Kalisto

Kalisto is married to Abigail Rodriguez and they currently live, along with two dogs and a cat, in Orlando, Florida.

Kalisto was born on 14 November,1986 in Pilsen, Chicago. Though born in the U.S., he spent his formative years in Mexico City. He attended the Curie Metropolitan High School.

He is of Mexican-American descent and was enamored of Mexican professional wrestling (Lucha Libre) even when he was a child. The masks, style and physique of the wrestlers arrested his attention.

When young, he would purchase replica masks of Octagon and Tinieblas. Once his family moved to the United States, he developed an interest in watching World Wrestling Foundation, World Championship Wrestling, and Extreme Championship Wrestling.

He was heavily influenced by Rob Van Dam, Sabu, and Rey Mysterio. He started watching numerous independent promotions. He was naturally drawn to sports and regularly participated in Jiu-Jitsu, gymnastics, amateur wrestling, and football.

He began training in 2006 at Windy City Pro Wrestling school in Chicago and learnt both American professional wrestling and Lucha Libre. He soon made his debut within three weeks of training. He took on the ring name ‘Samuray del Sol’.

He started wrestling under masks as he was heavily influenced by this form of wrestling when he was a child. He soon made himself well-known in the Midwestern United States circuit.

He started expanding his career by making his debuts for International Wrestling Cartel (ICW) and East Coast Lucha Libre (ECLL) around 2010. He also travelled on his first wrestling tour of Mexico in the same year.

In his second tour of Mexico in 2011, he encountered a serious injury when he fell on the concrete floor and his head hit on a guardrail. As a result of this, he was agonized by post-concussion syndrome and depression. He had contemplated retiring before he received a call from WWE.

WWE offered Rodriguez a part in a three-day tryout camp. Even though there was no contract, he knew that being a part of WWE in any way could boost his morale and career. He returned to the independent circuit soon after this.

He won the Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup in 2012 and the King of Flight tournament in 2013.

He won the Slammy Award in the OMG Shocking Moment of the Year category in 2015.

He was ranked No. 25 in the 500 best singles wrestlers in 2016 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.