him an original mask, sign and everything. And so, so he's just the, he's a great person, man. And, and, and, and, and, and, and I think a lot of guys look up to him in that sense. And maybe, you know, sometimes that when you, when you have this, when you get, when you get, when you, when you want to know somebody that it's idle, sometimes you get very, uh, I guess you get the opposite of what you thought that person was. Or maybe you get very, um, it happened to me with one wrestler that I thought. He was amazing guy and I met him. He was a jerk and that was it. I was like, man. And then with Ray, no, you tend to love him or when you get to know him because he's just a great person. You know, it's obviously been a tough year for a lot of people and I'm really curious to know

what have you learned about yourself over this last year dealing with COVID? Well, the first thing that I learned is that I can survive outside WDWI, that there's life after that for a lot of the boys because I think they're afraid actually even their then are happy in the company, they're afraid of actually telling how they feel or what they want to do because they think there's nothing else after that.

There is. There's life after that. And I really, I think what I've learned is that I've been, that I love my, that I love my kids more than anything in the world, that I've been able to, you know, get to know them. And I never thought that I would, that this tough guy tattooed up would be coming his daughter in the morning, putting her in a little pointy tail. And I learned that I'd give you a lot of things that I wasn't used to doing it.

And then I just want to continue living. I just want to continue doing positive things in life with the people and motivating people and letting them know that no matter what happens in your life, God has a plan. And we all have something that we can, you know, love and we can try to accomplish and continue working for that goal, no matter what situation, no matter, you know, how hard we sometimes we think that they're not going to get out, we will. We will. And I can tell you that because I've lived that.

Also, I think I've been a little more, than my feelings more out there than before. I was very close-minded in that sense that I'm like holding everything back and not saying how I felt or not saying, you know, what really goes on. And for me, I think I've let go of that taboo of like when you grew up, oh, you gotta be tough.

You can't cry because you're a man and all those little things, you know? And for me, I've learned that, you know, letting all that emotion out, it's going to help. It's only going to make you better. It's not going to make me less of a man because I say that I cry or because I say that I miss, you know, my kids or this and that. At the end of the day, every time I see my kids, I always tell, I love you. I love my love me every time, every time. And I think for me, I've learned that I'm more sentimental that I thought that I was. So it's good.

You know, in talking about life after WWE, would you want to be? want to go to AEW? I want to go wherever they want me, to be honest. That's the main thing for me. For me, if you really want me, if you really want me to be part of your company, if you really want me to be part of what you're doing, I'm here for that. You know, I'm all in, all in. I've always been like that.

I'm a person that does things, either doesn't or doesn't do them. I cannot do things have waste. And I think if AW wants me, they want to call, we can definitely, you know, talk. I'm not, you know, against anything, but I do just want to, you know, reaffer that I want to be a place where, where they really want me, want to give me an opportunity to succeed and do the things that I want to do. Just let me wrestle. That's all I want to do.

Just pull wrestle, man. Just let me wrestle everybody. Let's hope the world can get back to normal where we can watch you wrestle all the time, too. Yeah, yeah. I'm excited for that, you know, things are starting to open up a little bit. I already got my vaccine. I got vaccinated already. and you know, trying to be responsible in every sense that I can be, especially with this pandemic.

And I just want to be able to continue my career and continue working, continue wrestling, no politics. Politics aside, let me just work with everybody. Let me wrestle. Yeah. This has been so insightful, finding out about the man behind the mask. Thank you so much. I just have one final question for you and every interview talking about, oh, no, he's gone.

No, no, I'm here, my man. He's back. I end every interview talking about. gratitude because gratitude is such an important thing in my life and I say that if you can be grateful you'll live a great life so I'm curious what are three things that you're grateful for in your life right now my kids my health and my parents there we go because the way you treat your parents is the way you know it reflects who you are as a person and that's very true no matter where you go you know it's yeah in my life you know throughout my life you know throughout my

life, no matter what has happened, no matter what my parents, there have always been people that have supported me throughout my life, for my career. My kids are starting to understand a lot of things in my life now of what I've done in my career, you know, and I think that's the main thing for me being able to keep those people that I, that I love close to me and to understand sometimes the decisions that I make are tough, but it's for for the best in my life. Yeah, those are three great things. Thank you so much for. free time. Looking forward to seeing you back in the ring soon. Hey, thank Chris. Thanks again for finally, you know, getting together and talking. And anytime you want to talk, let's get together

and chat a little more. We'll do this one in person next time. Orale, you got it, brother. Thank you so much. Stay safe. Well, there we go. Huge thank you to Sinta de Oro for the great conversation. Man, that guy has so much charisma. And a big thank you to you as well for being on this audio adventure with us. Share this with a friend. Snap a screenshot. Let us. Let us. know what spoke to you the most from this. Tag us, follow us on social media. I'm at Chris Van Vleet. He is at Sinta da Oro.

And in case you're wondering, because this was just the audio version, yeah, he's wearing a mask during the interview. And of course, you can check out this interview and every interview on my YouTube channel. And also my secondary YouTube channel. You can check out clips from all these conversations, CVV clips.

As C.S. Lewis once said, you can't go back and change the beginning. but you can start where you are and change the ending. Be great. Be grateful, my friends. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock,

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