Most people may not associate a face with the name – Emanuel Alejandro Rodriguez, but mention Samuray del Sol, Octagón Jr, Samuray, or even better Kalisto, and they will know without further ado who you are talking about, at least with the different masks he wears while wrestling in the ring.
Kalisto is an American professional wrestler who has been practicing his craft in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) after climbing the ladder of NXT. He wrestled in the promotions Asistencia Asesoría y Administracion, Dragon USA before joining NXT, where he won the NXT Tag Team Championship with The Lucha Dragons before being added to the WWE list in February 2015.
Kalisto WWE – Biography (Age)
Kalisto is one of the youngest wrestlers in the WWE and was born on 14 November 1986 in Pilsen, a district of Chicago, Illinois. After his birth, he spent the next 5 years of his life in Mexico City, Mexico, and grew up as a fan of Mexican professional wrestling. His favorites at that time were Tinieblas, whose mask and physique he loved, and Octagón, whose fighting style he loved.
When his family returned to the United States, Kalisto enrolled at Curie Metropolitan High School and he began watching World Wrestling Federation (WWF), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), becoming a big fan of wrestlers like Sabu, Rob Van Dam, and Rey Mysterio. But he didn’t just watch wrestling, he also took part in martial arts such as taekwondo, jujutsu, amateur wrestling, and less important ones like American football and gymnastics. From this, it can be deduced that these sports prepared him in an appropriate way for the career he is now in.
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In 2006 Kalisto joined a professional wrestling school in Chicago called Windy City Pro Wrestling (WCPW) and made his debut under the ring name Samuray del Sol just 3 weeks after training with a mask. At the cradle of his career, he suffered several losses, including an injury that ended his wrestling career. But because of his resistance, he returned to the sport he loved since childhood. Between 2011 and 2012 he met Octagon in Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, who adopted him as his protégé and gave him a mask similar to the one he wears.
Promotions, NXT, and WWE
Kalisto enjoyed a good time in his young career and fought in various promotions and championships such as Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Dragon Gate USA, Open the Ultimate Gate 2012, Mercury Rising 2012, Evolve, Evolve Championship, Open the Freedom Gate Championship, 2012 Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup, Hart Legacy Wrestling (CPR), Full Impact Pro (FIP), Pro Wrestling Guerilla (PWG) based in Southern California, the Puerto Rican promotion tournament of the World Wrestling League (WWL), the English promotion tournament Speed King 2 of Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE) and others
On May 26, 2013, he signed a development agreement with WWE with the ring name Kalisto, which was revealed on August 29 but made his NXT debut on September 20 in a match against Baron Corbin. He formed a tag team with Sin Cara as “The Lucha Dragons” and won the NXT Tag Team Championship with him on September 11th at the NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way2014. Later, however, he lost the title to Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy on January 15, 2015, and also lost a second time at NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way2014: Rival.
Kalisto fought in the US Championship between 2015 and 2016 both individually and as “The Lucha Dragons”. On January 11, 2015, he defeated Del Rio to become a US champion. On January 24th he would repeat the same performance at the Royal Rumble to become US champion twice. He kept the title successfully by fighting Ryback twice but later lost it in a rematch against Rusev, ending his 119-day championship.
In the draft of the WWE 2016, he parted with Sin Cara and entered the competition as a lone fighter. Kalisto was drafted for SmackDown in the 2016 WWE draft but had an unsuccessful run for the Intercontinental WWE Championship.
The masked wrestler was drafted for the RAW competition on April 17, 2017, as part of the Superstar restructuring. General Manager Kurt Angle engaged him to challenge Enzo Amore for the WWE Cruiserweight Champion. He defeated Amore on October 9th in RAW, but lost the title again on October 22nd in TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, and lost it again in a return match which took place on November 19th at the opening show of the Survivor Series.
Some Of His Unmasked Photos
Kalisto does not wear masks for any reason other than the influence of his favorite wrestlers who stole from him during his childhood.
As you can imagine, images of Kalisto’s real face are rare on the Internet and are rarely seen, unlike those of Rey Mysterio, which were revealed. Below are some pictures from romanreignswwe.net. that could probably be his real face.
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Kalisto WWE Family – Wife
Kalisto is married to the love of his life, best friend, and biggest fan – Abigail Rodriguez. Not much is known about her identity, as she became famous mainly through her marriage to the wrestler. Abigail wears masks at public events in which she and her husband sometimes participate.
It is not known if they have (a) child/children, but after all, that indicates that they probably don’t have one, the love between the two is strong and unshakable.
Height, Weight, Body Measurements and Others
| Height | Weight | Chest | Waist | Biceps | Hair Color | Eye Color |
| 5′ 6″ or 1.68 m | 77 kg or 170 lbs | 45′ | 35′ | 19′ | Brown | Light Brown |