Rey Mysterio made has WWE pay-per-view debut at SummerSlam 2002 when he faced Kurt Angle.
Mysterio had a handful of matches on television and live events leading up to the pay-per-view, and was well traveled throughout his career, but this marked his first time on WWE PPV.
Angle was well established in WWE as a former WWE Champion and though a victory over Angle would have immediately established Mysterio to the WWE audience, Angle explained why it didn't happen and why it worked for Mysterio.
"I think that Vince (McMahon), you have to remember, you come from another company. You didn't choose WWE, you chose WCW. You come in, you think Vince is actually gonna have me put that guy over, one of his WWE homegrown talents? Hell no. Of course Rey was going to lose. At that particular time, I was one of the top guys in the company. I think Vince gave him a good opponent to utilize for his debut match. Of course, he lost, but it didn't hurt his career, it actually helped. The thing with Rey is that he's always been beatable, but he also has been able to beat anybody at any particular time. That's what makes it so exciting about watching Rey Mysterio wrestle. He could beat the Big Show, he's gonna have to sneak a win on him, but he's the most exciting kid in the world to watch wrestle. For the most part, if he's going to wrestle Big Show, he's going to lose to him, but there's a chance he could win. That's what the fans believe in. That Rey Mysterio always has a chance," he said in an interview with Adrian Hernandez of KXST 1140 The Bet Las Vegas.
Mysterio is still going strong in 2022 and teamed with his son Dominik to challenge The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles on Monday's WWE Raw.
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