El Generico first started wrestling in 2002 at IWS, and became a mainstay for the promotion. Generico would branch out and wrestle for promotions PWG, wXw, EVOLVE, and more.
Generico hasn't wrestled since 2013 and it is unknown if he will ever return to the ring. A legend is that Sami Zayn was under the mask as El Generico, but no one has confirmed such a story.
Speaking to Jeremy Lambert & Stephen Jensen on The Spotlight, PCP Crazy Manny, the founder of IWS, gave the origin story of the mysterious generic luchador.
"Sami was literally one of my neighbors growing up, he lived a street away from me. He started coming to IWS shows as a broom boy. He would sweep the ring and sneak in early and would be practicing early and taking bumps. One day, TNT, his opponent didn't show up and he was like, 'give me the kid.' We put an Octagon mask on [Sami]. The Generico mask is actually an Octagon mask. We put an Octagon mask on him that somebody had backstage, and we named him El Generico, the generic luchador. He went out there and had his first match. I'll never forget, he did the Super Crazy corkscrew moonsault to the outside and when he landed it, he just went, 'Ole!' because he didn't know what to say, and the crowd went insane and started 'Ole, Ole, Ole,' and it just took off. We all know what happened with him," said Manny.
While it may never be known what happened to El Generico, Sami Zayn has found plenty of success in WWE as one-half of the reigning Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions.
Elsewhere during the interview, Manny discussed IWS working with FITE Plus. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
Fans can check out the full interview with Manny in the video above.
