Santos Escobar calls Rey Mysterio a beautiful man, wants his spot as the top luchador [Exclusive]
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Santos Escobar has taken over the Cruiserweight Division ever since he unmasked himself and joined forces with the rest of Legado Del Fantasma. On Wednesday night, he has another task in front of him as he defends his title against 205 Live standout Curt Stallion.
Commentary put Stallion over in a big way last week when he and Lucha House Party ruined Escobar's speech where he declared himself NXT's most dominant champion.
Speaking exclusively to SK Wrestling ahead of his title defense, Santos Escobar said he plans to prove to the commentary team that they were wrong about Stallion.
"I'm a 20 plus year veteran. He's just a rookie. He's just a rookie and he made a huge mistake trying to embarrass me last week when I was addressing the NXT Universe. He is not ready for me. He doesn't belong in the ring with me. But yes he did win an opportunity at the NXT Cruiserweight Title, and moreover he won my attention."
The always confident Santos Escobar has been on quite the roll since capturing the NXT Cruiserweight Championship last spring.
He says with wins over Drake Maverick, Jake Atlas, Tyler Breeze, Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, and Gran Metalik, he is in the middle of accomplishing his main goal right now. That's taking the NXT Cruiserweight Championship from the sideshow (205 Live) to the main show.
Considering we're talking about someone with the talent and confidence of Santos Escobar, it should could as no surprise that he has even bigger goals than that. They include getting a one-on-one match with Rey Mysterio to take his spot on top of the mountain.
Santos Escobar wore Rey Mysterio's tights at Halloween Havoc
This past October, when NXT brought back the classic WCW PPV Halloween Havoc as a TV special, Santos Escobar jumped at the opportunity to pay homage to a man he loves and respects in Rey Mysterio.
Mysterio has said many times that his Cruiserweight Championship match against Eddie Guerrero at Halloween Havoc 1997 was the one that put him on the map. He still calls it the best match of his career to this day.
For Santos Escobar, that match was one of the most important in cruiserweight history. So when Escobar had the opportunity to take on Jake Atlas at NXT Halloween Havoc last year, he knew he wanted to honor Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero somehow.
"I called Rey and I asked him, 'Rey, is there a chance that I could wear your wristbands for the match?' And he said, 'No. I'm going to send over the entire gear and if it fits where it.' I think to me, it was an opportunity to pay homage to the two guys that put the Mexican Cruiserweight Division on the map and that set the tone for what happened years later and two decades later."
Santos Escobar said to wear Rey Mysterio's gear the night he defended the Cruiserweight Championship 20 plus years later made that NXT Halloween Havoc a magical occasion for him.
All the love and respect in the world aside, Escobar told SK Wrestling that one day he must take on Rey Mysterio inside the ring so he can claim his place as the "number one luchador in the yard."
First, it's Santos Escobar defending his Cruiserweight Championship on Wednesday night against Curt Stallion. All the action gets underway at 8 pm EST on the USA Network.
Make sure to check out PART ONE of SK Wrestling's exclusive interview with Santos Escobar in the video above. PART TWO will be out soon on the SK Wrestling YouTube Channel.