It’s no exaggeration to say that Santos Escobar has lived lucha libre for his entire life. The son of luchador El Fantasma, Escobar ascended to stardom in Mexico’s biggest promotions as El Hijo del Fantasma well before he signed with WWE in 2019, and some of his earliest memories are of lucha libre masks and capes from his homeland.
Even so, there are still legends with whom it’s an honor to work, and one of them is Rey Mysterio. Escobar had come to the aid of the WWE Hall of Famer during his battle with son Dominik prior to WrestleMania, and a grateful Rey Mysterio invited Santos and his Legado Del Fantasma teammates to join a new iteration of the Latino World Order (LWO) in return.
As Escobar told Under the Ring host Phil Strum, it’s an honor that means the world to him.
“He’s a lucha libre icon, he’s a lucha libre legend, and he’s a lucha libre Hall of Famer, by the way,” Escobar said, recalling that he first met Rey Mysterio when he was eight or nine years old, and his father told him even at that age Rey would go on to be something special.
“Rey became everything he said and even more. For me to have the opportunity to be in the ring with him, to be in a faction with him, LWO, it’s just a dream come true.”
With more than 20 years in the business himself, are there things that Escobar can still learn from someone like Rey Mysterio? He says yes, and that perspective is one of them.
“I think one of the best things Rey has given me is the opportunity to actually enjoy, stop for a second and actually enjoy what you’re doing,” Escobar said. “Because to me, born in Mexico City, it was a distant, distant reality to ever be in WWE, to ever be in the same ring as Rey Mysterio.
“And so the pressure is a lot, and when you finally get there, all you can think of is you don’t want to lose it. The one thing he told me is, ‘Relax, enjoy, look around. Let’s go.'”
Listen to Strum’s full discussion with Escobar above to get more of his thoughts on:
- Why he feels ready to compete for WWE’s new World Heavyweight Chmpionship
- What he thinks about Bad Bunny continuing to work with WWE
- Which luchadors he looked up to most in the early stages of his career
- The one trait wrestlers can have that bridge style and cultural differences between wrestling in Mexico, the US and around the world
- What he learned at the WWE Performance Center even at this stage of his career
- Which WWE trainer he calls “a savant of wrestling”
- What this incarnation of the LWO represents
Under the Ring drops new episodes every week, with Strum calling upon his longtime love for and coverage of pro wrestling to have an in-depth conversation with a wrestler or other notable personality. Recent guests have included Bill Eadie, better known as Ax from Demolition, the dean of pro wrestling journalism, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer, and NWA veteran Wrecking Ball Legursky.
To make sure you don’t miss an episode, subscribe to Under the Ring on Apple Podcasts or your podcast provider of choice, or check out the Under the Ring YouTube channel to see all of the interviews in video form.