“The truest moment of our friendship may have been from our very first American match together,” Mysterio wrote. “This was in ’97, so you’d already been in WCW for a year or two by then. I mean, come on, you’d already wrestled Ric Flair for the U.S. Title on Pay Per View!!! We were all so proud of you. And then slowly but surely we started following in your footsteps. But I also think we knew the deal: We were there to be undercard guys, to pop the crowd with exciting matches … but that’s about it. They didn’t really ‘see money’ in us. And they didn’t always understand our culture.

“That was definitely the case when they told me I’d be wrestling you at Halloween Havoc for your Cruiserweight Title … with my MASK on the line … and I was going to LOSE. Man, I remember being so upset when I heard that. I was panicking!!! Like, I had just started to get over with the American fans — and with my mask being such a strong part of my identity. So to lose it so early in my career, I knew that could be a death sentence. But what choice did I have??”

Initially, WCW officials planned for Mysterio to lose both the WCW Cruiserweight Championship match and his signature mask to Guerrero at Halloween Havoc 1997. Recognizing the importance of Mysterio’s mask and identity behind it, Guerrero, the in-ring veteran, instead proposed the idea of him losing the match and the WCW Cruiserweight Championship attached to it. Admittedly, Mysterio doesn’t know the exact words Guerrero used in his pitch to WCW officials, but they were enough to sway them to reverse the plans and allow Mysterio to keep his mask and momentum on television.

In the match’s final moments, Mysterio countered Guerrero’s second-rope crucifix powerbomb attempt with a hurricanrana; the 22-year-old then pinned Guerrero for the win and the championship. Mysterio still sees this win as a “gift” from Guerrero, which he has tried to pay forward in the years following. In 2006, Mysterio even helped induct Guerrero into the WWE Hall of Fame.